Living Streets talks the walk at Brighton’s Seedy Sunday

Great to see old friends and new faces at the Living Streets Brighton and Hove stand at Seedy Sunday in Brighton yesterday - grist to the mill when it comes to making our streets more attractive, more human and more green.



Interestingly, many people who dropped by to chat either didn't own a car, or chose not to drive in Brighton and Hove. And there was a lot off support for rebalancing the streets away from people in cars towards people on foot (and people on bikes), such as the new scheme to transform Valley Gardens.

Thanks to Sam (above) from Living Streets HQ for coming along to support the local voluntary effort.
Click here for today’s report in the Argus on Seedy Sunday - a double page spread.

Living Streets takes a stand at Seedy Sunday – Brighton, 1st February

It's now just over a week until Seedy Sunday 2015, the UK’s largest seed swap event, which takes place on Sunday 1^st February at the Brighton Corn Exchange. Last year around 3,000 people visited so we’ve decided that Living Streets Brighton and Hove Group will take a stand (actually, a table!) at this year’s event.


We are looking for volunteers to help staff the stand during the day - no special skills needed, other than a willingness to talk the walk about the importance of creating safe, attractive, enjoyable streets where it’s great to walk in Brighton and Hove.
You can get in touch by dropping an email to Living Streets, Brighton & Hove Group on livingstreetsbandh@gmail.com
Look forward to seeing you there!

Walk to School: Video from Living Streets

Over 70% of today’s parents walked to school. Now, fewer than 50% of children walk to school. The Department for Transport has announced it’s cycling delivery plan, which includes a new target for 55% of primary school children to be walking to school by 2025, and is now out to consultation. Although this target was in a policy document about cycling, it’s the first time government has considered a target for walking.



As Living Streets says, it’s essential that the target stays in there after the consultation, and then there will be a need to secure adequate funding to make the target achievable. This video from Living Streets shares some favourite memories of walking to school – the campaign will help today's children enjoy their walk to school and make some memories of their own.

Manifesto for living streets, from Living Streets

For sure, all the attention is on UKIP at the moment, what with last week’s by-elections. And it’s true that the next general election isn’t until 2015. But Living Streets has got in early with its manifesto for streets, aimed at making walking safer and easier. It’s a handy primer to the main issues and something that everyone who cares about obesity, health, pollution, safety and quality of life should look at. Not just prospective parliamentary candidates. Read it here. And don’t forget to send a copy to those wannabee MPs.

Living Streets Supporters’ Conference 2014

Last weekend Living Streets held its annual supporters’ conference. This was the swansong for departing chief executive Tony Armstrong, who has been head honcho at the organisation for over seven years. As well as a set of workshops, there was a panel session with various London transport luminaries including Caroline Pidgeon, and Baroness Jenny Jones (of Moulsecoomb [Brighton!!]).

Best bits of the day? A walk around Kings Cross, which highlighted some of the best features of this rapidly changing area - pedestrian prioritising - with some of the worst - the manic traffic of the notorious gyratory.



Plus the keynote address by Prof John Whitelegg, a leading transport academic and a former councillor. His experience has lead him to conclude that, despite all the evidence, UK transport policy has very little connection with rationality. With all that this means for pollution, noise, carbon emissions, obesity, health, inactivity, deaths, injuries and quality of life. His presentation is available here .

“Why is Britain such a dangerous place for walkers?”

Worth reading: Nick Cohen’s article in yesterday’s Observer. The hook for the article is last week’s Greater London Assembly report about rising deaths among pedestrians in London – and what can be done to stop it.

The article is about the raw deal suffered by urban walkers (aka people on foot). Even compared with walkers in the countryside. And especially compared with all the other self-identifying interest groups, whether people in cars (aka “motorists”) or even people on bikes (aka “cyclists”).
A pity that Nick hasn’t heard of Living Streets, the national charity that stands up for pedestrians, but the gist of the article is pretty unarguable.

Should we stop talking about “pedestrians”?

And start talking about “people on foot” or “people who walk”? In the light of the debate about grim cycling statistics, there’s a great blog post on the subject Can Saying "People on Bikes" Instead of "Cyclists" Make Biking Safer? Obviously, there’s a need for proper infrastructure for people who choose to get around under their own steam on two wheels (sometimes called cyclists - there, I nearly did it). But this post goes beyond issues of the physical (design) to the psychology (the way we think about other road users), and holds that it would be better to replace the term “cyclists” with “people on bikes.” Because whether we are on a bike, in a car, on a bus or a train or on foot – we are all people. Whatever our mode of transport, we are people on our living streets.

So we need to formulate a new taxonomy of street users – and reframe the way we use the roads. Because most journeys are multi-modal: even a car journey starts with a walk. So does it help to call us pedestrians? Surely we are people who walk. Or people on foot.

Unchain the Motorist: Where are the facts?

Is the title of my piece on page 6 of today’s Brighton and Hove Independent.

Here’s the long version of the article, with even more facts and evidence. 

