City Cycling - no cycle lanes

[thirdcrank]

I've probably not expressed it clearly. It's not a headcount but a perception of relative importance and cyclists are perceived as unimportant.

[MikeF]

I know that but people would rather take their chances cycling on the verge and shoulder than mixing with theoretically 60mph heavy motor traffic. There's plenty of space for a decent cycle track there and just 2 miles of track could cut 2 miles off Route 11, cut 3 miles off the current 8 miles route between the largest village and its nearest town and take half a mile of dirt track out of Route 30.

I'm not blaming them for doing that; I would probably do the same. I'm really commenting on the absurdity of making provision so the carriageway is not damaged for motor vehicles, whilst doing nothing for other users. I entirely agree with you that often there is plenty of space for proper and good cycle tracks alongside roads but none is provided.

The A264 between Crawley and Horsham was widened 25-30 years ago and is a flatish route between 2 nearby towns and ideal for cycling, but any cycling provision wasn't considered, but so easily could have been incorporated. Some years ago West Sussex CC was devising some "backwater" cycle route along bridleways and hills and that covered about twice the distance, but now their latest transport plan seems to incorporate something along the main road. However I expect the chances of anything of high standard being built are slim. WSCC like all the other County Councils around here just don't seem have the commitment or knowledge of what needs to be done.

Another issue there is that a lot of drivers "know" that the space behind that white line is a compulsory cycle lane and take it as their duty as sheriffs' unofficial deputies to enforce this non-existent law.

I hadn't thought of that. Is that what some drivers might assume?

[thirdcrank]

It's happened to me: that's why I mentioned it.

[Ruadh495]

... I would argue that the Swedish approach is the best and easiest to implement in the UK. It requires less expensive infrastructure.

While I think I appreciate what you are getting at, it seems naïve to suggest that this is even a remote possibility: it's certainly against most of the social trends here in the last century and a half or so. A hundred and fifty years ago, the Locomotive Act (self-propelled vehicles preceded by man with a red flag) designated the forerunners of the motor car infra dig but only in the context of a horse-drawn gentry. Apart from there being no obvious political will to invest in the necessary re-education project, it would be a massive undertaking in any circumstances. In the UK there's generally no greater indicator of an individual's perceived importance than the size of the car they drive. There's been a lot of talk recently about a generation of young adults who may never have a realistic hope of a home of their own, but little acknowledgment that part of that is caused for some by preferring to shell out hundreds of quids pcm on leasing deals for fancy cars.

Isn't this, though, just a symptom of a deeper malaise in society, where an individual's self-worth has become dependent on placing other individuals "below" or "behind" them? Whether it's a fancy car, in which you always have to overtake, an aggressively competitive attitude in the workplace or an expensive carbon road bike and the fastest strava segment. I blame competitive sport in schools

[Bmblbzzz]

Traffic density in Sweden and Norway is inevitably lower than in UK, as population density is so much lower. But in the Netherlands? I don't think traffic density is lower there, though it might well be differently distributed among types of roads, meaning there's less on the roads that cyclists use and more on motorways.

[Vorpal]

I've probably not expressed it clearly. It's not a headcount but a perception of relative importance and cyclists are perceived as unimportant.

It is the extension of class system to the roads.

[Mistik-ka]

I've probably not expressed it clearly. It's not a headcount but a perception of relative importance and cyclists are perceived as unimportant.

It is the extension of class system to the roads.

"It's the same the whole world over, it's the poor wot gets the blame…"