Otto2

E-bikes are amazing! I use one all the time for shopping - with a good sturdy lock like one would for any bike. There are lightweight batteries that can be detached and they are not so heavy. As far as cost, mine was built on an old found frame but the costs are coming down all the time and they are far cheaper than the cost of a car! I have a regular bike as well. I use both, according to the hills I am facing, and, how my body is - I'm asthmatic and have arthritis in one knee. Some days are better than others. I have cycled on school runs ferrying two kids for years and grocery shopping etc locally on a normal bike and really no issues until fairly recently, when I added an e-bike to help. I used to ride everywhere with no worries on a regular bike, but now an e-bike gives me peace of mind that I won't arrive anywhere sweaty or exhausted or in pain. I can go further and it is almost always faster than public transport to get places.

A lot of local traffic on East Dulwich road is school-run generated. Much existing cycle infrastructure is geared toward travelling into town, for work. In particular, parents and children would benefit from East/West cycle routes and segregated lanes will be necessary for encouraging. Active travel benefits everyone health wise and will also help with climate change, too many cars, etc... I don't have time to go back and forth on this and pretty certain your mind is made up so I will not be adding more here but will continue to read your perspective without commenting further.

If you design it right (curb?), it will be traversable by young and old, and less confident cyclists. If you look at Copenhagen's lanes - those work. I agree with you that performative road painting is pointless and wasteful - it does not provide what is needed for perceived safety and more uptake.

Nigello - Segregated cycle lanes are a game changer. The increase in perceived safety means more cyclists of every age and ability.

Thanks James - If it were properly segregated it would be amazing! Also - I really think a little engagement with the private schools re: having students cycle or walk for the "last mile" or whatever would substantially reduce traffic locally. Perhaps a few local drop points combined with rental bikes...

?By following nearly 2,000 urban dwellers over time, we found that those who switch just one trip per day from car driving to cycling reduce their carbon footprint by about 0.5 tonnes over a year, representing a substantial share of average per capita CO2 emissions,? says the lead researcher, Oxford?s Dr Christian Brand. ?If just 10% of the population were to change travel behaviour, the emissions savings would be around 4% of lifecycle CO2 emissions from all car travel.? Here are some further links re: active transport and LTN's etc. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-02-02-get-your-bike-active-transport-makes-significant-impact-carbon-emissions https://pastaproject.eu/fileadmin/editor-upload/sitecontent/Publications/documents/2017-PASTA-Project_Handbook_WEB_02.pdf

There is a bit of confusion here as legalalien linked to a paper by Megan Sharkey (Doctoral Research, University of Westminster) and three other academics that are not at The University of Westminster on Aesop and somehow this digressed into "Aldred et al". It was then asserted by someone here that raw data from Aldred's published study (different from the above) had been analysed by other experts to different conclusions - but - there have been no links etc offered to date thus far. If another credentialed expert disputes the research - it would be good to see that analysis rather than be told this is "cycling propaganda machine" etc....

Hi Heartblock - I think Snowy was asking for authors, credentials etc to the research that you say comes to different conclusions here: "The same collected raw data has been re-analysed by other authors, which point to the negatives of LTNs on residents living on boundary roads, shown to have a higher density population and are areas that are impacted by inequality."

As propaganda? You are reducing Aldred's research to propaganda?

It is wrong to tear down a person this way. I read it all. There is nothing in there that I find alarming, troubling, a distortion, or deserving the character assassination or doubt sowing you have served here.

Why don't you cite research of other credentialed academics that disputes the research on transport, active mobility, etc that you disagree with rather than posting what really does look like an attack on character?

Academic researchers feel very passionate about the fields they research. It should not be a discredit to them to try to raise awareness of their research. I am now thinking of some of the researchers who are great communicators to the public during this pandemic - who are busy sequencing variants but take the time to communicate to the press and public -- for instance, Dr. Emma Hodcroft on twitter. She is amazing and it would be wrong to discredit her important work just because she takes on an "activist" role in sharing her knowledge.

I think the study is interesting. You can contribute to studies with "Aldred et al" if you would like by applying for this position here: https://vacancies.westminster.ac.uk/hrvacancies/default.aspx?id=50060206

Hi - Just to clarify your "Aldred et al" statement in reference to the linked article. The paper you linked to examines the role of "activist researchers" - academics that research activism and its impact on various initiatives. In other words, Megan Sharkey is an academic who has researched the impact of activism. From the study: "Megan Sharkey focuses on the bottom-up community-led grassroots movement?s role in socio-technical transitions and its accompanying institutional change. The thesis aim is to understand barriers to grassroots movements in London creating or driving urban infrastructure changes to attain resilient and sustainable cities."