Another chance to walk on water in London

After the previous post about the new foot and cycle bridge at Shoreham, here’s another footbridge post, only this time it’s a new bridge for London. Whatever you think of George Osborne’s Autumn Statement,  it reportedly includes some good news for pedestrians - a £30m Treasury contribution towards the planned Thomas Heatherwick Garden Bridge over the River Thames. There have been comments about the high cost of the bridge, reportedly around £150 million - but I wonder how much a road bridge in the same location would cost. And how much fuss would be made about that?



Those who doubt the value of pedestrian bridges should take a look at the Millennium (aka Wobbly) Bridge which links St Pauls/the City with Tate Modern/the South Bank – a brilliant new way for walkers to cross the river. These bridges, dedicated to pedestrians are not so much living streets as freshwater piers, providing great place for dawdling, taking in the views, and forging new connections – the very best kind of active travel.
(Photo: Arup)

It’s my Jag and I’ll park where I want to…

….(to the tune of ‘It’s My Party’).

An egregious example of pavement parking, seen on New Church Road in Hove. For pedestrians, coping with the remains of a sadly fallen tree, a victim of the St Jude storm of late October is one thing. But for a driver to plonk a Jag on the pavement next to the remains of the tree is adding insult to injury. Would it make any difference if, instead of a Jag, it had been a BMW? Or a Mercedes? Or a Fiat Punto? Not really – except that some cars take up more space than others. Whatever kind of car it is, and whoever owns it, parking on the pavement shows a sense of entitlement which disregards the rights of the people for whom the pavement was originally put there – pedestrians and other non-motorised users.

As Living Streets says, “Pavements up and down the country are under threat from inconsiderate pavement parkers. We should all be able to walk on them without worrying about vehicles blocking our way.” Which is why, across the UK, we need local councils to introduce bans on pavement parking. Meantime, you can post photos of pavement parking here. You would cry too if it happened to you…

Letter to the Argus about cars and shoppers

Happy to see my letter challenging the myths about high-spending car-borne shoppers published in today’s Argus alongside one in similar vein from Becky Reynolds of Bricycles. If you’re in the majority of Brighton and Hove residents who don’t read the Argus (more on this later), here’s the letter.

“Chris Todd (letters, 5 November) is right to point out the importance of pedestrians, cyclists and bus users to the prosperity of London Road. Unfortunately, research shows that retailers are prone to over-state the importance of the car, and can massively over-estimate the number of shoppers arriving by car. Further evidence published in the independent report on The Pedestrian Pound commissioned by Living Streets, sets out the business case for better streets and places. Data in the report shows that pedestrians spend up to six times more on our high streets than those who arrive by car. Investing in the public realm – including pedestrianising areas and slowing down the traffic – has been shown to boost footfall and local economies by up to 40%.

It’s time that retailers (and others) gave up asserting that we need to unleash more cars into the city. What’s needed are measures which support those who choose to spend their money without using a car. Turning Brighton and Hove into an unsafe, traffic-choked and pollution-blighted “car friendly” city is not the answer to the challenges facing retailers.

Yours etc”

Living Streets letter to the Argus about trade unions, economic prosperity and cars in Brighton – unpublished

Dear Sir

Brighton and Hove Living Streets Group hope that the members of Unite and the GMB will reflect on and recognise the benefits of lower speed limits to the wider community and those who visit the city, before union officials spend their hard-won subscriptions on campaigning against 20mph speed limits – which are now the norm in cities across the rest of Europe. The UK is now playing catch up; councils which include the City of London and Birmingham are now implementing the 20mph limit because the evidence shows that it makes our streets safer for those not in cars, and means a more pleasant environment for everyone. Traffic has dominated our towns and city centres for over half a century; it’s high time that there was some encouragement for those wishing to walk or cycle in safety. After all, the streets belong to everyone – not just those who happen to be on four wheels.

If the Unite and GMB unions are serious about protecting the livelihoods of their members they should consider that turning Brighton and Hove into an unsafe, traffic-choked and pollution-blighted “car friendly” city is a great way to deter visitors, meaning that fewer people will be taking taxis and buses. Which doesn’t seem a good way to support their jobs.

By contrast, an approach that relies more on evidence than assertion has been set out in the new Living Streets report on the Pedestrian Pound. It shows that pedestrians spend up to six times more on our high streets than those who arrive by car. Investing in the public realm – including pedestrianising areas and slowing down the traffic – has been shown to boost footfall and local economies by up to 40%.

Yours etc

Living Streets call out for pedestrian crossings

Living Streets is developing a pedestrian crossings campaign, and is looking to illustrate the campaign with case studies relating to people who find it difficult to cross the road in time on crossings with signals – e.g. puffin or pelican crossings. There’s a short blog post to explain more here.

