Streets Ahead

In this episode Laura visits Cardiff to see what the Welsh capital city is doing for cycling and making the city greener and more resilient in the face of extreme weather. In 2015 Greener Grangetown was completed a city centre project to improve water management and reduce huge volumes of water being transported to water processing plants, and to improve flood resilience. 12 Victorian streets were transformed, and the UK's first cycle street was built, with more than 100 trees planted, safer junctions and improved pavements.In 2019, the Senedd, the devolved government of Wales, enacted legislation to mandate flood management measures on any construction that impacts an area of 100m2 or more. This means developers have to include natural water management measures, like SuDS - sustainable drainage systems - which are highly technical planted areas, which sit alongside roads, cycle routes and pavements. Since then, it is understood that thousands of housing developments have been impacted. The result in Cardiff is an increasingly green city - but it all takes money and time to implement, and progress on Cardiff's cycle network is not as fast as campaigners would like.Laura talks to, in orderSimon Dooley, Team Leader - Flood and Coastal Risk Management at Cardiff Council.Cllr Dan De'Ath, Cardiff Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Strategic Planning & Transport,Daffydd Trystan, newly-elected Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution and Member of the Senedd (MS)Hamish Belding, of FRideDays Bike Bus project coordinatorLinks:Wales' sustainable drainage legislation, which came into effect in 2019, and how Welsh councils can apply them.And English standards, which aren't mandatoryAbout Cardiff's Dock Feeder Canal projectCastle Street in the city centre is Cardiff's latest cycleway with rain gardens.Greener Grangetown was 108 rain gardens removing 40,000m3 volume of surface water from the combined sewer system.Wood Street by the Principality Stadium is 16 rain gardens, 15 tree pits - removing 6,800 m2 of impermeable area from the combined sewer.The Existing and future network of cycle routes in Cardiff is shown in the Active Travel Network Map which can be viewed on DataMapWales by following this link - Active Travel Network Maps | DataMapWales. The ATNM is currently being updated, and a new version will be submitted to Welsh Ministers in December 2026 and will then be republished via the link.For ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! We’re also on Bluesky and welcome your feedback on our episode: https://bsky.app/profile/podstreetsahead.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Streets Ahead's presenters, well at least two of them, have been gallivanting around Europe in recent weeks, coming back together in this episode as a trio to embark on an audio roam through some of the current topics in cycling. From the link between bike racing and everyday cycling, to the spending review's implications, to the rise of 'fake e-bikes', a recent report which Laura and Adam worked on, we have it all here.Links from the show:The Robert Frost poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42891/stopping-by-woods-on-a-snowy-eveningCycling superstar, Cat Ferguson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_FergusonThe Spending Review: https://transportactionnetwork.org.uk/spending-review-cuts-active-travel-funding-by-40/Transport for New Homes' research on car dependency in new housing. https://www.transportfornewhomes.org.uk/the-project/building-car-dependency/ and its award for the Bath Riverside housing development: https://www.transportfornewhomes.org.uk/transport-for-new-homes-award-bath-riverside/And the recent e-bike report, by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Walking and Cycling, authored by Laura Laker: https://appgcw.org/resources/inquiries/unregulated-and-unsafe-the-threat-of-illegal-e-bikes/For ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! We’re also on BlueSky and welcome your feedback on our episode: https://bsky.app/profile/podstreetsahead.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's fair to say this issue has been rumbling on a while. In the 1970s 70% of 4-11 year olds walked to school. Now less than half do. Three quarters of parents say 'side road zebras' would help them walk their kids to school more.In countries around the world white stripes, painted on the roads where side streets meet main roads, give pedestrians confidence, and drivers a reminder, that pavement users have the priority. However, in the UK any 'zebra crossing' as we call them, needs a flashing orange beacon and zig-zag lines at either side, to be legal on the roads. While 40 times cheaper to deliver, and tried and tested worldwide, 'side road zebras' without the lights or extra lines have been rattling around the pinball machine of British transport legislation for around eight years, so far without an outcome. While they exist in supermarket car parks without incident, the public roads are a different matter.Chris Boardman, England's walking and cycling commissioner, talks to Adam and Laura about the idea, which he's backed for some time, first working in Manchester as active travel commissioner, and now, in the national role. While he says caution in transport policy helps stop stupid things happening, he believes it is now the time to move forward. For context, we've had six transport ministers in the time it's taken to mull this issue.Adam and Laura also spoke to Westminster City Council's Cabinet Member for Streets, Max Sullivan. Max is overseeing trials of ten side road zebras in the heart of London, including outside the Houses of Parliament and the Department for Transport's HQ, which he says is a coincidence.A whopping 29% of pedestrians have been hit or nearly hit by a driver at a side road. Trials in Greater Manchester found drivers give way at side roads 30% more when there's a side road zebra. Additional polling found 76 per cent of parents of 4-11-year-olds would feel safer about their child walking to school (or allowing them to walk independently) if there were zebra crossings on side roads.We also visit the issue of pedestrianisation of Oxford Street by the mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, against Westminster City Council's wishes.For ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! We’re also on BlueSky and welcome your feedback on our episode: https://bsky.app/profile/podstreetsahead.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We speak to Dr Alex Chapman, Senior Economist at the New Economics Foundation (NEF); Alex focuses on the economics of climate change, nature recovery and inequality. The Government has announced that growth is its key priority and followed up with its backing of major transport projects, such as the expansion of Heathrow Airport. We ask: do big transport projects always lead to growth, and at what cost?If you want ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! We’re also on Bluesky and welcome your feedback on our episode: https://bsky.app/profile/podstreetsahead.bsky.socialIf you're reading this, please can you take 1 minute to give us a rating and review? It helps us more than you probably think! