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Recent Posts
- Comparison April 30, 2023
- Bolton vs Wigan on Active Travel: what does ChatGPT “think”? April 10, 2023
- Kensington High Street judicial review March 15, 2023
- Highway Code Rule 66 October 7, 2022
- More poor quality consultations from Bolton Council May 21, 2022
- Darlington Roundabouts January 16, 2022
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Category Archives: Article
Bolton vs Wigan on Active Travel: what does ChatGPT “think”?
Just for fun, I asked the AI bot a couple of similar questions. Question one (Bolton) Q: What is Bolton council executive’s attitude towards road space reallocation in favour of active travel? A: As an AI language model, I do … Continue reading
Kensington High Street judicial review
The Judicial Review requested by Better Streets for Kensington and Chelsea (BetterStreet4KC) against the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) regarding the Kensington High Street cycleway removal decision has been dismissed. This is disappointing, as many of us were … Continue reading
Highway Code Rule 66
This post is prompted by the misinformed comments of a significant number of ill-informed commenters about an incident in which a police officer attempted, incorrectly, to instruct us that we must ride in single file next to the kerb, and … Continue reading
More poor quality consultations from Bolton Council
In Bolton Active Travel Forum, we’ve held several workshops on engagement, yet the Council still insists on running engagements that are flawed in many ways, and are likely to be either misunderstood or misused by decision-makers. This article looks at … Continue reading
Darlington Roundabouts
Oh, yes, a cycle path scheme; nothing at all to do with widening the carriageway and putting a massive roundabout in with flared entrances and exits.
Myth: “Essential motor vehicles”
We often hear people (especially local politicians) using this term as a way of resisting change; the implication being that other means of transport are not essential and must be treated with lower priority. It is often accompanied by some … Continue reading
How to lie with statistics.
A couple of days ago, the local newspaper “Wigan Today” published an article crowing about Wigan’s position of 3rd best place in the UK for cycling in a league table published by a claims management company “The Compensation Experts”. I … Continue reading
Myth: “But I have to park on the pavement.”
Parking on the footway (aka “pavement” in the UK) has become normalized to the extent that many people seem to think it is an entitlement. However, it causes obstructions for people on foot and causes damage to the footways themselves, … Continue reading
Myth: “Unsightly, invisible wand orcas”
Orcas are small semi-permanent kerb sections made of recycled plastic. The name derives from the black and white markings that make them reminiscent of a killer whale (orca) breaking the surface of the sea. Due to a fear that drivers, … Continue reading
A staggering level of ignorance from a councillor.
Before I start, I will preface this with “not all councillors”. However, I have noticed over the years that many (though not all) councillors are often seen pontificating on subjects that they have never studied, and pretending that they are … Continue reading
Myth: “The data show this road is not dangerous…”
Using cycling and walking KSI data (data about how many people have been killed or injured whilst cycling or walking) to define which are “dangerous roads” is fallacious. The most dangerous roads tend to be avoided by people on cycles … Continue reading
Myth: “No need for anything; nobody was killed cycling here in years…”
Whilst preventing deaths and serious injuries is extremely important, these projects are not primarily about numbers of people killed or injured on the road; they are about making it possible for people who currently feel forced to use cars for … Continue reading
Myth: “These wands are dangerous; cars will hit them…”
Unless you are referring to self-driving cars, then what you really mean is: drivers will hit them with their cars. Anyone who is unable to drive in a 3.5 metre lane without hitting things at the sides should not have … Continue reading
The hypocrisy of consultation
The requirement to consult One of the problems that the DfT identified, regarding the Emergency Active Travel Fund measures first announced by Grant Shapps in May of last year, has been a perceived “lack of consultation”, partly as a result … Continue reading
Myth: “Can’t do anything here, it’s a 40mph road!”
This, which can be found referring to any speed limit, not just 40mph, was actually said by a councillor recently in an attempt to oppose a cycle lane on a wide main road. As far as I know, there is … Continue reading
New Low Traffic Neighbourhoods – levelling inequalities
An article published today in the Guardian, written by Antonio Voce and Peter Walker, reports on a study carried out by Rachel Aldred and her team showing, contrary to the claims of many opponents, that low traffic neighbourhoods (a.k.a. LTNs, … Continue reading
Why I chose this picture for Active Travel
I recently changed the profile picture of the Bolton Active Travel Forum Facebook page that I run. I chose this picture, which I took in Copenhagen in 2019, because it captures so many aspects of active travel, what we mean … Continue reading
Is Queens Park, Bolton really suitable as a cycle route.
Bolton Council is relying on a route through Queens Park to link two cycle routes to the town centre. One is a Bee Network proposal from Doffcocker to the town centre, funded by the (GM) Mayor’s Cycling and Walking Challenge … Continue reading
Mr Shapps, “-ing”, not “-ist” makes all the difference.
The Transport Minister Grant Shapps wrote a letter to all highways authorities last week. I won’t go into a full discussion of the letter here, because Carlton Reid has already done an excellent article on it. Instead I just want … Continue reading
OpConsiderate online submission – analysis of 47 cases.
Introduction I have been involved with Operation Considerate for a very long time – since before its inception by Insp Paul Rowe and his team – and was actively involved in helping to get the online submission service off the … Continue reading
These two words show we’ve still a long way to go, but we need to get there fast.
One year on from the workshop we had in Bolton (as did all the cities and boroughs of Greater Manchester), Chris Boardman’s Made to Move walking and cycling strategy, and the most talked about element of that, the Bee Network, … Continue reading
Operation Considerate: More feedback is needed.
The Black Hole Something that has concerned me for a long time about the Operation Considerate reporting process is that, a lot of the time, it feels like something of a black hole: lots of stuff going in, but very … Continue reading
A nice “Tiger Crossing” in Bolton, but in the wrong place?
Two crossing and a ramp. I heard last week that a parallel zebra/cycle crossing (known as a Tiger crossing) has now been completed as part of the National Cycle Route 55 extension into Bolton. I believe this is the first … Continue reading
Bolton to press ahead with irrational town centre cycle ban.
Public Space Protection Order I have been feeling very positive after last night’s meeting of the Bolton Active Travel Forum. I was finally feeling we might be getting some way towards changing the culture of this motor-blighted town. Unfortunately it … Continue reading
A review of Active Travel within Bolton’s planning policies.
*** Note: comments, questions or corrections to this document will be most welcome. *** Introduction One of the things that has frustrated me over recent years has been the difficulty I’ve had in seeing how we, as constituents, can influence … Continue reading
Crompton Way – another poor Bolton design, and an absent one.
I had to visit the health centre in Harwood today, so I thought I’d come back a slightly longer route and take a video of Crompton way, part of which has recently been repainted. This is a pictorial commentary on … Continue reading
Should rational discourse be silenced because of ignorance & bigotry?
This article addresses an issue that is really much more general than cycling and cycle campaigning, but I think it is highly relevant to cycle campaigning. It’s something I’ve been thinking of writing about for some time, but a recent, … Continue reading
Weston Street, Bolton. A tough nut to crack?
A short while ago, I criticized the design of brand new cycle lanes on Manchester Road in Bolton. I still think it is pretty much all dreadful, but it might be reasonable for someone to ask me: “OK, what do … Continue reading
Bolton highway department again shows us how not to design cycle infrastructure.
Manchester Road in Bolton used to be a section of my journey to work and back on which I had many bad experiences with careless and dangerous drivers, especially bus drivers. Much of the bad driving was exacerbated by the … Continue reading