Public service announcement #6: Carlton Reid calling all bicycle shops

An interesting blog from Carlton Reid in BikeBiz is asking bike shops their on store car parking. "A necessary evil? A vital business tool? Or surplus to requirements?"

The blog recounts his experience at a recent roundtable discussion in Birmingham, organised by the Surveyor magazine, with a of integrated transport experts.

Carlton Reid comments that "reducing road space for cars, and increasing it for pedestrians and cyclists, could create more cyclists (and more pedestrians) yet bike shops are not shouting for this from the rooftops. And I don't tend to hear about bike shops calling for a reduction in car parking spaces. I can imagine Rutland Cycling would not be in favour of reduced car parking but city centre bike shops don't seem to be in favour of it either. Most (correct me if I'm wrong) want to have ample parking outside their shops because it's believed customers, in the main, arrive by car."

He asks the question:  "But how many bike shops have conducted travel surveys to find out how customers actually get to their stores? Customers who arrive by car are noticeable, cars are big. Customers who arrive on foot or by bike are less visually arresting. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on store car parking and how vital it is to your business. I'd also like to hear from you if you've, say, partnered with your local authority to get rid of a parking space and replaced it with a bike parking stand."

Will be fascinating to hear from Greater Manchester bike stores. You can leave your comments on the BikeBiz article or @ me on Twitter and add @bikebizonline to the conversation.

New E-book: Roads Were Not Built For Cars

Advance notice of a new Ebook by Carlton Reid, due to be released in April 2012.  The promo blurb explains how:

"Many motorists assume roads were built for them; that asphalt is a relatively recent creation designed to speed them along; and that non-motorised road users have lesser rights. None of this is true.

Motorists are the johny-come-latelies of highway history. This fact is explored at length in ‘Roads Were Not Built For Cars’, an exploration of the fascinating history of roads and the part that cyclists helped in saving them. The coming of the railways killed off the coaching trade and almost all rural roads reverted to low-level local use. Cyclists were the first group in a generation to use roads and were the first to push for high-quality sealed surfaces and were the first to lobby for national funding and leadership for roads. Without cyclists, motorists wouldn’t have hit the ground running when it came to places to drive this new form of transport.

‘Roads Were Not Built for Cars’ is a history book, focussing on the 1880s and 1890s, a time when cyclists had political clout, in the UK and especially in America. The book researches the Road Improvements Association – a lobbying group created by the CTC in the 1880s – and the Good Roads movement organised by the League of American Wheelmen in the same period."

Visit the website if you would like to receive notification by email when the E-book is released.

[Disclaimer: This blogger has no connection to the author or publishers of this (e)book and receives no payment for publicising it !  In case anyone was wondering.]