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The Lothian Cycle Campaign |
Additions and Updates to this site www.spokes.org.uk Frames version
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The Lothian Cycle Campaign |
SPOKESWORKER 18th. November 2000
See Diary on page 2 of our autumn leaflet, Spokes 77. Also...
Nov 29 Funding - raising funds for Paths Day seminar in Alloa by Paths for All. Cost £45. 01259.218888.
Dec 11 Rail Strategies - Scotland 1/2-day seminar £30 0790.9735224
Feb 22 Paths, Health and Social Inclusion Day seminar in Alloa(?) by Paths for All. Cost £45?. 01259.218888.
Remember: Spokes Public Meeting 28 Nov [Spokes 77]
The predictions in Spokes 77 about more money for cycling from the government PTF have come true, with the 9.11.2000 announcement of which council PTF bids have succeeded.
The £33m announcement includes £4.3m for cycling schemes - on top of various bus schemes which include cycle measures. There is also £6.5m for Stirling-Alloa rail re-opening, £1.8m for the next paperwork/consultancy stage of Borders Rail reopening, and £8m for Edinburgh bus priority. The walk/cycle projects are..
[News Release 9.11.2000 SE2887/2000 on www.scotland.gov.uk]
The government has again made it clear that they want more councils to bid for walk/cycle schemes - as we had already pointed out in Spokes 77. In the New Year they will issue new guidance to Councils on how to bid for next year's allocation. They have also announced that the allocation will be increased by £10ma year up to £60m in 2003.
The present rules say councils can only submit one bid a year. This is a problem for walk/bike schemes - they tend to be cheaper than public transport, so get left out by Councils. Also, with more money in the PTF, councils will be thinking of even larger bids.
Spokes is suggesting the rules are changed so that councils can make 2 bids a year, only one of which could be very expensive. The large bid would in practice normally be for public transport (but not always - e.g. Argyll&Bute's £1.9m cycle allocation this year), whilst the smaller one would probably normally be for walking, cycling, 20mph zones, and so on - but could be for a cheap public transport scheme such as painting of bus lanes.
Please help Spokes! Write to your MSP, explain the situation, and ask them to press for councils to be allowed to make one large bid and one smaller bid to the Public Transport Fund as from year 2001. Send us any useful replies.
Whilst pleased with news on the PTF we are shocked at the Scottish Executive decision to remove powers to allow councils to institute workplace parking charges. We had hoped these powers might be extended to also cover large retail stores/leisure facilities, and Green MSP Robin Harper had prepared the relevant amendment, with help from Transform Scotland. Instead, as part of new First Minister Henry McLeish's 'dump the crap' project to eliminate policies which he thinks are 'unpopular', councils are not even to be allowed to consider workplace parking charges - even though this power will be available to councils in England, Wales and probably Northern Ireland.
Along with the government backdown on the M74 [see Spokes 77] this is a very worrying trend. The main opposition parties are if anything worse, with the SNP transport spokesman complaining that the government has only built one mile of new trunk road a month, which is "minuscule compared to what is needed"; and the Tories wanting not just a basic M74 strategic link [Spokes 77], but one "to accommodate projected traffic flows".
The Liberal Democrats seem in a mixed position. As members of the government they presumably back the government moves - but we were delighted that Liberals on the Transport Committee objected fiercely to the dropping of workplace charging powers.
Please write to the party/parties you support. If you don't know the name, just write to "The Leader of X Party, Scottish Parliament, EH99 1SP". Explain you might vote for them at the next election and you would like them to justify their actions on these issues. Send us any useful replies!!
Sent to Spokes by famous Glasgow tricycling GP Colin Guthrie... grey_triker@hotmail.com 28 Austen Road Glasgow G14 9DW.
I recently wrote this right on little rap of which I am most pleased. I feel it deserves a wider audience and what better stage than the Spokes newsletter? (even if it's out east a bit). Now do not approach this in yir normal douce edinburgh fashion because, you see, it needs a bit of oooomph! throughout with particular emphasis (approaching almost shouting) at the 'Yahoo' bits. Go on give a try, but don't be surprised if you have to lie down after.
In Spokes 77 [page 3] we mentioned the Sustrans Safe Routes to Stations project, inspired by European experience of bike/rail integration. Below we reprint a stimulating article from Platform [August 2000] on what already happens in the Netherlands - and plans to improve it yet further! Platform is an organisation fighting for better rail services - see 'what you can do' below.
