Making behavioural change fun !

There has been a lot of discussion over the last few years about the need to encourage people to change their behaviour - specially in relation to transport because of issues such as congestion, air pollution, obesity (lack of exercise) and the need to reduce C02 emissions.

One lesson that has not always been learned (or remembered) is the need to make the paths to changing behaviour less threatening and even fun!

Here are some interesting examples from the Fun Theory.com website (an initiative from Volkswagen). The Piano Stairs project wanted to see if they could get more people to choose the stairs by making it fun to do.  Watch the video and see for yourself.

According to the Fun Theory.com website it is "dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better."

Giuseppe Lo Bocchiaro has submitted a more recent entry entitled Just Cycle It  with a suggestion to local authorities about how to encourage more people to cycle in cities.

"Cycle in the city is a good thing! We intend to promote the use of bikes in the city. More bikes mean fewer cars in the streets and a more beautiful city. The way to promote the use of bikes is simple! The local administration gives the bikers an odometer. The bikers who are moving in the city, augment the kilometres in the odometer. When the bikers want, comes back to the local administration and shows the kilometres they made. The local administration gives some gifts to the bikers such as services, tax deductions, theater tickets etc. In relation to the kilometres they made. So the more you ride your bike the more presents the administration gives you. ENJOY!"


So if we want to see more people cycling in Greater Manchester, our challenge for 2010 (and beyond) is to come up with fun and attractive ways to encourage more people to cycle.  I wonder if any local authorities or businesses would consider the rewards schemes as suggested in the Just Cycle It example?

There should be plenty of opportunities for such initiatives in Spring 2010, when Manchester should see the launch of the Points4Life scheme. According to the website the scheme is a "new loyalty programme which will encourage people to be healthier. It will take knowledge, learnings and technology from the private sector, where many loyalty programmes run very successfully and apply them to the public sector. Through the use of government, local authority and private sector funding Points4Life will encourage Mancunians to be healthier in a range of ways including what they eat and doing more exercise."

The Points4Life scheme has set an objective to recruit 20-25% of the Manchester population to be involved, although it is hoped to be able to achieve 40% participation in the scheme over a three year period, plus 20% of those commuting to the city.

The key behaviour change outcomes that the programme is seeking to influence are:

• people are more physically active
• people eat a healthier diet,
• people maintain a healthy weight;
• people stop smoking;
• people limit their alcohol consumption to nationally recommended levels;
• people take up screening opportunities offered through the health service.
  

Part of the national Change4Life programme, Manchester has been chosen as the test bed for this scheme and has received £4.6 million funding from the NHS. We look forward to some fun and rewarding ideas to provide incentives to encourage more people to cycle in Manchester.


Happy New Year.

PS.  Oh, and any suggestions where we could install a Piano Stairs in Greater Manchester and who might fund it would be most welcome!

So you think you have too much stuff to carry by bike ?

Reasons for not cycling #5: I have too much stuff to carry...




When asked why they don't cycle many people reply that they have too much 'stuff' to carry.  Well their stuff may not fit in a small handlebar basket or back panniers but to see how much luggage a bicycle could carry, in August 2008, Austin on Two Wheels (USA) announced the “What’s the biggest thing you’ve carried on your bike?” contest.


They asked people to submit pictures of themselves, their bike, and the largest load that they had carried on the bike. Each week, for 6 weeks, they published a semi-finalist photo  and then asked people to vote on the best overall photo.



"Utility bicycles can be used to carry almost anything – groceries (beer!), items for work, furniture, cars, you name it!"






This photo of a "retro" couch on a Bakfiets cargo bike was one of the semi-finalists.







Need a bicycle for going shopping, taking the kids to school, going to work, carrying groceries, or for hauling tools, pets or even sport equipment. Then you may want to check out the Mundo Utility Bike. Watch the video on YouTube of the Mundo comfortably delivering a 140lb load.

Next time you hear someone saying they have too much stuff to carry by bike maybe you can suggest they think a little bigger !

Cycle shops in Greater Manchester

We haven't seen any comprehensive listings for cycle shops in Greater Manchester. So have created this Google Map.

If we have missed out your favourite store then let us know.

The green markers are for shops that offer a 5-10% discount to members of the Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign.

