Live blog: Transport for? TfL awards £400K to cycling+walking… £1Bn to new road tunnel; Van Aert wins legal battle against ex-team; 48-year-old Rebellin forced to retire; Things you can’t do with a rim brake; Breitbart writer has a go at cyclists +more

burtthebike wrote:

£1,000,000,000 for a new road that will increase congestion, pollution, climate change, ill health, obesity, and sever communities?  What excellent value, and I'd love to see the economic analysis of this project and how the value of drivers' time is so much more than all of those disbenefits.

£400,000 on cycling will reduce congestion, pollution, climate change, ill health, obesity and bring communities together.  Money down the drain.

Can anyone tell me what the remit of TfL is?  It would appear to be to destroy the planet and kill people.

Right in the middle of London? Signing a £1 billion contract means that by the time it's finished it will have cost c.£5-10 billion and the private motor vehicle will be a relic in museums anyway... 

brooksby wrote:

burtthebike wrote:

£1,000,000,000 for a new road that will increase congestion, pollution, climate change, ill health, obesity, and sever communities?  What excellent value, and I'd love to see the economic analysis of this project and how the value of drivers' time is so much more than all of those disbenefits.

£400,000 on cycling will reduce congestion, pollution, climate change, ill health, obesity and bring communities together.  Money down the drain.

Can anyone tell me what the remit of TfL is?  It would appear to be to destroy the planet and kill people.

Right in the middle of London? Signing a £1 billion contract means that by the time it's finished it will have cost c.£5-10 billion and the private motor vehicle will be a relic in museums anyway... 

It's about par for the course really. Ken Livingstone used the bus and tube loads was spent on those, Boris used to cycle to most places, therefore cycle superhighways and quietways were established. Sadiq uses the chauffeur driven BMW to get everywhere you get new tunnels and space for cars.

ktache wrote:

What would a single peice of cycling infrastructure look like if somebody dared to splurge £1 Billion on it?

Reckon this would cost a few bob but would be paid back in under 5 years through less costs to NHS and also through lower costs from KSIs all the whilst improving how people live. Actual cost likely to be less than HS2 + Cross rail, it would mean millions of journeys a day across the captial making zero pollution (barring e-cycle charging) all in a massively safer environment for the users and for pedestrians. Just got to change the use of the existing network to make it happen by stopping up the roads to motor vehicles on certain roads.

Could be done in less than 12 months as you're not actually building roads/cycle lanes, it would piss a lot of people off, particularly NIMBY types as it would make motoring extremely difficult for some, which is precisely the reversal in fortunes we wish to act out as this is a stick to make the change to a safer, economical and tax payer saving way to get people to move about towns and cities.

ktache wrote:

What would a single peice of cycling infrastructure look like if somebody dared to splurge £1 Billion on it?

I always wonder what it would be like if we simply banned cars from parking on the road.

At a stroke we'd free up thousands of miles of road space. I'd make no excuses either. No parking space - no car.

It would require a massive increase in funding for public transport to make up for it, but I really can't see any down sides.

ktache wrote:

Thank you for introduding me to MonkeyWrenchGang‏.

I think this was my favorite image/concept from their posts.

I think that they actually installed something like this in Edinburgh

peted76 wrote:

Davide Rebellin turned professional in 1992!  

I wonder are there any other professional endurance althletes who've been at the top level of sport for 27 years and I wonder what that would have done to him physiologically. There must surely have been some studies done, I wonder if anyone has been studied at his level/longevity.

As a side note, I guess his case could make the argument for lifetime bans from EPO, possibly anecdotally, as I don't think he was ever convicted, despite the Italians confirming his A and B samples both proved positive. 

I wonder how many pro athletes are still around from the time that drugs in their sport were huge and totally ignored by the sports administrators, in fact encouraged and have never been caught or tangled up, must be rarer than rocking horse poop?

There's a rugby league player called Gareth Ellis who turned pro in 1998 and will be starting his 21st season at the top level, GB/England international, played in the best league in the world and excelled. He did call it a day at the end of 2018 only to be recalled in 2019 putting his boots on again due to a massive injury crisis at the club. He will be 39 in May.

Given that rugby league is probably the most physically demanding sport on the planet it's ridiculous that he's been able to compete at the top level for so long.

The _Kaner wrote:

I sat in on a circuit court in Ireland. A Polish immigrant drove an uninsured car to school to pick up his sick kid. Was stopped by Gardai, at court he was banned from driving for a year and ordered to pay €1000. He pleaded hardship, he'd lose his job if he lost his license. Tough said the Judge. On the same note a tractor driver, in an unlicensed vehicle (farm use only) was found on the roads and was 2x the legal drink drive limit. He also pleaded hardship, it would certainly hamper his ability to drive on the road, but not private land. Fined €500 and no ban, but 6 points on his license. It's not related to cycling, but you can see it demonstrates the apparent unfairness in sentencing handed out to individuals... Especially if you're not an Irish native...

First judgement, spot on. There is no excuse for driving an uninsured vehicle. 

Second judgement. An outrage. IMO the tractor driver is all the more culpable (drink driving aside) because he knows that his livelyhood depends on having a driving licence and should therefore be all the more aware of the potential consequences of his actions. 

iandusud wrote:

He (Delingpole) also described himself as discriminated against because he is a "white, middle-aged, public-school-and-Oxbridge educated middle-class male."

I must say I do feel sorry for the way white, middle-aged, public-school-and-Oxbridge educated middle-class males are discriminated against. They go for low paid, zero hours contract jobs, but are always turned down and made to do those horrible high salary, long lunch break paid for on expenses account, jobs. And on top of that they're expected to abide by driving laws, which were clearly never intended to apply to them. It's an outrage!

He should go back and do another seven years at his public school and this time I hope they do a better job of beating that pathetic, whinging, self-pitying attitude out of him.

hawkinspeter wrote:

That Dublin sentence just shows how seriously road safety is treated by the courts - not at all.

This is quite unbelievable. The driver has 6 previous driving convictions, including dangerous driving, and has therfore clearly demonstrated that he has no regard for the law, the leniency he has already been shown by the courts, and that he is a danger to the general public. As I have expressed here before I'm not a believer in throwing everyone in prison but this is exactly what the prison system is for, protecting the general public from people who pose a threat and who have no regard for the law. I'm also surprised that in the original article there is no mention of a driving ban. This is definitely a case that warants a life ban - would you want to see him behind the wheel of a car again?

brooksby wrote:

I'm not sure anyone who works for Breitbart counts as a "real" journalist... 

Nor does it count as noteworthy comment (even for a liveblog on a slow day). This is just providing them the clicks / attention / trending effect they need for self-gratification/ broadening their reach to spew more hatred

jfparis wrote:

brooksby wrote:

...

Nor does it count as noteworthy comment (even for a liveblog on a slow day). This is just providing them the clicks / attention / trending effect they need for self-gratification/ broadening their reach to spew more hatred

Happy now? 

(I didn't realise we were supposed to consider whether our comments were worthy of keeping for posterity...).

brooksby wrote:

jfparis wrote:

brooksby wrote:

...

 

Happy now? 

(I didn't realise we were supposed to consider whether our comments were worthy of keeping for posterity...).

Oh no!

Your comment was actually very relevant & this was not directed at you (except if you edit the blog). How does the whole thing counts as a story resulting in more promotion for this troll is the real issue