Two Wheels Good

Many people are familiar with the old bike hire scheme in Bath with its four sets of docking stations in the centre of Bath.  This scheme was funded for one year through the European Civitas project and has now ended.

There was much wrong with that scheme.  Firstly it was not very clear about how the bikes could be used (a card had to be used and this was available on line or at the Tourist Information shop in Abbey Churchyard), secondly there were only four docking locations in the city.
Bicincitta were managing the scheme from Italy, so when anything went wrong, and it did frequently, there was often a wait before it was put right. However, a bike hire scheme run by Nextbike (see the company link here) will be launched in early May. 

There will be 10 docking locations this time.  The four existing locations will remain (with different equipment), Guildhall, Holburne Museum, Green Park Station and Bath Spa Station.  In addition there will be new docking stations at the RUH, Bath Spa University, the Marina/Caravan Park near the New bridge Park and Ride, Unite Student Housing on Lower Bristol Road, in Oldfield Park at the junction of Moorland Road and Triangle West and if approved by English Heritage in Royal Avenue in Victoria Park.

Bikes in the new bike hire scheme can be hired at the locations by an App or by telephone to a hot line and the first half hour will be free. this si all you need – no having to go to the Tourist Information Centre to get a card.  The bikes can be taken out of the city too – under the previous scheme this was not allowed – so a gentle ride up through the Two Tunnels to Midford or along the canal to Bathampton should be attractive to visitors, but they may also be used by commuters at Newbridge Park and Ride.

Bath Spa university students are also being targeted by docking stations at student accommodation on Lower Bristol Road and at the University. Most cities with such a bike hire scheme are bigger than Bath, but we get more than 4 million visitors each year coming to the city, so there is a good chance that the bikes will make money for the operator Nextbike.

The Council has committed £25k from the Government’s Local sustainable Transport fund to help kick start the new scheme. The company, Nextbike was established in Leipzig. Nextbike bikes are available around the clock at rental stations.

Once registered, renting bikes can be done in every participating city and country. Nextbike provides bike sharing systems in more than 30 German cities and 14 countries worldwide. This way, a user doesn’t need to register a new account each time in a new city. Visitors from cities in Europe, where Nextbike operate and who are registered will find it easy to rent a bike in Bath once they are installed.

Cyclists were mobilised by the prospect of the London Road “Gateway” scheme of environmental improvements making conditions for people riding bikes worse.  Following a submission by Roger Houghton showing a segregated two way cycle lane on the inward bound carriageway the Council have come up with a scheme that does not entirely meet all the cyclists aims, but goes some way towards improving conditions in London Road for people riding bikes.

The favoured proposal that was put to cyclists earlier this week has the present cycleway retained and improved and an on road unsegregated cycleway from Morrisons to the eastern end of the present segregated path.  There will also be an on road cycle lane on part of the northern side of the highway.

At the time of writing the on road cycle lanes will be “advisory”, but they should be enforceable by Traffic Orders. Otherwise there is no incentive for vehicles not to park on them, nor to keep them free, when on the move.  I believe that the cycle lanes will have coloured Tarmac – a first for the city.

It is disappointing that Roger Houghton’s scheme cannot be entirely implemented because of Highways Officers insistence on a 6.75 metre carriageway.  This is deemed necessary for resurfacing and in case there is an accident, which requires the extra width.  I would have thought that this could have been done by having removable bollards separating the cycle lane from the vehicle lane.

However, what is certain is that there would have been no improvement for cyclists without the vigilance of local cycle advocates and without the 1300 person petition that triggered a council debate.

A success for Bike Power!

