MICROMOBILITY
information consistency, designed by a team of designers, managed by DfT and backed by acts of parliament. A system that is the basis of Sat Navs. This system is fundamental to getting around the UK. Unless you are cycling, walking or wheeling. Then the world operates very differently. Walking and cycling paths are laid out in highly unique
ways. Along one short stretch of road, cyclists can be instructed to cycle on a segregated path, then on the road, and then share with pedestrians. The majority of people believe the no-cycling sign means the opposite, and don’t comprehend the shared path sign, let alone how they should behave on a shared path. Do you ring the bell or not? Pass on the left or the right? Stop to let a cyclist pass? For walkers, cyclists and wheelers, it is a world of confusion. There are very few agreed standards, expectations of how to behave are not clear, and how routes are coded and marked is fractured. The result is a ‘reverse-network-effect’. When it is easier to not use a network than to waste energy learning how to use it. I was talking to some students in Bristol last week. I found it surprising that not one of them cycled. Why was this the case? ‘Because it’s all too confusing’: Reverse- network-effects in full view. We know that walking, cycling and wheeling is a good
thing, yet how our streets are designed massively limits people’s behaviour. Consider how much latent demand might be waiting
28 | January 2025
to be unleashed. If we could make walking, wheeling and cycling easy to do. If it were predictable, easy to plan journeys, and there was little to no conflict sharing pathways and roads. Imagine, no matter if you had a physical or mental impairment, a system that gave you the ability to take spontaneous trips easily. Free.
Making a plan. Delivering an outcome. Consistently.
Three years ago we started on a journey to set this demand free. We created an initiative to give pathways the same strength of structure as the highways. The Pathways Project set about establishing high-quality national networks for walking, wheeling and cycling. Creating consistent ways to mark directions, units of measurement, allowing local character. The system is designed to raise awareness of local options, routes and destinations. And it is looking to tackle how we can establish a new culture of how we behave and share paths throughout the country. The Pathways Project has so far created a prototype
toolkit for how this can be done. It is currently being trialled in ten locations around the UK.
Parties interested in further exploring this subject, as well as those keen to help with further development of The Pathways Project can get in touch via:
advisory@appliedinformation.group or
www.inclusivewayfi
ndingtoolkit.co.uk
www.bikebiz.com
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