Ignorance you should ignore...

This little snippet appears on the backpage of the latest Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign (GMCC) newsletter.

Penned by Andrew Grimes (byline: Opinions you can't ignore) in the Manchester Evening News.

LET'S GET 'EM OFF THEIR BIKES
"I AM heartened by a survey that claims fewer people are cycling to work. The more fashion-conscious among them - mainly but not  exclusively women - don't like the idea of developing helmet hair styles or of turning up at their desks in a sweaty and smelly condition.  This is good news for all road users, pedestrians not excluded. Anything that smashes the greenie cult of the pestilential peak-hour bike is good for the environment."
(Manchester Evening News, Friday 9th Sept 2011, Page 8) 

No idea what survey he is referring to - as all the research I have seen recently has shown increasing numbers of people cycling, even in Manchester !

So here's the double challenge.....

1) Anyone know why Mr Grimes seems to have such a downer on people who cycle?

2) Suggestions welcome for a more apt byline for his column... in true Blue Peter style here's one we prepared earlier to get you started...  "Ignorance you should ignore".

GMPTE Consultation on cycle storage (Deadline 7th June - ish!)

Well its consultation time (again) and those nice people at Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) are "asking for feedback from cyclists and cycling groups in Greater Manchester on work they are having done on the design of future cycling facilities at public transport locations."  They want comments back by Monday 7 June (or very latest 11th June) and the questions are listed below:

GMPTE Cycle Design Guide Consultation:

1.Type and Quantity of cycle storage

* What type of storage should be provided (ie stands/lockers) and if lockers are provided, what sort should they be?

* How many stands/lockers should we be providing at each location and how should the amount vary according to the type of location?

* How should lockers be accessed eg key, swipe card, coin?

2.Location of storage/security issues

*how should the level of security (including lighting, CCTV, natural surveillance) available influence the location of storage or the type provided?

* where should storage be located for easy access & how can access be improved?

3.Availability of storage

* how can we improve the availability of storage/ make sure there is sufficient storage available for occasional users?

* Should storage be available at all locations (eg bearing in mind different levels of security)?

4.Management/ Maintenance and Cost

* how can the management of the lockers be improved?

* how can we maximise the usage of lockers?

* should charging be per use, or a one-off charge?

5.Signage requirements

* what signage is needed to encourage take up (eg to the stations, within the station)

6.Other

* are there any supporting services that are needed to encourage people to cycle to public transport locations?

* anything else, not covered above, that you feel is important?

So if you feel like sending them your thoughts please email responses to moira.percy@gmpte.gov.uk

Now far be it for anyone to suggest what you should write but we would hope that GMPTE are taking note of the GM Cycle Parking guidelines adopted by all Greater Manchester councils.

And those nice folks at Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign (GMCC) have also made useful, but less than flattering, comments on the cycle lockers that have been favoured by GMPTE in the past.  See for example the April 2008 entitled "Useless Cycle Parking : A survey of poor parking facilities in Trafford and surrounding areas" which commented that:

"Sadly, the lockers are too small for any bike larger than a mountain bike. Another problem with this type of locker is that any bikes with full mud-guards going round the rear wheel will find it gets damaged" and that "It can also be quite difficult to lift the bike up onto the rear wheel and manoeuvre it into the locker."

The GMCC report also listed the dimensions of the GMPTE cycle lockers that had been tested in 2008. These were:


Dimensions (Locker)    Dimensions (My Bike):
         183 cm (L)                 189 cm (L)
           68 cm (W)                  66 cm (W)
         110 cm (H)                114 cm (H)

More details of the GMPTE Bicycle Lockers Users Club (BLUC) are available here.

Happy consulting!

Vote for Cycling!

In the run up to the local council elections on 6th May, Love Your Bike and Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign (GMCC) invited local council election candidates in every ward to complete a cycling issues survey which asked the candidates to respond to five questions:

• How often do you cycle?

• Do you support the introduction of 20mph speed limits in all residential areas such as the “20s Plenty for us” schemes as introduced in Portsmouth, Newcastle, Oxford, Warrington and Wirral? 

• Would you support your local council providing free adult cycle training to people who live/work in your local authority area?

• Do you think that people should be able to travel with bicycles on Metrolink during off-peak travel times?

• What policies does your party have to encourage more people to cycle to work, school, shopping or for leisure purposes?

A more detailed report is available on the Love Your Bike website but the key findings are shown below:

•  Top of the poll for the proportion of candidates responding were the Green Party (43%) followed by the Liberal Democrats (16.5%), Labour Party (11.5%) and Conservative Party (2.9%).

• The highest turnout figures from candidates were in Trafford (25.84%), Manchester (24%) and Stockport (21.6%).  The lowest turnout was in Oldham (1.3%).

• The survey results indicate that local election candidates in Greater Manchester cycle more often than the average person in the North West.

• Over 90% of the local council election candidates who responded supported the 20mph speed limit in residential areas. There were high levels of support from most political parties: Green (97%), Liberal Democrat (96.8%) and Labour (88%). The majority of the Conservative Party candidates (60%) also supported this policy.

• Of the local council election candidates who responded, over 90% supported local councils providing free adult cycle training. With high levels of support from most political parties: Green (97.2%), Liberal Democrat (93.1%) and Labour (91.3%).  Only 33% of Conservative candidates supported this idea.

• Despite being a potential ‘hot potato’ issue for local council election candidates given the recent decisions by the Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA) regarding bicycle carriage on Metrolink trams - the survey results indicated that there was support for cycle carriage on off-peak trams across all political parties and Council areas: Green (100%), Labour (95.8%), Liberal Democrat (86.7%) and Conservative (66.7%).

Love Your Bike and Greater Manchester Cycling campaign have thanked all the local council election candidates who responded to the survey and have stated that they "would welcome the opportunity to work with local councillors to improve cycling infrastructure and facilities and to increase the number of people cycling in Greater Manchester."

Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign social rides

Now that the warmer weather (!) is upon us and the evenings are getting longer here are details of monthly social rides organised by those nice people at the Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign.

Discover pleasant routes out of the city, and find things and places of cultural, historical and alcoholical interest.

They are a series of short (10 miles there and back) rides radiating from Manchester City centre.  Meet at 5.30 p.m (Thursdays) at Albert Square, in front of Manchester Town Hall.

No need to “join” or sign up. Just turn up and ride.

 Dates (Thursdays) and destinations as follows:-

April 22nd, A mooch around Ancoats and a ride along the Ashton Canal to a Camra pub in Gorton.

May 20th, Up the Irk Valley to Heaton Park via Alkrington Woods.

June 24th, Route 6 to the Airport. Beer at the Ship in Styal.

July 22nd, Irwell Valley Way to Clifton Country Park.

August 19th, Up The Irk Valley to Boggart Hole Clough.

September 23rd, Medlock Valley to Crime Lake and possibly Park Bridge.

October 21st,  Along the Rochdale Canal.

November 18th. Around the City and along the Ship Canal.

All riders join at their own risk. Any under 18s to be accompanied by a parent or carer. Contact raikes[at]gmail.com for more details.