People have probably already seen this but it’s an interesting article from the current issue of London cyclist with responses from the main candidates about LCC's cycling manifesto. Had a good read this morning and thought people might be interested. Enjoy...


http://www.lcc.org.uk/documents/Apr%20Elections14-7.pdf

Still don;t get why lots of candidates have jumped on the 'Paris-style bike hire scheme' bandwagon, its a totally shite idea, waste of cash.

Ditto 'More Cycle Lanes' clarion call. Aren't they listening to what cyclists say? Thought not.

Just stop people nicking our rides, stop people running us over, and stop telling us we're naughty all the time... I don't see anyone getting a ticket for jumping red lights in cars, vans, buses ...

Yeah. Vote for Skully on May 1st

why is the velib a sht idea? please explain. (ignoring the fact that london's full of theiving opportunistic vandalising cnts that would probably find a way to screw up the system)

ive seen the viennese version of the free bike rental scheme. i thought it was great. the stations and the bikes are loaded with advertising which suggests that is what's largely funding the whole scheme. cant see any cons even if it's fully funded by the gov't.

You're right that it seems like a good idea, the Paris scheme is by some accounts quite a success too. Though I'm not sure if we need anymore 'visual pollution' by advertisers.

But, i just can't see it working, for the exact reason you are ignoring. Also I just think as soon as a few get nicked, they'll become 'cool' to own instead of rent. Anyway you'll have to walk miles to find a station, London is MASSIVE compared to Paris or Vienna. When you get there, chances are there'll be no bikes because, like everyone else, you're hoping to pick one up at Liverpool street station. Just think it smells of White Elephant.

aroogah I am not standing for Mayor, sorry. Vote Michael Hodges!

Can't. Bloody Yank, me. I'm with you, in spirit.

I must say, I am impressed with Boris Johnsons manifesto.

He proposes a crackdown on bike theft by targeting ¨2nd hand¨ bikes being sold on brick lane and also using decoy bikes!

There is a good podcast on the biek show about the velib.

In Paris they started off with about 8000 then rolled out another 5000 or 8000. It works because they have saturated the city center.

For London they propose 4000 over central London an area much larger than central Paris. Check out the podcast. It sounds like the London version would be the typical British role out of a system. Only half do the job hence it fails ences it wastes loads of money and everyone then goes what a wast of money we won't try any thing like that again. It is one of these things that needs to be done properally or not at all.

gonna read and study these later.

that ^

is all we need.

skullhead for King.

He forgot "free beer".

ok i read the article. thanks for posting this ev.

the lcc manifesto document is very good.

and encouragingly all four main candidates are saying positive things about the future of cycling in london.

and i think it is the green, sian berry, who embraces the lcc manifesto the most. so she is getting my vote.

ken is up there as well and next i think is paddick.

but i am a little disappointed with boris. cos he is a cyclist and should know that safety is the main issue whereas he seems to think that cycle theft is the main issue. and i cant help thinking that anyone who gets seven bikes nicked has got to be a bit dopey. and do i want dopey running london and spending my taxes. think not. i did expect better from boris. but there you go.

happy voting ! te he.

"I don't see anyone getting a ticket for jumping red lights in cars, vans, buses ..."

i have lived in london for nearly 15 years and can count on one hand the drivers i have witnessed going through a red light, the number of cyclists who run red lights is far greater.

(FWIW before i get chastised as a car loving motorist i don't even drive or have a license.)

there is certainly room for improvement though, a lot of cycle routes are a waste of time.

agree with somebody. i'm also working on some data at the moment that i think shows policies ken has introduced have vastly improved safety for cyclists in london (think cc and similar) although gotta admit that it is very incomplete at the moment.

also:
it might be a good idea if it were new. i do know for a fact that decoy bikes are already used by some councils and/or cycle campaign groups around high risk areas - for example, there have been several 'tracked' bikes placed around the bloomsbury/university of london area in the past, although obviously this is expensive and i guess is not done on a continual basis.

my votes? - probably green then ken, tho not 100% yet.

