Coming to a street near you? Keep your bike safe! Rent a space in a Bikehangar!

Love to cycle but live in a flat, apartment or terraced house with no sensible or secure place to

store your bike? 

Wondering what to do with all those on-street car parking spaces cluttering up your local neighbourhood?

Well here's an idea that might just be right up your street!

Cyclehoop, in association with the London Borough of Lambeth, have already installed 13 Bikehangars, with 13 more in the pipeline. These Bikehangars will provide 156 secure bike parking spaces, which can be rented by Lambeth residents.

The Lambeth Bikehangar is the first outside cycle parking storage in London to be installed on the highway, by removing one car parking space. 

It is a galvanized steel bike locker with a gas sprung door and perforated side panels, offering residents in Lambeth safe and effective outside cycle storage to protect their bicycles from tough weather conditions and vandalism.

Local residents can rent a cycle parking space on an annual basis and membership costs £42 per year with a refundable deposit of £25 payable in advance.

Seem like a good idea?  Why not ask your local council if they will install similar cycle parking.

Free cycle parking stands from TfL and TfGM (reportedly!)

If we want people to integrate cycling into their everyday activities there are some clear changes that we need to make.  Top priorities include creating safe, continuous, high quality cycle routes that go to destinations that people want to travel to; re-allocating roadspace to encourage people to walk and cycle more and reducing traffic speeds in residential areas   (20s Plenty).

In addition we also need to ensure that they have somewhere secure to park/store their bicycles where they live, work and in the public realm. If people do not have anywhere to safely store or lock their bicycles - why would they cycle.

Recently came across an interesting Transport for London (TfL) scheme that provides "free" cycle parking stands for businesses in London.  There are a number of conditions that the company needs to sign up to and these include: 

• Your organisation must have a minimum of five employees at the location.
• The number of stands available (up to 20) depends on the number of employees at the location, and is at our discretion
• Stands must be installed on privately owned land. The land owner must have given permission and any planning regulations must be followed
• Your organisation must sign up to the "Businesscycle" scheme
• Your organisation can choose from three designs: Sheffield, toast racks and vertical
• Your organisation has to pay for installation and ongoing maintenance
• Your organisation must agree to send us photographic evidence of installation within three months of delivery
• Your organisation must not have an undischarged planning obligation or Section 106 agreement for cycle parking relating to the site

These conditions seem reasonable and companies can (depending on number of employees) order up to 20 stands. 

It will be interesting to see how effective this scheme is at encouraging businesses to install more cycle parking.


So what is on offer in Greater Manchester?  It is reported that Transport for Greater Manchester is offering businesses grants for "cycling facilities" but unless you already knew this the TfGM website is a little opaque.

The Grants paragraph states that:

"As part of the LSTF Project Transport for Greater Manchester can provide grants and match funding towards the cost of providing cycling facilities at your workplace. Organisations receiving financial assistance will be required to commit to furthering cycling at their workplace by nominating a member of staff to act in a cycle liaison role as well as taking part in other relevant activities."

Which is all good.... but would be even better if some more specific details were available.  Just a thought !

Any companies wanting more details of the TfGM grant assistance should contact the cycling team at cycling@tfgm.com 

 

Now here's a nice idea....

Some great news from those lovely people at Transportation Alternatives in New York who report that a "landslide of support just shook Franklin Avenue in Brooklyn, far outsizing the tiny car-parking-space-turned-bike-parking-lot it was endorsing."

A bike corral (a smart idea to swap one car parking space with four bike racks) in Crown Heights got an outpouring of local affection. It all started when a local business, Little Zelda Coffee, saw how many customers were biking in.

In December, with the help of the Department of Transportation and the unanimous support of Community Board 8, a parking spot outside Little Zelda Coffee was transformed into a bike corral, complete with planters and space for the bicycles of eight Franklin Avenue shoppers. Then, a small opposition started to make a lot of noise.

