Bristol - soon to be a genuine Cycling City?
Some might question the sense in putting £11.4 million of council taxpayers' money towards a mode of transport used by a minority of Bristolians.
But we all pay council tax for things we don't use - many people don't have children in school or relatives in care homes but they still contribute to the funding of these council-run facilities.
So it's good to see that the money the city won from the Government, matched by the city council to fund our new status as Cycling Demonstration City, is starting to be put to use.
The first project will be a newly-enhanced cyclepath linking Whitchurch with the city centre and other schemes will follow by March 2011.
The only worry I have with this Cycling City scheme is how far £22.8 million is really going to go in converting a city of nearly half a million people into one where cycling is a dominant feature.
To truly create a city where the cyclist is placed first - segregated lanes, secure bike sheds and so on - would cost much more.
Somehow I doubt that strangers to Bristol visiting in summer 2011 will be amazed at what a strong cycling culture we have here.
There will be a few extra cyclepaths, sure, and no doubt the levels of cycling will be up but it's going to be a far cry from somewhere like Amsterdam, where cars effectively play second fiddle to bikes.
And especially with all the hills and busy roads we have here it's hard to imagine every commuter in the city centre trudging their way uphill every evening.
To genuinely turn Bristol into a "cycling city" there needs to be something done which gives us a nationwide reputation for being bike-friendly.
Something to combat the hills, perhaps.
There's a great scheme in Trondheim in Norway where cyclists can fix themselves up to bicycle lift to take them up the steepest hill in the city.
It looks like a combination of a ski-lift, an escalator and one of the things which brings your bowling ball back to the top of the alley.
Cyclists clip their foot into a conveyor belt and get effortlessly pulled uphill, before unclipping at the top and going on their way.
The company which makes this thing is called Trampe and reckons it costs around £900 for a metre, travels at two metres per second and can take one cyclist every 12 seconds.
So by my calculations that would cost a smidgen over £400,000 to install one on the 450 metres of Park Street, which would take just under four minutes to get up.
How many cycling commuters dread the daily slog back up Park Street to get home in the evening?
Something like that for the steep slopes near the city centre - like Park Street or Brislington Hill - would surely convince hundreds of motorists that riding a bike into work is a viable alternative.
This is the kind of scheme which the city council should be looking at to make Bristol become one of the most cycling-friendly cities in the world.
4 Comments
by Rasmus Jensen, Fishponds
Thursday, October 16 2008, 11:46PM
“As a Dane, now living in Bristol, I can only agree with what Howard said.
When I am cycling from Fishponds to Ashley Down and passing parked cars I am often being passed by cars that does not respect me, but just pass me as if I wasnt there at all.
I dont really think that the hills are a big problem, its more a case of having the right bike and being fit.
I see a lot of mountain bikes around, but people should realise that mountain bikes are built for offroad purposes and not urban areas. A city bike or utility bike is much better suited as it is built for urban areas and have less resistance and fewer gears than a mountain bike, which makes it more suitable.”
by Howard, Somerset
Monday, October 13 2008, 12:51PM
“In the Netherlands and Denmark, where cycling has long become a MAJORITY activity, pedestrians, cyclists and motorists are routinely segregated with purpose built QUALITY bike lanes. They have long understood that mixed pedestrian/cyclist facilities DO NOT work. Build QUALITY cycling facilities and cycling will become a majority activity just like our neighbours over the North Sea. Don't use the 'no space' excuse either because the Dutch and the Danish also have old cities with narrow streets. We in Britain just need a change of attitude. I fear that change will be a long time coming. Don't use the hilly excuse either because cycling rates in hilly areas of Europe are far greater than UK. Don't use the weather excuse either because you can't say the weather is better for cycling over there. They just get on with it.”
by Richard Burton, Little Stoke
Sunday, October 12 2008, 5:52PM
“This is more of a comment on the comment by Jeff Sellick than on the original article.
Jeff, for someone who works for a motoring school, you appear to know little about the risks of cycling, but perhaps you only drive a car and don't ride a bike.
Purpose built, shared use paths are not safer for cyclists, they are in fact considerably more dangerous. Even if they were safer, where would you put all the new paths that would be necessary for cyclists to be able to access everywhere they can currently access by road?
The only proven method of improving cyclists' safety is by having more cyclists on the road - not helmets, not shared use paths, not cycle lanes.
So if this project increases the number of cyclists out there, it will automatically improve road safety for cyclists.”
by Jeff Sellick, Chequers Motoring School, Bradley Stoke
Friday, October 03 2008, 10:51AM
“If we can get cyclists off the roads and onto safer purpose built cycle tracks, then I'm all for it.
The big problem right now is that car drivers and cyclists do not know how to treat each other with any respect and curtesy. As the nights are now drawing in at a rapid rate, the number of cyclists that are still on the road at twilight with no lights on is amazing. If a car driver drove around with no lights on, the Police would have something to say about it, but why do cyclists get away with it!
On the other side, the number of car drivers that just don't seem to be able to even see a cyclist in plain daylight, is equally amazing.
I'm all for letting cyclists commute but get them off the roads and somewhere safer for everyone!
It's just a matter of time before another fatality occurs on our roads in Bristol.”