Today I spent my afternoon at Sheffield’s newest community bike facility – Recycle Bike’s, Bike Kitchen, a community DIY bicycle workshop.
They won’t do the work for you, but they’ll give you a hand and point you in the right direction if you need help. There are maintenance courses on some evenings, I understand the first one was about setting up brakes – perhaps I should have gone along…
I took my bike along because I live in a flat and don’t have much room, I only had to do a few simple things to my bike. They have all the tools you need and space for you to use (no need to turn the kitchen into a bomb site!)
Everybody gets a work stands and a basic toolbox with things like allen keys, grease and wire cutters. Specialist tools are in cupboards or on the wall, torque wrenches, vernier callipers(?), crown race removers, hacksaws etc. etc.
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I changed my chain and shortened a spare, adjusted the bottom bracket, changed the brake cables, did a hub gear oil change and removed the front fork. They had all the tools I needed (much better than mine at home) and had basic parts like cables and cable outers – and helped me out when I wasn’t sure what to do!
All the details are here, they’re open a few days per week and on Saturday afternoons. Plus they have tea, coffee and biscuits.
It’s hard to dispute that children today have less freedom than their parents did when they were young.
Surveys show that parents now fear traffic more than “stranger danger” and say that it is the main reason they are reluctant to let their children play outside. We do have relatively low road casualty rates in Sheffield but at a great cost – our children have lost their freedom.
Children aren’t allowed to play or travel on their streets independently because of road danger. Respiratory illnesses like asthma are on the rise, obesity levels are increasing and children have fewer opportunities to socialise.
Children’s freedom and independence is restricted by their parents’ understandable fear of traffic. We can’t judge parents for trying to take the best care of their children in the environment we live in, but it doesn’t have to be like this.
We should look to our neighbours in The Netherlands for inspiration. They have made their towns and cities safe and welcoming for children. More than 90% of children ride a bike to secondary school and the average age for independent travel to school on foot or by bike is 8.6 years old! They have achieved this by tackling the cause of the problem rather than removing the victims.
This change in attitude came about 40 years ago after Dutch parents protested following a sharp rise in road deaths and injuries as car travel increased. They called for the streets to be made safe as part of the “Stop De Kindermoord” (“Stop child murder”) protests.
The result was incredible, many roads were closed to through traffic and an extensive network of cycle-paths were built. Bike use which had been in decline started to rise as people gained confidence in going out on their bikes with their children, and sending them out on their own. Their children now have a degree of freedom which children in Sheffield no longer experience. UNICEF consistently rates Dutch children as having the best well-being of all the world’s children.
Can you imagine cycling to school with your children, let alone allowing them to walk or cycle unsupervised?
Our streets can be scary places and are definitely not somewhere you’d want your child to cycle if you had a choice. For those that want to cycle but are unwilling to ride with fast or heavy traffic, normally the only alternative is a longer, much less convenient route on backstreets which often doesn’t even take you where you need to go. The only realistic choice for most parents is to take the car rather than the bike. The biggest losers from this are our children.
We need to transform Sheffield into a place where people of all ages are free to walk or ride a bike without being fearful, without sacrificing convenience. We need to make it the obvious choice.
Sheffield is embarking on a national pilot for running light rail trams on traditional heavy rail train track. The transport authority in charge have today confirmed that tram trains will not carry bicycles at any time.
The knowledge that we obtain from the pilot will enable us to understand the technical and operational challenges involved in this project so that the concept can potentially be rolled out elsewhere in the UK – Norman Baker – May 2012
By setting the precedent that bicycles will not be carried without even attempting to do so, this trial will condemn future projects around the UK to the same fate. The precedent has been set as part of the national trial, bicycles will not be carried on tram trains. I would be very surprised if tram trains don’t start to displace normal trains on some routes.
2. RECOMMENDATIONS
2.1 That the ITA supports the recommendation of Option 1 as the design to be taken forward for the manufacture of the Tram/Train vehicle.
2.2 In order to provide the optimal position for the priority seating and due to the limitations of the vehicle structural design and legal obligations Option 1 does not include facilities for the carriage of bicycles (other than folding bike). ITA are therefore also asked to endorse that bicycles shall not be carried on Tram/Train vehicles, unless of the folding type.
SYPTE did some research which shows that of the UK/European tram networks they could get data for, 42 tram networks allow bicycles and 10 do not (of which 6 are in the UK!)
I’ll try to summarise the reasons this decision has been made, the full document is available from here. These get more and more ridiculous as you go down the list!