A petition, protesting the lost car parking spot, hit 300 signatures in January. But a counter petition, more than 500 signatures strong, showed up in support of the new bike corral. The community board agreed to revisit the issue. The result, hashed out at a meeting of the transportation committee last week, was unanimous, again, in support of a bike-friendly Franklin Avenue.

From Columbus Avenue to Prospect Park West to Grand Street to Kent Avenue, this is a story that’s been told before. The people of New York City want streets built for bicycling. Now, Franklin Avenue and its little bike corral are added to the growing list of streets double endorsed for being bike-friendly.   If there’s a spot in your neighborhood that could be better for bicycling, you can change it.

The Love Your Bike campaign would love to hear from any local businesses in Greater Manchester that would like to to introduce similar on-street bike parking.

Norwich 58 ... Manchester er?

On a recent visit to Norwich by train I noticed quite a large amount of bike parking at the train station. Well located and mostly covered there are a total of 58 Sheffield stands, which at 2 bikes to one stand provides secure parking for 116 bicycles.

Cycle parking at Norwich station (1)

According to Norwich City Council, the population of the Norwich Travel to Work Area (TTWA) is 376,500 whilst 132,200 people live in the Norwich City Council area.

In comparison, the Office for National Statistics has estimated that the TTWA population for Manchester is 1,204,000 and the latest Census puts Manchester's population at 503,100 people.   

Basically, Manchester is nearly 4 times the size of Norwich in terms of both the Travel to Work Area and resident populations.  

Cycle parking at Norwich station (2)

So with plans to increase the amount of people cycling in Manchester you would think that Manchester's key train station - Manchester Piccadilly would  have the same amount, or preferably more cycle parking provision that Norwich. Well you might, but unfortunately you would be wrong !


Whilst, Manchester Piccadilly has recently seen some additional bike parking installed (basically as a planning requirement for the new car park) it still only has the grand total of 43 Sheffield stands (most of these are not under cover) which provides parking provision for 86 bicycles.... 

New cycle parking at Piccadilly station 1

Allowing for the difference in population and Travel to Work area ratios, to match Norwich, Manchester Piccadilly should have 232 Sheffield stands.  

Achieving such an increase in cycle parking at Manchester Piccadilly would be most welcome but so far it would appear that Network Rail have been unwilling to provide high-class cycle parking facilities in either the quantity or quality warranted by a major train station serving the UK's second largest conurbation.

Contrast this to the recently announced plans to build the "biggest cycle parking facility in the UK" at Cambridge station. The plan is to install cycle parking to cater for 3000 bicycles. 

New cycle parking at Manchester Piccadilly 2

If you think that Manchester Piccadilly should increase the provision for cycle parking why not send a (polite) email to Network Rail and/or your local councillor (see the Write to Them website to find details of your local councillors).

Go Outdoors... Go Cycling... but No Go for cycle parking

With 30+ stores across the UK you may well have visited one of the Go Outdoor shops - particularly given the range of sports and leisure equipment and clothing available in the stores and online.

 The website for the Go Outdoors store on Great Ancoats Street, Manchester, M4 6DE provides an impressive list of store facilities:

• Baby changing facilities 
• Wheelchair Access
• Climbing Wall
• Cycle servicing
• Public Toilets
• In Store Hamilton’s Eat Drink Relax Café
• Tent Display Area (indoor)
• Calor Gas Stockist
• Changing Rooms
• Tent Repair (for tents sold by ourselves within warranty)
• Boot Fitting Area
• Gait Analysis Machine 

But one facility you will not find at the Gt Ancoats Street store is any cycle parking stands, should you choose to cycle to the store. Although the company seems very keen to let you know that they will not take any responsibility for loss or damage to cars, bikes or any other vehicles parked in the car park - should you find anything to lock your bike too!

So whilst the marketing banners invite people to:


GO Camping
GO Climbing
GO Running
GO Riding
GO Walking
GO Cycling
GO Travelling
GO Caravanning
GO Fishing
GO Skiing



Just don't try to GO cycle parking!