No Place to Park (My Bike)

"Traffic signs. Trees. Wrought iron railings. Chain link fences. Telephone poles. Even a storm drain. I think I've secured my bicycle to just about everything in and around the center city of Manchester; everything, that is, except a bike rack.

....The number of bicyclists on Manchester roads seems to have increased considerably as of late. Whether folks are riding high-end mountain and commuter bikes or Wal-Mart specials, we all face a similar problem: no legitimate place to park. But I would settle for several designated bike racks in visible, highly-trafficked areas, at least in the downtown area. While it would be nice to covered bike parking like they do outside of this train station in Northern Ireland."

Sound familiar ?  Whilst this description of one persons search for decent cycle parking is from Manchester, New Hampshire (see Fortress Manchester) it can be a common problem in many parts of Greater Manchester.

But why are there so few decent cycle parking facilities in Manchester?

Part of the problem is the ludicrously small number of cycle parking spaces that Greater Manchester planning guidance requires building developers to incorporate in new buildings or re-development projects.

According to the Greater Manchester Parking Standards listed in the 2006 Local Transport Plan (LTP2) Technical Guidance (who said we were sad!)

For office building type developments (Type A2: Financial & professional services) the "Minimum standard for cycle parking provision" is 1 cycle parking space per 400 square metres (minimum of2).

Compare this to the requirement adopted by York City Council that demands all plans for new office buildings provide 1 space per 55 square metres. This means that any new buildings in York are required to provide 7 times more cycle parking space than an equivalent office building in Greater Manchester.

To make it worse, it is not even clear whether the Greater Manchester guidelines actually have any actual teeth.  According to a Greater Manchester Local Transport Plan Cycling Group report in April 2002 Greater Manchester Cycle Parking Guidelines the "notes give advice regarding design and numbers of places, and whilst they cannot be enforced yet, form a suitable basis on which to implement facilities."  I am hoping a helpful Council officer can tell me that this lack of enforcement has changed.

Interestingly, the Greater Manchester Police Cycle Parking Design Guidance (Design for Security) released in October 2009 are based on the York Council 'level of parking' requirements and in the "What are Cycle Parking Standards?" section state that:

"These are generally acknowledged by Local Authorities as providing 'best practice'. These standards should be applied to all planning applications by Local Authorities." (emphasis added).

So Greater Manchester Police have adopted and are promoting higher standards for cycle parking than those currently followed by the Greater Manchester local authorities.

With the lack of decent cycle parking being amongst the many barriers to increased cycling levels in Greater Manchester is it any surprise that York achieves commuter cycling levels of between 20-25% compared to the 1-2% in Greater Manchester?

If you want Greater Manchester to build better cycle parking facilities it would be great if you could raise this with your local cycling officer or via your local cycle forum.  See CycleGM for contact details for your local cycling officer.

If you are really keen you could raise the need for better cycle parking standards within planning guidance in a submission to your Councils consultation process on their local development framework.  Check your Council's website for details.


PS It is interesting to see how other cities are responding to the need for better cycle parking facilities.

In July 2008, theNew York Times reported that while "people are generally free to wheel their bikes in and out of residential buildings, commercial buildings often ban them."

But on 7th December 2009, New York Department of Transportation announced that "the City is prepared to implement the Bicycle Access to Office Buildings Law (Local Law 52), which aims to increase bicycle commuting by helping cyclists gain access to secure parking at their office buildings during the workday."

In August 2008, New York Department of Transport also installed nine new bikes racks designed by musician, artist and biking enthusiast Byrne. "These clever and innovative racks were created to generate more interest in cycling in New York and also to add attractive, temporary art the City's streets."  See also David Byrne's Bike Rack site

Desperately seeking Member Champions for Cycling

In February 2008, Cycling England wrote to all local highway authorities in England encouraging them to agree to appoint a "Member Champion for Cycling".

Cycling England suggested this idea because they wanted to support local authorities to increase the promote of cycling and recognised that elected Councillors play a key role in setting the priorities of their Councils. The invitation outlined the range of support that Cycling England were offering to councillors who signed up to become a Member Champion for Cycling. This included a number of benefits for the local authority, including:

• Assisting the local authority in meeting a wide range of policy targets and objectives
• Facilitating the proper consideration of cycling in the various council meetings and other activities
• Improving relations with external stakeholder groups, particularly those involving local cyclists
• Enabling the Council to tap into best practice in other authorities and to link into the free support available from Cycling England.
• Offering personal and professional development opportunities for those taking on the role.
• Encouraging networking between individual councillors with an interest in promoting cycling.

