Rob
@rob042.bsky.social
Active Travel person - but views/opinions/statements personal. Lives in London. From 't north. Enjoys mountains, and travelling short, medium and long distances by bicycle
Pinned
Rob
@rob042.bsky.social
· Apr 13
Here's the actual reality of a bus stop bypass, at any given time, on any given day. No interactions, no danger to pedestrians, VI or otherwise... but my wife, sister-in-law and daughter can independently and safely access local amenities without fear or risk of being crushed to death.
Let's treat the unnecessary harms massive SUVs cause bystanders like we treat the harms caused by smoking, ie doing everything we can to limit the sales of these awful machines through taxes and regulation
"Action is needed locally, nationally, and internationally to curb sales of new SUVs..."
The British Medical Journal recognising SUVs as a danger to public health in a new editorial.
The laissez faire policy approach to them has led to additional and avoidable deaths.
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
The British Medical Journal recognising SUVs as a danger to public health in a new editorial.
The laissez faire policy approach to them has led to additional and avoidable deaths.
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
www.bmj.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Let's treat the unnecessary harms massive SUVs cause bystanders like we treat the harms caused by smoking, ie doing everything we can to limit the sales of these awful machines through taxes and regulation
I really noticed how many adoring shots of these horrific vehicles there were. Totally gratuitous.
I’ve complained to the BBC about #CelebrityTraitors. The repeated shots of Land Rover Defenders feel like product placement - banned under BBC rules - and it’s clearly worked, with searches for the Defender spiking after the show aired.
Faithful to Defender: How Celebrity Traitors has sent Land Rover interest through the roof
#WorldNewsToday #latestUpdates #TrendingNow #GlobalNews
#WorldNewsToday #latestUpdates #TrendingNow #GlobalNews
November 12, 2025 at 8:16 PM
I really noticed how many adoring shots of these horrific vehicles there were. Totally gratuitous.
Age yourself with gaming
November 12, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Age yourself with gaming
So important to call out all of this "balanced" news reporting for what it is increasingly becoming (or indeed has been for a good while): client journalism.
While ostensibly about one academic’s experiences with the NYT, the central point about the sheer, relentless march of, “critics say”, false-balance journalism should be read and understood by anyone involved in or just interested in the news.
November 9, 2025 at 12:08 PM
So important to call out all of this "balanced" news reporting for what it is increasingly becoming (or indeed has been for a good while): client journalism.
Reposted by Rob
@bmj.com, a renowned health journal, slams car bloat:
"Cars are becoming steadily larger, [and] with this comes potential harms to health...Action is needed locally, nationally, and internationally to curb sales of new SUVs and to reduce their presence in urban areas."
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
"Cars are becoming steadily larger, [and] with this comes potential harms to health...Action is needed locally, nationally, and internationally to curb sales of new SUVs and to reduce their presence in urban areas."
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
November 8, 2025 at 1:09 PM
@bmj.com, a renowned health journal, slams car bloat:
"Cars are becoming steadily larger, [and] with this comes potential harms to health...Action is needed locally, nationally, and internationally to curb sales of new SUVs and to reduce their presence in urban areas."
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
"Cars are becoming steadily larger, [and] with this comes potential harms to health...Action is needed locally, nationally, and internationally to curb sales of new SUVs and to reduce their presence in urban areas."
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
Reposted by Rob
Led ride around Hackney this Sunday, starting at 11am from the Rio Cinema. Taking in a good portion of the borough and its cycleways / LTNs. Weather is looking, quite frankly, ridiculously good for November!
See the link below to sign up:
See the link below to sign up:
Hackney Cycle Ways 20km Loop - London Cycling Campaign
Join us for a ride round the borough, taking in many of Hackney’s cycle tracks, low traffic neighbourhoods, Cycleways and parks. Dalston, Millfields, Chatsworth, Hackney Central, Well St Common, Londo...
lcc.org.uk
November 7, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Led ride around Hackney this Sunday, starting at 11am from the Rio Cinema. Taking in a good portion of the borough and its cycleways / LTNs. Weather is looking, quite frankly, ridiculously good for November!