If you are a customer of GO Outdoors and would like to securely park your bicycle when giving them your money why not drop them an email via enquiries@gooutdoors.co.uk or call them on 0114 2796368.

Mind you, no cycle parking facilities at all may be better those on offer at the Go Outdoors store in Swindon.  See photo on right!

Copyright via Cyclestreets
  

Private sector better?... not necessarily when it comes to cycle parking!

Previous posts on this blog have highlighted the need for much better provision of secure cycle parking across Greater Manchester - at both public and private sector locations.  See for example Park that Bike and Cycle parking?... my Kingdom for some cycle parking amongst others!


In the "Greater Manchester - Cycling Progress Report" (GMTU Report 1637) published in January 2011 it was noted that whilst analysis of "cycle trips into most key centres and cycle carriage on trains suggest that there is a continuing increase in cycle usage within Greater Manchester, with the exception of cycle parking in key locations where a slight decrease has occurred since 2008." (See Table 20 above). Trafford came second from bottom in the cycle parking locations rankings.  A poor record that Trafford Council disputes and they have initiated a Borough-wide "cycle parking audit" (of which more in subsequent blog postings).

As part of this cycle parking audit I (re)visited the B&Q facility on Great Stone Road in Old Trafford and was reminded that there is still no cycle parking facilities for customers, although there are over 105 car parking spaces!

I had previously raised the lack of cycle parking at this B&Q store nearly 2 years ago and had pointed out that the B&Q website stated that they "actively promote sustainable transport to our staff and customers" and had introduced Travel Plans which promote "more sustainable travel and transport choices such as cycling, car sharing, walking and using public transport."

A B&Q public relations person responded in February 2010 that "in regards to your query, this store is not one of B&Q’s travel plans stores however it does have a responsible travel guide which promotes similar activities as a travel plan"and "Unfortunately there are no immediate plans to install cycle parking in this store" but that "I have forwarded your request to our Property department to highlight your need as a customer."

When I asked if it was possible to see a copy of the "responsible travel guide" I was informed that this was an internal B&Q document and not publicly available. However, the "One Planet Living at B&Q : Progress against targets in 2009" report stated that responsible travel guides had been "rolled out to all stores to encourage alternatives to private car use".


But it seems unlikely that people will be encouraged to choose alternative travel modes, such as cycling, to visit B&Q stores if there is a total lack of secure and easy to use cycle parking facilities. 

One of the few places where people can lock their bicycles at this B&Q store are the barriers around the shopping trolley area (see photo below). But this is far from ideal as it is awkward to do, can interfere with access to the trolleys, risks damage to your bicycle and does not provide properly secure locking.

 B&Q are certainly not alone within the retail and private sector in failing to provide adequate (any) cycle parking facilities for customers or visitors. There are also questions about what cycle parking requirements (if any) were included in the planning permission granted by Trafford Council and whether such planning requirements are adequately enforced.

(Future blog postings will look at some of the other private sector companies in Trafford that are failing to 'walk the walk' when it comes to encouraging sustainable and active travel. 

Meanwhile if you are a B&Q customer and would like to have proper cycle parking facilities at the Great Stone Road store (or a potential customer who would like to cycle there) then perhaps you would like to drop a (polite) email to: travelplans@b-and-q.co.uk  and let them know your thoughts.

Public Service Announcement #3

The following message just received from Transport for Greater Manchester...

"TfGM is requesting your feedback regarding proposals for cycle parking facilities 

Following our successful bid to the Local Sustainable Transport Fund, Transport for Greater Manchester would like to ask for your thoughts regarding additional and improved cycle parking facilities for Manchester City Centre and other towns throughout Greater Manchester.

Your assistance will again take the form of a survey, this time regarding cycle centres and cycle compound cycle parking proposals. These new facilities will be in addition to the cycle parking facilities that are currently in place.

