The last post for bicycle deliveries in Greater Manchester ?

It appears that, if the Royal Mail gets its way, postal deliveries by bicycle may soon become a thing of the past in cities across the UK.

In a letter from Adam Crozier, chief executive of Royal Mail, to the Labour peer Lord Berkeley, secretary of the All-Parliamentary Cycling Group, the long-standing rumours that the traditional postal worker’s bike will be phased out were confirmed.

  

Crozier cited the dangers faced by cyclists on Britain's road as a prime motivation behind the decision, and also rejected calls to use cargo bicycles instead of vans to deliver letters.

The letter claimed that "it remains the case that these bicycles pose the wider safety risk associated with busy street networks, where the rider is exposed to greater risk than other vehicle risks".

The postal bikes, which are manufactured in the UK by Pashley,  can carry 32kg of mail spread between front and rear panniers and provide a sustainable, environment friendly means of making postal deliveries.

Crozier's letter also claims that Royal Mail "anticipate working with the Department of Transport to develop our low-carbon vehicle options".  Talk about trying to "reinvent the wheel" - we are left wondering what vehicle the Royal Mail will develop that will have a lower-carbon footprint than the bicycle!

Chorlton - jumping through (cycle) hoops ?

We understand that Beech Road in Chorlton should soon be joining Edinburgh, Shrewsbury amd the London boroughs of Camden, Islington amd Southwark in trialling the Cyclehoop - a device which converts a lamp-post into a secure bike stand.

The Cycle hoop was designed by Anthony Lau who came up with the idea after his own bike was stolen by being lifted off a traffic sign. Whereas nomal bicycle stands require concreting or drilling into the pavement, the Cyclehoop can be installed within minutes so it is attractive to councils as a cost effective way of reducing bike theft. The suppliers claim that by using the device, roadsigns, lampposts, bollards, bus stops and even traffic lights could all become safe places to lock up your bike..

Photo caption: Cyclehoop, a device which converts a lamp-post into a secure bike stand. (c) Anthony Lau.

See also Guardian Blog  The Cyclehoop converts lamp-posts to kerbside bike racks – will you use them?



Update 14th January 2011.

See below for email from Vicky Rosin, Director of Neighbourhood Services at Manchester City Councillor to Chorlton local councillors.



Dear Councillor Chamberlain, Councillor Ankers,

Thank you for your enquiry regarding cycle parking on Beech Road in Chorlton,

We have previously received requests for cycle parking stands on Beech Road and have investigated their feasibility however, these requests where not able to be progressed owing to the lack of available footway width to safely site cycle parking stands. Other options previously pursued through Ward Co-ordination included discussions with the various businesses along Beech Road, seeking their permission to locate cycle parking stands on the private land outside their frontages. Discussions with businesses have so far not identified a suitable location.

For the last six months, Highway Services have been trialing a 'Cyclehoop' on Charles Street  in the City centre (See attached photo and product brief), seen as a possible cycle parking solution to areas such as Beech Road with high cycle parking demand and limited footway width. The 'Cyclehoop' has so far been positively received by both users and the Street Lighting Client Team.  AMEY (Manchester City Council PFI Street Lighting Contractor) have also lodged no objections to their use.

As a result, it has been agreed that subject to individual site approval by the Street Lighting Team, additional Cyclehoop locations attached to existing Street Lighting Columns can now be considered. Consequently, Beech Road will be one of the first locations in Manchester to be considered for this innovative cycle parking provision within the new financial year subject to the cycle parking budget becoming available.

Regards

Vicky Rosin
Director, Neighbourhood Services
Manchester City Council
Town Hall ( Room 219)
Manchester
M60 2LA

Walk to Work Week 2010

This year's "Walk to Work Week" is taking place from 26th - 30th April and organisations across Greater Manchester are being asked to encourage their staff to:

1.Try walking all or part of the way to work
2.Try walking all or part of the way home from work
3.Hold a walking meeting
4.Walk all or part of the way to a meeting
5.Take a walk during your lunch break

The Walking Works campaign is organised by Living Streets' campaign that aims to get us all walking more in our daily lives. The Walking Works campaign "aims to encourage more people to walk to and from work, and to walk more during their working day.  As part of the campaign, we work directly with businesses to help them promote walking and encourage their employees to use walking as a way to travel actively."

Why not ask your organisation what they are doing to encourage people to walk or cycle to work?

Bicycles (nearly, maybe, possibly) on trams !

Earlier blog posts have provided details of the GMITA committee meeting on 15th January that voted to continue with the ban on cycle carriage on Metrolink despite the full report from the consultants, Mott Macdonald, not being made available until several hours after the vote.  See  Integrated Transport Authority? You're having a laugh! and Metrolink (not) the way to an integrated sustainable transport system.

Following some robust lobbying from the cycling community across Greater Manchester the full Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA) meeting on 12th February agreed to the two additional resolutions shown below.

Firstly, that the "Authority, mindful of the Capital Projects report relating to the carriage of cycles on trams, wishes to set up a small working group of two Conservative Members, two Liberal Democrat Members and two Labour Memebers which will also call on advice from Greater Manchester Cycle Campaign and the Love Your Bike campaign and the ten district councils and local transport user groups to discuss the contents of the Mott Macdonald report and examine any safe ways in which cycles can be carried on trams and to report back to the Policy and Resources Committee of the Authority in due course."     This was agreed unanimously.

