MICROMOBILITY
Rural settings present very different case studies to cities
Vision Zero is a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all.
Mildon continues: “But if you’re only going to do something if someone dies or is seriously injured, you’ll never get there. “We are able to measure a layer of safety, before people are killed or seriously injured. “We now have some real world examples at sites that had not been identified as hotspots, where the data showed a simple change could make it safer, and those changes have been enacted, and that’s positive. While Mildon can’t say how long it would have taken for the thing that got changed to have caused an incident, it probably would have at some point in the future, and therefore there’s been a benefit from changing that “Fundamentally, I don’t think anyone was surprised that there were unknowns out there,” he adds. “Everyone would always say ‘this [KSI] is a flawed method of getting data, but it’s the best that we’ve got’, and it’s nice to know that the different approach can have a real world benefit.”
The road diet and urban vs rural settings In recent years, a typical way of addressing road safety for pedestrians and cyclists has been to introduce traffic calming measures, or even to reduce the speed limit entirely. A new approach has come by the name of “the road diet”. “This suggests that if you make the road slightly narrower, you don’t need to change the speed limit, as people will naturally drive slower through it,” explains Mildon. “You’ve got exactly the same sight lines, you just move
34 | December 2024
PHOTO BY MARTINA JORDEN ON UNSPLASH
the curb in slightly, and that gives more space to people on the pavement. “Obviously, it depends on the intersection as to where the
cyclists should be in that scenario. If you’re squeezing the cyclists closer into the traffic, the unintended consequence of the slower vehicles is that the cyclists are more likely to get caught up in it.”
While an approach like this is commonly seen in urban
settings, how does VivaCity approach more expansive rural environments?
“Some of the more interesting case studies come up in those sorts of areas,” says Mildon. “In a rural setting, you’re much more likely to have a road with a very high speed limit, with two side lanes on and maybe a cycle route trying to get across a 60mph road. “That’s much, much more likely to happen in a rural
setting than in an urban setting, and those create the, really the highest risk exposure locations for people who are cycling or walking.” Fundamentally, the ease of using micromobility, walking,
cycling, and active travel as an alternative to driving is easier when the distances are lower.
So the density of a city means that VivaCity’s focus has
often been on cities, but it’s not uniquely there. And with e-bikes becoming more accessible, there will likely be further case studies for VivaCity to consider beyond bigger towns and cities. “Cycling’s a very attractive alternative in an urban area, but I think it’s becoming more attractive in rural areas as well,” concludes Mildon. “As e-bikes become more available, those distances cease to be prohibitive.”
www.bikebiz.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