Legal requirements under the equality act
Must have at least 2 wheelchair spaces under Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 2010
Must be no obstruction to prevent or cause unreasonable difficulty to a wheelchair being manoeuvred in a rail vehicle to, from, into or out of any wheelchair compatible doorway or wheelchair space
No fittings for the use of passengers other than disabled persons in wheelchairs are allowed in the wheelchair spaces. This prohibits the use of some form of bicycle storage or securing system
It’s actually Stagecoach Supertram’s decision to make
Existing tramway Bylaws and Condition of Carriage prohibit the carriage of bicycles (but they admit that these could be changed)
The carriage of bicycles on the exterior of the vehicle wouldn’t be possible for a number of reasons(length, time taken to add and remove racks, need access to train track to put bike on and off, footholds for ‘tram surfers’, similar design to bull bars which are illegal)
Allowing bicycles would increase competition for low floor space with wheelchairs, mobility scooters, luggage, prams, and standing people.
People tend to sit in the fold out seat area and would be forced to go to the middle of the tram and negotiate steps which some may not want to or be able to do
People like to stand in the doorway and would be inconvenienced by having to relocate to other parts of the tram
Carriage of bicycles would compound issues of dissatisfaction with availability of seats at peak times
Not all vehicles would be of the new tram/train type, cyclists may try to use existing vehicles which they’re not allowed to and get confused
We need policies to deal with bicycles which would create conflict, and our Conductors primary role is to collect revenue and not act in any safety capacity
The management of bicycles on tram stops would need to be managed to avoid accidents to waiting passengers and those boarding and alighting
There are heavy rail trains running the same route that will carry bicycles that provide an alternative for those wishing to take bicycles
Bicycle hire like Bike&Go is available at Rotherham Central Station
Cycle lanes and large lengths of segregated routes are already provided between Rotherham and Sheffield
The trial of bikes on DLR in London has been financially supported by TfL, this is beyond SYPTE in it’s current financial situation
Trams often need to brake because they encounter pedestrians, this increases the risk of unsecured bicycles becoming projectiles
Other passengers might get dirty from bicycles
The tram/train vehicle might get dirty from bicycles
Bicycles introduce objects that are potentially hazardous to passengers, eg sharp points such as handlebars and pedals.
If Sheffield is serious in its plans to get more people cycling then National Cycle Network routes need to be protected from heavy industrial traffic. Planning applications which increase traffic levels on designated cycling routes need to be rejected if they fail to incorporate adequate protection for cyclists.
Clay Wheels Lane – This child has chosen to cycle on the footway.
HGV traffic along the NCN route will rise from 16 articulated lorries (30 tonne) and 18 rigid lorries (24 tonne) per day to 36 articulated lorries and 41 rigid lorries per day. There is no cycle infrastructure or alternative route for people cycling.
There is no mention of the adjacent National Cycle Network route in the planning application even though it has been identified as one in the Sheffield Local Plan Planning Policy (below). The access road on which the cycle route runs is described in the Transport Assessment as
3.6. Claywheels Lane is a two lane single carriageway road that serves a number of industrial premises used by goods vehicles. The junction with the A61 is currently subject to turning restrictions but the junction is being remodelled as part of an adjacent Sainsbury’s store development. 3.7. There is one other route to the site via Limestone Cottage Lane. However this road contains a low arched bridge with restricted headroom of only 10’ 6” which precludes its use by any delivery vehicles.
About a year ago I highlighted a problem with a new cycle facility in Sheffield. A cycle lane which allows cyclists to turn right at a normally left turn only junction.
This video shows the problem, there just isn’t enough space for a large vehicle and a bicycle to use each lane at the same time.
Scheme Layout – Cropped and Shaded
This junction was subject to a safety review which found that this part of the design wasn’t safe an needed to be changed. The outcome of this was to change the layout and this finally happened in the past month.
The chosen solution has been to remove the cycle lane approaching the junction.
The junction is safer now, but the opportunity has been missed to really improve this junction. There is enough space in the road to narrow the opposing carriageway and move the cycle lane further out – this was an option presented in the road safety audit.
Ideally move the cycle lane northwards so that it enters the island more centrally (i.e. where the current nib of the island is) so that a turning bus does not encroach into it.
But an alternative was offered.
remove all of the on-carriageway parts of the cycle lane altogether but retain the cycle lane through the island
This is the solution that was chosen. If a cycle facility in Sheffield is dangerous, it gets removed rather than fixed.
Of course, there are much better solutions for right turning bicycles. We could have created a segregated cycle track on the inside of the traffic, controlled it via a traffic light and routed bicycle across the junction at the same time as the pedestrian phase. This removes the need to move into the centre of the road to make the right turn. Examples from The Netherlands from Bicycle Dutch are here and here.
Leeds City Council have commissioned and created a DVD called the ‘Urban Cycling Guide’. You can watch some parts on their YouTube channel.
Urban Cycling Guide DVD
It covers how to cycle in a busy urban environment, covering common scenarios like roundabouts, multi lane roads, dual carriageways, side roads, cycle lanes, advanced stop lines and gyratories.
It has been filmed on the roads of Leeds, York and Sheffield by two cyclists with video cameras showing multiple angles. It seems like a very good way to teach good cycling technique. I’d recommend watching it, you’ll certainly get something out of it if you cycle on roads like these.
