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"It's obvious that Lord Winston has changed his mind after being physically attacked by a violent, screeching bike harridan."No he had turned against cycling before that.https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/feb/05/house-of-lords-peers-criticised-for-propagating-bike-lane-myths"Cycling organisations have condemned members of the House of Lords, including Prof Robert Winston, for propagating the “myth” that separated bike lanes cause congestion and worsen pollution, saying there is no evidence it happens.Accusing the peers of making arguments based on “anecdote experienced through a taxi window,” the groups said that Winston, in particular, as a prominent scientist, should know better than to spread such misconceptions.It follows a Lords debate on vehicle emissions earlier in January in which several peers, Winston among them, called on ministers to examine whether short stretches of protected cycle lanes installed in London had slowed traffic speeds and thus increased emissions.When the Guardian contacted the peers to ask if they had evidence for the claim, none provided it. Winston, a doctor and popular TV scientist who has been a Labour peer since 1995, said the fact bike lanes slowed traffic was “not deniable”.Pressed again for evidence, Winston thanked the Guardian reporter for her “entertaining comments” and said the “law-breaking, aggression and dishonesty” of cyclists had turned him against them.""Pressed again for evidence"

David Ainsworth ● 2757d

> Levelling the playing field, where everyone who uses the public highway is licensed , as Prof Winston suggests, might ensure that the rogue cyclists are more careful in future, and generate income to mitigate pollution ie. Green Walls.It's not that simple at all. Most analysis shows that licensing and mandatory insurance would end up discouraging a significant percentage of casual cyclists from taking (kindly and lawfully) to the roads. The knock on effect on the health of the avearge person would end up costing the NHS several orders of magnitude more than could ever be recouped via cycling related fines/taxes/licensing/etc. As I've said before, every other country that tried these various things (insurance, registration, etc) has got rid of it because it just doesn't work.Cycling through a red light is already illegal but if there's never any chance of being caught (because there's almost zero active enforcement) then nothing is going to change. When the police do provide some enforcement (i.e. Operation Safeway: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-31478073) there is a noticeable drop in the various transgressions for a few weeks until the usual perpetrators revert to form.(Licensing and mandatory insurance wouldn't really affect me much at all. I've already passed two driving tests [car and motorcycle] and a bicycle test is hardly going to rival those, I wouldn't mind having some form of ID on my bike as I repsect the law when riding, and am insured several times over thanks to liability insurance through my bank account and from membership of a national cycling organisation.)

Alex Greenbank ● 2756d

and there are never any figures for the number of people who have had near misses with the cyclists who don't want to lose momentum and slow down for the lights and who then overtake the other vehicles which have stopped.  Not to mention those who then are afraid to venture out on to pavements already heavily damaged and dangerous due to lorries vans and cars driving over them.  How often do you see drivers - private and commercial - now just pulling in forwards straight over the kerb?Sadly, I think the same arguments about cyclists are on all forums.Interestingly the Mobikes have GPS tracking and licence plates.  Unfortunately they are dockless and not managed very well so the batteries run down and they are left cluttering the pavements because they have no dedicated spaces and the management don't know exactly where they are to collect them and don't seem to bother enough.  I didn't understand the comment about moving from Freedom Pass on public transport to Zipcar.  Surely you should be able to use both but just choose depending on your need for each journey. Public transport has been starved of cash for quite a while.  If it was better and subsidised more as in some other countries it would be more attractive.  It is noticeable how good it is to be able to travel by tube and then be able to get a bus or a bike from the station - Mobike or Brompton - or your own.  Have you seen all the bikes parked at some of the train stations?I've seen a big increase in mobility scooters on pavements - some of them seem to be driven for miles.  These now need to be catered for in housing developments.  At least they take up less room than a car.

Philippa Bond ● 2755d

Michael  Thank you - yes the fact that I'm not old enough for a Freedom Pass means that it hasn't concerned me too much - after all my pension age has just been dragged off into the distance!  What does worry me about them is that a lot of people aren't and won't be fit enough to actually use them - the pavements are in bad condition and bus rides can be very fast and bumpy with sharp braking. If all the housing in the centre of London is really expensive then people who work in the less well paid jobs would find it expensive to work there and I would expect that to be one reason the Mayor of London froze the price of fares.  Another is just to encourage people to use it. However according to The Conversation numbers are down and as we can see department stores are closing as we shop differently (and business rates are high). Are the Zipcars electric?  Car club cars are a great way to reduce the number of cars on the road and electric ones are even better and a great way to try out new technology. You will however have to plan a bit more carefully to make sure that there are charging points available wherever you are going.  The numbers of charging points are growing. The app should make this easy but everything needs feedback as often things can be improved even further to make them easier and better. I do think that fares for commuters should be looked at again to deter so many cars coming into London that needn't.  Then there would be more space for those vehicles carrying more people than cars do and those carrying people and equipment.We should also think about all that online shopping and shop more carefully.  Although I have heard that a lot of online shopping (mainly food) is down. Perhaps this is because of those wild substitutes or foods with a short Use By date or that those who are more in need of deliveries also don't want much so the minimum spend is high.  (Share with a neighbour?)The way that courier drivers are paid needs investigating and our need to have everything yesterday causes a lot of stress and poor driving as they are GPS tracked.  Unreasonable targets add to this.  If you investigate you will find some press stories.  Then there is the overpackaging:  Amazon have a feedback section and you can  complain about it to make yourself feel better but you do wonder if they take any notice.  (Note: if you don't complain you are complicit ie they will say that you wanted it because you didn't complain.)  Sigh!

Philippa Bond ● 2754d