Half of London cyclists say giving more road space to bicycles should be mayor's biggest priority

QUOTE:
More than half of the respondents to a survey by British Cycling on cycling
in London, timed to coincide with this week's mayoral elections, say that
giving bike riders more dedicated space on the roads to cyclists should be
the greatest priority for whoever is elected mayor on Thursday. That issue
garnered twice the level of responses of the next most requested priority,
the redesign of London's worst junctions.

The findings of the survey (full results are shown at the end of this
article) have been published ahead of today's hustings, hosted jointly by
Sustrans and The Times, which will see the four leading mayoral candidates -
the Conservative Boris Johnson, who is seeking re-election, Labour's Ken
Livingstone, the Liberal Democrat Brian Paddick and the Green Party's Jenny
Jones - debate the issue of cycle safety.

British Cycling will also be attending the event this afternoon, and asked
survey respondents which question they would like it to put to candidates.
Three topics received broadly similar levels of support - "What single
initiative do you propose to transform London into a cycling city?" at 35.0
per cent, "How will you put cycling at the heart of the capital's transport
policy?" with 31.5 per cent, and "How will you ensure there is more mutual
respect between road users?" chosen by 29.9 per cent.

The other potential question topic, "What will you do to ensure more people
give cycling a try?" was endorsed by just 3.6 per cent of respondents,
possibly suggesting that making the city's roads safer for those who already
cycle is viewed as a higher priority than encouraging more people to do so.

Respondents were also asked to identify the main hazard that they
encountered when cycling in the capital, with "Careless/inconsiderate
driving (including cars, HGVs, buses)" overwhelmingly the most-chosen
response at 61.3 per cent, with "potholes or other poor road conditions"
second at 17.3 per cent and "Badly designed road junctions" third with 12.3
per cent.

The survey was conducted via surveymonkey.com between 12 and 26 April, with
1,471 people responding to a request to take part made via British Cycling's
weekly members' newsletter, as well as on its Facebook and Twitter feeds,
with the organisation asking, "Do you cycle in London, if so take a few
seconds to fill out our survey."

Because of that, the results do need to be treated with a little bit of
caution, since British Cycling members, or those who became aware of the
survey via social media channels, are likely to be more engaged with cycling
issues in general than people contacted via a random survey who are asked
whether they ride a bike before having the questions put to them; there's
also no guarantee that all respondents do actually ride in London.

Martin Gibbs, Director of Policy and Legal Affairs at British Cycling, said:
"Our survey has put beyond doubt what London's mayor should be focusing on
to transform cycling in the capital.

"The key issue that over half of respondents have put at the top of the
mayor's to-do list is that they want more dedicated space on the roads.

"Over two thirds of respondents said careless and inconsiderate driving is
their main concern. The new mayor needs to urgently address this with
policies to create a better climate of mutual respect on London's roads.

"We'll be attending the hustings today and are keen to work with whoever is
elected to make London a better city to ride a bike in," he added.

Olympic champion road cyclist Nicole Cooke, commented: "If London is going
to be transformed into a fantastic cycling city then whoever is elected as
mayor needs to take the findings of this survey seriously.

"We know that perceived risk to safety puts people off cycling and the mayor
should place focus on this.

"By creating more dedicated space for cyclists and fostering a culture of
mutual respect, London could create a cycling experience that could one day
rival great cities like Copenhagen or Amsterdam."

http://road.cc/content/news/57371-ha...s-says-british

--
Simon Mason

"JNugent" wrote in message
...


Think about it. Be an honest employee.

Have you anyone in particular in mind?

Moi????

"Simon Mason" wrote in message
. uk...


Olympic champion road cyclist Nicole Cooke, commented: "If London is going
to be transformed into a fantastic cycling city then whoever is elected as
mayor needs to take the findings of this survey seriously.

Indeed - Ken has said that he will install the Green Party's Jenny Jones as
cycling guru for London if he is elected this week.
That may sway the cycling vote his way.

--
Simon Mason

On Tue, 1 May 2012 21:16:22 +0100, "Simon Mason"
wrote:



"Simon Mason" wrote in message
.uk...


Olympic champion road cyclist Nicole Cooke, commented: "If London is going
to be transformed into a fantastic cycling city then whoever is elected as
mayor needs to take the findings of this survey seriously.

Indeed - Ken has said that he will install the Green Party's Jenny Jones as
cycling guru for London if he is elected this week.
That may sway the cycling vote his way.

Last time Ken was Mayor he installed the woderful Rose Ades as head of
the Centre for Cycling Excellence.

As BoJo can ride a bike (Ken has never learnt), he knew everything
there was to know about cycling and sacked Rose and her team.

This is the comment left by the responsible cyclist who captured the video:

"It's because of riders like this that the Daily Mail and Sun's articles on
cyclists are full up with the bile and hate directed towards ALL cyclists.
You may have saved yourself a few seconds chappy but now that poor lady in
the red coat will just remember nearly being knocked over by some ****
cyclist this morning! I can only hope my yelling at you left a better
impression :-D"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0JYOIDmJvQ

On 01/05/2012 21:44, Bertie Wooster wrote:
On Tue, 1 May 2012 21:16:22 +0100, "Simon Mason"
wrote:



"Simon wrote in message
. uk...


Olympic champion road cyclist Nicole Cooke, commented: "If London is going
to be transformed into a fantastic cycling city then whoever is elected as
mayor needs to take the findings of this survey seriously.

Indeed - Ken has said that he will install the Green Party's Jenny Jones as
cycling guru for London if he is elected this week.
That may sway the cycling vote his way.

Last time Ken was Mayor he installed the woderful Rose Ades as head of
the Centre for Cycling Excellence.

As BoJo can ride a bike (Ken has never learnt), he knew everything
there was to know about cycling and sacked Rose and her team.

But why should London's public money be wasted on a tiny minority?

That London has a "head of the Centre for Cycling Excellence" is a
public disgrace.

p.s. I do think that Rose Ades was "woderful".

Are you really a teacher?



--
Dave - Cyclists VOR.
After his son’s murderer had been convicted, Barry Mizen said he had
been struck by a remark made by the killer’s primary school teacher. The
teacher, Mr Mizen told a press conference, said he was “not surprised”
to hear that Jake Fahri had committed murder.
Tom Crispin feels he has been misquoted. As Fahri’s only male primary
teacher, he says the comment must have come from him, although he has no
recollection of making it.

"Bertie Wooster" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 1 May 2012 21:16:22 +0100, "Simon Mason"
wrote:



"Simon Mason" wrote in message
t.uk...


Olympic champion road cyclist Nicole Cooke, commented: "If London is
going
to be transformed into a fantastic cycling city then whoever is elected
as
mayor needs to take the findings of this survey seriously.

Indeed - Ken has said that he will install the Green Party's Jenny Jones
as
cycling guru for London if he is elected this week.
That may sway the cycling vote his way.

Last time Ken was Mayor he installed the woderful Rose Ades as head of
the Centre for Cycling Excellence.

As BoJo can ride a bike (Ken has never learnt), he knew everything
there was to know about cycling and sacked Rose and her team.

For that reason alone, I have asked my London based friends and relatives to
vote Ken's way.
It goes against my political views but cycling safety must comes first.

--
Simon Mason