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ned and Laura join a bike bus! This celebratory, festive episode of Streets Ahead includes an East End bike ride with tinsel, some Christmas tunes, and a joyful pedal through the streets of West Ham with adults and kids, to Park Primary School.A bike bus is simply a group ride to school, with both adults and kids joining at different points on set days, similar to a school bus. Except everyone pedals, or wheels their way together. Some bike buses are weekly, some fortnightly, some monthly. The idea is to make the cycle, wheel or scoot to school safe and fun - and to spread the word that cycling to school is possible.Bike buses began in earnest in 2019, with a handful of pioneers riding to school in groups. Our own Adam Tranter ran a bike bus with his wife and kids after fellow parents expressed an interest in their cargo bike commute: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2019/10/11/pr-company-bosses-lead-20-child-pedal-posse-to-show-council-that-cycling-to-school-is-unsafe/As pandemic-era school streets were introduced by more and more councils in the UK, restricting motor traffic at the school gates for the start and end of the academic day, more streets felt safe for cycling, and more families formed their own bike buses. There are now an estimated 70 of them - at least those that are publicly advertised.Because a bike bus is simply people riding to school together, not all of them publicise their activities. They can be as informal as a few parents or carers and their kids getting together.Some bike buses are registered on www.bikebus.org - there are an estimated 50 of these, for inspiration.Thank you to Hamish Belding, for his advice for this episode. You can follow Hamish's adventures here: https://bsky.app/profile/bikewalkscoot.bsky.socialFRideDays Bike Bus is hosted by active travel charity Sustrans, and offers support for organisers, with materials like marshal tabards and a free guide. Find out more here: https://www.sustrans.org.uk/campaigns/fridedays-bike-bus/. There are around 20 of these bike buses. Hamish says Cardiff x 8, Swansea, Caerphilly, Pembroke, Plymouth, Cheshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Dorset, Reading, London and Edinburgh. There are more Bike Buses in pipeline to be launched during Spring/Summer term – potentially in London, Wolverhampton, Tonbridge and Cardiff.Thank you to Better Streets for Newham for the photo of Ned in action: https://bsky.app/profile/betterstsnewham.bsky.socialThank you for tuning in for 2024! We appreciate all of our listeners and supporters and look forward to more adventures in 2025.If you want ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! We’re also on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: https://twitter.com/podstreetsaheadIf you're reading this, please can you take 1 minute to give us a rating and write a review? It helps us more than you probably think! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This time Ned and Laura go behind the walls of Pentonville Prison for this very special episode. Listeners may remember Stef Jones, founder of XO Bikes, who trains ex-offenders in cycle maintenance in south London to help them turn their lives around. With UK prisons full to bursting, people like Stef, along with prison staff themselves, try to break the cycle of reoffending that sees an estimated 55% of those released going on to re-offend. That figure is halved if someone has a job to go to – but it’s not an easy journey. Pentonville Prison houses those on remand, often awaiting sentencing decisions or hearings. A rehabilitation programme is challenging in this transitory population, but the team behind XO Bikes, including ex-prison officer, Paul, have defied expectations and are working with people as they return to regular life, to try to give them a fresh start.  Ned and Laura meet a prisoner working towards a brighter future, and talk with the XO team about the power of bikes to give people a second chance in life. It’s an experience Ned and Laura won’t forget, and they hope you won’t either.Find out more about XO Bikes here: https://xobikes.com/By the way, if you want ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! We’re also on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: https://twitter.com/podstreetsaheadIf you're reading this, please can you take 1 minute to give us a rating and write a review? It helps us more than you probably think! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Louise Haigh MP, the Secretary of State for Transport, joins Laura Laker on Streets Ahead for an insightful discussion on the future of active travel in the UK. From her own cycling experiences to the role of walking and cycling in tackling public health and climate challenges, Haigh outlines her vision for a national integrated transport strategy that prioritises active travel and discusses "unprecedented funding", as well as her support for councils implementing Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. Ned, Adam and Laura discuss the interview and what it means for the direction of travel for cycling, walking and wheeling in the UK.By the way, if you want ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! We’re also on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: https://twitter.com/podstreetsaheadIf you're reading this, please can you take 1 minute to give us a rating and write a review? It helps us more than you probably think! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This time we're talking with our guest about life across the Pond. If early US cities were inherently walkable, what on earth happened? Is an active travel revolution possible in such a car-centric nation? Why are there parking minimums in new developments? And what on Earth is Euclidian zoning?!John Simmerman, of the Active Towns podcast and YouTube channel, joins Adam and Laura at the start of a two month European odyssey, to talk about his work promoting active lives in the US.John spent the first 15 years of his career promoting healthy living among employees in the corporate world, before shifting his focus to the built environment and its impact on health. In the USA, roads and motor traffic dominate public space, and interstate freeways divide and segregate communities, often along racial and socioeconomic lines. John's videos and podcast promote the benefits of walkable, bikeable costs both in terms of health and beyond, to quality of life and community vibrancy.Links:You can find out more about Active Towns, and John's work, here: https://www.activetowns.org; and his YouTube channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/activetownsEuclid, it turns out, is a US village where zoning powers were first established by a local government.And Adam shared that Simpsons clip on Twitter a while back: https://twitter.com/i/status/1347530929816932353By the way, if you want ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! We’re also on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: https://twitter.com/podstreetsaheadIf you're reading this, please can you take 1 minute to give us a rating and write a review? It helps us more than you probably think.Episode edited by Clare Mansell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.