Fighting for Air - BBC2
graeme_s-2
Posts: 3,382
Anyone see this last night? Also on iplayer
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09m2djj
It was a community experiment in Kings Heath in Birmingham where they tried to reduce the level of nitrogen dioxide pollution on a busy high street on a single day.
One thing which did make me chuckle is they got a team of local residents to come up with the ideas and try to implement them. They presented them in a fairly 2D TV way, so one of them was an architect and a cyclist, so she was presented as "the cyclist" in the group. Another person was a cafe owner who was there as a "business owner", except whenever they met in his cafe, there were bikes and cycling memorabilia visible on the wall (turns out it's a cycling cafe, that includes a workshop), so he was obviously also a cyclist. At one point it showed them putting some barriers up to temporarily close off some street parking bays, and the chap who had been introduced as "local resident, who works at Birmingham University" was obviously wearing a Rapha jacket. It was kind of starting to look like they were virtually all cyclists.
Anyway - interesting doc, and I reckon the cycling cafe's a good distance from me for a cafe stop on routes I don't usually ride, so it was worth it for that alone for me!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09m2djj
It was a community experiment in Kings Heath in Birmingham where they tried to reduce the level of nitrogen dioxide pollution on a busy high street on a single day.
One thing which did make me chuckle is they got a team of local residents to come up with the ideas and try to implement them. They presented them in a fairly 2D TV way, so one of them was an architect and a cyclist, so she was presented as "the cyclist" in the group. Another person was a cafe owner who was there as a "business owner", except whenever they met in his cafe, there were bikes and cycling memorabilia visible on the wall (turns out it's a cycling cafe, that includes a workshop), so he was obviously also a cyclist. At one point it showed them putting some barriers up to temporarily close off some street parking bays, and the chap who had been introduced as "local resident, who works at Birmingham University" was obviously wearing a Rapha jacket. It was kind of starting to look like they were virtually all cyclists.
Anyway - interesting doc, and I reckon the cycling cafe's a good distance from me for a cafe stop on routes I don't usually ride, so it was worth it for that alone for me!
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Comments
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Enjoyed the programme.
Sad how few cyclists were using the route.
Those parking bays look like a cycle route for the future.
Can I suggest some NOX reduction ideas.
If you see smokey vehicle, report it.
https://www.gov.uk/report-smoky-vehicle
Another rule that the councils need to police is parked cars picking up kids with their engine on. It is illegal! Road Traffic Act 2001 I think.0 -
Interesting show, but missing some key details (they didn't really explain much about the pollution or it's side effects) .
One thing that really annoyed me about it was the mixed use of Guidelines and Limits - especially when talking PM2.5 & PM10, let alone not mentioning WHO guidelines vs EU limits.
I also got a bit annoyed by the results - 20% and 30% reductions - just a number thrown "into the air"... would have been good to see that related back to a modelled reduction in deaths, back to making it about people.
Still, good to get the word out, seems to have caused a bit of a stir.Intent on Cycling Commuting on a budget, but keep on breaking/crashing/finding nice stuff to buy.
Bike 1 (Broken) - Bike 2(Borked) - Bike 3(broken spokes) - Bike 4( Needs Work) - Bike 5 (in bits) - Bike 6* ...0 -
If you want to measure your own exposure, these are quite useful.
https://www.byteyourlife.com/en/househo ... -info/7204
NOX sensor support coming soon.Intent on Cycling Commuting on a budget, but keep on breaking/crashing/finding nice stuff to buy.
Bike 1 (Broken) - Bike 2(Borked) - Bike 3(broken spokes) - Bike 4( Needs Work) - Bike 5 (in bits) - Bike 6* ...0 -
Craig_Broadbent wrote:Enjoyed the programme.
Sad how few cyclists were using the route.
Those parking bays look like a cycle route for the future.
Can I suggest some NOX reduction ideas.
If you see smokey vehicle, report it.
https://www.gov.uk/report-smoky-vehicle
Another rule that the councils need to police is parked cars picking up kids with their engine on. It is illegal! Road Traffic Act 2001 I think.
Highway Code Rule 123 The Driver and the Environment, You MUST NOT
leave a parked vehicle unattended with the engine running or leave a vehicle engine running unnecessarily while that vehicle is stationary on a public road. Generally, if the vehicle is stationary and is likely to remain so for more than a couple of minutes, you should apply the parking brake and switch off the engine to reduce emissions and noise pollution. However it is permissible to leave the engine running if the vehicle is stationary in traffic or for diagnosing faults.
Law CUR regs 98 & 1070 -
I came in hear thinking maybe Pinno was going to release his autobiography and this was a possible title suggestion,oh well.0
