tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129037502516609710.post1605590478936723911..comments2024-03-28T11:13:48.581+00:00Comments on i b i k e l o n d o n: Are BIDs bad for bicycles?ibikelondonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06978714126105951294noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129037502516609710.post-48899641712956401512012-03-11T13:48:30.189+00:002012-03-11T13:48:30.189+00:00I work at East India and while there is *some* goo...I work at East India and while there is *some* good cycling parking there (like literally meters in front of the designated smoking area which means your bike gets watched by security and by interested office workers all day long) and security is good it is very disheartening that what is such an open site anyway has to disrupt a busy cycle superhighway with their pointless barrier!<br /><br />It is a bit ironic that the site is home to Tower Hamlets council!! With all that space they could have put in a cycle hire point with directions on how to get on the CS3 which would have been a big boon to the tourists who regularly stay at the Travel Lodge round the corner. <i>Sigh.</i>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14304857568251229771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129037502516609710.post-81857102236954493652011-10-28T13:16:23.507+01:002011-10-28T13:16:23.507+01:00Very topical issue.
The trouble with BIDs is tha...Very topical issue. <br /><br />The trouble with BIDs is that they assume that only businesses have interests in the area, and ignore other groups.<br /><br />Businesses like BIDs because they don't feel included in local government (your cafe tables is a good example) the solution is, as ever, good local government. I'd be interested by how other countries handle this.jamesuphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16185079628536532270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129037502516609710.post-72185453804093932112010-09-18T15:29:34.601+01:002010-09-18T15:29:34.601+01:00As a youth worker, it strikes me as lot like how t...As a youth worker, it strikes me as lot like how these business partners treat young people. Sure, they say "unruly youth" but in reality that's any group of young people larger than three of four, or speaking louder than an older person would. So when they say "unruly cyclists" I can't help but feel in reality unruly will be quite broadly defined. It's frustrating. It also somehow (as with youth) makes cyclists less of citizens and equals to cars. If everyone, including cyclists, kept to the rules of the road and used some commonsense, we'd all be a lot happier.Markhttp://thegroveisonfire.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129037502516609710.post-61579132747616921182010-09-08T18:58:33.729+01:002010-09-08T18:58:33.729+01:00As you might know Mark, I know that bit of the Cyc...As you might know Mark, I know that bit of the Cycle Super-Highway kinda well (it's rather local to me!) - I hate that barrier so much - and the few blue suqares that are the "highway" - argh!!!!Lady VĂ©lohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05388887435487322584noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129037502516609710.post-69220213726090326082010-09-02T20:16:29.550+01:002010-09-02T20:16:29.550+01:00Several Dutch cities are considering comprehensive...Several Dutch cities are considering comprehensive cycle bans in city centres. The main target seems to be the bikes themselves, rather than the people who ride them. The bikes are seen as nuisance, either ridden or parked. Cyclists would have to leave them at cycle parking on the edge of the centre, and continue their journey on foot. Or not use a bike at all.<br /><br />Nothing has been decided yet, but if Dutch cities can get away with this, then cities in other countries certainly would.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129037502516609710.post-36923294731666744482010-08-31T13:34:19.601+01:002010-08-31T13:34:19.601+01:00Thanks for the tip, I was meaning to read that aft...Thanks for the tip, I was meaning to read that after seeing it in the guardian (cough, liberal scum) ages ago.<br /><br />I think the BID thing is a slight perversion of what used to be called civil pride. That businesses now will only chip in to help improve public space if they also get that given to them as a pseudo-asset.<br /><br />It's just mildly/pretty creepy in itself, but thin edge of the wedge and all that.<br /><br />I don't know if the situation is different up in Scotland as we have 'universal access to land' enshrined in law here.Stephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07712680373823007232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129037502516609710.post-3674704505859185312010-08-31T12:42:19.499+01:002010-08-31T12:42:19.499+01:00The whole idea of having these privately run piece...The whole idea of having these privately run pieces of public land is anathema. It's madness we're sequestering more and more of our small island in these bizarre enclaves - the BIDs just seem an even worse version of gated communities ... Eugh.Tim Lennonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129037502516609710.post-23664830328526047242010-08-31T11:47:44.852+01:002010-08-31T11:47:44.852+01:00Thanks everyone for your comments; I was a bit con...Thanks everyone for your comments; I was a bit concerned that maybe I was just being a bit paranoid with this post, but clearly I'm not alone in having these concerns.<br /><br />Steph; your feeling of a 'mall with no roof' is not unintentional. 'Malls without walls' are a cornerstone concept in BID designs. If you are interested in the history of Canary Wharf and how it came about being and was essentially handed to private developers on a plate I can't recommend Anna Minton's book enough.<br /><br />Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.ibikelondonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06978714126105951294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129037502516609710.post-18665811122269666052010-08-31T11:44:55.264+01:002010-08-31T11:44:55.264+01:00I just keep seeing 'intimidation rangers' ...I just keep seeing 'intimidation rangers' when I look at the picture caption, which despite the orange I'm sure that's what they're going for.<br /><br />I get a slightly uncomfortable feeling when the businesses begin to assert ownership of the public spaces around them, always get the creeps when I'm on canary wharf, it feels slightly like a mall with no roof.Stephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07712680373823007232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129037502516609710.post-57511497531758914842010-08-31T11:40:54.553+01:002010-08-31T11:40:54.553+01:00Great post, and a worrying trend. Regardless of w...Great post, and a worrying trend. Regardless of whether pavement cycling RLJers are spoiling it for the law abiding majority or not, what worries me the most is private security firms becoming an extension of the police force.<br /><br />Surely this flies in the face of Boris's vision for a cycling revolution in London. What next BID's refusing to host cycle hire points?Jezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04487396910408737068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129037502516609710.post-14283517235746315952010-08-31T10:43:09.171+01:002010-08-31T10:43:09.171+01:00The problem is that these business types do not se...The problem is that these business types do not see cyclists as being potential sources of revenue that need parking etc, but as either BMX riding hoodlems or Lycra louts; which is about as accurate as Tesco deciding that drivers were unwelcome because they were "all" driving chavved up Corsas or were dealers with a Range Rover; rather then being, y'know, average people. As for the advice to stick to back streets, the writer clearly last touched a bicycle at Centre Parcs at the age of 12 - it is often difficult to do so because of road blocks and one way in-permeablilty. Will the BID rangers waste time harrassing cyclists on main roads then?christhebullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18058394246399615754noreply@blogger.com