Your feedback will help us to determine the content of proposed cycle centres and compounds in more detail.   Both the survey and information on the proposed cycle parking facilities are available via this link

The survey will be available for completion until Friday 7^th October 2011."

So what are you waiting for.... !

A public service announcement.....

This just in from TfGM.....

"Manchester Cycling Survey

Transport for Greater Manchester is bidding for government funding to improve cycling and walking facilities across Greater Manchester.

To assist us in making this bid, we would like to ask for your help by completing this short survey about cycle parking facilities in the city centre and barriers to cycling around Manchester.

Your responses will help us to establish the extent of use of current cycle facilities, which facilities require improvement and where additional facilities may be required to improve cycling in Manchester initially, and then across Greater Manchester.

Please note that all responses will be anonymous.

Contact details are being requested to help us with future research, and will not be used in conjunction with responses to this survey.  If you have any questions about this survey, please feel free to contact Ian Davies at Ian.Davies@TfGM.com or by telephone; 0161 2441245.

Thank you for your help."

End of message.  

Editors note: the survey will be online till 15th July....

Update 4th July 2011: The TfGM survey is now closed.


There was a great response to the TfGM survey about cycle parking facilities in the city centre and barriers to cycling around Manchester with 500+ completed surveys.


Also, a fair few people responded asking "what about my area" !   In the light of these responses, it is rumoured that TfGM will be carrying out a GM-wide survey in the not-too-distant future. Meanwhile, a overview of the Manchester City Centre survey results will shortly be available via the survey website.

Growing the "low carbon" economy

A graphic from the US National Building Museum highlights figures from the American Automobile Association which estimates that: "Americans spend on average $8,485 each year on their cars."

Seems like a lot of money, doesn't it? What is intriguing is that the think-piece highlights how most of the money spent on cars leaves the local economy and asks the question: 

"What if you were able to get rid of a car and spend-or invest-that money in your community and city?"

Given all the lovely words being written in the Greater Manchester Strategy and various Climate Change Action Plans about the need to develop a "low-carbon" economy it would be fascinating to pull together comparable data for Greater Manchester.

A recent blog by Elly Blue "How bicycling will save the economy (if we let it)" starts to sketch out how such a bicycle economy might look.

On a subject, dear to this blog's heart, Elly highlights how "Bicycle parking is the indicator species of this new economy, with a business's enthusiasm for its two-wheeled clientele being easy to gauge by the quantity of bike racks out front." 

Examples are provided of Portland, businesses who arelining up to replace their car parking with on-street bike racks. And of one local grocery store who recently opened at a location with more parking for bicycles than for cars.  Am looking forward to businesses across Greater Manchester following this lead.

Her blog article promises that the next in the series will provide "A realistic, conservative funding proposal for bicycle economic development."  Am looking forward to reading that...

Park That Bike

Previous posts on this blog have highlighted the need for much better provision of secure cycle parking across Greater Manchester - at both public and private sector locations. See here for the latest blog post or click on the Cycle Parking cloud label.

There are many research reports that highlight the importance of secure cycle parking as one of the factors that will influence people to cycle. 


For example, research published in 1996 (*) highlighted how 63% of respondents listed 'secure cycle parking' as one of the key incentives that would increase their likelihood to cycle. (See Table 3).

Whilst, many companies and organisations have made progress in providing better cycle parking and other cycle infrastructure for their staff - there is still a long way to go for cycle parking facilities in public spaces and for people visiting businesses and organisations and who visit by bicycle.

A recently published report 'Greater Manchester - Cycling Progress Report', (GMTU Report 1637 January 2011 summarises the number of cycle parking locations across Greater Manchester along with a breakdown of the number of locations per local authority. (See Table 20 below).

Am not sure how accurate these figures are - and some Council cycling officers I have spoken too say that they are under-estimates - but clearly some of the local authorities in Greater Manchester have a long way to go in terms of the provision of cycle parking in public spaces.




