Are cyclists making lorry drivers' lives harder?

"Don't punish one group at the expense of the other" says Rod McKenzie of the Road Haulage Association in reaction to dedicated pop-up cycle lanes.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1261698783559274496

This sentiment might be appealing if cyclists were in any meaningful way a "group". I wonder how long they had to wait for a cyclist to pass by when making this video? Certainly anywhere in the UK north of the North Circular Road, cyclists are a rare sight and certainly not a "group". Instead, it is an easy target for self-interest lobbyists to retain the unsustainable dedication of our public space and air to motor traffic.

Rod worries that "[cycle lanes that motor vehicles can't drive into] feels anti-motorist, anti-cars, anti-lorries, anti-vans." These together, supposedly, is the other group. "Yet all those methods of transport are essential for economic recovery and the things we need in Britain."

Are they? We need haulage and vans to deliver, build, repair and supply, as well as emergency services. And we often need cars to get about. But do we really need so many cars and taxis? Even in lockdown, our roads are completely dominated by private cars and empty taxis not going anywhere legally. Only 20% of car journeys in London are made for work purposes, a third are less than 2km (20 minutes walk and 6-9 minutes cycle) and there are more car journeys during the weekend than on a working day (TfL Roads Taskforce). Uber taxis can't even abide by the already lax public carriage legislation required by the GLA to retain their licence.

Perhaps the Road Haulage Association lobbyists should go after other "groups" that actually exist and are blocking haulage and other needed traffic using public roads: car and taxi drivers driving around seemingly aimlessly. But, unlike groups that don't exist, they might fight back. It would be good to hear a conversation between heavyweight lobbyists for haulage v cars v taxis. That would really thrash out how best to use the limited space and air.

In the meantime, if you don't divide motor traffic from cycle lanes, there are not going to be any cyclists in any meaningful quantity. There are no industry lobbyists representing this group because there is no group. All there is are democratically elected politicians conscious that our infrastructure and environment are on the brink of collapse and something has to change.