It’s a worry so both carrots and sticks need to be deployed.What worries me the most is what was mentioned in the article: people will be afraid to use public transport, and so the roads will end up being choked with even more cars than before, making cycling less safe.Australia will be no different to the UK in this regard, as car use is just as entrenched here.
I am, or was, that nutter. Both traffic volume and average speeds rise on the good weather, so any thoughts that you're safer from being wiped out by a car on a nice day are decidedly wrong.
. It was regarding whether or not I "needed" a car to get to work. At the time I was doing agency work, driving HGV's. No fixed routine with regards to hours or even workplace. I was regularly doing 6/7 am starts, 25 miles away from home (at best), and shifts varying from 10 to 15 hour days. A 25 mile each way commute on busy, narrow trunk roads (A760 Haylie Brae if anyone knows it 
), in the dark and probably wind and rain too as this is the west of Scotland. Not a chance in hell of me risking my life and health on that one.
Most of the population lives and works in the big cities, so let’s start where it is possible to make a change.
That's an interesting statement, do they, I have always envisaged that more people live over 8+ miles from a city centre, be interesting to know which is fact
There was the longest time when I did all sorts of hours and was only fit for my bed when they were done, so I get exactly what you mean.
I did wonder myself if even there would be a difference between north and south.
I guess it depends on how you define cities. My point was that there are millions of people within easy (e-)bike range of work, even if many are not.
I know exactly where you are and cycling the Haylie Brae on a cold and wet January morning are not for me.I remember years ago having a lengthy "discussion" on this forum with certain members who used to be regulars on the politics board, but have mostly flounced off now. Hallelujah
I think what I'm trying to say is that everyone's circumstances are different. The days of moving house to be closer to work are gone, too. That's thanks to short term contracts, or NO contracts. Jobs for life seem to be a thing of the past, we need to keep upskilling or whatever the feck they call it this week, then moving on when the next lot of redundancies come along. I've had to do it myself several times in recent history, and each reskilling has been expensive. £2000 for a clean but utterly useless HGV class 1 licence, anyone? It allows me the privilege of driving artics for about £11 per hour (less 45 minutes for statutory and compulsory break). Feck that. Especially when they make you do CPC training every 5 years, another £400 down the drain (not including the 5 days loss of earnings for actually attending the courses)..
I now work as a part time handyman at a care home 1 mile from home. In February, in case we've all forgotten, there was hardly a day when there weren't gale force winds and heavy rain. Even for a reasonably keen and weather beaten cyclist, I was sorely tempted to take the car some mornings. Actually, being an honest type, there were mornings when I did take the car.
Mass cycle commuting outside of the big cities? Pie in the sky idea.
Really?
