Govenment pledges cycling funding

[Mark1978]

http://www.bikeradar.com/commuting/news ... and-38101/

Greater Manchester - £20m
(West Yorkshire (Leeds) - £18.1m
Birmingham - £17m
West of England (Bristol and Bath) - £7.8m
Newcastle - £5.7m
Cambridge - £4.1m
Norwich - £3.7m
Oxford - £0.8m
Peak District - £5m
Dartmoor - £4.4m
South Downs - £3.8
New Forest - £3.6m

Very nice of course. But firstly, that should be the amount they are spending per year to bring things up to scratch, as I understand it, this is a one off investment.
But why only those places?

[Michael R]

Better than nothing

[[XAP]Bob]

Better than nothing

Shame that those are our alternatives - not a push for proper funding...

[661-Pete]

Very well...
In the meantime, our local council has got busy creating a single shared use cycle path/pavement alongside about 400m of main thoroughfare through our town centre (Burgess Hill). The road starts and finishes at roundabouts: I am wondering how they are going to sort things there (as I posted earlier in another thread), but progress to date (which has amounted to completely closing the road to traffic in one direction, causing mayhem elsewhere in the town) doesn't give a clue. Once the layout becomes clearer, I'll take some photos.

While good sensible provisions may chime with a lot of organisations, I'm sorry to say this particular piece of infarcestructure will probably turn out utterly useless. There is a perfectly good and quieter parallel road (at least, it would be quieter if it weren't used as a rat run) which could have calming measures put in to make it even safer. That road ends, at one end at least, in traffic lights which are easier for a cyclist to negotiate than a roundabout. And moreover, opposite the T/L is a really useful cycle path running between houses, a short cut to a nearby industrial estate. This route was for many years my commute, until a few weeks ago. And I pick my commuting routes with some care....

If the millions of pounds bonanza is going to be spent on more schemes like this, I'll not hold my breath.

[Si]

I notice that on my local forum the arguments have already started about how to spend it.

My view, which will no doubt upset many cyclists, is that it shouldn't be spent on cyclists. After all, we already ride around everywhere don't we? Sure things could be made a bit easier for us but there are so few of us that that won't make a lot of difference. Rather, the money should be spent on potential cyclists....there are a lot more of them out there and if we can convert them into bicycle users then in the long run things will be better for all of us. Yet when this money is mentioned all I hear is infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure....makes you weep that even among experienced cyclists, ideas are so blinkered.

[thirdcrank]

Better than nothing

It ain't necessarily so..... We've had similar "pledges" in the past, sometimes for larger sums than these, which have come to nothing. (Has anybody here seen Kelly? )

[661-Pete]

Rather, the money should be spent on potential cyclists....there are a lot more of them out there and if we can convert them into bicycle users then in the long run things will be better for all of us.

Yes indeed, I couldn't agree more, and that includes motorists who could be persuaded to step outside the steel box once in a while. Indeed spending money on a real cycle-awareness segment in the Driving Test - including properly staged cyclist encounters - would be money put to really good use. And would it need to be public money? Couldn't such a measure be funded out of the Driving Test fee?

[Mark1978]

I notice that on my local forum the arguments have already started about how to spend it.

My view, which will no doubt upset many cyclists, is that it shouldn't be spent on cyclists. After all, we already ride around everywhere don't we? Sure things could be made a bit easier for us but there are so few of us that that won't make a lot of difference. Rather, the money should be spent on potential cyclists....there are a lot more of them out there and if we can convert them into bicycle users then in the long run things will be better for all of us. Yet when this money is mentioned all I hear is infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure....makes you weep that even among experienced cyclists, ideas are so blinkered.

Perhaps, while the views of existing cyclists are important, it's often said that those are the ones who you shouldn't listen to, because they are already out there cycling. It's the ones which haven't started yet which are important.

But I'm in two minds about that really, existing cyclists have the best knowledge about cycling conditions, and those who haven't cycled before may think that shared use pavement with give ways every 10 metres is just what they are looking for.

[thirdcrank]

IIRC, at the beginning of next month there's to be a debate in Parliament about the All-Party Cycling Group's report. How timely then, that HM Government has been able announce this largesse, in a time of diminishing departmental budgets.

Why do people repeatedly fall for such promises?

[Mark1978]

It also seems to be a thing at the moment where the government will ask regions/cities to compete for funding and then give it out to a few selected places. Instead of giving a smaller amount to everyone.

[TonyR]

But why only those places?

AIUI everywhere had the opportunity to bid for how much they needed and what they would do with it and it was a competitive bidding process with the best bids winning funding. I don't know about other places but in Cambridge what it is going to be used for is already decided and was part of the bid.

The funding will also help to deliver the long-awaited Chisholm trail cycle route, which will hug the railway line from Cambridge Science Park to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, and links to business parks in surrounding villages.

<.....>

The funding means segregated cycle lanes will be provided on both sides of Hills Road, between Cherry Hinton Road and Long Road, with a width of 2.1m, while there will be a single lane of the same width on the citybound side of Huntingdon Road, between Girton and Storeys Way.

A Trumpington Road lane will run along the southbound side between Bateman Street and Brooklands Avenue, but will be 2.5m wide, allowing cyclists to travel in both directions.

Outside the city, commuters will benefit from cycle routes linking Swavesey with Buckingway Business Park, Wandlebury with the Babraham Institute, and Whittlesford station with Granta Park.

A fourth will provide better links to Foxton station from Harston and Shepreth.

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/Cy ... 000100.htm

[mr bajokoses]

Let's hope the money is not squandered on marketing, persuasion, and training for cyclists.

[TonyR]

Let's hope the money is not squandered on marketing, persuasion, and training for cyclists.

I've just been reminded elsewhere that the bids had to demonstrate they were working with community cycling groups so hopefully it will be spent on things the local cycling groups want done not the usual council box ticking exercises. Certainly round here the things being done are those that the local cycle campaigns and groups have been asking for, some for a long time and some new based on the realistic possibility of doing something for once.

[Mark1978]

Let's hope the money is not squandered on marketing, persuasion, and training for cyclists.

I do despair at the mention of these things, as you say such as training and campaigns, or the council bringing out a glossy leaflet on how great cycling is, while sometimes worthwhile it seems the money disappears into a black hole, especially on staff costs. Whereas what most cyclists want to see is infrastructure they can use.

[Shockleader]

From the UK Gov press release "This commitment to improved cycling facilities is intended to put Britain on a level-footing with countries known for higher levels of cycling like Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands."

So let's see, the Netherlands spends about £20 per person per year on cycling facilities - this is less than a 10th of that as a one off sum.

The last time I looked Wales, Scotland and N Ireland were all part of Britain, this pittance is being spent on England.

"Better than nothing" is only slightly better than sweet FA!