 

 

 

 

 

The petition about the worsening of cycling on the London Road has now passed 1200 and will be debated at Council on Tuesday 18th February.  However cycling representatives took the opportunity to present to Cabinet on Wednesday 12th February.  I also made a presentation to Cabinet in more general terms about cycling issues on our roads.  You can read this presentation below:

This administration has done much to promote off road cycling – support for Two Tunnels, the Odd Down circuit, Batheaston bridge, but if for instance the soon to be implemented “on street” hire bikes are to be successful our streets must be made more cycle friendly.
It is in “on street” facilities that investment is needed.  It is not enough to point to money invested in off road routes and ignore the dangers to people riding bikes on our roads every day.
The London Road issue is just one of the areas where the safety of people riding bikes is very poor.  I will not repeat what has already been said, but I hope the cabinet will look closely at the options put forward by officers and choose the one that is best for safety of cyclists. My own preference is not on the list, but would be for a bus lane all the way in from the Batheaston roundabout to the Cleveland Bridge.
The potential increase in journeys by bike in Bath is through general riding into and out of the city every day and that is mostly on our roads.  I note too that Sustrans are looking at routes and links across the council area.  Many of the improvements that Sustrans will recommend will be on road.
If we are to make streets safer for people on bikes it is inevitable that space will have to be taken from motor vehicles.  The Cabinet must not shy away from this.  For the long term benefits of reduction in pollution and congestion, better health and addressing climate change, they must be brave enough to reallocate road space.  It is no longer acceptable to put “traffic flow” as the top priority.

In the 2014/15 budget we propose to spend nearly £10m on roads and in addition this year an extra £2m, so road repair and maintenance could be said to indirectly affect cycling, yet none of this goes into cycling infrastructure such as advance stop lines, protected (or even unprotected) cycle lanes and there is no reallocation of road space to cyclists.  People on bikes are expected to mix it with motor vehicles or get off their bikes.

I will leave you with a quote from an architect who has worked on cycling strategies in Continental Europe, London and New York.

Jan Gehl, writing in cycling weekly said:
“In the UK the focus on smoothing traffic flows has left everyone else at the margins.”

It is time that people riding bikes were brought in from the margins.

This is my first post for over a month because I fell off my bike and broke my hip.  I am now recovering at home, but won’t be riding until at least the new year.  There was no-one else involved in my crash.

Last week Jake Gilmore was killed in Midland Bridge Road when riding home from work in a hit and run crash. There will be a respectful ride next Saturday 30th November starting in Kingsmead Square at 10am, with a minutes silence in Midland Bridge Road where flowers can be left and candles lit.

Much has been written in the Chronicle this week about the problems faced by cyclists.  I was asked, among others interested in cycling, to make a contribution to the paper.  Part of what I had to say is reproduced below:

There is a need for space to be allocated to people who ride bikes, but we should all work towards a new understanding of the issues and problems that road users face, with much more consideration given to people walking and cycling who are the most vulnerable.

Educating everyone to recognise that all users have rights and responsibilities when using the roads is necessary, such as being vigilant and not being distracted by an iPod or talking on a mobile phone. Tolerance, awareness, concentration and understanding should be ingrained in all, rather than impatience, anger and intolerance, as is often the case.

The first of the new “Critical Mass” rides took place on Friday 27th September, with 15 cyclists, most on their way home from work, starting in Kingsmead Square.  The “mass” was hardly “critical”, with 15 riders mostly on their way home from work.  The short route was along Dorchester Street, over Pulteney Bridge, Bathwick Street, the Paragon, Milsom Street and back to Kingsmead Square via Cheap Street and Westgate Street.

Rides will continue on the last Friday of every month, meeting in Kingsmead Square at 5.30pm. The aim is not to disrupt traffic, which at that time last Friday was practically stationary anyway, but to demonstrate what the future may be like with many more bikes on the road.  If there is a transfer from cars to bikes maybe traffic would not come to a halt as often.  About 85% of cyclists drive cars so there would seem to be scope for more to leave their cars at home and take to two wheels.

There was only one unpleasant moment when a very impatient x39 bus driver hooted and tried to pass just to get one car’s length further up the queue.  Would she have hooted at a car in front, or was it just because she didn’t want to be held up by people on bikes?

The balance is changing with more and more people riding bikes on our roads, so there has to be an adjustment in the amount of space provided.  It seems that it is this that drivers find difficult to accept.  There needs to be a greater understanding, awareness and tolerance of others from all road users.