The clean air zone and the cost of driving leads many to consider switching to two wheels to get around. With that and the environmental impact of cars should we be doing more to encourage cycling? I headed into the city centre to get people's views on whether the region needs more cycle lanes.
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00:00 So, my cousin, he cycles quite often and I see it takes him quite a bit of time to come
00:11 because he has to travel through main roads and it's a lot harder for him to come to work
00:15 and all of that because he lives quite far. So I'd say if there were more cycle lanes
00:21 it would be a lot easier for people to travel that doesn't have a car or doesn't take public
00:26 transport or even just exercise in general. So I'd say if there were more cycle lanes
00:31 it would be a lot easier for most of the people that do cycle and it would be less of a headache
00:35 as well for people that drive as well, people that ride their bikes, the cars that have
00:40 to slow down for the bikes and all that. It would be a lot easier for more cycle lanes
00:45 in Birmingham to be put in place. I think probably because they've introduced the emission
00:53 costs so it makes sense to introduce more cycle lanes so that's an option for cyclists.
00:58 It's also better for the environment so that's a positive. So I'd say yeah they maybe should,
01:05 I'm not sure where they would put the cycle lanes but it's definitely an idea they should
01:08 look into. My thoughts on cyclists, yes I'm sure they have their place in society. I'm
01:19 not a cyclist and yeah I find them an inconvenience at times on the road. They drive quite recklessly.
01:27 I think if you're going to cycle then you need your insurance and you need to be aware
01:31 of where the road is. Cycling in the dark wearing all black with no lights on is not
01:35 responsible. So yeah, for me it's not a good way to get around. So yeah definitely we should
01:43 have more cycle lanes. I think if you do travel to places like Amsterdam or even cities in
01:53 Sweden where it goes down to -10 and people are still out there cycling. I think the weather
02:01 is no excuse for people not to cycle. And in terms of personal health it's far superior
02:12 to driving. So I think in terms of specific places to implement cycle lanes that's a more
02:21 difficult question because you have to go by case by case basis of does it make sense
02:28 in the road. But I think you should lead with the principle of firstly let's do public transportation.
02:39 If we can't do public transportation we'll put a cycle lane in and then if we can't do
02:43 either of those then we'll put a road. I can see the tram right now. We should increase
02:51 the size of the tram network alongside increasing the size of the bicycle network. It just makes
02:59 more sense in terms of air quality and congestion in the city.
03:02 (fire crackling)