Mayor of London Announces the 'Summer of Cycling'
by Andrew Posner, Providence, Rhode Island on 07.21.08
London Shells Out Money to Promote Cycling
As part of the $975 million USD London plans to spend on walking and cycling programs over the next decade, London Mayor Boris Johnson has launched the 'Summer of Cycling' with the simple but important aim of getting more Londoners to ride their bikes. A press release announced that:
The Mayor and Transport for London (TfL) will be promoting cycling throughout the coming months, through innovative events and the ongoing “You’re better off by bike” campaign. The aims of this campaign are to encourage existing cyclists to use their bikes more regularly, and promote cycling to the estimated 1.1 million Londoners who have access to bikes but don’t use them.
Riding a Bike? It's the Economics, Stupid!
Some of the marquee events will be the September 7th finale of the Tour of Britain, a professional bike race, as well as "the hugely popular Sky Sports London Freewheel event" where the roads of central London are closed and cyclists are allowed to take over the streets. In addition to the promotional events and ad campaigns, the city will continue upgrading its network of bike lanes and bike racks as well as step up its campaigns to educate the public as to the benefits of cycling, and the keys to ensuring safety on the road. Between Britain's high gas prices and London's congestion charge, the bicycle shouldn't be a hard sell. As with so many other things, it's the economics, stupid!
Via: ::London.Gov.UK
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Nice one Boris.
This is very good news, I was afraid old Boris would be like the rest (apart from Party leader) of his party and be against the environment.
I hope he isn't destroyed by the helmet crusaders, who seek to brand cycling as a "dangerous" activity. This reduces the number of cyclists which perversely increases injury rates.
There's little population based evidence of the efficacy of helmets, and plenty to suggest they increase harm to populations.
I loved Boris' rebellion against the helmet! I hope it continues.
Let's all stop hating cyclists so much, forget that they don't pay any road tax, how cares that they get to their destination quicker during rush hour.
Just remember that they aren't burning up the last few drops of the world's oil supply, they don't produce any pollution and they're much less likely to do you harm than a car.
BTW, does anyone know why cars are still allowed to park in cycle lanes without getting a ticket?
Gotta love Boris' ability to pose for the intro of this scheme, then annoy both sides of the helmet debate; pro-H&S and overkill, by both wearing, then not wearing one.