I've lifted the paywall on this, but if you can pay to subscribe (from £4 a month), it helps me do more stories like this!

Laura Laker@lauralaker.bsky.social · yesterday

“It’s perverse that people who want to walk and cycle are penalised because the motor traffic is too polluting". National Highways closes cycling and walking routes beside heavily polluted roads lauralaker.substack.com/p/national-h...

“It’s perverse that people who want to walk and cycle are penalised because the motor traffic is too polluting". National Highways closes cycling and walking routes beside heavily polluted roads lauralaker.substack.com/p/national-h...

National Highways closes walking and cycling routes beside heavily polluted roads

Roads body accused of 'perversely penalising' walkers and cyclists for motor traffic pollution

lauralaker.substack.com

Great to virtually visit Down Under to talk about the language we use around road safety and more!

@getaroundcabooltur.bsky.social · 6d ago

Road safety starts with the stories we tell. Discover how better language can help create safer streets for everyone. #Journalism 🎧 tinyurl.com/3sj6db4t Podcast theme music: Doctor Yes | Yari | Bensound GetAroundCaboolture.au

I'd personally love to see tackling annoying exhausts on more political manifestos. It strikes me the only people who would vote against this as a standalone issue are the ones behind the wheel of the annoying vehicles. Everyone is a winner 👌

Some thoughts on the current state of ebike news. Can the juggernaut of public opinion still be turned around? open.substack.com/pub/lauralak...

Bruising time for e-bike users and industry

Is it too late to turn things around?

open.substack.com

So @liliangreenwood.bsky.social moves on from being cycling minister... during her tenure a road safety strategy, pavement parking legislation and the third cycling and walking investment strategy were published road.cc/news/cycling...

"This is a nightmare": Instructor tells learner driver going 15mph behind cyclist in a 20mph zone; First of three Tour de France stages in the Alps + more on the live blog

road.cc

I was in Southend recently, with a puncture that I just couldn't repair. On my travels I visited two excellent local bike shops who went above and beyond to help me... and in the spirit of celebrating local bike shops here they are

I broke this story two weeks ago for @cyclingelectric.bsky.social - good to see it get wider pickup www.cyclingelectric.com/news/police-...

Call for education as police crush road-legal, council-funded Tern HSD e-bike

A legal e-bike, mistakenly seized and destroyed by West Midlands Police as part of a crackdown on illegal electric motorcycles

cyclingelectric.com

Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike@gazza-d.bsky.social · 2w ago

Can you imagine the uproar if someone's legal car was seized and immediately crushed because some woodentop made a mistake? And the Police don't even apologise or accept they made a mistake. It's good to see this go mainstream. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Now that the world cup's over....

Laura Laker@lauralaker.bsky.social · 2w ago

I realise there's a high bar for 'worst active travel routes in the country'. Maybe we need a wooden spoon comp here

Want to vicariously enjoy cycling on a pavement next to a 70mph dual carriageway in a heatwave? You're in the right place! 👇

Streets Ahead Podcast@podstreetsahead.bsky.social · 2w ago

NEW Streets Ahead EPISODE! 🚨Join Laura exploring what could possibly be England's worst cycling and walking route: shows.acast.com/streets-ahea...

I've updated the Rural Path Campaigner Toolkit with how to contact Network Rail, should this be of interest (also the new Rural Design Guidance is now linked) docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Rural path campaigns: where magic meets tarmac

----------↞↟↠---------- Rural path campaigns: where magic meets tarmac So you want a traffic-free path? You’re in for an interesting ride. Paths are magical things. On the face of it they are incr...

docs.google.com

Measures to improve air quality not only save lives, but they save money too. Surely a win for everyone - especially cash strapped councils? So why are Newham council putting forward a review that will encourage people to use their cars more? @newhamgreens.bsky.social

Air Quality News@air-quality-news.bsky.social · 3w ago

Local clean air action has saved almost 14,000 lives and £15 billion Local authority action to tackle air pollution has saved almost 14,000 lives in England and delivered an estimated £15 billion in health and economic benefits, according to a new study. airqualitynews.com/health/local...

New Rural Design Guidance aims to help councils deliver inter urban paths... but with little money for rural authorities, can it bridge the gap between hopes and reality? open.substack.com/pub/lauralak...