Cycling England were also offering a funded toolkit to support designated Member Champions for cycling in local highway authorities, including districts with agency agreements covering highways / traffic. This comprised:

• Welcome pack, including advice on best practice, key references and a flexible presentation on how cycling can contribute to a council’s policies and strategies.
• A support hotline to Cycling England’s consultancy team.
• Each Champion can make use of Cycling England consultants’ time in support of their role, involving phone / email support, meetings / site visits as appropriate.
• Cycling Champions email discussion group linking them to Champions in other authorities.
• Regular e-newsletter and publishing advice / guidance for champions
• Free attendance at Cycling England led professional training events for Champions on existing and emerging cycling issues (subject to demand).
• National Standard Level 3 cycle training ‘refresher’ course to bring the Champion up to date on developments in cycle training, including the new Bikeability programme.
  

 Which all sounds really goovy and very helpful. So thinking that it would be useful to know how many Greater Manchester councils had taken up Cycling England's kind offer of support, but having failed to find any details on the various council websites, we submitted Freedom of Information requests to all ten GM councils asking for details.

Now all you devotees of the Freedom of Information Act will know that local government bodies covered by the Act are supposed to respond to requests within 20 working days or at least tell you that they are going to take longer to give you an answer.

So how did the Greater Manchester councils perform?  Well all but one Council answered within the 20 working days with Oldham Council topping the chart responding within a blisteringly fast response of one day. The response times for the other councils were:  Bolton (4 days), Salford (5),  Trafford (6),  Stockport (8), Rochdale (9), Wigan (11), Bury (18), Tameside (18). Manchester didn't manage to respond within the 20 working days timeline and as this blog goes to press the clock is still counting.....

But have any of the local authorities seen fit to take up Cycling England's kind offer of really useful support and appointed a Member Champion for Cycling we hear you ask?  Well the results were:

Bolton:  None (See note 1)

Bury:  None (See note 2)

Manchester: None (See note 3)

Oldham:  Stephen Barrow. Appointed 12/2/2009.  (Email: stephen.barrow@oldham.gov.uk)

Rochdale: Wera Hobhouse.  (Email: wera.hobhouse@rochdale.gov.uk)

Salford: Jim Dawson. Appointed 3/2009.  (Email: councillor.dawson@salford.gov.uk)

Stockport: Stuart Bodsworth. Appointed 5/2008. (Email: cllr.stuart.bodsworth@stockport.gov.uk)

Tameside: None (See note 4).

Trafford: None (See note 5)

Wigan. None


So far only 40% councils within Greater Manchester are making use of the support offered by Cycling England with Bury suggesting that they are "anticipating making an appointment in the very near future" which will take the tally up to 50%.

Five councils have not appointed a Member Champion for Cycling although four of these (Bolton, Manchester, Tameside and Trafford) do have councillors with cycling somewhere within their remits.

Assuming that there were no onerous strings attached to the support being offered by Cycling England it seems very odd that so many Councils have declined to make the most of the support being offered from the national body responsible for promoting cycling in England. Specially at a time when most Council's are claiming that they want to promote and increase cyling levels.

We do hope it's not because the various Councils couldn't meet the "person specification" required to nominate a Councillor as a Member Champion for Cycling which required:

"A councillor who is a regular cyclist. You could be an executive or a nonexecutive member, depending on your Council’s policy on Champions. You will have technical support from competent, senior, officers."

Perhaps readers would like to email the Councillors below and ask them if they intend to join Cycling England's scheme.



Notes:

(1) Bolton Council has not specifically appointed a Member Champion for Cycling, but does have Members assigned to the Bolton Cycle Forum to promote cycling within their political parties and the Authority as a whole.

Members: 
Councillor John Byrne             (Email: john.byrne@bolton.gov.uk)
Councillor Richard Silvester  (Email: richard.silvester@bolton.gov.uk)
Councillor Michael Hollick      (Email: micheal.hollick@bolton.gov.uk)
Councillor David Chadwick   (Email: david.chadwick@bolton.gov.uk)
Councillor John Higson          (Email:  john.higson@bolton.gov.uk)


(2) The Executive Member for Environment & Transport has discussed the matter with senior officers of Bury Council and is anticipating making an appointment in the very near future.


