Cycling Mobility have a new piece briefly looking at the successes in Oxford of taming traffic and allowing pedestrians and cyclists to enter the city without being bullied off of the streets.

What is it that persuades cyclists to mix with the traffic in Oxford?

Partly, it’s the lack of car parking, especially in the city centre. Since the 1970s, businesses have not had permission to provide new car parking for their staff or customers; instead, they have to contribute to park and ride car parks on the edge of the city. Charges at public car parks are high, and they’re almost never full. More than 40% of journeys into central Oxford are by bus. This shortage of car parking makes many people try cycling who, elsewhere, wouldn’t even consider it.

Another reason is that no-one drives very fast in Oxford. It’s rare that anyone does more than 30mph. The side streets and shopping areas on main roads all have 20mph limits.

Oxford proves that you don’t need a perfect system to make big changes to the urban environment. A simple consistent policy of making driving into the city center difficult and providing a fast and cheap alternative scheme.

London already has the best public transport in the country, especially with Ken’s investment into the bus network last century. The problem is that the boroughs aren’t brave enough to restrict car access and parking within their streets.

Find out more at http://www.cyclingmobility.com/interested-concerned-and-cycling-in-traffic/