See the link below to sign up:
See the link below to sign up:
Reposted by Rob
Streetsfilms follows an urban planner around the “low-traffic neighborhood” of St. Peter’s in the London borough of Islington.
Friday Video: The Utopia of London’s Low-Traffic Neighborhoods — Streetsblog USA
Streetsfilms follows an urban planner around the “low-traffic neighborhood” of St. Peter’s in the London borough of Islington.
buff.ly
November 7, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Streetsfilms follows an urban planner around the “low-traffic neighborhood” of St. Peter’s in the London borough of Islington.
Why not tell drivers: "Take more care now conditions are more difficult because you can cause serious harm".. It is not a difficult message to convey, but don't think I've ever seen it. No, it's the kids who must be taught that they must keep themselves safe from adults who might harm them
I thought we were done with this victim blaming bullshit, at the very least in London from reasonably progressive boroughs, but here's Hackney telling pedestrians to dress like a construction worker to walk to the shops rather than making the environment safer.
November 7, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Why not tell drivers: "Take more care now conditions are more difficult because you can cause serious harm".. It is not a difficult message to convey, but don't think I've ever seen it. No, it's the kids who must be taught that they must keep themselves safe from adults who might harm them
Reposted by Rob
A typical European car is parked 92% of the time. It spends 1/5th of its driving time looking for parking. Its 5 seats only move 1.5 people. 86% of its fuel never reaches the wheels, and most of the energy that does, moves the car, not the people.
Sound efficient?
HT @ellenmacarthurfdn.bsky.social
Sound efficient?
HT @ellenmacarthurfdn.bsky.social
November 4, 2025 at 10:33 PM
A typical European car is parked 92% of the time. It spends 1/5th of its driving time looking for parking. Its 5 seats only move 1.5 people. 86% of its fuel never reaches the wheels, and most of the energy that does, moves the car, not the people.
Sound efficient?
HT @ellenmacarthurfdn.bsky.social
Sound efficient?
HT @ellenmacarthurfdn.bsky.social
Which is better?
A before-and-after video instead of just an image, Rue Landouzy in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, in order to keep the full image ratio and show the whole of the young new tree in the foreground ;)
October 29, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Which is better?
Reposted by Rob
It’s that time of year again when “safety” organisations crack out their victim blaming campaigns telling pedestrians and people on bikes to dress for battle rather than their destination and wear high vis clothing to be seen instead of focusing on the real source of danger - drivers.
October 27, 2025 at 9:17 PM
It’s that time of year again when “safety” organisations crack out their victim blaming campaigns telling pedestrians and people on bikes to dress for battle rather than their destination and wear high vis clothing to be seen instead of focusing on the real source of danger - drivers.
Camden and Islington embarrassing Hackney by doing the necessary to keep people on bikes safe from the main causes of death and injury at junctions. The Pembury Circus scheme should shame all those involved in its implementation.
Well done Camden Council. Every main road junction in London needs this! youtu.be/8udnIiMDPxQ?...
York Way, Agar Grove and Brewery Road | Camden Council Healthy Junction consultation
YouTube video by CamdenCouncil
youtu.be
October 24, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Camden and Islington embarrassing Hackney by doing the necessary to keep people on bikes safe from the main causes of death and injury at junctions. The Pembury Circus scheme should shame all those involved in its implementation.
Reposted by Rob
Your occasional reminder that opposing #ActiveTravel is a really poor choice of wedge issue to run on.
Yet another election where a noisy online minority against LTNs doesn’t translate to the ballot box.
The three candidates campaigning explicitly to halt and remove the LTN in the Moseley by-election received a combined total of just 11.4% of the vote.
The three candidates campaigning explicitly to halt and remove the LTN in the Moseley by-election received a combined total of just 11.4% of the vote.