(3)  Lead councillor for cycling is Emily Lomax. Email: cllr.e.lomax@manchester.gov.uk


(4)  The following Members have specific interests within their portfolios:  Alan Whitehead, Andrew Doubleday (Chair of Council Cycle Forum), Barrie Holland (Chair Carbon Reduction Panel).

For Andrew Doubleday and Barrie Holland  email: angela.monks@tameside.gov.uk
Alan Whitehead email jan.jackson@tameside.gov.uk

(5)  the Executive Member for Highways and Transportation, Alan Mitchell, has as part of his remit the promotion of cycling within the borough. He will receive updates from the Cycle Forum, and reports about cycling measures being implemented across the borough.  (Email: alan.mitchell@trafford.gov.uk)

Cycle Centre Proposals for Manchester and Salford

The Cycling England - Feasibility Report on proposed Manchester and Salford Cycle Centres has recently been made available.

The report summary states that there "is evident potential for growth in cycling in Manchester and Salford. This growth is being constrained by the lack of secure parking.To meet this need there are funds available to create a number of Cycle Centres providing a range of services across the regional centre."

It is great that there are funds available for cycle centres, although the report does not  provide any details of the amount of funding and how many cycle centres this will support.

What is a Cycle Centre?
The report  describes a ‘cycle centre’ as a facility that may provide a range of services including one or more of following:

• Secure, covered cycle parking either self parked or by staff (full or part time) 
• Cycle information including security (locking one’s cycle), travel planning and links to public transport 
• Cycle hire 
• Sale of parts and new cycles 
• Repairs 
• Lockers for storage of clothing and cycle equipment 
• Showers and changing facilities 
• Clothes drying facilities 
• Food and drink (café or vending machines) 
• Cycle cleaning 
• Free use of tyre pump 
• Cycle training 
• Cycle maintenance classes

but at a minimum any Cycle Centre should provide secure cycle parking and one other service.

The report identified a number of potential sites including:

• Piccadilly Station: Site 2 - Station Approach
• Piccadilly Station: Site 4 - Fairfield Street/London Road
• Aquatic Centre
• Piccadilly Station: Site 3 – Fairfield Street
• Piccadilly Gardens
• Salford Quays and Kennedy St 

and currently the reports' consultants are carrying out a more detailed evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of each these suggested sites. They are due to deliver a prioritised list of site(s) for the Cycle Centre very soon.


Watch this space for further news......

The Bicycle now arriving at Platform 10

On 28th September 2009, the Department for Transport announced a £14 million package to improve cycle facilities by creating 'Cycle Hubs' at  10 major rail station  and creating 10,000 extra cycle park spaces at these rail stations.

Included in the DfT statement were details of funding given to Virgin Trains to improve cycle parking along the Stoke to Manchester rail corridor and cycle accessibility at the stations. There was also a mention of a "cycle hire schemes" to be introduced at Manchester Piccadilly, with opportunities to expand to other stations.  The Stoke Sentinel (29th September) has reported that Virgin have been allocated £1 million for these cycle schemes.

More recently, reports have reached us that Oy Bikes (London) have had discussions with Virgin Trains and Manchester City Council about developing a Cycle Hire scheme on Platform 10 at Manchester Piccadilly station.  With up to 110 hire bicycles being shared between Stoke, Piccadilly and Victoria stations and a couple of other locations in Manchester.  Large companies and organisations will also be encouraged to support the scheme by installing additonal cycle hire units.

Oy Bikes were last seen operating in Manchester in September 2005 as part of European Mobility Week.  Between 16th to 22th September, the distinctive yellow bikes were available via an Amsterdam-style system outside Victoria station, Piccadilly station, St Peter's Square Metrolink stop and St Ann's Square.

We look forward to seeing the distinctive bikes once again on the streets of Manchester.

Oy Bike photo sourced from: Tree Hugger

Oy Bikes already in Cardiff. On the 26th November the Guardian Bike Blog reported that the "Bike hire revolution hits Cardiff"



"It's a bit front-heavy. Not much good for wheelies." That was the verdict of one passerby as he inspected one of Cardiff's fetching new yellow and green rentable bicycles that are now dotted around the city at 11 hire locations. With just 70 bicycles and hire stations restricted to the city centre and Cardiff Bay, it is small by comparison with similar schemes in other European cities such as Paris, Copenhagen and Nice. But the company running it, called OYBike, say this is just the start. "The system will hopefully continue to grow (locations and thus stations) as private companies want to sponsor more rental points outside their offices," said Deborah Pester, a spokesperson for OYBike.

