Third of Brits want to cycle more, many to cut their fuel spending

And yet they won't. It's as easy as getting on a bike, but they will continue to reach for the car keys. This is why policy will only succeed in encouraging zero emissions non-car transport by actively disinscentivising car travel over short distances. Making it slower than the alternatives and logistically unappealing is the only way. This is demonstrated by the Continental approach to infrastructure, not just for travel but for storage.

From the exponential increase in N Bristol traffic over the past 2 weeks it looks like everyone's happy to cough up for fuel.  The irony is that there's a massive discussion over shaving money of home energy bills, but suggest someone ditches the car in favour of walking/cycling to save fuel and they look at you in complete bewilderment.  I literally can't remember the last time I filled up with fuel; had to find an excuse to get the car out recently just to give it a run and stop the battery going flat.

What's needed is a network of "cycling buddies" - experienced cyclists who are willing to advise and encourage novices.
Sometimes, it just needs a helping hand, to clamber up the learning curve, before despondency creeps in, and the novice gives up

The 'I want to save fuel' element in this story is hilarious. The amount of drivers who think (word used advisedly) the way to drive in town should consist of 'floor it between each set of traffic lights' then sit for ages idling the engine while their partner goes into the shops, yet moan about how a cyclist once 'held them up for twenty minutes' is worse now than it was pre-pandemic.

People are stupid. 

Unfortunately some of those "tweaks to make it safe" can often cost more than the bike is worth.

An obsessive, like many of us, would of course find this completely acceptable, the rest of the normal population, not so much...

Maybe I'm the glass half empty pessimist,but my takeaway from that is that's 2/3rds of Brits, or 6 out of 10 of them who arent planning to cut fuel spend by cycling more and those planning to, are simply expressing good intentions,not actually enacting that change.

And it will be the more familiar list of excuses not reported there, for any one who has tried to champion cycling to a non believer if you like has heard before, the weathers always bad, too many hills in the way, takes too long, too hard etc etc

I've some empathy with the far too bloomin dangerous on the roads rationalising, having already reached double figures in close passes this week, multiple punishment passes and a delightful chap today who used his horn (not in the Ashley Neal manner) as they then drew alongside me, said something rude I couldnt really hear and tried to cut me up for good measure, just because I held prime through a pelican crossing that had just turned green for us where a pedestrian who had missed their light sequence was clearly still considering risking running across in front of me in the traffic gap instead of waiting for their next green light to cross.

But what can you do, just goto to keep on keeping on.