Carlton Reid

EPISODE 323: Bike Advocacy Woes In Motor-mad Malta

24th March 2023The Spokesmen Cycling PodcastEPISODE 323: Bike Advocacy Woes In Motor-mad Malta SPONSOR: Tern BicyclesHOST: Carlton ReidGUEST: James Craig WightmanTOPICS: Flush with EU cash Malta is deepening its car dependency by building wider…

‘EU Finance Instruments Must Gear Towards Goal Of Doubling Bike Lanes,’ Says EU’s Green Deal Chief

“There will be no climate-neutral cities without boosting biking infrastructure,” warned European Commission’s vice-president Frans Timmermans on 9 March. Speaking in Brussels at the Cycling Industries Europe Summit, Timmermans—the EU executive in…

U.K. Government Cuts Active Travel Budget

Alongside news that the U.K. government would be delaying parts of the HS2 high-speed rail scheme and mothballing two road schemes, transport secretary Mark Harper revealed swingeing cuts to England’s active travel budget. $845 million was approved…

Being Green Is Good For Business, Proves Vaude Boss Antje Von Dewitz

“When I was younger, I wanted to work for Greenpeace or the World Wide Fund for Nature,” entrepreneur Dr. Antje von Dewitz told me. Instead, since 2009, she has been the managing director of Vaude, an outdoor clothing and gear company founded in 1974…

Bikecam To Dashcam: Cyclist Overlays Bad Driving Videos With Car Interior To Probe Motorist Empathy

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view; until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it,” suggested lawyer Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird. British cyclist…

EU’s Plan To End Sales Of Combustion Engine Cars Runs Into Trouble

A key part of the European Green Deal—the EU’s plan to become climate neutral by 2050—risks being derailed. The German government’s finance minister Christian Lindner and transport minister Volker Wissing have called for combustion engine vehicles to…

Cyclists Now Outnumber Motorists In City Of London

Cyclists are now the “single largest vehicular mode counted during peak times on City streets,” says a report to the transportation committee of the City of London Corporation, the municipal governing body of London’s square mile. The traffic count…

Cars Not Banned In 15-Minute Cities Nor Will Bugs Be Lunch

Some portray the 15-minute city concept as a dystopian nightmare where “cars will be eliminated.” This is good for YouTube clicks (ker-ching!) but false. The “city of proximities”—living within easy walking distance of shops, cafes, schools,…

Electric Bike Battery Collection And Recycling Program Started By U.K.’s Bicycle Association

The Bicycle Association (BA) is to trial a U.K.-wide electric bike battery collection and recycling service. Many other European markets already have such collection programs, usually delivered through participating bicycle retailers. The BA has…

A slice of Italian luxury in Britain: Inside the opulent Baglioni Hotel London by Hyde Park

I arrived at the opulent Baglioni hotel on my folding bicycle. In the rain. The hotel sits directly opposite a multi-use path through Hyde Park, so I got a good view of its Italianate brick exterior as I pedalled through Kensington's classiest…

EPISODE 322: Seeing Sensors With Philip and Irene McAleese

21st February 2023The Spokesmen Cycling PodcastEPISODE 322: Seeing Sensors With Philip and Irene McAleeseSPONSOR: Tern BicyclesHOST: Carlton ReidGUESTS: Philip and Irene McAleeseTOPICS: Talking smart cities, road surface data and more with the…

U.K. Bicycle Sales Fall To 20-Year Low

During the pandemic there was a global boom in cycle sales. Since then, however, sales have softened. The Bicycle Association (BA) now says annual cycle sales in the U.K. dipped to 1.88 million units in 2022, a 20-year low. The membership…

All Road Building Projects Scrapped By Welsh Government After Advice From Car Dependence Experts

The Welsh Government has today scrapped all major road schemes, placing the climate and ecological emergency at the heart of decision making on future infrastructure spending. The decision was unveiled on February 14 by the deputy minister for…

Tory MP Uses Conspiracy Theory In U.K. Parliament Against 15-Minute City Concept

In parliament earlier today, the Conservative MP Nick Fletcher used a conspiracy theory against the concept of the 15-Minute City. This principle urges it should be easy to walk from home to shops, cafes, schools, and other amenities. He told MPs…

15-Minute-City Conspiracy Theories Insane Says 15-Minute-City Creator

Cities are ruled by the “imperative to save time,” states Paris-based urbanist Carlos Moreno. Yet, city drivers frequently travel painfully slowly in their supposed freedom machines because when there are millions of these freedom machines, they can…

Berwick-Upon-Tweed? Never Heard Of It Say 36% Of Brits In Holiday Survey

It’s the northernmost town in England, its soccer team plays in a Scottish league, and, adds the local tourist board, Berwick-upon-Tweed is “famous for Elizabethan Walls, iconic bridges, thriving culture, wildlife, and beaches.” But not that famous,…

Security Startup Tackles Bike, E-Scooter Theft With Smartphone-Opened Chains Secured To Bike Racks

“If we want to get more people on bikes, cities need to address bicycle parking security issues for cyclists,” said serial entrepreneur Josh Liu, cofounder of Mosa, a London-based startup. Along with Simon Laumet, an industrial designer, the pair…

EPISODE 321: Sustainability in action: Vaude CEO Antje von Dewitz

5th February 2023The Spokesmen Cycling PodcastEPISODE 321: Sustainability in action: Vaude CEO Antje von DewitzSPONSOR: Tern BicyclesHOST: Carlton ReidGUEST: Antje von Dewitz, Managing Director, Vaude, GermanyTOPICS: Vaude was on the road to being…

Big Road Schemes Will Be Scrapped, Hints U.K. Department For Transport

The U.K. government looks set to scrap many of the large road schemes being planned from 2025. The Department for Transport’s (DfT) top civil servant told MPs yesterday that, for financial reasons, the “headroom for new projects will be very…

England’s Obesity Timebomb Could Be Defused With More Active Travel, Say Experts

Obesity is estimated to cost the U.K. economy $33 billion annually through lost productivity. The cost of the U.K.’s road-building program is also $33 billion. These two facts are not unrelated. New research showing that “obesity is an economic as…