October 24, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Your occasional reminder that opposing #ActiveTravel is a really poor choice of wedge issue to run on.
"The appeal of endurance sports isn’t just getting somewhere that it would have been quicker to travel to in a machine. It’s about becoming the sort of person who can run [far] despite the physical toll and hardship. Our efforts may not always change the world, but they often change ourselves."
When my kids wrote a song using AI, all I could think was: you missed the fun part | Myke Bartlett
When my kids wrote a song using AI, all I could think was: you missed the fun part | Myke Bartlett
The arrival of AI is a chance to remind kids that the joy of creativity is not in what you made, but in the process of making it
www.theguardian.com
October 20, 2025 at 3:26 PM
"The appeal of endurance sports isn’t just getting somewhere that it would have been quicker to travel to in a machine. It’s about becoming the sort of person who can run [far] despite the physical toll and hardship. Our efforts may not always change the world, but they often change ourselves."
This would, at a stroke, improve our high streets immeasurably.
Betting firm threatens to end its entire High St presence if it has to pay any more tax bit.ly/4qhaL1j yet another in the too rich and too important to pay tax series
If gambling tax rises, we’ll shut all our 1,300 shops, warns Betfred
Increased levies expected to be imposed in next month’s budget could cost the company 7,000 jobs, according to Joanne Whittaker, the chief executive
bit.ly
October 20, 2025 at 6:28 AM
This would, at a stroke, improve our high streets immeasurably.
My kids have never said "yay!, let's go in the car", whereas they love hopping on the cargo bike
Love this on e-cargo bikes & family life:
“Forgoing a second car may have been the reason we bought it, but it was simply more fun to see my son grinning on the bike.”
“You see the joy that the kids get out of it, the time you get to spend with them … [and] it encourages you to use it more.”
“Forgoing a second car may have been the reason we bought it, but it was simply more fun to see my son grinning on the bike.”
“You see the joy that the kids get out of it, the time you get to spend with them … [and] it encourages you to use it more.”
Load and behold: should you opt for an electric cargo bike over a second car?
Cargo ebikes are ideal for the millions of short-distance car trips Australians take every day. Here’s how to make one work for you
www.theguardian.com
October 18, 2025 at 7:18 AM
My kids have never said "yay!, let's go in the car", whereas they love hopping on the cargo bike
Beautifully put
October 16, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Beautifully put
This. If they aren't fucking *looking*, it doesn't matter what radioactive nonsense you're wearing.
What drivers see no matter what you wear:
October 16, 2025 at 9:30 PM
This. If they aren't fucking *looking*, it doesn't matter what radioactive nonsense you're wearing.
I really hope this is a feature of the upcoming Hackney transport strategy... The double parked roads near me are getting narrower each year as the SUVs swell in size😳 Over to you @sarahwoodberrydown.bsky.social 🤞
Bravo Cardiff.
“It’s only fair that those driving the biggest, heaviest and most polluting vehicles pay more for the extra space and danger they bring” - Spot on from @olord.bsky.social
Important: two-thirds (66%) of respondents to the related consultation agreed larger vehicles should pay more.
“It’s only fair that those driving the biggest, heaviest and most polluting vehicles pay more for the extra space and danger they bring” - Spot on from @olord.bsky.social
Important: two-thirds (66%) of respondents to the related consultation agreed larger vehicles should pay more.
Cardiff becomes first UK council to impose higher parking charges on larger vehicles
Premium charge aims to combat steep rise in SUVs and other larger vehicles which are ‘a danger to other road users’
www.theguardian.com
October 16, 2025 at 7:12 PM
I really hope this is a feature of the upcoming Hackney transport strategy... The double parked roads near me are getting narrower each year as the SUVs swell in size😳 Over to you @sarahwoodberrydown.bsky.social 🤞
Reposted by Rob
Bravo Cardiff.
