News Archives - Walking

Side road zebra crossings long overdue on UK roads

In France, at almost every minor side road, there’s a simple painted zebra crossing. Now that the updated Highway Code gives those on foot this same priority, it’s time for a similar approach here. Recent research by YouGov revealed that 29 per cent of pedestrians have been hit by a car or suffered a near miss at a side road.…

The case grows for school streets

School Streets deliver significant reductions in traffic not only at drop-off and pick-up times, but over the whole day according to a new report. Not-for-profit organisation Cross River Partnership (CRP) and the University of Westminster’s Active Travel Academy found improvements in several healthy streets indicators on the roads with School Streets. PhD Researcher at University of Westminster, Asa Thomas, said:…

Making the human case for fewer cars in our lives

If you’re lucky enough to have visited Delft, you’ll have enjoyed a glimpse of just how civilised a ‘low-car’ city can be. In 2019, mobility experts Melissa and Chris Bruntlett began a new adventure there. They packed up their family in Vancouver and moved to Delft to experience the cycling city as residents rather than as visitors. Curbing Traffic: The…

Tactical urbanism: Guerilla benches

We’re big fans of ‘tactical urbanism’ (low-cost, temporary changes to the built environment, usually in cities, intended to improve local neighbourhoods) – just take a look at our pop-up zebra crossing, biskiple and pedal-powered parklet projects to name just a few. It’s the reason we love the guerrilla benches described by Space Hijackers – a group that battles the encroachment…

Chris Boardman will call out councils dragging their feet on walking and cycling

Chris Boardman is to head up Active Travel England (ATE) – a new Ofsted-style organisation that will rate councils on how well they make provision for walking and cycling. ATE will be consulted as part of major planning applications to advise on provision for walking and cycling and inspect infrastructure built by local councils. Local authorities could lose funding if…