There are a couple of web-based cycle parking tools that may help to identify where more cycle parking provision is required.

1) Park That Bike offers a website "that enables you to comment on cycle parking in any part of the UK.  People can comment on cycle parking both on-highway, in public spaces, and at key destinations such as railway stations, leisure centres, libraries and surgeries. All comments and suggestions gathered by the site are sent to the relevant local authority."

 

The website explains that ParkThatBike.info is a "free service that enables people to request new or additional cycle parking, or to comment on existing facilities." Users can...

• Identify places where cycle parking is needed
• Report existing cycle parking that is damaged
• Report out-dated and badly designed facilities

 The aim is to...

• Show where there is a clear demand for improved cycle parking
• Help councils develop effective cycle parking programmes that offer good value
• Improve the quality and quantity of cycle parking across the UK

2) Cycle Parking Heat Map - enables visual comparison of bike parking density around the world.

Gregory Williams has created a cycle parking heat map that shows the bicycle parking available around the world. The default map views cycle parking in Canterbury, but you can zoom out to  see a nice comparison between bike parking in your local area and around the world.

If anyone has experience of using these tools for reporting cycle parking requirements in Greater Manchester we would love to hear what sort of response(s) you have received from local councils or companies.

(*) Hopkinson P.; Wardman M. (1996) 'Evaluating the demand for new cycle facilities', Volume 3, Number 4, pp. 241-249(9).

Cycle parking?... my Kingdom for some cycle parking

To somewhat massacre Shakespeare's "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!" quote from Richard III, it would appear that Trafford does not fare well when it comes to the provision of places to park your bicycle.

In a recently published report "Greater Manchester - Cycling Progress Report" (GMTU Report 1637 January 2011, not yet available online) it is noted that whilst analysis of "cycle trips into most key centres and cycle carriage on trains suggest that there is a continuing increase in cycle usage within Greater Manchester, with the exception of cycle parking in key locations where a slight decrease has occurred since 2008." [Wow - Shakespeare eat your heart out!]

But the report does provide a handy little table that summarises the number of cycle parking locations across Greater Manchester along with a breakdown of the number of locations per local authority. (See Table 20 below)

According to these figures, Trafford would appear to be in the relegation zone.  But then again, when it comes to considering 'parking' issues Trafford Council seems to have trouble with the concept that bicycles need cycle parking facilities too and that to encourage more people to cycle - they need somewhere safe and secure to park their bikes!

First we had the recent consultation on the Local Implementation Plan (LIP) from Trafford Council (1) which had an entire section focused on 'Parking' (page 37) listing 12 objectives (subject to funding of course!) - unfortunately none of these related directly to cycle parking. The LIP consultation closed on 31st January 2011, so you have missed your chance to comment - but those nice people at Love Your Bike did point out this little oversight [as well as some bigger ones - Ed] to Trafford Council.  The LYB submission should be available at the Love Your Bike website.

Well after all that excitement, along comes Trafford Council's survey on Parking facilities. Now, perhaps you are hoping that the Council's concept of 'parking' would have broadened to include cycle parking.  Unfortunately closer inspection of the survey indicates that any such hopes will be dashed. 

If you want to, you can complete the survey here. And whilst, your prose doesn't need to reach Shakespearean heights - perhaps you would like to suggest to Trafford Council that they broaden their thinking about 'parking' facilities in Trafford.

Notes:

(1) Transport in Trafford: A Local Area Implementation Plan. Draft for Consultation, January 2011

Public (house) cycle parking.

Earlier this year we reported that Manchester would be trialling the Cycle Hoop a new form of cycle parking infrastructure. See Chorlton - Jumping through (cycle) hoops.

Not clear how many of these new lamp post cycle hoops have been installed in and around Manchester but this one was spotted recently outside the lovely Lass O Gowrie pub on Charles Street.

Please let us know if you spot any others and what you think of them.  Are they useful, easy to use and secure?

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!

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

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