Cyclists Socially Excluded?

BCC members and other cycling groups were dismayed by official attitudes at a recent seminar on Social Exclusion held in the Create centre.

The seminar was to discuss ways of helping people who are socially excluded, particularly with transport needs. Karen Lucas of the Government's Social Exclusion Unit was in attendance and while receptive to initiatives on public transport, she dismissed the idea of promoting cycling out of hand, saying People want cars. She did not answer the question of where all these cars would go, of how it would help anyone to increase the amount of traffic on the road.

Given that bicycles can be very cheap to buy and run; given that a bike will substantially increase the distance a person can travel to work every day (compared to walking); given that cycling can have significant health benefits as part of daily exercise; given that children in inner-city areas suffer much more from asthma - seriously worsened by traffic fumes; given that they are more likely to be killed or injured by traffic; and given that the government itself has policies on encouraging cycling, reducing traffic and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, you'd think she'd at least have been prepared to listen.

But, no. We've got a long way to go yet.