subject: Vicious Cycle [print this page] Vicious Cycle Vicious Cycle
We are constantly being reminded about our carbon footprint and being told to share our cars, walk to work, cycle to work, and generally reduce emissions. Along side that, is the fact that we, as a nation, are very unfit; obesity is a growing (excuse the pun) problem, childhood obesity in particular. When you consider these facts together, one would assume that the logical conclusion to draw is that people should cycle to work and, more importantly - kids should cycle to school.
We spend millions of pounds on advertising campaigns trying to get people to do this, schools give free cycling proficiency tests and you can buy basic bicycles very cheaply. On top of that there is even a government initiative where you only pay for a small percentage of your bike, you employer pays for a percentage and the government also pays for a percentage.
With the amount of money spent on such initiatives it is very surprising that more money isn't being spent on physical infrastructure such as cycle paths and cycle shelters. What is the point trying to start cycle to work' campaigns if people physically cannot do it? Why not spend the advertising millions on infrastructure - surely if it's there people will use it, they don't need to see an advert in order to do so.
My son has just done his cycling proficiency test, he is told by his teachers how good it is to cycle to school, but if he did he would be in danger; the roads in my area are a nightmare for cyclists. I am sure that the school is aware of the inherent dangers of cycling in the area as they only have one cycle shelter that can hold 10 bicycles, with 450 pupils in the school. It is a travesty.
What I would like to see is cycle routes from every school in the country within a two mile radius of the school on top of that every school should have enough cycle shelters for 20% of its pupils - at least. If it was safe to cycle, the kids would do it. It would also massively reduce the so called school-run' traffic jams. And maybe, over time, child obesity would drop.
Conclusion
We do not need to spend millions of pounds on advertising campaigns to get people on their bikes; we just need the infrastructure - if it's there it'll definitely get used.
