'What we need is fewer cyclists and more people riding bikes'

The above statement, made at the showing of 'Beauty and the Bike' struck me as very profound. Before I explain, a bit of background.

'Beauty and the Bike' is a short documentary exploring differences in the cycling experience between teenage girls in Darlington and those in Bremen in Germany. It was shown as part of the build up to the Chorlton Big Green Festival, and highlighted well the difference between the hostility shown to cyclists in most of the UK by drivers and planners, and the more enlightened approach of much of continental Europe.

The groups of girls in question exchanged places (travelling by train, I noted approvingly), and were both surprised at how different conditions were in the two cultures. The lack of safe cycling provision in the UK really stood out; whilst I think provision in the Manchester (the south of Manchester at least) is probably better than in Darlington, the gap between us and cities like Bremen is huge (see following link: Bike Traffic in Bremen.

The title comment refers to the fact that those who do cycle in UK cities are often lycra-clad speed merchants on expensive machines, and that cycling needs to be seen as a natural and very useful mode of transport for anyone. Cycling provision, to the extent that is exists at all, is often geared around the lycra stereotype, rather than from the point of view of the average person who could be making far more use of this cheap, convenient and environmentally friendly transport mode.

The film was presented by a combination of Transition City Manchester, 'Envirolution' and Chorlton Big Green Festival

'20s Plenty'

Last night's film focused on safe cycle paths, but another measure which would make our roads safer, not just for cyclists, but for everyone, would be lower speeds. The '20s Plenty' campaign aims to introduce 20 mph limits in residential streets on a city-wide basis. Pioneered in Portsmouth, a number of Cities have adopted it; one of the latest is nearby Sheffield, where the city's 2 Green councillors took the lead in getting the measure through in the teeth of Liberal Democrat opposition. For more information see here. Around the country Greens have often been in the forefront of introducing this type of scheme

Of course there are plenty of 20 mph zones in Manchester, complete with speedhumps and other 'street furniture'. Two key features of the '20s Plenty campaign however are that

- 20 mph limits are introduced on a wide-area basis (i.e. not small area 'zones')

- they do not rely on speed bumps and other expensive enforcers, rather their effectiveness depends on a culture change on the part of road-users.

Early evidence from cities which have adopted this approach is positive; thus far Greater Manchester is dragging its heels.. Quite recently a North-West Health Authority Report advocated such a measure - see here.

For more information on the '20s Plenty' campaign, and the reasons for backing it - see here for a news piece from the North West Green Party, for a link to the campaign as a whole see
20s Plenty

Returning to the continent for a moment, 30km (which equates to around 18 mph) limits in residential areas are commonplace there too, including in Bremen.