How many folding bikes can you fit in one car parking space?

 
Forty two (Bromptons) is the answer...

Photo from Bike Man Dan blog (25th August 2009). Source: Boing Boing

www.bikemandan.com/blog/pictures/how-many-folding-bikes-fit-in-one-car-space

The trouble with statistics !

A recent article in Tree Hugger celebrated the increase in the number of people cycling in New York City. Based on counts at 6 key NYC locations,  there has been a 26% increase in the number of commuter cyclists in 2009. This comes on top of a 35% increase in cycling levels in 2008. Overall, this represents a 66% increase in the recorded number of people cycling in the last 2 years.

By comparison, a recent report "Cycling as a Mode of Transport in Manchester" to the Communities and Neighbourhoods Overview and Scrutiny Committee announced that "recorded cycling levels into the City Centre have shown an increase of 59% since 2005"

Although this increase was over a longer time period (5 years) than in New York City, and clearly not all the local councillors on the scrutiny committee seemed that enamoured with people on bicycles (in some cases hostile is probably a more accurate description), these increases certainly sound impressive and are to be welcomed.

But as is often the case with headline statistics, it is necessary to dig a little deeper to get a clearer picture.  In the case of Manchester, the percentage increase figure is totally correct but there is no context to what it actually means.

To get some context, you will need to delve into another report - the intriguingly titled "Manchester LPSA2 Modal Share Surveys. Report of Results. GMTU Report 1523  June 2009".  Unfortunately not yet available via the web.

This report gives the modal share data for recorded trips into the City Centre in 2005 and 2009 and reveals that cycling's modal share increased from 0.7% in 2005 to 1.1% in 2009.  Yes, there was a 59% increase in the number of recorded trips made by bicycle, but this represents an increase from a very, very low baseline to a still very low baseline when compared to European cities such as Gronigen and Copenhagen which achieve average figures of 40-45% (or higher) of all trips within the City Centres being made by bicycle.

If Manchester wants to meet its recently announced bold C02 emission reduction targets (1) as well as tackle other key challenges including health (obesity), air quality management (vehicle pollution), congestion and social exclusion then it clearly needs to massively up its game and make Manchester into a cycling city.

(1) "Manchester- A Certain Future. Our co2llective action on climate change"

Dangerous cycle lanes?

Debate continues within the cycling community about the value of cycle lanes.

Proponents argue that a well planned and continuous network of cycle lanes are essential to encourage more people to cycle as many people have a perception, or real exerience, of the roads being dangerous.

Opponents argue that cycle lanes are misguided, a waste of money and actually endanger cyclists. Looking through the 'Crap Cycle Lanes : 50 Worst Cycle Lanes in Britain' book, published by Warrington Cycle Campaigns in 2007, it is easy to see how a lot of local council money has been wasted installing useless green paint on the roads and pavements across the United Kingdom.

One example that isn't in the book, but should be in any reprint, is the cycle lane that Salford Council has installed on the A666 roundabout near Swinton (see photo).

Requests for more information about the design process, safety audit and costs have been submitted to Salford Council - more details as they become available.

Meanwhile, the Department for Transport Cycle Infrastructure Design guide [1] states that:

"9.8.1 Keeping well to the nearside on the circulatory carriageway is the typical approach adopted by less confident cyclists, but this puts them in the most hazardous position for being hit by vehicles entering or leaving the roundabout. They are less visible to motorists entering the junction, and this is where most conflicts occur.

9.10 Cycle lanes on Roundabouts

9.10.1 The idea of marking cycle lanes on roundabouts may appear, at first glance, to be a relatively simple one, but it is not. Cycle lanes on roundabouts must be very carefully considered. There is little evidence to suggest that they offer any safety benefit to cyclists, and they may introduce additional hazards. Some cycle lanes on roundabouts have been removed because they led to a deterioration in the accident rate.