Thats both sad and frustrating to hear. Im sure there would be issues with the system (bike thefts etc) but I really believe a system like this could benefit London greatly. Perhaps there are greater issues concerning current cyclists but encouraging more people onto bikes will make the roads safer and put more impetus on the government to create better cycling routes.

City-bike-things are pretty hard to steal as you have to return them to a designated area - in most cases anyway. I don't think they are like this in Barcelona, but Barcelona has the most unfriendly scheme I've ever seen anyway (Copenhagen has the best. The bike's are (were? this was in 2003) secured with basically the same system shopping carts are at big grocery stores - throw in a Euro coin to unlock, and get it back when you return the bike! No need to steal!).

Anyway, designated areas make it hard to steal already as I assume the stations are pretty tough, and then if you do get one, you either have to keep it indoors when not on it, or risk getting caught with it (when locked up like a regular bike). And re: stealing them being cool - I'm not sure about this... When has looking like a tourist ever been cool?

The massive size of London, and the half-assed sounding plan do sound like the bigger problems.

Let's Go Boris!!

I know what you're saying, but I think you're looking at this from a slightly selfish point of view. The Mayor isn't going to spend a lot of effort and money improving conditions for the hard core cyclists who already ride in London. London's cycling strategy should initially concentrate on getting more people to cycle, by tackling the issues that currently prevent people from riding. I think the bike hire scheme, more cycle lanes and the 12 "cycle corridors" coming into the city will encourage people to try it.
When enough people are cycling in that they represent a significant electoral number, then we can start making more specific demands for improving security and even changing traffic laws to favour bikes over cars.

I've voted for Ken.

I believe stopping at lights after 'your' stop line is technically 'running' a red light. I see this about fifteen times per 4 mile ride.

So ner.

It won't work because it'll be a typical London half arsed effort and even if it does work, the oiks and scrotes will vandalise them within a month, there will be glue in the coin slots, drunk idiots will jump on the wheels, seats will be slashed, tires flatted... add infinitum!

I don't like to be a pessimist, but after moving into a brand new housing development that has been vandalised withing 3 months, i have little hope for this scheme?

Granted cyclists ignore red signals more than most other traffic (and almost as much as pedestrians), but where I live at least, I see shitloads of motorized vehicles going through reds on a daily basis; on a spectrum from "oops just missed it" to "some time later..."

It's a growing phenomenon.

yeah but that is obviously not what they're talking about, is it. i suppose 'technically' you have a point...

Cyclists get tickets for stopping past their stop line: beyond the ASL. Motorbikes, taxis, cars, lorries, vans all regularly stop in the ASL area, but I've never seen anyone being asked not to do it by the rozz, that's what I was getting at.

Ken's getting my vote. Boris is good entertainment value but I really don't want an Etonian fuckwit running the city I love. Any white toff who refers to black people as having 'water melon smiles' or black kids as being 'picaninnies' has some serious thinking to do about themselves and their values.

YKIMS

I loved his electoral spin that as he had a Turkish grandfather he couldn't possibly be racist...

Fuck! That's alright then I take it all back.

;)

God knows he had to try and do something as damage limitation the number of race related gaffs he's committed over the past several months. It's almost as though he believes people of an ethnic background to be intellectually inferior and in need of the support of civilized, cultured, white colonial gentlemen. Hmmm, now no way would this be a popular view perpetuated at one of the oldest and most exclusive educational establishments in a country that once prided itself on the might of its empire...

Arf. I've just noticed you icon too. Facist. Oh I found that saddle for you too, do you still need it?

to be fair Boris' missus is half sikh, he decided not to parade that around as an example of non-racism when people were accusing him of all sorts

"Etonian fuckwit"

"white toff"

?

i don't think boris is actually a racist. for fucks sake. he has an unfortunate turn of phrase though that probably results from his background, which he really needs to sort out.

going to eton doesn't automatically make a person a knob, and talking about "the might of the empire" is tosh in this context.

i was in liverpool at the time he made that particular faux pas, and whilst many were outraged, most of the scousers i knew there agreed.

Everyone knows the Nazis had uniforms to die for, darling. Got a cheapy one off fleabay but thanks all the same.

I can see Boris campaigning outside right now.

Oh, it's an Afghan Hound licking its own bollocks.

My mistake