Category Archives: Car dependence

Squeezing out walking and cycling for a few extra car parking spaces – local planning in action

Posted on July 18, 2017 by aseasyasriding

Why do we want people to walk and cycle for short trips, instead of driving? One of the main reasons, of course, is public health. If we cycled as much as the Dutch and the Danes in urban areas, figures … Continue reading →

Posted in Car dependence, Horsham, Horsham District Council, Infrastructure, Parking, Town planning, Walking, West Sussex County Council | 15 Comments

Right and wrong solutions to urban congestion

Posted on November 30, 2016 by aseasyasriding

When I arrived in St Albans on a Saturday morning earlier this month, I encountered a long, completely static queue of motor vehicles. It turned out they were all waiting to enter the Christopher Place car park in the city … Continue reading →

Posted in Car dependence, Congestion, Department for Transport | 19 Comments

Transport choice

Posted on March 2, 2016 by aseasyasriding

What does ‘mass cycling’ mean? It doesn’t mean everyone has to cycle, for every single trip. It’s worth bearing in mind that, even in the Netherlands, where cycling is a universal mode of transport, cycling only accounts for 27% of all … Continue reading →

Posted in Car dependence, Cycling policy, Infrastructure, The Netherlands, Transport choice | 7 Comments

Entrenching car dependence with brand new development

Posted on August 18, 2015 by aseasyasriding

A few months ago I commented on the new Waitrose/John Lewis retail site in Horsham, principally in relation to the way the visualisations of the (then yet to be opened) new development ducked the problematic issue of a very busy road severing the site … Continue reading →

Posted in Car dependence, Horsham, Horsham District Council, Infrastructure, Town planning, West Sussex County Council | 35 Comments

West Sussex and LSTF money – Albion Way

Posted on April 7, 2015 by aseasyasriding

This is the second post in a series examining the ways in which West Sussex County Council are spending the £2.46m of cash they received from the Department for Transport, in the form of the Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF), … Continue reading →

Posted in Car dependence, Horsham, Infrastructure, Traffic lights, West Sussex County Council | 13 Comments

Natural character

Posted on December 17, 2014 by aseasyasriding

What is ‘natural’? The word, formally, means something that is not made, or caused, by humans. But this strict definition is very rarely employed. We use the word ‘natural’ to describe all kinds of things that are not ‘natural’ at … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurd transport solutions, Car dependence, Dual network, Horsham, Horsham District Council, Infrastructure, Mobility, Natural character, Safety, Southwater, Sustrans, The Netherlands, Town planning, Transport policy | 100 Comments

A ‘shared space’ vision

Posted on December 10, 2014 by aseasyasriding

Last year I wrote about how Ben Hamilton-Baillie – one of the foremost proponents of the ‘shared space’ philosophy – does not appear to be all that concerned about addressing motor traffic in urban areas. His designs are mere rearrangements … Continue reading →

Posted in Car dependence, Shared Space | 14 Comments

Bypassing the bypass

Posted on November 17, 2014 by aseasyasriding

The reduction of motor traffic in British towns and villages is not a particularly alien concept. Throughout the latter part of the twentieth century, the bypass became an increasingly familiar, and often contested, way of reducing the effects motor vehicles … Continue reading →

Posted in Bypasses, Car dependence, Horsham, Subjective safety, The Netherlands | 28 Comments

The connection between walkability and high cycle use

Posted on May 20, 2014 by aseasyasriding

Figures for cycling in Bruges are a little hard to come by, but from this Fietsberaad document [pdf], cycling in the city seems to form between 15-20% of all trips. It’s certainly the most ‘Dutch’ place I’ve visited outside of the Netherlands, … Continue reading →

Posted in Car dependence, Infrastructure, Strasbourg, Subjective safety, Sustainable Safety, The Netherlands, Walking | 17 Comments

Do you hate humans? Take it out on them through design

Posted on May 8, 2014 by aseasyasriding

Last week I was staying in Leeds for the Cycle City Expo, and the Space for Cycling campaigners conference. My hotel was quite convenient – only half a mile from Leeds Town Hall where the Expo was being held, and about … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurd transport solutions, Car dependence, Town planning, Walking | 31 Comments