9.10.2 Designers should first decide how the lanes are intended to benefit cyclists and then balance this with the problems they can give rise to. It is possible that annular nearside cycle lanes can highlight the presence of cyclists on the roundabout, but against this is the risk that cyclists using the lanes may be taking up an inappropriate position, particularly near exit arms. To a driver, it may appear that a cyclist approaching an exit arm in such a lane intends taking that exit because of his position in the circulatory carriageway. If the driver intends to leave at the same exit, he may attempt to overtake and be confronted with the cyclists turning across his path. On busy roundabouts, it is important that the cyclist takes up a prominent position nearer the centre of the carriageway to ensure that drivers understand the intended manoeuvre, and, for this reason, annular lanes are not generally recommended."


In a nutshell, the advice from the Department for Transport seems to be - don't install cycle lanes around the outside of roundabouts as they can encourage inexperienced cyclists to cycle in dangerous positions on the road.

Unfortunately, Salford's highway planners seem to have gone one step further. In addition, to encouraging people to cycle in a poor road position with regard to vehicles taking a left exit, the cycle lane "give way" markings then suggest that cyclists should stop on a busy roundabout and let vehicles exit.

What other traffic is expected to do this on a roundabout? Have the people who designed this scheme actually tried to cycle on it and start cycling from a standstill position on a busy roundabout?

The road positions that this type of cycle lane encourages people to adopt directly contradicts the road positioning training provided through the national standards Bikeability courses. This is the same cycle training courses that Councils provide for year 5 and 6 children in schools across Salford and Greater Manchester. Perhaps the Highway Planners should get Year 6 classes to apply their training and evaluate all new planned cycle lanes for compatability with national standards.

As a way of encouraging more people to cycle, I do support the creation of a cycle lane network in Greater Manchester. But any such network has to be coherent, continuous and consistent with national standards.

The DfT guidance notes that "some cycle lanes on roundabouts have been removed because they led to a deterioration in the accident rate." Lets hope that it doesn't require an increase in accidents at this location before Salford Council acts.


[1] http://dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/tpm/ltnotes/ltn208.pdf Local Transport Note 2/08. October 2008.




Update (December 2009): In response to a Freedom of Information request, Salford City Council have supplied the following (not very helpful) information.


Q) When (date) were the cycle lane marketings installed?
A) The cycle lane order came into force on 31st March 2000, the markings would have been placed just prior to this date. Unfortunately, we cannot provide an exact date, the work would have been cafrried out over a number of days in March.




Q) What were the costs of installing these cycle lane markings? 

A) We no longer have a record of the costs as they would have been destroyed after five years.


Q) What consultation was undertaken with cycling groups prior to these cycle lane markings being installed?
A) The scheme was brought forward via the Accident Investigation Unit and consultation with Salford's Traffic Management Unit, to improve the cycling facilities as part of an accident reduction scheme and made the existing cycle facilities mandatory.



Q) [Request for] Copies of any plans, assessment and evaluation reports in relation to installation of thse cycle lane markings.
A) Records of any consultations, evaluations etc would have related to the original scheme and such records are no longer kept, they would have been destroyed after five years.



If anyone has any copies of the consultation documents relating to these cycle lane markings, we would like to hear from you so please get in touch.

Some lovely bicycle quotes

"The bicycle is the most civilised conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart." Iris Murdoch.


"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race." HG Wells.

“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” Ernest Hemingway.

Improving Health in Manchester - but not by bike!

In November 2008, Manchester NHS unveiled a strategy document entitled "Improving Health in Manchester: Commissioning Strategic Plan 2009-2014" (1) Amongst a range of concerns the strategy focusses on the need to reduce the levels of obesity in the Manchester population and wanted to tackle childhood obesity by promoting healthy lifestyles for families with young children.

The strategy highlights the clear cost benefits from people becoming active and states that the "cost saving for each person becoming active is £370 per annum" and this was "a prudent estimate as it excludes savings generated from other areas such as patients that stop smoking (2010)" [Page 68]

Supporting and encouraging children and adults to cycle to school or work is a great way for people to include exercise in their everyday routines. So it is very disappointing to see that this strategic plan for "Improving Health in Manchester" doesn't seem to include the words bicycle, cycling or cyclist and the word "cycle" is only mentioned in relation to the "comissioning cycle" or "disease cycle".

