The Contribution of Cycling to Hull's Carbon Neutral 2030 Commitment
The first article contributed to the website is courtesy of Kevin Paulson. Having recently retired from being a lecturer at the University of Hull, Kevin is Secretary of the Hull & East Riding Green Party, has worked extensively with Hull Friends of the Earth, and gets around the city by bike. In this abridged article he summarises the barriers he sees to cycling being used as a tool in Hull's fight against climate change; the full version of the article can be read here. The first paragraph raises a very good point about the focus on electric vehicles (EVs) - research now shows that cycling will be 10x more important than EVs for transport to meet climate targets!
Hull Friends of the Earth have had a couple of cycling articles in their newsletter in the past year or so; visit their website to catch up on the pieces.
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Sustainable active travel, particularly cycling, was greatly undervalued in the Council’s carbon neutral (CN) 2030 strategy published in April 2020. A much greater emphasis was given to electric cars, despite the likelihood of these being an expensive diversion.
Data from a recently published study of journeys in Cardiff has allowed estimates to be formed of the GHG emission reductions if short car journeys were made by cycle. These estimates range from 3% to 10% of annual personal emissions, depending on the proportion and length of car journeys switched to cycle. The low estimate assumes that the pattern of journeys is determined by infrastructure designed for fossil fuelled vehicles. The higher figure assumes the proportion of journeys made by cycle is similar to those in European cities with mature cycle infrastructure. Copenhagen has committed to be carbon neutral by 2025 and aims to have 50% of commuting journeys by cycle. Many cities have increased cycle use by building cycle networks of segregated cycle tracks.
Fear of being struck by a motor vehicle is identified as the largest barrier to cycle use. This is directly addressed by the construction of cycle routes physically separated from motor vehicles. Cities where cycle infrastructure has been built, including London, have seen very large increases in cycle use and decreases in cyclists casualties. Investing in segregated cycle routes has been shown to produce large returns on investment in terms of health benefits and reduced congestion on the roads.
Existing cycle infrastructure in Hull was substandard when built and is not fit for purpose. Much of it increases the risks imposed on cyclists and appears designed mainly for the benefit of motorists. New cycle lanes built in the last few months also fail to meet modern minimum design standards and increase conflict at junctions. Some sections are legally ambiguous and are obviously dangerous where they cut across general lanes.
Police indifference to offenses where cyclists are victims is also a large deterrent to cycling in Hull. Other UK cities enforce laws against parking in cycle lanes, violation of cycle advance stop zones and dangerous overtaking. In Hull these offenses are ubiquitous, especially by professional drivers, and the law unenforced. This is directly counter to commitments made in the Humberside Police and Crime Plan and dehumanises cyclists as worthless victims.
The City Council has an ambition for Hull to be a cycling city. Moving the majority of short journeys from car to cycle would make a useful, and possibly essential, contribution to Hull meeting its CN 2030 commitment. It would also provide a large number of substantial health and wellbeing benefits, and make Hull a more pleasant city to live in. To achieve this, Hull must replace its not-fit-for-purpose cycle infrastructure with facilities that meet modern standards and which make cyclists feel safe and valued. Fortunately, this is a global trend with many examples of best practice already working in other European countries. Furthermore, cycling infrastructure is consistently shown to provide benefits which substantially outweigh their initial costs.
The full report provides a list of recommendations to encourage the switch to active, sustainable travel. The majority of these recommendations are directly within Council control and many require no additional costs. A fundamental guiding principle is that most journeys within Hull should be quicker and easier by cycle than by fossil fueled vehicle. There needs to be a repurposing of existing highway space to sustainable modes. Historically, council tax from cyclists and potential cyclists has been used to subsidize motorists. It is time to rebalance this and invest in cycle infrastructure to bring the proportion of cycle journeys up to the levels of similar European cities. Combined with this, there needs to be a change in attitudes towards cyclists, particularly among enforcement agencies.
Hull, as a genuine cycling city, would have made a significant step towards carbon neutrality. It would also be a cleaner, healthier, more equitable and pleasant place to live. The switch to sustainable active travel is relatively cheap, can be done quickly and the methods to achieve it are well known and demonstrated. All we need is the will to do it.