News
BikeBiz editor airs on national radio
Mark Sutton Feb 14 2008, 11:42am
Comments (7)
Carlton Reid will be talking cycling on BBC Radio 4 this week and next
BikeBiz executive editor Carlton Reid will be appearing on Radio 4's consumer programme You and Yours on Friday lunchtime. The programme is discussing the recent funding increases for cycling: Cycling England's £140m and London's 'Half a Billion Pounds Bike Plan'.
Reid's take? Both sums sound like a cash bonanza, but they're not:
"£140m is small change lost down the back of the sofa when you consider Britain has road building plans costing an estimated £13bn.
"The widening of the M6 motorway along a 51-mile stretch between Birmingham and Manchester is going over-budget all of the time. It’s currently budgeted at a shade under £3bn. With inflation, it’s expected to cost £1000 an inch."
Audio can be heard here.
Next week, Reid will be one of three guests on Radio 4's travel programme, Traveller's Tree. The 30-minute programme will be all about 'holidays from the saddle'.
One of the guests is a horse riding journo. The other guest is ten year old Josh Reid, son of the BikeBiz editor. He'll be talking about family cycling holidays with his two younger sisters. The Reid clan cycle toured in Northumberland in 2006 and cycle camped in the Netherlands in 2007.
A feature on the Netherlands trip will appear in the April issue of Cycling Plus magazine.
Traveller's Tree goes out live on 21st February at 3pm.
Comments
“Where will the money go?”
Posted by: DocB - Feb 14, 12:33pm
You might also ask how much of that money will actually finish up as infrastructure, the thing things that will make cycling in the cities accessible to more people. My fear is that most of the money will finish up paying for local authority staff, consultancies, feasibility studies and other office based activities leaving little left over for what is really needed, creation of cycle routes isolated from road traffic.
“Re: Where will the money go?”
Posted by: Chris Juden - Feb 14, 2:00pm
And any "facilities" that they do "build" will have lumpy bumpy surfaces, make cyclists stop at every side road or even driveways, making cycling such a slow and unattractive means of transport (look up the proper meaning of "facility") that only those motivated by poverty or green politics will cycle. Meanwhile those who are already cycling will be bullied even worse by drivers who can now see the adjacent "facility", but does not see or understand or care about its defects from a cycling point of view.
Do not misunderstand me, I wish we could have facilities "like in Holland". I've been to Holland and very much enjoyed riding on their bike paths, which are usually just as smooth as the adjacent road and always have right-of-way over side roads. But in Britain we NEVER build bike paths that are anything "like in Holland". Until we do, I'd rather we didn't pretend to.
“Re: Where will the money go?”
Posted by: carltonreid - Feb 14, 3:07pm
Give 'em a break! I think the powers-that-be now realise much of what you say, Chris. Mainly cos cyclists are not shy in coming forward.
However, it's usually LAs in charge of facilities and they don't read the manuals!
I o
“Re: Where will the money go?”
Posted by: BenCooper - Feb 14, 6:42pm
The M74 extension, just announced in Glasgow, is costing £650m for a road only 5 miles long. You could also get a plug in for Warrington CC's "**** Cycle Lanes" book...
“Re: Where will the money go?”
Posted by: carltonreid - Feb 15, 12:39pm
Crikey, just seconds to get across a whole load of pro-bike messages. And then Liz Barclay ended by saying cycling is so dangerous! At least Lewis the scientist was able to scotch some of that.
“Re: Where will the money go?”
Posted by: BenCooper - Feb 15, 12:57pm
Yeah, you wos pwned ;-)
“Re: Where will the money go?”
Posted by: m-gineering - Feb 17, 10:36am
"I've been to Holland and very much enjoyed riding on their bike paths, which are usually just as smooth as the adjacent road and always have right-of-way over side roads."
Sounds like you were given the carefully prepared conducted tour, unless there are two Hollands
/Marten