The foreword to the plan ends by claiming that this "plan explains how we intend to address these issues over the next five years. Manchester’s journey to a happier, healthier and wealthier city is well underway and we are proud to be playing our part – we hope you will be too."

It's a shame that Manchester NHS's vision would appear not to see people making this journey by bicycle!

(1) www.manchester.gov.uk/egov_downloads/NHS_Manchester_Commissioning_Plan.pdf

When is a 'pothole' actionable?

To take fairly large liberties with, if not to massacre, one of the famous Shakespearean quotes - "To be or not to be a pothole" - that is the question.

Well it would seem that the answer to this question depends on which Greater Manchester borough you live in.

Having had discussions with various cyclists and council officers it seems that despite having a Greater Manchester wide travel authority there is no common agreement of when a 'sharp edge trip' is a pothole and when it becomes 'actionable' e.g. meets the criteria to be repaired.

Each Council uses its own assessment criteria which also takes into account where the pothole is located (busy street or quiet backstreet) etc. But one of the main criteria is how long the 'sharp edge trip' is - or in other words, how deep is the pothole. Basically a pothole in Salford has to be twice the size of a Wigan pothole before being repaired (see details below).

Sharp edge trip Council
50mm Salford

40mm Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford

35mm Rochdale

30mm Manchester (* see update below).

25mm Wigan


It seems strange that one Council can class a pothole 25mm deep as 'actionable' (read potentially dangerous) and yet same pothole would not be repaired by any of the other nine Greater Manchester councils.

Isn't it time we had a common criteria for repairing (dangerous) potholes across all roads in Greater Manchester?


* Update: A race to the bottom ?

A report to the Manchester City Council 'Communities and Neighbourhoods Overview and Scrutiny Committee' on 16th November 2010 detailed how:

"With effect from 30th November 2009, Highway Inspectors are required to record and action footway defects deeper than 20mm and carriageway defects deeper than 30mm on busy City Centre Streets and at well usedcrossing points elsewhere in the City, but the intervention level for all other highway locations is 25mm in the footway and 40mm in the carriageway. Prior to this date the intervention level had been 20mm and 30mm for footways and carriageways respectively throughout the whole of the City. The intervention levels adopted by the Greater Manchester Districts are all slightly different however, the decision to slacken Manchester’s levels brings them more in line with the values used by the other districts. The change also means that expenditure on the repair of defects is not being incurred any sooner than is necessary to offer a defence against accident claims." (Page 31) [Emphasis added].

Definitely a move in the wrong direction.....

A month (and a bit) in the life of a pothole

Potholes, as any cyclist or pedestrian will tell you, can be fairly unpleasant if not downright dangerous.

The Manchester City Council policy is that if a sharp edge trip (potholes in local council speak) is "actionable" it will be repaired within 10 working days.

The photo(s) are of a fairly serious pothole on Stretford Road just down from Rolls Crescent, travelling towards Chorlton Road.

Now, I don't normally cycle that close to the kerb, but having been forced in towards the kerb by a rather unfriendly car driver I found myself having to brake and swerve to avoid this rather large hole.

Not wishing others to face the same problem, I reported the pothole to Manchester City Council, via the Environment on Call email service on 5th February 2009.

The report was logged and on the 6th February I was informed that the "Highways Inspector will visit the area within 3 working days."

Noticing that nothing had happened by 20th February I emailed again asking for an update on progress. Again the response was that "The Highways Inspector will visit the area within 3 working days."

On the 23rd February an email arrived that stated the "work to repair the pot hole has been ordered, it should be completed by the end of today (23 February)."

Nothing having happened by the time I cycled home on the 25th February, I emailed again and received the slightly different response that the "Highways Inspector will contact you by the end of the next working day."

By the 3rd March, the pothole had acquired a plywood board and four traffic cones which at least made it safer. Unfortunately, by the 4th March the plywood board had either broken or had been "borrowed" for other purposes. But at least the cones remained.

The pothole was finally repaired on Saturday 7th March - which is 26 working days (including Saturdays) after it was first reported. I never did receive any notification from the Highways Inspector but I live in hope.


You can (and should) report potholes in Manchester roads by contacting:

Environment On Call
Email: contact@manchester.gov.uk

Pink Bank Lane, Level 2, Manchester. M12 5QN
Tel: 0161 954 9000
Fax: 0161 274 7182

or via the Manchester City Council website reporting form.