Monthly Archives: January 2016

Cycle advocacy, London, Roads Were Not Built For Cars

Roads are not just about movement says London’s Transport Commissioner

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London’s transport commissioner Mike Brown said last night that roads were not just for cars but for people, too. Roads have “place” and “movement” functions, he said. Pointedly, and in his first major pronouncement on cycling since becoming commissioner last year, he also had a strong message for those individuals and groups who wish to see fewer people on bikes, not more.

“I am a huge defender of our Cycle Superhighways,” he told an assembled audience of the great and good in transport and design. Prominent developers were in the audience as were leading architects and important people from the City. And just so none of those present could be in any doubt about his strength of commitment to “our” cycling infrastructure he stressed that those opposed to providing more protection for cyclists in London were “wrong”.

“Although [the Cycle Superhighways] may reduce some road space for motorised vehicles I have to tell you, to avoid a single death or serious injury for cyclists makes all that investment worthwhile,” said commissioner Brown.

“Those who are critical of it, I have to tell you, I think you’re wrong.”

A long stretch of Cycle Superhighway at Blackfriars is already open for business
A long stretch of Cycle Superhighway at Blackfriars is already open for business

To perhaps the consternation of some, he added: “Cycling will continue to grow.”

Brown was giving the keynote speech at the opening of Streets Ahead, a month-long exhibition on the future of London’s roads staged by New London Architecture, an influential think-forum and research organisation. The exhibition is being held in NLA’s posh London HQ. Last night was the preview evening; Brown joked that nobody should mention anything about the exhibition until it was officially opened by Boris Johnson this weekend. At least I hope it was a joke because I tweeted madly from the event, spurning the Italian wine and beer.

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I tweeted some pix, and below I’ve embedded a whole load more. As you can see, cycling plays a prominent role in the exhibition which comes as no surprise really as the chair of New London Architecture is architectural writer Peter Murray, a not-at-all-secret cyclist. (At a meeting we both attended at the Department for Transport the day before the Streets Ahead opening I learned that Murray had done what I did at the Velocity conference in Nantes last year, and that’s count the number of active-travel proponents riding on the expo’s escalators rather than bounding up.)

Peter Murray (left), Mike Brown and Ashok Sinha.
Peter Murray (left), Mike Brown and Ashok Sinha.

Ashok Sinha, chief executive of the London Cycling Campaign, told me it was “massively heartening” to hear commissioner Brown be so positive about the future of cycling in London.

“We have a crunch coming,” said Sinha. “There’s predicted to be a huge growth London’s population, and cycling is one of the ways we’ll be able to keep this city moving. The new infrastructure isn’t just about safety, it’s about planning our city for the future.”

Cycling is prominently featured at Streets Ahead
Cycling is prominently featured at Streets Ahead
The NLA's HQ has a permanent 1:2000 scale model of London. The model is 12.5 metres-long and represents 85 square kilometres of London
The NLA’s HQ has a permanent 1:2000 scale model of London. The model is 12.5 metres-long and represents 85 square kilometres of London
The 1960s Buchanan Report warned of the dangers of mass motorisation ...
The 1960s Buchanan Report warned of the dangers of mass motorisation …
Bridges to somewhere
Bridges to somewhere
Infra innovation
Infra innovation
Walthamstow's "mini Holland" is featured in Streets Ahead
Walthamstow’s “mini Holland” is featured in Streets Ahead
Minority? What minority?
Minority? What minority?
Streetscapes
Streetscapes
London is expanding fast
London is expanding fast
Road definitions
“Street types”
Street types matrix
Street types matrix

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Thanks to Peter Murray for introducing me to Mike Brown – I was introduced as the author of Roads Were Not Built For Cars, the predecessor to Bike Boom. When Brown said he was interested in the history of London’s roads (which also features as part of Streets Ahead) I gave him a copy of the book which he asked me to sign. I have no idea whether commissioner Brown is a cyclist so instead of writing “Keep pedalling” as I often do when signing books, I wrote “Keep rolling”, which covers most transport modes.

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Streets Ahead: The future of London’s roads
Thursday 28 January – Wednesday 24 February 2016

As part of Streets Ahead NLA is staging lunchtime soapbox talks every Friday in February. The discussion on 12th February is on the future of cycling.

Toilet humour

Toilet humour

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toilet.001

Roads are a little like toilets. You might have a house with two toilets but, if you have a large family or a number of flatmates, both of the toilets might be occupied when you need to “go”.

At the point of your most need you think it would be a fine idea to, sometime soon, add another facility. Later, after the building work has been completed and now with three toilets, you think you’re bound to have enough evacuation-infrastructure to satisfy demand.

And most of the time you most certainly would. But then you order in, and consume, a dodgy vindaloo, shared with the whole household. This leads to simultaneous urges, and not even three toilets can now cope with the inevitable (bum) rush.

You realise that the only way you could guarantee a space on the privy council for every member of the household would be to have one porcelain throne per person. To build such facilities would require either converting some existing rooms or erecting an extension, but let’s say local planning laws prevent you from adding rooms to your house. In which case, for the first extra toilet, one of the spare bedrooms has to go the journey. For the second extra toilet you’re forced to reduce the size of the kitchen. But no worries, at least everybody in the household won’t have to squeeze their legs tight ever again.

Except you then throw a party, and fifty people show up, and they too are inflicted with food poisoning (very possibly because of your poor kitchen hygiene since downsizing it). All of a sudden not even five toilets are enough – in every spare corner of your house there are people with desperate need to get someplace shiny.

Naturally, as a kind host you never wish for such a faux pas to ever happen again and you partition your house until there’s no living space left – once spacious, it’s now merely commodious; every room is the littlest one. Flushed with success you know that, finally, you can meet every possible domestic sanitation eventuality. But, really, you’re just living in a sewer.

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We have plenty of roads to go around, it’s when we all want to use the roads at the exact same time that’s the problem. Building more roads doesn’t fulfil demand, it just induces it.