A transport expert has recommended that cyclists, as well as motorists, should be subject to any congestion charge introduced in Cambridge – the British city with by far the highest proportion of people riding bikes for everyday journeys.
Cambridgeshire County Councillor Roger Hickford made the revelation today at a meeting of the Greater Cambridge City Deal, of which he is vice-chair.
Local campaigner and citizen journalist Richard Taylor was present, and relayed the councillor’s comments on Twitter.
At present, the identity of the expert, who apparently made the recommendation during the consultation process, is unknown; road.cc has looked through the responses that have so far been made public but we have been unable to find any such reference.
Another county councillor, Noel Kavanagh – who is Cambridgeshire County Council’s cycling champion – described the suggestion as “ludicrous.”
Jon Vale, politics correspondent for the newspaper Cambridge News, was also at the meeting, which he described as both “fascinating and bonkers.”
Mr Taylor also made his views on the issue clear.
The Greater Cambridge City Deal, established under a government initiative to invest in the regions, covers the Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council areas.
Focusing on innovation-led economic growth, issues it is addressing include provision of housing and other services for a part of the UK that is expected to see some of the strongest population growth over the next couple of decades, plus how people will move around to get to work and places of study.
Part of that has included consultation on whether Cambridge should join London and Durham in introducing congestion charge, and if so, which model should be adopted.
As to the issue of which mode of transport is most responsible for congestion, an iconic photograph commissioned by the German city Münster in 1991 (see Bikehub for the background) reveals it isn’t those who travel by bicycle or on the bus.
Britih Cycling is not a utility cycling champion. It exists mainly for the racing side of things and so yes, the ad is fine....
Having watched the footage the road at that point is way too narrow for the race to pass in both directions with motorbikes as well. Poor course...
Now that's a weapon you can rely on, as the .303 Lee Enfield that came into use with the British Army in 1880s and was only finally replaced as a...
The EPS on the review bike is current-now-previous gen EPS v4 12v. It's replaced by the incoming wireless groupset which is not on this bike.
It is interesting hearing the driver's point of view and also the issue of the passenger's evidence. But as the other posts have pointed out, a...
That doesn't rearrange to form the Guardian
The bike looks, well.. mean. I'm not sure I produce enough testoterone to even look at it in the wrongway. #createmayhem
Ugh.. more strikes.. FFS not the World Champs and surely any disrutption to these world champs would affect any future bids we might have.. (for...
I thought it was talking about cycling infra in Ipswitch...?
The whole article has a weird mix of sleb-awe and ultra-cliche. Who would "dream" of such a bike other than a gushy fan of that Swede with a daft...