The Great Big Entirely Un-rebranded Bike Blog Roundup

In light of the CTC rebranding itself as Cycling UK is it time for the Bike Blog Roundup to get itself a new image? Either way, we should all be doing more to talk about 'cycling' rather than 'cyclists' - and be aware that terminology - like 'superhighways' vs 'quietways' - can have unexpected consequences. Imagery and language can exclude women (and other groups) in subtle ways - although for some women not even the highest barriers put them off, for the betterment of the whole world. In Montreal, hardy winter cyclists are getting the ethnographic treatment as if they were some strange nomadic tribe - while in Washington DC, cycling can be part of a transformation of one man's entire life.

You get what you pay for

'Build it and they will come' has long been a cycle campaigning mantra - but maybe it should be 'you get what you pay for' - as the final debate nears and MSPs are briefed on the Scottish budget, Pedal on Parliament notes that baby steps in increasing funding have led to baby steps in progress - time for Scots to urge their politicians to act now - imagine what it would be like if big roads projects were funded the way cycling projects are now. It's not any better down south where a sustainable transport bridging fund has had to be hastily launched to fill the gap between one scheme closing and another starting. In London, TfL confirms that they won't be charging cyclists for making the city cleaner, healther and less congested, while in Cambridgeshire the new A10 cycle path won't cost £70m whatever the local papers might say. Further afield, legislators in New York finally want the state to put its money where its mouth is on complete streets, while a coalition of organisations are pressing for $15m for safer routes to schools around Portland - where steadily rising numbers of kids are walking and cycling to school.

City vs City

One day in the UK we'll see cities vying to be the most cycle friendly over their rivals. An unlikely contender in such a contest might once have been Belfast but now Northern Ireland's transport minister has been travelling around to look at best practice - including to Gelderland in the Netherlands - and big building projects don't leave cyclists high and dry while elsewhere its new cycling network takes shape and is looking good - perhaps Dublin should be looking to its crown... Meanwhile, Edinburgh's pragmatic approach once made it a leader but increasingly now it means too many daunting gaps in otherwise family friendly routes. Inverness might not be top of anyone's list of cycling cities but the city and the surrounding region have some ambitious plans. In London the Cycle Superhighway consultations are coming thick and fast as the election purdah period approaches but the rerouting of Cycle Superhighway 8 will create a circuitous journey for bikes, and Islington's planned contribution to the Central London Grid is looking a bit underwhelming so far. Some UK cities could learn from across the Atlantic - while Toronto's new guidelines should see cycling and pedestrian improvements included as a matter of course, Birmingham keeps on repainting the same rubbish without making it any better. Coming from Ottowa, Minneapolis is a great city for cycling even in the depth of winter - just don't try and ride through downtown. But the real lessons will be across the North Sea: Germany is targeting the longer distance bike commuter, while Copenhagen trials intelligent traffic lights that will even speed cyclists struggling with a headwind - and the baseline question the city now asks for any intervention is 'how will this affect the travel times of cyclists?' - in Portland they're still working out how to get traffic lights even to notice that cyclists are there. And the Dutch, not content with being miles ahead continue to evolve their cycling infrastructure

Bottom up change

It takes leadership to change cities - but pressure can come from the bottom up too, whether it's direct action over trunk roads that sever communities, petitioning for safe segregated cycleways in Cardiff or calls to ban lorries from London that don't meet safer cycling standards. Bike Portland reminds us, once again, of the power of the humble traffic cone while Better Block will be running four new demonstration projects to show residents how things could change - although they are already unusually well informed about transport issues thanks to 25 years of evening classes - while one week after we reported on where the city might put them, plans are announced for Portland's first protected intersection at one of those very locations. In New Zealand, Christchurch is turning to Open StreetMap to keep track of its growing bike network. In Seattle demographic changes are driving some of the city's decline in car commuting, while Austrians are being urged to give up their cars for lent - after all Jesus would be a cycle campaigner (well, probably) if he was around today.

Bad - or no - design

As the US's street design body struggles to keep up with what is actually going on in the streets, there are some designs we hope they won't be picking up. Despite the dangers of roundabouts for cycling, replacing them with crossroads delivers no safety benefits if there's no safe space for cycling included. Cambridge's new station bike park might be a massive improvement on the old one but really, stairs? In Eastbourne, if you're not going to the hospital in a car you may well end up going there in an ambulance as there's no safe space to cross - while Manchester's latest cycle lane seems designed to bring cyclists into conflict with as many travel modes as possible.

Making the case

Unfortunately the backlash continues - with London Travelwatch seemingly unclear over how cycling can ease London's congestion while opposition to the Bearsway plans are based on the usual misinformation. In Belfast, turnout at a public consultation meeting was fairly low - although expect that to change if there are plans to make it less convenient for those in cars (something Bristol Traffic can possibly relate to...). Menwhile, whether you're in Auckland or the UK, here's some good advice on how to make your consultation responses count. Some of the concerns over cycle tracks in Christchurch seem wearily familiar but they're particularly wrong headed in a city which already has too much parking - while in Hoboken even a parking protected bike lane is defeated because it would make it harder for drivers to double park - which is illegal, but never mind - while in California cyclists can't even wheel their bikes across a bridge in case it frightens the horses.

Political will

As the EU in/out referendum debate hots up in the UK, the Dutch add a cycling angle to their presidency at last by planning to present EU ministers with a best-practice manual and announcing a Europe-wide cycling festival to coincide with the run up to the referendum campaign. In London, the LCC will be asking mayoral candidates to 'sign for cycling' - while Get Sutton Cycling has already started getting its councillors cycling with a tour of Beddington village. In Belfast, a cycling and walking bridge squeaks through after becoming (apparently) a sectarian issue while only a few minor geopolticial issues prevent Northern Cyprus from becoming a huge cycling destination. In the Republic of Ireland, rail trail plans have cross party support except in Mayo for some reason. And there are green shoots of hope in Australia, as Canberra considers easing helmet laws in the city in 'low speed environments', while the Greens in New South Wales pledge to overturn the latest restrictions on cyclists in the state.

We all want safer cycling...

As the CTC looks in detail about what can be done to make lorries safer around cyclists, Chris Boardman just wishes they'd be safer around his mum, a sentiment we can all agree with. The law decides for once and for all that a hit and run conviction doesn't necessarily make you not a fit and proper person to drive a taxi. In Philadelphia, even off the road poor lighting and crime make its river trail a less than pleasant place to be at night: if you're mugged on your bike do you think the police would still use the #nohelmet hashtag? Either way, we hope that Cipo's contribution to the helmet debate becomes the standard riposte to anyone who wants to police what other people wear.

...or do we?

Finally, there's a lot of anxiety around whether kids get enough freedom to take risks these days, but it seems that in Yorkshire they're free to unicycle to school if they want to - while in Manchester, one cycling lad is possibly a little bit too free range for his own safety. We imagine that when (or if) they grow up, they'll be heading to Canada to take part in this...