Pedal Power

Woodthorpe Roundabout ePetition

A meeting has been held with Nicky Morgan MP, David Slater CC, Ray Clay (wearing his CTC hat) and John Catt to discuss this hazardous roundabout that has been designed so that cars can negotiate it at high speed. It is used by many children commuting to and from school. Unfortunately a human sacrifice is often required if a junction is to be improved on safety grounds and we haven't found a volunteer yet. If anything is to happen we need to demonstrate a stong public demand for improvements at this roundabout.

We have therefore started an ePetition which we would ask you to support. Details can be found at http://goo.gl/QuLih . Please ask you friends and acquaintances to support it. We hope to present it to the County Council Highways Forum on 30th March, so we need to get support quickly since the ePetition will have to close by 21st March.

Draft LTP3 to be approved at end of March

The final draft of the Local Transport Plan 3 Proposals can now be found on the Leicestershire County Council website at http://goo.gl/EUAAn . Whilst it gives a high priority to cycling and walking, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. In particular, you might wish to emphasise to your County Councillor that when any road scheme “improvements” are being designed, walkers and cyclists need to be considered at the start of the process, rather than as an afterthought.

Observations on Cycle Scheme in London

by Sophia P. Howard

During my regular trips to London, I have noticed that a bicycle hire scheme has started up. It appears well used on the Sundays when I am in the Hyde Park and Kensington area. I have not so far noticed anyone standing around frustrated because there was no bicycle at the docking stations when they wanted to start their journey.

The scheme is supported by Barclays Bank and Transport for London.

Hopefully this transport scheme will soon spread to other cities and towns. Maybe some of our Loughborough members have actually used one of these “Boris Bikes” in London?

Ed. note: Sophia also asked for the postal address for the survey of “Non Collision Incidents” featured in the last edition of Pedal Power. Unfortunately this is an “on-line” only survey.

No Magic Roundabout

Leicestershire County Council's proposal to mark a dedicated green cycle lane around the Alan Moss Road/Epinal Way roundabout as part of a package of safety measures has been withdrawn (see Pedal Power 88). The remainder of the scheme to provide improved off-road facilities is being reviewed.

We were concerned that the geometry of this roundabout would discourage cyclists from adopting the recommended and safest behaviour by travelling in the appropriate lane, as would any other vehicle properly negotiating the roundabout.

Helping campaigners campaign

CycleStreets, who are building a UK-wide cycle journey planner system, are now developing a Photomap (with so far around 26,000 photos), designed to allow cycle campaigners and the public to pinpoint problems they experience. It will be a tool aimed to help campaigners do their job. However, it can be made a lot more useful and user-friendly than it currently is. They are proposing to submit a bid to the GeoVation Challenge, the Ordnance Survey initiative which is running a funding competition, "How can we improve transport in Britain?" and would welcome all the support they can get.

You can see the current version of the system and find more details of how you can support their bid at http://goo.gl/uhGjD.

Cyclists' War Memorial

It is the 90th anniversary of the unveiling of the Cyclists' War Memorial on the village green in Meriden (traditionally regarded as the centre of England) and a ceremony, remembering those who died, will take place on the Sunday 22nd May at 11am. The memorial was created to recognise the thousands of cyclists who died in the Great War. More details can be found at http://goo.gl/cIdUH.

Building Cycling Culture - Leicester

This weekend event will be taking place in Leicester on June 4th and 5th. You can register your interest (so you're kept up-to-date with developments) at http://goo.gl/nfAj0

The idea is to investigate the different cycling cultures that exist. Just at a national level, the attitudes towards cycling by both governments and the general population are very different in the USA, the UK, Denmark and Holland. You can read more of the thinking behind this event at http://goo.gl/oQTDC.

The aim is to make it a real mix - academic analysis of the situation in which we find ourselves, celebration of the good things we've got in the UK, and a political orientation which sees the task of building broad and inclusive cycling culture/s as inherent to a “good society”.

Cyclenation Cycling Gallery

Cyclenation believe it would be useful for campaigners to have access to a stock of cycling pictures for use in promotional and publicity materials. To allow this to happen they have set up an account on Flickr so that you can upload photos. You can put any images you have of everyday cycling: going to the shops, off to work, visiting the park or simply out for a ride.

All you need to do is visit Cyclenation Flickr Gallery http://goo.gl/FAUwp and set up an account (it's really very easy). If you already have a Flickr account, you need only to add Cyclenation as a contact. Once they have a few images uploaded, they will create themed sets: family cycling, city cycling, facilities and so on.

AGM – Monday 14th March, 7-30pm John Storer House

Please try and attend if you can. We would very much value any ideas that you have as to how we can develop.

Money for ‘smarter choices’ 

based on an article in CTC CycleDigest

Local authorities in England (outside London) are being invited to bid for a share of the Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) of £560m spread over four years (April 2011 - March 2015. The money must go towards transport solutions aiming to promote economic growth and cut carbon emissions, with sub-objectives to promote physical activity, air quality improvements and safer streets. £350m is ‘revenue funding’, which can support ‘smarter choices’ (e.g. cycle training and the promotion of cycling for schools, workplaces and other targeted groups), while £210m is capital funding for transport infrastructure. 

The shift in the balance towards revenue fundings will be strongly welcomed by sustainable transport groups and local authorities. Measures that are typically revenue-funded, such as cycle training, personalised travel planning, and cycling development projects, are already proving cost-effective ways of increasing cycle use.

There are two major concerns though:

1. The Fund’s criteria include tackling congestion to support the local economy and to facilitate economic development. However if councils try to do this by squeezing more traffic through the road network, they could worsen air pollution, physical inactivity and road casualties – the costs of which are three times greater than those due to congestion, as the White Paper itself recognises. This in turn could undermine not just the LSTF’s main objective of carbon reduction but its economic objective as well. 
2. Poor design: If travel behaviour is to change permanently, the Government must also consider the poor design of cycle facilities and road layouts. These are concerns for experienced cyclists and significant barriers for new cyclists, yet the proposals do little to address them. 

• White Paper: www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/sustainabletransport 
• LSTF guidance: www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/transportfund