Active travel like walking and cycling is a gendered issue. Don't believe me? I'll prove it to you.
First up, most of the time men are more likely to have access to private cars than women. Meaning any design that benefits cars over other modes of transport disproportionately benefits them
A year ago I was too scared to ride a bike in London. Now I’m one of @WeAreCyclingUK’s 100 Women in Cycling for 2021.
So if you’re out there telling yourself cycling isn’t for you: I urge you to reconsider. Because cycling is for everyone.
Here are my tips for beginners:
1. Rent before you buy: it’s easy to think you can’t start cycling until you have a bike. It’s also easy to say you can’t buy a bike until you know you’ll ride it.
Luckily, you can avoid this issue entirely: by making use of cycle hire schemes.
Apr 27, 2021 • 20 tweets • 5 min read
This week, I asked folks to name an idea in urbanism that they wish got more attention.
One caught my eye more than any other: induced demand.
It’s got perhaps the least sexy name ever, but it’s vital in understanding how our roads work.
So, here’s a thread explaining it.
Have you ever been driving somewhere, stuck in extremely annoying traffic, looked around at the space around you and thought: if they just built more bloody lanes I wouldn’t be trapped here right now?
Well, you’re not alone.
Apr 1, 2021 • 17 tweets • 4 min read
I just turned down a journalist request on low traffic neighbourhoods for the first time since I started advocating for them 9 months ago.
I want to explain why.
The request came from a journalist I've worked with joyfully before, from a publication I respect, and that was one of the things that made turning it down even harder.
Mar 30, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Excited to be listening in to @centreforlondon's panel session on the future of London's red routes.
We need to reduce congestion on every road in London and red routes are a key part of that.
@centreforlondon What's clear already is that red routes aren't achieving all of their goals.
Despite looking to achieve everything listed in this list, participants have their doubts as to how effective they are at doing so.
Feb 23, 2021 • 18 tweets • 3 min read
A thread on cars and fear.
Earlier this week, I was walking on a quiet back-street and enjoying the sunshine. On the pavement across from me was a dad with his three children doing the exact same thing.
The youngest of his children was out of his stroller, toddling alongside it and holding on to its side. The middle child was riding one of those plastic ride-on cars you push along with your feet and LOVING it. The eldest was asking questions and chatting with his dad.
Feb 21, 2021 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
Reading about @peterwalker99’s interview with @citiesforpeople in The Miracle Pill has reminded me of one of my favourite concepts I’ve learnt in my professional career — which is that experts pretty much all agree on where good ideas come from.
A couple of years back my work tasked me with coming up with a strategy to make our organisation more innovative — how could we start coming up with new ideas to tackle protracted problems instead of just doing what we knew how to do over and over.
Feb 10, 2021 • 16 tweets • 4 min read
This is going to be a controversial one, but stick with me here if you can: I'm worried the active travel community might have a fat-phobia problem.
Full disclosure: I'm fat, or obese if we go by the BMI measure, and I have never once faced any hostility or criticism about that from anyone in the movement. It's not personal.
Feb 10, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
The thing about low traffic neighbourhoods is if they're making an area more annoying to drive in then they're probably working.
Soon residents will start asking "is taking the car the best option for this journey?" and finding most of the time, the answer is no.
Again and again I'm reminded of that saying "when you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression."
Drivers are so used to interventions being aimed at making their journeys easier that the moment a different road user becomes the focus, they can't cope.
Feb 9, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
If you want to help other women get on their bikes and discover the joy and freedom that cycling brings, and you fit into the categories listed below, then please consider joining @JoyridersLondon
@JoyridersLondon Seeing different kinds of women on bikes -- sporty women, pregnant women, anxious women, fat women, awkward women, uncoordinated women, women in dresses, women of colour, women with disabilities, mums, and everything in between -- helped me work up the bravery to give it a go.
Feb 7, 2021 • 19 tweets • 6 min read
Just a year ago I was someone who resented cyclists in London. I never imagined that I could ever be one of them.
Now, city cycling is one of the best parts of my life.
Here’s what helped me change my mind:
Seeing people like me cycle joyfully made a huge difference.
That included young women, anxious women, women on upright bikes, women with fruit and veg, or even better — a new houseplant — in their basket, people wearing skirts or dresses.
This weekend, I got together with a bunch of other Twitter friends and had a brainstorm on how pedestrians can work together to end car culture.
Together, we generated over 130 ideas.
I've narrowed these down to 19 campaign angles that have the potential to chip away at car culture -- and which we're now looking to develop into fully fledged campaigns.
But first -- we need to connect with the folks already working on these issues.
Jan 12, 2021 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
To all of those who say “the research isn’t in” on the effectiveness of low traffic neighbourhoods…
🌟🌟 Celebrities riding bikes: a thread 🌟🌟
Justin Theroux
Jan 10, 2021 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
What if I told you these waterways used to be motorways?
It’s true.
On the left is the Catarijnesingel in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Historically, this had always been a waterway. But in the 1950s the Netherlands, like lots of the world, got obsessed with building roads.
So they turned their canal into this
Dec 16, 2020 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
Here's the simple truth that most folk don't believe: traffic isn't inevitable.
We're not stuck with a set number of cars on our roads. We can control more than simply which streets cars can and cannot travel on and who has to suffer congestion.
Dec 14, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
There's lots of lessons that can be taken from this -- here's just one:
Folks who live in areas with less traffic enjoy it, and think more of our city should be made to be that way.
Government should seen this as a green light to limit traffic as best they can.
That doesn't just mean low traffic neighbourhoods. It means more cycle lanes, better walking infrastructure, greater investment in public transportation, incentives for folks to give up their private cars.
Dec 14, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
More than 10 years after starting my degree, I just got confirmation that I have been awarded a Bachelor of Arts!!!
When I started that degree I was definitely the kind of person who wanted to do things the normal way. I didn’t even take a gap year — I just wanted to get my qualifications as fast as possible.
Dec 9, 2020 • 21 tweets • 7 min read
I was today years old when I learned that bikes are feminist.
Don’t understand how that can be the case? Here’s a thread explaining why.
Before bikes were invented (in Coventry) women didn't have many choices for how they got around.
Basically, they had three options.
1 -- they could go on foot
2 -- they could ride in a carriage
3 -- they could go on horseback
Nov 29, 2020 • 16 tweets • 5 min read
THREAD: I was living in @rbkc when I first learnt how to ride a bike, by taking a @TfL cycle confident course.
But despite having the skills to ride, the roads around my home were so dangerous that I could never build up the confidence to ride a bike ~properly~
I lived just across from Olympia, where the red marker is. Every day I would walk up High Street Kensington to get to Holland Park or Gail’s Bakery or even Hyde Park — and I’d wish I was brave enough to cycle the journey.
On the left is the Catarijnesingel in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