Rural Design Guidance aims to help deliver interurban paths

Will it help tackle landowners and National Highways?

open.substack.com

I love how Totoro somehow got into my home thermostat

A big thank you to all our construction teams across London who are enduring this heat to make our streets safer. This team are working on the new Whipps Cross Road cycle lanes in Waltham Forest. Please stay safe & hydrated - we really appreciate your life saving hard work.

New: A road-legal, council-funded @ternbicycles.com HSD e-bike allegedly crushed, wrongly identified as a motorcycle by police. Calls for education on the issue are growing www.cyclingelectric.com/news/police-...

Call for education as police crush road-legal, council-funded Tern HSD e-bike

A legal e-bike, mistakenly seized and destroyed by West Midlands Police as part of a crackdown on illegal electric motorcycles

cyclingelectric.com

Great reporting from @lauralaker.bsky.social. This incident shows a clear need for West Midlands Police to urgently review how they test e-bikes for legality, as well as paying for a new bike and issuing an apology to the rider.

Call for education as police crush road-legal, council-funded Tern HSD e-bike

A legal e-bike, mistakenly seized and destroyed by West Midlands Police as part of a crackdown on illegal electric motorcycles

cyclingelectric.com

Google AI confidently delivers something that might be the answer, or might be utter tosh. I've seen it deliver tosh enough times, for subjects that I know about, to distrust it for everything.

At the women's freedom ride, about to tow a speaker around Central London. Routes for women!

Just got my first 'we're commissioning less at the moment because of dramatic drop-offs in readership'... unclear why, it's possible people are reading AI summaries when searching, rather than the articles they relate to. So a gentle reminder to please click on the articles, if you want more of them

This pavement path was recently resurfaced by National Highways across a petrol station slip road... less than 1m separates users from the busy dual carriageway. It's part of the National Cycle Network. Why wasn't it improved? You might ask open.substack.com/pub/lauralak...

Check out this episode of the excellent Streets Ahead podcast where @lauralaker.bsky.social visits our city to take a look at how Active Travel projects have been going over recent years. See how many of our local cycling champions you can spot being interviewed! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/s...

Cardiff's Bike Routes Are Going Green

Podcast Episode · Streets Ahead · 15 June · 1hr 25min

podcasts.apple.com

I went cycling along a dual carriageway in a heatwave, as you do open.substack.com/pub/lauralak...

Your life in their hands on the *other* A27 path

Cycling a narrow pavement cycle path beside a dual carriageway in a heatwave

open.substack.com

It's 37c out there, feels like 38, and streets given over entirely to cars, without trees, are unbearably hot. We need a rethink

Tell us about your fave journey in 1 sentence - win all these books! Thanks for the signed books to @mickhamer.bsky.social @christianwolmar.bsky.social @monisharajesh.bsky.social @lauralaker.bsky.social @petedyson.bsky.social [Comp not associated with BlueSky] bettertransport.org.uk/better-trans...

Competition: tell us your favourite journey

What's your favourite journey by sustainable transport? Tell us in one sentence, and you could win a transport-tastic book bundle in celebration of Better Transport Week!

bettertransport.org.uk

@adstandards.bsky.social An electric motorbike being advertised as a road-legal e-bike here, 1500W motor with speeds over 30mph 'for the parent-child commute', with a 50 mile range on throttle alone! www.amazon.co.uk/KICKWEY-Elec...

Had a grand old time at the London Nocturne this weekend. Penny Farthings, women's race, and a lot of cowbell ringing!

I was in Cardiff in March researching an article. Welsh legislation means any development impacting rainfall over 100m2 must now include sustainable drainage. The impact on the capital city is starting to show, and it's impressive (not least for wildlife) Featuring: otter, monkey, rook/crow, newt

Streets Ahead Podcast@podstreetsahead.bsky.social · 2mo ago

NEW Streets Ahead EPISODE! 🚨Cardiff's bike routes (and new developments) are going green. Laura visited earlier this year to investigate shows.acast.com/streets-ahea...

Some thoughts, following today's cycling and walking investment strategy (CWIS3) launch, on the power of small things that together make something big

What will get people cycling?

Small things that add up to big things…

open.substack.com

[Cycling and walking update] Following news posted by @peterwalker99.bsky.social and @lauralaker.bsky.social yesterday, the Third Walking and Cycling Investment Strategy was posted overnight: www.gov.uk/government/p... Also...

Active Travel – Active England: the third cycling and walking investment strategy (CWIS3)

gov.uk