But the film highlighted to me the problems with cycling on the roads of these three Northern cities.
A frame from the Urban Cycling Guide DVD – You have to make your own space here
Roads in our country, and especially in cities, have all too often been designed with one objective; carrying high volume, high speed motor vehicle traffic. They’ve been transformed over the past half century from places where people live, work and play to places where the motor vehicle dominates to the detriment of all other uses (walking, cycling & public transport; children, adults & elderly; playing, socialising & liveability).
To ride a bicycle safely on these roads (the roads in this DVD) you need to use vehicular cycling techniques, be constantly vigilant and take an assertive road position.
This mother and child would be excluded from the roads in this DVD – From http://www.cycling-embassy.org.uk
Cycling on these roads is intimidating and therefore those that brave them are predominantly young assertive fast male cyclists. Cycling on UK roads is not inclusive (families, children, elderly) and this must change if cycling is ever to be a realistic choice of transport for most people. The priorities we use when designing our roads needs to fundamentally change. The conflicts between road users need to be dealt with and resolved though better design, if we ignore these conflicts people will be pushed off of the streets through fear, forced into cars, increasing inequality, reducing health and harming the environment.
We need to radically rethink the way we think about our streets and design our roads. Cycling will never ever be accessible to all if vehicular cycling on hostile roads is the only way to get around.
As CEoGB says at the top of their webpage, “Cycling for the Rest of Us”.
We need to protect existing cycle routes from industrial development and increasing traffic levels if they are to stay safe and be successful. Problems with planning on the Sheaf Valley route have recently come to light, NCN627 could be the next cycle route under threat from conflicting planning policies. Big investment in Peak District National Parks cycling funding could be wasted if we get this wrong.
Clay Wheels Lane and Beeley Wood Lane form part of the National Cycle Network route 627.
The section through Clay Wheels Lane is earmarked for industrial development. There is already a new Sainbury’s Supermarket which provides sub-standard cycle facilities and there is an application to double the size of a local recycling depot (13/02199/FUL) which will double of the number of HGVs to the site which use the National Cycle Network road.
The local plan proposals map show this whole area is a priority industrial development site, the lilac colour indicates a “Business Industrial Area”.
Sites P00258, P00241 and P00259 are priority sites identified for development of “research and development, light industry and general industry” businesses. Link to online map. These sites are right next to the National Cycle Network.
The map does show that Beeley Wood Road/Clay Wheels Lane cycling route needs improvement however we need to significantly improve upon the standards demonstrated in recent local developments to offset the harm from increased industrial development.
The Sheffield Planning Core Strategy includes a policy actively promoting this area for industrial and business uses as well as increasing volumes of traffic by building a new bridge across the river Don from Middlewood Road.
Policy CS10 – Business and Industry in the Upper Don Valley Employment uses will be maintained and promoted in the Wadsley Bridge areas, including improvements to access and the local environment. Industrial and business uses will be promoted in the Upper Don Valley with significant access improvements including bridging the River Don from Middlewood Road.
A bridge over the River Don from Middlewood Road would greatly improve the presently poor access, open up jobs to people living in Stocksbridge and also help to relieve congestion in other parts of the Valley. Sheffield Planning Core Strategy
We should push for improvements to this section of the route before more development to keep cycling safe and safeguard this National Cycle Network route.
Today the Department of Transport have re-announced £42 million of cycling investment previously announced in January, and lay claim to a further £54 million of local council contribution. Be honest with funding and stop re announcing investment.
Today the Government have been making announcements about funding for cycling.
The Prime Minister announces the biggest ever single injection of cash for the country alongside plans to make roads safer for those on two wheels.
£77 million will be divided between Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Newcastle, Bristol, Cambridge, Oxford and Norwich, while the New Forest, Peak District, South Downs and Dartmoor will each share a slice of £17 million funding for national parks. With local contributions, the total new funding for cycling is £148 million between now and 2015.
The real amount of new money made available was £42m, the remaining £20m for The Community Linking Places Fund Tranche 2 and the Dangerous Junctions outside London Fund had already been announced on 28th November 2012.
The prime minister will reveal plans to turn three big urban areas into cycling cities as well as investing in a network of bike lanes in two rural areas”
Or perhaps the announcement of new funds to bid for?The last announcement of £62m was a combination of already announced funds being awarded to winning schemes and the announcement of new funds.
Kaya Burgess points to one of the latter options with a cryptic tweet pointing out that The Times on Sunday story isn’t the full picture.
Sunday Times piece on cycle funding today has only tiny snippets of the full story. Much more detail to come in @TheTimes tomorrow.
If there are new funds announced tomorrow then Sheffield has made it very clear that it won’t be bidding. They have stated that we have no schemes on the cards and that we’ll have to wait a couple of years before any new schemes ready for bidding.