For clarity Slarti b - I was agreeing with rahrahrah's answer to you here when you accused him of being a "nimby" from Calton. I posted in answer to his post directly afterward. I've inserted his answer in quotes below. Quieter streets for foot and bike traffic means many walkers and cyclists will also ADD TIME to their own journeys to avoid busy roads. I know I do. "Think it's good to discourage local car journey's > and restrict the use of side streets as cut > throughs. There need to be some quieter streets > away from the main roads, for people to travel > through the area safely by foot or by bike imo."

I agree with Rahrahrah. And I do not live on an LTN either.

Middle aged men, lycra, LCC members... The most joyous thing I have seen during this pandemic is a huge surge in all kinds of cyclists outside of the above. Most especially love the over 50's women I see buzzing about. And of course, the children. There are so many different types of cyclists now -- most relevant to this conversation is the big increase in parents who are cycling and walking their children to school. As a parent that traversed Calton Avenue with school children with lots of cars backed up pre-ltn, I can only say it is a wonderful street to have opened up for both walkers and cyclists - whether for a school run or to just go down to the park. It does not just benefit those who live there by any means.

Hello - Here's a Guardian article... https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/mar/25/traffic-wars-who-will-win-the-battle-for-city-streets

Hello - Here's a Guardian article... https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/mar/25/traffic-wars-who-will-win-the-battle-for-city-streets

Wonderful - thanks!

Re: Legal Alien: "On a more practical note, I've always thought that a big part of the school run traffic problem is caused by those with children at each of DC/DPL on the one hand, and JAGS/Alleyns on the other, who need to do a double drop and travel through the Village (or now some alternative route) for that purpose. If the schools could arrange for a single drop off point at each end and an active travel option or minibus between one end and the other it might help? Pre closures I always thought that a drop off point in Dulwich Park and then some "walking bus" arrangements from there would be the go." I agree with Legal Alien. A huge amount of congestion is school rush hour - specifically from the private schools where children often come from further afield and are driven in. Charter kids are selected by distance to the door so they are less the issue. At one point, about ten years ago, a Mum from DPL was trying to start just what you mention Legal Alien - a central drop hub -- it was congested back then. She proposed Dulwich Park and having some bicycles suitable for child transport as well as bicycles children could ride themselves and also, walking but walking is tricky timing-wise when you have to be at two schools at the same time to pick up children. I joined discussion re: this but ultimately, it fell apart as the bike part seemed a hard thing to arrange (by overstretched working mothers) with so many variables (Dulwich Park, Council, Insurance, Storage, Bike Companies, etc). Perhaps councillors and the private schools would like to engage to get this going or brainstorm about other possible solutions.

Adding up car insurance, tax, plus MOT per year will take you well over ?1000 in most cases. If you rent a car 3 times a year for a week's length each time, it will come in at about ?600 or lower (?200 per week though sometimes lower). That leaves about ?400 to spend on either hiring a cargo cycle company like the Pedalme guys to do runs to the dump, move things etc, or, a local taxi. I would think in most cases you'd save money. We did the numbers many years ago and it worked out but maybe you take more holidays in the UK than that. We need one for a week a year but not always, and sometimes a weekend. We now use our own cargo bike for moving bulky stuff but I appreciate that is not for everyone. Apologies if my estimates are off - we did the maths years ago...

We almost signed up but realised it was more expensive and less convenient for us. For someone that would use it more, it is probably good though! Sixt car rental in Battersea will do delivery and pickup of vehicles to your door (though we cycle over).

We researched this ages ago with Zipcar as there is a space for one near us and found it was cheaper to take taxis or rent occasionally when needed but maybe that has changed and it will also depend on how much usage of a car you need - for us, as we very rarely need one, it was not worth joining a car club. Also, you know you can always get a taxi or rental vs wondering if the zip car there and available...

"@Otto: why do you think it is ok to treat me and thousands of others like second class citizens and treat us with extra pollution and noise?? What would you do if your home/road was affected - would you sit there quietly, pondering philosophically on the fact that it may or may not get better in few years time? " I do not live in an LTN. I live super nearby an A road that had an increase in traffic in the very beginning (and mine did as well - at least 10x), and, being severely asthmatic, I was affected. Since then, it has quieted down tremendously. I know when schools go back and more people start to go to work it will pick up but I've lived here a long time and the road I am adjacent to has always had periods of high traffic - concentrated around school run times.