Ed, you can say what you like. Transport enthusiast it is. I'd ask not to be called anti-cycling, but when last I checked pigs weren't flying yet. Maybe they're on the red list. I'd also ask for the silly rhetoric to be stopped but I think many of your colleagues need an enemy or villain for some reason so they brand as many as they can to suit their purpose. Assuming there is one.I think it's time the High Road evolve. But that doesn't mean hodgepodge solutions. You want to encourage walking. How? A few zebra crossings here and there? I think it should be more experiential. An upgrade to the urban realm to make it more pleasant, to encourage people to stroll, idle, meet, gather, shop, etc. TfL lip service says the same thing. Our commissioner on walking has never once heralded a new era for walking. Nary a new walking project. Nor a new model for walking on High Streets. And yet he still gets paid with our money. For doing half his job. I'd love to sell people stuff and give them half of what they paid for. Could you imagine what that would do to our margins? Your margins? But we can't operate like that. How come Will Norman can? But here in W4 money is never put where the mouths are on improving public realm and walking for all. Ticking the box for a minority group does not excuse you from your responsibilities to the wider community no matter how loud you preach nor what vitriol gets hurled. You'll always note the volume (in both senses of the word) goes up several notches when your point hits home. Simply wait to read people respond to what I just said.As for the bus lane, there used to be a dedicated 24-hour bus lane from Goldhawk to Chiswick Lane on the south side. That's gone now along with the dedicated left-hand turn from CHR to Chiswick Lane. Why it was 24-hours when no other patch was remained a mystery. Why there are still bus "lanes" now is a mystery. The paltry section on CHR headed east toward Goldhawk is inane. Especially during morning rush. It is utterly pointless and sits empty while traffic idles. For what purpose? To generate more pollution? It's doing a grand job at that. There may be other areas along CHR that had dedicated bus lanes. I think there used to be one from TGT headed west toward Heathfield but I don't think that was 24-hour. I rarely went that way. But that, too, is gone. Indeed there wasn't a contiguous lane that was replaced wholesale, but there were patches here and there. And after riding with Will Norman on another route several years ago, I asked how a new cycle lane was being accommodated near Aldwych and the answer was they removed the bus lane. It is a TfL strategy. Despite the government strategy to get people back on buses to prop up TfL revenue as well as generate a green post-COVID recovery. So a contradiction worth noting. A contradiction worth resolving but when you press that point it gets you a lovely ANTI sticker for your lapel. That plus stupid tweets from Paulo insinuating we had something to do with the foxes. But about those foxes, if local government read the room, they'd know they brought that upon themselves. However it happened, whoever did it, I sense it was a form of consultation. One that could've been avoided had common respect, decency and courtesy prevailed. But nobody has an interest in that anymore. Just creating enemies where there are none for some silly game that postpones a better solution. So we all lose.
David Lesniak ● 1971d