BICYCLE FASCISTS
"Rail bosses have been criticised (I hate this passive-construction lazy journalism. Criticised by whom?!) after banning bicycles from rush-hour commuter services to make more room for people. South West Trains, which serves London, Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire, siad its priority was paying passengers. A spokesperson for the London Cycling Campaign called for guard's vans to be reintroduced to store bicycles." (TODAY'S METRO)
If the only "critics" were the LCC then I would imagine this to be the equivalent of being mauled by a lamb. Cyclists don't have a proper political lobbying group that is recognised or listened to, although the LCC is better than nothing. Banning bikes from rush-hour trains you can kind of understand, given that it's often impossible to find space to turn over a newspaper, but guard's vans have never been away! They are still there, at the front of trains. So why not let cyclists put their bikes in there? Well, it would be too much bother, evidently. It's only cyclists that are being inconvenienced.
At 10pm, say, after a film or a meal, there is no good or compelling reason to forbid bikes from trains. What this does is ensure that the only way to complete a convenient, door-to-door journey is by car.
One way of reducing road-traffic congestion would be to make other methods more attractive and more flexible. But alternatives - in the form of cycling, buses and trains - seem to become less attractive, less affordable and less flexible with every day that passes. Why?
"Rail bosses have been criticised (I hate this passive-construction lazy journalism. Criticised by whom?!) after banning bicycles from rush-hour commuter services to make more room for people. South West Trains, which serves London, Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire, siad its priority was paying passengers. A spokesperson for the London Cycling Campaign called for guard's vans to be reintroduced to store bicycles." (TODAY'S METRO)
If the only "critics" were the LCC then I would imagine this to be the equivalent of being mauled by a lamb. Cyclists don't have a proper political lobbying group that is recognised or listened to, although the LCC is better than nothing. Banning bikes from rush-hour trains you can kind of understand, given that it's often impossible to find space to turn over a newspaper, but guard's vans have never been away! They are still there, at the front of trains. So why not let cyclists put their bikes in there? Well, it would be too much bother, evidently. It's only cyclists that are being inconvenienced.
At 10pm, say, after a film or a meal, there is no good or compelling reason to forbid bikes from trains. What this does is ensure that the only way to complete a convenient, door-to-door journey is by car.
One way of reducing road-traffic congestion would be to make other methods more attractive and more flexible. But alternatives - in the form of cycling, buses and trains - seem to become less attractive, less affordable and less flexible with every day that passes. Why?
