02 September 2010

This house notes...

Cool and normal, baby
My RSS feed from the Hansard has just brought to my attention an early day motion that notes "with dismay" that, when refurbishing Birmingham New Street, they have only catered for a handful of bikes, while in Amsterdam they do it for thousands.

I have no idea of what an "early day motion" is, but I suspect it means "a weeny-teeny idea that may never go anywhere".  

On another front, the Guardian yesterday quotes as-yet-unpublished research (by the Univ. of the West of England) that says that people, on the whole, like cyclists.  Or at least, don't mind them.  The actual headline goes "Cyclists! The public thinks you're cool and normal".   Yes, just like labradoodles, but not as hairy.  I reckon the research must have been limited in its goals or hypothesis.  The real issue is one of value.  To put it bluntly, the interesting research question would be how much of a scarce resource (eg. road space) are people prepared to share with those who cycle.  This lies at the heart of both behaviour (what motorists are prepared to do when they see a cyclist) and policy choices (what politicians believe the public to want or to be willing to tolerate regarding cycling).