Secondly that "Officers to be instructed to report to Policy and Resources Committee:

1) an evaluation of the experience of European Light Rail Systems with similar vehicles operating in similar circumstances to those found in Greater Manchester Metrolink and which permit the carriage of bicycles,

2) the estimated cost of providing facilities to enable the M5000 trams to carry bicycles,

3) costed options for modifying the T68 and T68A trams as part of their mid life refurbishment to provide facilities to enable them to carry bicycles,

4) a plan for the experimental introduction of off peak bicycle carriage and

5) undertake full consultation with representatives of the Cycling Organisations and the 10 District Councils."   This was also agreed unanimously.


On one level this only takes us back to where we were!  But it is an important turnaround from the decision of the Capital Projects committee on 15th January and a strong reminder to GMPTE that they have to involve/consult with cycling and other communities of interest.

As always the devil will be in the detail.  There are rumours that the working party will hold its first meeting on the 19th March to agree terms of reference and set timetables for the work that has been requested.  

Watch this space..... and lets hope that in terms of helping to create an integrated and sustainable transport system for Greater Manchester that "A better Metrolink is coming"

The Sustainable Travel City is dead, long live the... er... Urban Challenge Fund

The Sustainable Travel City fund was announced by Paul Clark MP (Under-Secretary of State for Transport) in May 2009. Greater Manchester was one of nine urban areas that submitted a bid for up to £29 million to encourage greener travel choices. The aims of the Sustainable Travel City funding was to help a major city tackle congestion, reduce CO2 emissions and increase levels of physical activity.  The Department for Transport (DfT) hoped that the successful city would provide a model for others to follow.   The DfT wanted to see innovative new strategies to develop a range of services including;

• Work or school travel planning;
• cycle training;
• personalised travel planning;
• online journey planning;
• car share schemes / car clubs
• reviewing parking provision
• dedicated bus routes / improved bus stops and shelter;
• cycling / pedestrian routes;
• 20 mph zones.

Greater Manchester launched its bid in July 2009 but in September was told by DfT that its bid had not reached the final round.   But despite all the work carried out by transport authorities in the nine cities the DfT has recently confirmed to Walkit.com that they have now cancelled the £29 million Sustainable Travel City demonstration project.  As the Walkit blog notes "this will no doubt cause just a tad of frustration in local/regional transport bodies, who put in a lot of effort, at very short notice, to get their bids in last year."

On the 2nd March 2010, Sadiq Khan (Transport Minister) had announced that there will be an Urban Challenge Fund (UCF) which cities can bid for if they can show that their plans will:

• improve journey choice
• tackle congestion
• improve safety
• lower carbon emissions
• and promote healthier lifestyles through better air quality and more walking and cycling.

But so far, detailed figures or timescales for the Urban Challenge Fund have yet to surface.  So following the recent publication of the DfT's active travel strategy which proudly claimed to “put walking and cycling at the heart of our transport and health strategies”, one demonstration project has been dropped and details of the replacement scheme have yet to be made available. Meanwhile, nearly another year has passed by.....

Hopefully, Greater Manchester will make an Urban Challenge Fund application but you would have to have a heart of stone not to forgive the weariness and despair that this prospect may cause for local government officers and active travel campaigners.

They want your views !

Manchester City Council and Greater Manchester Passenger Ttransport Executive (GMPTE), in consultation with Salford City Council, have developed a new transport strategy for Manchester city centre and they want your views. Consultations should be submitted by 22nd March 2010.

The introductory blurb for the consultation says that:

"We have identified the need for a  comprehensive strategy to ensure that the transport network can support the significant economic growth forecast to 2020, and delivery of the Strategic Plan for Manchester City Centre published in 2009.   The Strategy sets out a transport masterplan to provide the city centre with a world class transport system and making it a better place to live, work, invest and relax. There is the potential for employment in the city centre to grow by 50,000 by 2020. These new jobs will cause the number of trips into the city centre to grow by a third. To retain essential labour market connectivity, the main thrust of this Strategy must be to maintain access to the city centre by all modes and to strengthen public transport capacity and quality, together with improving conditions for cyclists and pedestrians."

The consultation document is 41 pages long and is available here.   If the Council(s) are serious about making it easier and more enjoyable for people to choose sustainable travel modes to make their journeys into Manchester City Centre, then this strategy needs to include plans for developing effective infrastructure and promotional activities to encourage more people to walk and cycle. It will also need to make clear how these plans are going to be funded.

Please do send in your thoughts - either directly to Manchester City Council or leave a comment here.

Sharing the road....bus and bike survey

The Love Your Bike campaign are asking people in Greater Manchester to spend 5 minutes to complete an online survey about their  experiences of sharing the roads with buses whilst cycling in Greater Manchester.

The introduction to the LYB survey says that "comments we have received from cyclists and non-cyclists alike indicate a perception that buses make the roads more dangerous for cycling. We are concerned about the risks to the cycling community, and the potential for others to be put off cycling at all because they perceive the roads to be too dangerous because of the behaviour of other road users."

The survey has been designed to get a sense of what type of behaviour is the most problematic and how serious this issue is for cyclists. Alongside the survey, the Love Your Bike campaigners are talking to bus drivers to learn about their perceptions of cyclists as they argue that the cycling community could often do better too.  Love Your Bike wants the survey to be the start of a dialogue with bus companies and local transport authorities to make the roads safer for cyclists, to make cycling in Greater Manchester a more attractive prospect, and ultimately to get more people cycling more often.

The survey can be found here.  Please do take that 5 minutes to fill it in. The closing date is 19th March. Results to be announced by the end of May.