{"id":36258,"date":"2022-05-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-12T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=36258"},"modified":"2022-05-17T10:33:47","modified_gmt":"2022-05-17T08:33:47","slug":"a-design-for-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/2022\/05\/13\/a-design-for-life\/","title":{"rendered":"A design for life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
THE GOLDEN AGE OF CYCLING?<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

A design for life<\/h2>\n\n

More women are riding bikes. Here\u2019s how to keep the momentum<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

With International Women\u2019s Day and all its equalitybased platitudes behind us, we are back to the status quo. In cycling, that\u2019s a situation where males make three times as many cycling trips as females, and the women\u2019s sport is less well-resourced than the men\u2019s \u2013 but there is hope for a more gender-equal future.<\/p>\n\n

The cycling gender imbalance is a thread that runs from cycle journeys to the shops or to work, all the way up to elite sport. Dame Sarah Storey, Manchester\u2019s new active travel commissioner and Britain\u2019s most decorated Paralympian, speaks of her regret that girls are more likely than boys to give up sport in adolescence, a problem that has persisted across her entire 30-year sporting career, and continues for many women into adulthood.<\/p>\n\n

Positive change was fast-forwarded in 2020, though, when national lockdown emptied roads of motor traffic and people reclaimed the space. The numbers of women cycling rose disproportionately, and not just in the UK; around the world cities that invested in safe cycle lanes saw far more women among the new cyclists than men.<\/p>\n\n

Two years on there is a lot we\u2019d like to forget about the early days of the pandemic, but we could remember the small blessings of that unseasonably sunny spring, when life seemed renewed in nature and previously busy roads were suddenly available to families on bicycles, and people running and walking.<\/p>\n\n

Positive changes like pop-up cycle lanes, some of which have remained, help reinforce what we already know: that most people need safe roads to cycle. That\u2019s particularly the case for women, often described as an \u2018indicator species\u2019 for cycling, who are less tolerant of road danger and indirect cycle routes than men. If women are cycling in numbers, you\u2019re doing something right.<\/p>\n\n

We know the kinds of trips women tend to make are particularly suited to cycling. In the Netherlands women cycle more than men because things like childcare, elder care and shopping tend to fall to women, and these are usually local trips that involve multiple stops, or trip chaining, and are often poorly served by public transport.<\/p>\n\n

The Dutch provide a network of cycle routes, using highquality protected lanes and low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), which enable those kinds of trips by bike.<\/p>\n\n

The UK\u2019s new Minister for Cycling, Trudy Harrison, one of a handful of females to ever hold the role, particularly wants to help women, disabled people and children cycle more. She describes her local cycling routes catering to leisure but not to practical journeys, with \u201cso-called infrastructure\u201d like painted lanes doing little to protect cyclists from motor traffic. She admits pleading with her kids not to ride on local roads for fear of their safety.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

She knows decent, safe routes are needed to help more people cycle, and has pledged to work with landowners to develop much-needed rural routes, as well as expressing a desire to change the motorists vs cyclists rhetoric that can fuel the flames of animosity between road users.<\/p>\n\n

There are great hopes that Active Travel England \u2013 the new arm\u2019s length body in charge of delivering Boris Johnson\u2019s vision of a \u2018golden age of cycling\u2019 \u2013 will start to shift the balance. At the helm is Chris Boardman, who wants a legacy of his tenure to be diversity in the transport workforce, with more women and people of colour trained and employed to deliver this vision. We know we design in our own image, so a diverse transport workforce is key to delivering a network that works for everyone.<\/p>\n\n

In the sport, Dame Sarah Storey is working, via her Skoda cycling academy, to nurture young female sporting talent that would otherwise fall through the cracks.<\/p>\n\n

However, many female riders \u2013 those who took up road cycling during the pandemic when sports facilities were closed \u2013 haven\u2019t grown up using Britain\u2019s at times feral roads and are being put off as traffic returns. Sarah\u2019s work with police in South Yorkshire to educate, and if necessary penalise, errant drivers will go some way to improving this -and it\u2019s something we need to see more of nationally.<\/p>\n\n

It is eminently possible to achieve gender parity in cycling, but it\u2019s not easy. The way we design streets is discriminatory, but we don\u2019t need to look too far for inspiration. If we squint, we can imagine a future in which women feel as safe cycling as men do \u2013 but it will take more than imagination and hard work to get us there.<\/p>\n\n

\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Laura Laker <\/strong>
Transport journalist<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n

Each issue, with her ear to the world of UK cycling infrastructure, Laura will report on the setbacks our community faces \u2013 and how we\u2019re fighting back<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Illustration Harry Tennant<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More women are riding bikes. Here\u2019s how to keep the momentum<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":36670,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"24","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"24","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_24-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_24-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"July-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"July-2022","purple_external_id":"July-2022-24-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"July-2022-24-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000111757||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000111757||","purple_android_product":"com.im.cyclingplus.393","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.cyclingplus.393","purple_ios_product":"com.im.cyclingplus.393","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.cyclingplus.393","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"d6ad2395-23ab-4326-a10d-940b8b948490","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2022-05-17T08:33:52Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"bfc660d0-f6ff-41bc-a816-26fb7ec16bc6","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2022-05-17T08:33:52Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Av8Zg0Pb_QbyoFib7fsFrxg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[48],"tags":[14],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/1QJ1SLJDG1J54H519521ZS1L01PA.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/1QJ1SLJDG1J54H519521ZS1L01PA.jpg",1487,2048,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/1QJ1SLJDG1J54H519521ZS1L01PA-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/1QJ1SLJDG1J54H519521ZS1L01PA-218x300.jpg",218,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/1QJ1SLJDG1J54H519521ZS1L01PA-768x1058.jpg",768,1058,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/1QJ1SLJDG1J54H519521ZS1L01PA-744x1024.jpg",744,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/1QJ1SLJDG1J54H519521ZS1L01PA-1115x1536.jpg",1115,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2022\/05\/1QJ1SLJDG1J54H519521ZS1L01PA.jpg",1487,2048,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"More women are riding bikes. Here\u2019s how to keep the momentum","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36258"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36258"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37079,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36258\/revisions\/37079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}