The aim of the campaign is safer, more convenient crossings for all:

• Lollipop people’s jobs should be safeguarded to help children walk to school
• The time given at crossing points should allow everyone to cross the street safely
• Everyone should be able to cross the road quickly, without unnecessary waiting time
• Local authorities should have a good maintenance programme in place to make sure all crossings are in tip top condition
• Local people should be involved in decisions about new crossings

School’s ‘out’…and walking should be ‘in’

As the summer heatwave heralds the end of the school year, here’s something to think about when it’s time to go back to school: walking to school. It’s good to see that the Member of Parliament for Hove and Portslade, Mike Weatherley, has backed an Early Day Motion (EDM) in the House of Commons which champions the importance of children walking to school with parents or carers - something that Living Streets has been campaigning on for many years. The aim of the Walk to School campaign is to encourage parents, children and young people to make walking to school part of their daily routine. The Living Streets vision is that every child who can walk to school does so. More here.

The EDM 87 (Walking To School) signed by Mike Weatherley highlights how walking to school is an important activity for improving the mental and physical health of children, as well as being a valuable opportunity for parents and carers to spend quality time with their children. The parliamentary motion also notes that walking to school reduces carbon emissions and traffic, and calls on the Government to support the Walk to School campaign.

As Mike Weatherley comments, “Walking to school is a worthwhile activity that is free and healthy. It provides parents and carers quality time with their children, as well as helping to ease congestion on our already busy roads.”

Brighton Old Town Public Inquiry

10am, Wednesday 17^th July (et sub), The Ambassador Suite, Brighton Hilton Metropole Hotel: a diary date for anyone interested in the environment in Brighton's Old Town, being the time and place of the public inquiry into the Council's proposals to reduce the domination of motorised traffic in this historic area of the city. Because there had been some objections to the Council’s proposals, and because anyone with an interest is entitled to speak at the inquiry, I decided to go along and speak in support of the scheme, which will benefit pedestrians (and other vulnerable road users), and is long overdue.

Although I'm not sure it would get top place on a bucket list of things to do before you die, a public inquiry has to count as a healthy part of a functioning democracy, what with objectors (mainly Brighton and Hove Streamline taxis, plus residents of Clarendon Mansions) and supporters (including Child Friendly Brighton and the Terre A Terre restaurant and other businesses) being given the chance to air their concerns. The inquiry follows a quasi-judicial process: on hand to represent Brighton and Hove City Council were a barrister, a council solicitor and the Project Manager of the Old Town scheme. Pro’s and anti’s all get a chance to have a say, and the opportunity to cross-examine each other. Here's a link to the materials I spoke to, wearing a Brighton and Hove Living Streets hat. The inquiry is scheduled to end on Friday, after which all bets are off until Mr Ian Jenkins, the chartered surveyor running the enquiry, goes off and reflects on the various submissions and, in due course, comes to a decision. (Image: BHCC).

Share the space, tame the traffic, Poynton -style

Even where two major roads meet (the A523 and the A5149 in Poynton, Cheshire), shared space can slow traffic, reduce congestion, increase footfall, cut accidents, works for visually impaired people…and makes people happy. See this video. (Hat tip to Professor Peter Jones at the Living Streets conference for this).

Living Streets annual supporters’ conference

Loads of interesting updates, information and resources at the Living Streets Annual Supporters’ Conference in Waterloo last Saturday. Here’s a link which gives access to the presentations, including one from Professor Peter Jones from UCL, whose talk was entitled “From urban roads to living streets.” Particularly fascinating was the material which will feature in the upcoming report of the Roads Task Force, set up by the Mayor of London, and due to be published in July. This recognizes that a street has many different uses, which includes: moving, living, functioning, protecting, sustaining and unlocking. In other words, a street doesn’t just exist to facilitate the rapid movement of motorised traffic from A to B. The snips show a couple of the slides, and the rest are available via the link above.

Why Places Matter: myth-buster from Living Streets

This new pamphlet tackles seven myths about public spaces, and concludes that “Quality places and green spaces should not be a luxury – they are really crucial to the social, economic and environmental success of our neighbourhoods. The good news is that, despite the economic challenges there are opportunities for communities and councils to make their places better.” Essential reading for everybody concerned with the vitality of the urban realm. Download a copy here. (photo: Living Streets)

Talking Twenty: Challenging the Myths about the 20mph Speed Limit

Yesterday morning I rocked up to the Hove Business Association breakfast at Sussex County Cricket ground in Hove, put on my Living Streets hat and delivered a talk on “Why 20 is Plenty: Challenging the myths about the 20mph speed limit." I’d been warned that the tomatoes were ready (why?), but none were thrown and the audience was very attentive, asking a wide range of questions – mostly about enforcement, and the attitude of pedestrians.

A couple of delegates said that they had been sceptical, but had been convinced by my use of evidence-based analysis. That was encouraging. I reckon that, in a few years time, when 20mph has become the default speed limit in UK urban areas (as it is in much of Europe), we will wonder what all the fuss was about. Click here for my slides.



Scary graphic from Complete Streets Chicago, showing stopping distances and driver’s eye view at various speeds – including the unseen pedestrians.

Talking Twenty: Challenging the Myths about 20mph

This Thursday 9^th May, I’ll be donning my Living Streets Brighton and Hove hat and giving a presentation at the Hove Business Association Business Breakfast. The talk is entitled “Why 20 is Plenty: Challenging the myths about the 20mph speed limit." More details here.