More clear space for bicycles on Kennington Road

Good to see Lambeth have put in a cycle lane that not only gives some wide clear space to cyclists but also enables and encourages them to stay out of the door zone of the parked police vehicles.

New Bike Shop on Kennington Road

Brian and Richard, above, opened Balfe's Bikes next to the South London Pacific pub just south of Kennington Cross yesterday. It's so new the name board hasn't yet arrived - it's the shop with the red fascia below. I'm giving them an enthusiastic welcome as the owners are also involved in BC Bikes in East Dulwich which donated old shop fittings to the Pedal Power Kennington community project. They're Cytech qualified mechanics so you can be assured they know what they're doing when you take your bike in for a service. Drop in quickly and you might get one of a limited edition of badges which give a longterm 15% discount at the shop.

As you can see there's no cycle parking along this parade, despite a wide pavement and thousands of cyclists passing each day. The road is managed by Transport for London and you've got to wonder why they haven't sorted decent cycle parking out anywhere along here. I suppose that people stopping to shop wouldn't help TfL's obsession with meeting Boris's key objective - Smoothing Traffic Flow through preventing the stop-start journeys that bikes are so useful for.

Veteran and Future Cars in Kennington Sat 6, Sun 7 Nov

This Saturday 6th November sees the RAC's inaugural Brighton to London Future Car Challenge (BLFCC), for Electric, Hybrid and Low-Emission ICE vehicles to use the lowest energy on a 60 mile route from Madeira Drive, Brighton to Pall Mall & Regent Street, London.

10.30 - noon appear to be likely times for these cars to motor through Kennington Road.

Sunday 7th sees the RAC's London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, in Kennington between 07.10 and 09.15.

The annual event takes place on the first Sunday of every November and commemorates the Emancipation Run of 14 November 1896 which celebrated the passing into law of the Locomotives on the Highway Act, which raised the speed limit for 'light locomotives' from 4 mph to 14 mph and abolished the requirement for these vehicles to be preceded by a man on foot.

It's fun looking at a few ancient or future cars. It's when you multiply up the numbers that it becomes apparent that congestion and huge environmental damage must result even if you make vehicles superficially greener - and yes, that is an electric Range Rover competing.

In 2009 there were 61,792,000 people in the UK with a staggering one car between every two people (all the more staggering since 12m of the population is under 16!)

In 2010 the Telegraph reported there are 31,035,791 cars on British roads, the first fall in numbers since the second world war.

Phew, you may think, people are seeing the light. Don't bet on it:

The RAC Foundation's director, Stephen Glaister, expressed surprise at the figures.
“This is likely to be a blip rather than the start of a trend. The population is forecast to rocket by ten million in the next couple of decades and these people will need to get about," he said.

"We know people are driving less on an individual basis, and lifestyle changes might mean more people working from home in the future, but with nine out of ten passenger journeys already being made on the roads population growth – and economic recovery – will almost inevitably mean more cars.

"The challenge is to make these vehicles greener, and with average new car CO2 emissions steadily falling that challenge is already being met.”

He is wrong. The challenge is to reduce our car dependency and car ownership. Car clubs and hire, public transport, and amenities within active travel distance of people's houses are the sane option.

Many people are scared of walking and cycling due to the aggressive dominance of motor traffic and this needs to be rebuffed. Maybe in a tweak on history, in the future motor vehicles should be preceded by a cyclist - a practice which is already happening in parts of central London ;-)

Cyclists can join in the Veteran Car Run and Young Lewisham and Greenwich Cyclists have a group ride - Kennington residents can intersect with them at East Croydon.

Why isn't the cyclist shopping?

Kennington Road is used by hundreds, if not thousands, of people on bikes everyday. Like other people, they probably like to browse in a bookshop, get food from a deli, check out the estate agent's window or buy a bottle of wine. So why don't these people on bikes (like the person cycling past the bus stop in the photo) ever stop here to nip into a shop?

It's the same simple reason these people on bikes never stop to shop on the other side of the road either - there are no signposts that you can fit a D-lock around to park a bike, no railings and no cycle parking stands.

The number of A-frame advertising boards on the pavements suggests the retailers are desperate for passing trade. Just imagine if the retailers had invested in Sheffield Stands instead of A-frames - what a wealthier bunch they would be.