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JE: "the microchip would be on a register to link it to the owner, as with pets."I understand how it works - my own cat is chipped. But my point is, if someone finds a stray cat, he/she can take it to a vet to be identified.But if a cyclist knocks over a pedestrian, who is actually going to retrieve the bike in order to get it scanned? Not the cyclist, that's for sure - he/she will be proceeding on his/her merry way, without anyone being able to do a thing.Oh and btw, this is all predicated on people chipping their bikes. Responsible owners will do so (in order to track if stolen etc). But there are literally millions of bikes out there, of all types and ages, often belonging to kids. How in practice do the authorities monitor whether bikes are chipped or not?And how do you tie a particular rider to any given bike? People borrow bikes all the time, or sell/gift them to others, without it being registered anywhere.And even if a cyclist does knock someone over, and the police subsequently find the bike (how?), how do they prove that the registered owner was actually riding it at the time? Or that it was his/her fault, rather than the predestrian's fault for wandering out on the road?And those are just a few drawbacks that I, a "bear of little brain", can figure out myself after a couple of minutes thought. There must be very more. Which explains why the police never show any interest in licencing/chipping bicycles.I mean, when did you last even see a bobby on a bike lol?

Richard Cathcart ● 1743d

JE: "it would have to be photo ID as with car licence."What, for 12 year olds?And how much would it cost to administer such a system? I don't know how much it costs to run the DVLA, but it must be very many millions, hundreds of millions even. But much (all?) of that can be recouped by charging for the licence.Note that the OP, in her relentless campaign to demonise cyclists, suggested charging cyclists a levy in order to raise money for TfL. How much would the levy have to be to cover the costs of the system?And how many cyclists would pay it? Adult cylists would either give up cycling and get back into their cars, leading to more congestion, more pollution and more serious accidents. Or they'd just ignore it. And for the latter, how in practice are you going to enforce it? (The police would really love that one)What about cyclists who are under-18? What if they don't/can't/won't chip their bike and get photo ID? What do you propose to do to them? Have the police set-up spot checks for kids cycling to school, then haul them up in court and fine them because their bike hasn't been chipped? Or because their five year old photo ID no longer looks anything like them?And all of that still doesn't address the glaring problem with this whole hare-brained proposal. Namely, that of an errant cyclist who may have registered photo ID and had his bike chipped, but who then knocks down a pedestrian on the pavement before riding off.How is the photo ID and chip going to identify him and his bike and prove his offence after the event?

Richard Cathcart ● 1743d

The contradiction is citing a concern in identifying those responsible for hit-and-run fatalities while promoting measures that don't actually address the problem. As for accusations of data manipulation (are you really questioning that car drivers are responsible for the vast majority of hit-and-run fatalities?), you might like to see what others at Imperial are contributing before making such baseless accusations: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/225113/active-travel-revolution-imperial-experts-contribute/"One paper demonstrated the huge potential for walking and cycling to contribute to climate change mitigation. Analysis of longitudinal data from seven European cities found that cyclists had 84 per cent lower life cycle CO2 emissions than non-cyclists. Another paper showed that in urban areas cycling has also been associated with good self-perceived health, mental health, vitality and fewer feelings of loneliness. A third paper was referenced to demonstrate that taking up cycling, or increasing existing levels of cycling, is associated with a lower BMI than car use.""The report also points to the harm caused by raw materials and production processes associated with vehicle production, which alone will stop us achieving a fair and zero-pollution mobility system. Professor Mary Ryan, Vice-Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Engineering and College Champion for Zero Pollution, is quoted responding to this issue: "[the move to electric could lead to us] reaping problems from mining the critical materials used in batteries, most of which doesn’t take place in this country. That’s not taking a global approach to pollution: it’s simply offshoring our problems."Mary Ryan was recently appointed Vice Provost for Research at Imperial. Emma McCoy, who was lead author on the paper that showed no link between cycling lanes and congestion, is now Vice Provost for Education.

Tom Pike ● 1742d

Had an interesting chat during a zoom call yesterday with someone who has some insight into the politics at TfL.He pointed out that, unlike for the rest of the country the Active Travel funding from central government is not a separated but comes within the overall budget. So whatever TfL gets it is obliged to hypothecate a certain amount for cycling and walking projects. The amount and how it is spent is currently being largely dictated by Andrew Gilligan. Initially the money was distributed fairly evenly between boroughs with sums divided up into hundreds of thousands of pounds per project but now there is a concentration on a smaller number of schemes which are temporary in name only but being built on a 'semi-permanent' basis with much more impactful construction work being done. This includes Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham's work on Cycleway 9.The thinking among some at TfL is that Gilligan has seen the writing on the wall and is now trying to ensure his legacy by making the installed infrastructure expensive to remove.What is widely anticipated at TfL is that under the next Prime Minister they will no longer be punished in the way that they have been under Johnson and there will be no micro-management but they will remain severely financially constrained. As Active Travel has seen funding increase over the last two years whereas other services are being starved of cash there will be a course correction with a focus on revenue generating services. Active Travel funding will depend on what the government is prepared to give on top of the general funding package.Quite what this means for Chiswick's public transport and Cycleway 9 isn't that clear but I got a strong recommendation to keep an eye on the On London web site - onlondon.co.uk which apparently has by far the best coverage of what is actually going on here.

Francis Rowe ● 1730d

Francis contributes with some very interesting behind-the-scenes information.Richard contributes with whatever it is that Richard does. Though I haven't a clue what that is except to harass Loraine.Like it or not TfL is on some level a for-profit enterprise. As Francis points out, any entity bleeding money will at some point implement a course correction. And thus all manner of road users, especially those who demand an exceptional (as in not the norm) new system be put in place will be forced to pay their dues like every other road user. It's funny to me that with COVID upending every single business model and forcing them to evolve, somehow cyclists steadfastly maintain it won't ever touch them. Everyone else on the planet, yes. Cyclists, no. And for those age-old arguments that no government has seen it possible to implement charging cyclists, please would someone be so kind to point us all toward those governments who have finished with balancing budgets in a post-COVID world? You know, the one that hasn't arrived, yet let's use out-dated logic and apply it to the current circumstances and expect to get away with it. And as for the idiocy of putting off all those cyclists who gallantly are saving the world for all of us one pedal push at a time, surely you could cough up a paltry amount and then, if you don't, pay the fine for not doing so? Say double or triple the initial amount? It's called incentive folks. And if you're so dead set on saving the planet and bigging yourselves up, it's a small price to pay, no? Suddenly not interested in saving the planet because it costs you £50 per annum? Really? So what, you'll start driving again? Taking the bus? Tube? Become hypocrites?

David Lesniak ● 1730d