LTN politics

[Stevek76]

Well they can be led locally, they're relatively cheap schemes so something a local authority can feasibly fund themselves if they want.

I don't really see why ATE should drop standards just because a small minority of noisy drivers object to anything (they will and do object to watered down schemes anyway).

There's also a fair reliance in the argument of 'we're different here' which, as it is in most cases, baseless assertion that rarely stands up to evidence. We know what is needed to provide fully inclusive spaces and routes for active travel, there is extensive evidence on what passes the "would I let my late primary school child cycle to school that way unaccompanied" test and that simply doesn't change in different places. Seems perfectly reasonable to me that as a champion of active travel and best practice design that ATE has minimum standards for the things it funds.

Really that's the only way you get proper movement on this and it's a similar approach TfL have taken, increasingly so from Johnson's terms onwards. You focus efforts on the willing and the others will, in time, mostly fall into line.

[ratherbeintobago]

I don't really see why ATE should drop standards just because a small minority of noisy drivers object to anything (they will and do object to watered down schemes anyway).

This.

[MikeF]

Newcastle have just pulled an ltn in Jesmond (one of the richer bits of Tyneside)
Consultation had 9 months left yet caved to a noisy minority. https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/citylife-n ... be-removed

I'm guessing that it's because many are too posh to walk and have influence against a weak council.

"The council has confirmed the measures will now be removed and learning from this scheme used in future transport schemes."
I wonder what it has learn't and what the future transport schemes will be?

[ratherbeintobago]

Interestingly, having make a lemon of herself in an interview a while back, Louise Haigh has been out round Sheffield on an ebike: https://road.cc/content/news/shadow-tra ... rsy-307317

[axel_knutt]

The review was published this morning.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ood-review

[Jdsk]

Thankyou

Jonathan

[mattheus]

Oxford clarion response to the Gov Review, and a local motion to restrict LTNs:

https://oxfordclarion.uk/the-politics-of-ltns/

[Jdsk]

Oxford clarion response to the Gov Review, and a local motion to restrict LTNs:

https://oxfordclarion.uk/the-politics-of-ltns/

Thankyou

Jonathan (I often cycle in these areas)

[atoz]

Safe to say Welsh Conservatives aren't targeting the cyclist votes..https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-li ... e-comments

Methinks the Labour cycling vote is safe. I mean, when they start calling us lycra clad Labour lobbyists, no sorry I meant "Labour and their lycra clad lobbyists". They really like cyclists don't they?

Maybe it's controversial in Wales, but in our village in God's Own County, we've had a 20 mph limit for some years now. Can't say I've noticed hordes of petrol heads mounting the barricades at the Town Hall. Maybe I missed all that when watching yet another Top Gear repeat on Dave.

[cycle tramp]

Safe to say Welsh Conservatives aren't targeting the cyclist votes..https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-li ... e-comments

Methinks the Labour cycling vote is safe. I mean, when they start calling us lycra clad Labour lobbyists, no sorry I meant "Labour and their lycra clad lobbyists". They really like cyclists don't they?

H'mmm...... singling out a particular demographic of the population?.. . And it would appear, in an attempt to bring the current democratic process into ill-repute? Looking at the last communication from Gove - it sounds like the Welsh Conservatives are a bunch of extremists and as such should be barred from the whole democratic process and any government funding..

[Jdsk]

Not to mention that the Lab candidate was lukewarm at best about the ULEZ?

They did really well to get within 400 votes of taking Uxbridge, but the resulting misinterpretation of the result on both sides has done enormous harm.

11 months on:

"The anti-Ulez vote helped Tories win in Uxbridge but has pro-car agenda run out of road?":
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ar ... ut-of-road

Jonathan

[ratherbeintobago]

Wasn’t really convinced the headline fitted with they content as everyone interviewed bar one seemed anti-ULEZ but it’s a nice thought.

[Jdsk]

"London-wide ULEZ Six Month Report":
https://www.london.gov.uk/programmes-st ... nth-report

Jonathan

[Bmblbzzz]

LTNs are aimed at reducing traffic in residential streets, and improving access for pedestrians and cyclists with dedicated lanes, wider pavements and planters blocking off vehicle access.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9v8d4lvjryo

This is a slightly unfortunate way of describing LTNs, IMO. Firstly, I'd rather they said "people walking and cycling" than "pedestrians and cyclists". It sounds less special. But that's a minor point. The more important point is that they're reporting LTNs as being about traffic and transport rather than residents and places. This not only leads to an artificial win-lose ("They're good for cyclists but bad for everybody who drives!") but neglects the very important spatial functions of residential streets. That's not just the streets themselves but eg the ability to pleasantly sit in your garden and chat to the neighbour.

[ChrisButch]

Andrew Gilligan out of the closet now he's no longer a SPAD:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ame-lesson

A good summary of the LTN public opinion cycle.....

...."My favourite statistic from Harper’s LTN report was not that, among those who expressed a preference, support for the schemes was double the opposition to them. It was that for all the noise on social media, 58% of voters in LTNs didn’t even realise they lived in one"