Reality is both Belgium and Netherlands are flat almost everywhere and the cycling take up is far higher in the flatlands than in the undulating regions of both countries. Has always been that way.So the kind of bikes they prefer are ideal for urban cycling.We would need a much lighter version of their bikes to be able to have mass daily use to the widest gamut of people.Currently that would be too costly for most, and bike theft is too prevalent here.Very few are ever fined, the compliance is deeply embedded in the culture.That simply does not exist here, and what is here is rapidly deteriorating. Driving standards are falling, too much emphasis in on revenue traps by automation. Far too few traffic police and thus no "good talking to's" which are often enough to correct a road users faults.Sadly, cycling is being spoiled but overcrowding in a commercial metropolis is being allowed is creating clutching at straws solutions which create other problems. No way should it be acceptable for Mass transit systems to sustain delays and journey extensions for a minority mode. Not after all the investment to make it safer, faster and reliable.Here the London Basin is very hilly. The A4 west is on a slight incline almost the entire length to Heathrow - which sits on the higher plateau of what was the Hounslow Heathlands. The land rises South and North as well. Quite steeply.It's only cycling terrain for the fit and out and out enthusiasts who relish the challenge. In other words just the same as any sport.It is not so practicable. If it were, we would have had cycleways in most of the West London developments of the 1920s onwards. Just like Belgium and Holland. Instead we have public transport networks which much was built around. The amount of cuttings, embankments bridges & inclines on all the surface railway lines reflect the undulating geography.Only the fittest will be able to use cycleways for a sustainable amount of time to any great degree, for most it will be a few miles at most and probably only in fair weather.Who want to sit next to a stinky sweaty person at work everyday? Who usually keeps their cycling kit stinking away in a bag beside their desk?How many offices and workplaces have decent shower and changing facilities if any at all ? The first priority should be to make the existing cycle highway safe, usable and attractive to cyclists. It should cost far less to upgrade and enhance than carving a route through areas of extreme limitations of space.Upper and Lower Thames Street and much of the Embankment was lined with planters during the Olympics with air cleaning fauna, to separate the pedestrians from the noise and dirt which is as much caused by building as it is vehicles. It was a success. Now removed because there's no space with the CS in situ. But it could work on the A4 and keep cars and vans off the cycleway as well.Holland use A low high Green tinted LED street lighting on Separate cycleways Seen in Arnhem just last week. These remind other road users and pedestrians of the existence of another road user group and are invaluable at junctions.Again the A4 with it's new lighting still leaves the cycleway and footways no better lit than before.We probably need really tough rules to drag up standards of cycling and uniform cycling in Urban areas but once there, Those rules like in Holland and Belgium, will probably rarely need enforcing.
Raymond Havelock ● 3034d