Brief comments and excerpts from 2009 Pucher et al paper on effective pro-cycling measures

Ray Ryan, Chairperson, Skerries Cycling Initiative, 1st Oct 2010

 

John Pucher, Jennifer Dill, Susan HandyInfrastructure, programs, and policies to increase bicycling: An international reviewPreventive Medicine 50 (2010) S106–S125.

 

Pucher et al’s review addresses a tough question : what measures are effective in getting more people to cycle? Continue reading Brief comments and excerpts from 2009 Pucher et al paper on effective pro-cycling measures

Coming to terms with city cycling

Share your fraught – or otherwise – experiences of cycling on main roads with heavy traffic

One of the pleasing aspects of the success of London’s bike hire scheme has been how it has encouraged many people on to the capital’s roads who had never considered cycling before. Last week the Charlton blogger Darryl wrote of catching the bike bug in the wake of his cycle hire experience, and is exploring local roads and sights. He doesn’t dare venture further than this, he says, because of his “aversion to main roads and heavy traffic”.

Full article in guardian.co.uk

London bike hire scheme on road to be only public transport system in profit

TfL expect the project will cover operating costs within three years and will then go on to meet implementation costs

Boris Johnson tries out a bike at the launch of London’s cycle hire scheme, which is on course to make an operating profit. Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP

London’s bike hire scheme is on course to become the only Transport for London (TfL) system to make an operating profit, just 10 weeks after its launch.

Full article in Guardian.co.uk

Subsidies not the electric answer

ELECTRIC CARS: Taxpayers’ money needs to be used fairly for energy-saving initiatives. The best way to do this is to scrap the subsidies for electric cars and introduce a nation-wide car share scheme which will benefit us all, writes JAMES NIX

THE GOVERNMENT seems hell-bent on offering a subsidy of €5,000 to buyers of electric cars. Exclude the subsidy and a saloon-sized electric vehicle would cost in the region of €35,000. So, under the draft scheme, taxpayers stump up €5,000 for each electric vehicle but, unlike public transport, ordinary taxpayers have no opportunity to use these vehicles, unless, of course, they are among the small number of purchasers. Full article – Irish Times

Belfast Cycle Budget Cut 98%, roads increase 51%. Mass Cycle Protest

Belfast Cycle Budget Cut 98%, roads increase 51%. Mass Cycle Protest, City Hall Wed 13th 1.10 sharp. Cuts have just been announced for this year reducing the cycle budget in Belfast by 98% from £450,000 down to £8,000, whilst at the same time spending on new “strategic” roads increased by 51% from £149m to £225m. This is an insult to cyclists. It is time to express your anger. Come with your bicycle and anything
to make noise, bicycle bells, whistles, etc. Continue reading Belfast Cycle Budget Cut 98%, roads increase 51%. Mass Cycle Protest

Double hit for taxpayers as NRA needs €100m bailout on toll roads

NRA get toll figures wrong by 20 to 30% – but it’s taxpayers that will pay

  • On the M3 traffic is 22% below the penalty payments level
  • Traffic is 26% below the penalty payments level on the Limerick Tunnel
  • Taxpayers face a €100m bill over the life of PPP contracts based on a scenario favourable to the NRA i.e. traffic growth assumed from 2011
  • Arrogance and naivety of the NRA shown in toll road contracts
  • NRA continues to use discredited projections in attempting to justify further motorway

The NRA’s expectation that traffic would grow rapidly has proved hopelessly inaccurate. Continue reading Double hit for taxpayers as NRA needs €100m bailout on toll roads

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