“It’s only fair that those driving the biggest, heaviest and most polluting vehicles pay more for the extra space and danger they bring” - Spot on from @olord.bsky.social
Important: two-thirds (66%) of respondents to the related consultation agreed larger vehicles should pay more.
“It’s only fair that those driving the biggest, heaviest and most polluting vehicles pay more for the extra space and danger they bring” - Spot on from @olord.bsky.social
Important: two-thirds (66%) of respondents to the related consultation agreed larger vehicles should pay more.
Cardiff becomes first UK council to impose higher parking charges on larger vehicles
Premium charge aims to combat steep rise in SUVs and other larger vehicles which are ‘a danger to other road users’
www.theguardian.com
October 16, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Bravo Cardiff.
“It’s only fair that those driving the biggest, heaviest and most polluting vehicles pay more for the extra space and danger they bring” - Spot on from @olord.bsky.social
Important: two-thirds (66%) of respondents to the related consultation agreed larger vehicles should pay more.
“It’s only fair that those driving the biggest, heaviest and most polluting vehicles pay more for the extra space and danger they bring” - Spot on from @olord.bsky.social
Important: two-thirds (66%) of respondents to the related consultation agreed larger vehicles should pay more.
Cardiff gets it!
Cardiff will be the first UK city to introduce a surcharge for oversized SUVs and trucks, "while very large vehicles – those over 3,500kg – will be excluded from residential permits entirely."
Cardiff set to tackle SUV 'carspreading' in UK first
Cardiff Council is set to become the first local authority in the UK to introduce higher parking charges for SUVs and other heavy vehicles, in a move campaigners say will make city streets safer and f...
nation.cymru
October 16, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Cardiff gets it!
Reposted by Rob
It is possible to differentiate between DIY e-bikes and manufactured e-bikes, so says the Australian state of New South Wales, which has now banned DIY from its trains, all the while still encouraging manufactured e-bikes.
www.cyclingelectric.com/news/e-bikes...
www.cyclingelectric.com/news/e-bikes...
Australian state bans DIY e-bikes on trains, permits manufactured models
Australian state New South Wales has got its head around the difference between a DIY e-bike and a manufactured product,
www.cyclingelectric.com
October 10, 2025 at 11:49 AM
It is possible to differentiate between DIY e-bikes and manufactured e-bikes, so says the Australian state of New South Wales, which has now banned DIY from its trains, all the while still encouraging manufactured e-bikes.
www.cyclingelectric.com/news/e-bikes...
www.cyclingelectric.com/news/e-bikes...
@sarahwoodberrydown.bsky.social hi- FYI the Chatsworth Road camera has been knocked off angle (it's now pointing at the sky) - there's an adjacent cctv camera on Clifden Road so probably possible to identify the vandals that did it.
October 8, 2025 at 7:46 AM
@sarahwoodberrydown.bsky.social hi- FYI the Chatsworth Road camera has been knocked off angle (it's now pointing at the sky) - there's an adjacent cctv camera on Clifden Road so probably possible to identify the vandals that did it.
This is an incredibly powerful way to frame your argument. It got me a few years ago via a Greta T speech to the UN: "My grandchildren one day will ask me about YOU (room full of powerful old men)". Not that I have much in common with them, but I quit my job and went to work for a local authority
There will be a day when we sit our grandchildren on our knees and we tell them...
October 6, 2025 at 8:36 AM
This is an incredibly powerful way to frame your argument. It got me a few years ago via a Greta T speech to the UN: "My grandchildren one day will ask me about YOU (room full of powerful old men)". Not that I have much in common with them, but I quit my job and went to work for a local authority
Every morning I wake up and see various bits of horrific news from the US, and the Manics' "If you tolerate this, your children will be next" pings into my head.
October 6, 2025 at 6:46 AM
Every morning I wake up and see various bits of horrific news from the US, and the Manics' "If you tolerate this, your children will be next" pings into my head.