In the Netherlands there are exciting plans to transform the railways into a door-to-door service. Could the Dutch Destination Customer strategy provide a model for the UK?
Not many people live above stations and most rail journeys involve an onward trip to reach the final destination. Yet whilst the railway focuses on reducing journey times and increasing rail capacity, the 'whole journey', including the trips to and from the station, can easily be forgotten.
Not in the Netherlands. Faced with a target of increasing rail use by 50 per cent over the next decade, the Dutch railways have decided the most effective way to attract new users is to reduce door-to-door journey times, improve the quality of the whole journey and reduce the uncertainty. What's more, they calculate that, compared with expensive rail route upgrades, this type of improvement offers far better value-for-money.
The Dutch plan, dubbed Destination Customer, involves: Better taxi-rail connections
At 160 stations a £2 add-on ticket will already buy you a taxi to anywhere within the town or city boundaries. The taxis leave from special taxi bays usually right next to the station exit. Treintaxi already accounts for between 1.5-2 per cent of all traffic and requires a 20-30 per cent subsidy. Destination Customer will enhance and expand Treintaxi to further reduce the hassle and uncertainty associated with getting a taxi from the station.
A better deal for cyclists
With 38 per cent of trips to Dutch stations already by bike or scooter you might think the Dutch would be happy with existing facilities for cyclists. Not so! They plan to invest £150 million in better cycle parking at stations, to provide more secure parking and to extend bike park opening hours.
Better stations
Many Dutch stations are already models of good design, with clear and uncluttered signage and excellent interchange with other modes. The Dutch plan to build on this by dividing stations into three categories - large, medium and basic - then guaranteeing an appropriate level of facilities. For the 46 largest stations (which account for 65 per cent of traffic) the specification includes staffed bike parking and hire (open 18 hours a day), convenient and well-signed cycle and walking routes in and to the city centre, a customer service team, left luggage, the train-taxi service and good interchange with bus/tram/metro.
The Dutch will also build on what is already a sensible approach to prioritising different types of users. At Maastricht for example the well signed bus station can be reached directly from the platform (no barriers). Cycle parking is right next to the station entrance as is the Treintaxi stop. A special cycle and pedestrian underpass under the railway tracks gives easy access to both halves of the town, and there is specific road signage for bikes to guide cyclists to their final destination. A well-equipped cycle hire facility uses one of the station buildings.
Better fares
The Dutch also plan to convert their very successful strippenkaart into a smartcard. Strippenkaart is a strip ticket which can be used to buy single trips on buses, trams (and some local rail services) anywhere in the country. Getting envious yet? Well, try this: a year's unlimited travel on the network costs around £1360 (about the same as an all-zones annual London Travelcard). A national railcard (which costs around £30) gets a 40 per cent discount on off-peak rail fares, and three of your friends and family can travel with you and get the same discount. Students don't have to bother with a railcard because they get free use of public transport.
There's plenty Dutch good practice that could be adopted here: what about starting with a national railcard, a train-taxi fare and a proper hierarchy of station facilities? There's no reason why not!
Further information on the Dutch schemes - and their implications for the UK - are in the following article by Sue Hall, from CTC Cycle Digest [Autumn 2000]...
'DOOR TO DOOR' JOURNEYS
Netherlands Railways has bid, in conjunction with First Group, for the UK South West Trains franchise. Might this bring a new perspective to rail travel in Britain?
Netherlands Railways (privatised in 1995) have carried out research into what they term 'the journey chain'. They recognise that the train is just one part of a longer 'door to door' journey and that travellers attach considerable importance to overall journey time. Instead of focussing on big engineering projects aimed at cutting train journey times by a few minutes they believe it to be easier and more relevant to focus on improving the journey times of transport to and from stations.
Their Market Research and Advice Department works with 'chain managers' to manage the chain of transport options serving stations. The modal split of each station is researched and the 'chain managers' work with the bus companies, cycle-hire, taxi companies and managers of station facilities (e.g. cycle parking providers) to achieve optimal integration of the various links in the transport chain. They also focus on issues such as reducing journey delays at the station itself e.g. time spent queuing for tickets etc. Some 10-20% more passengers have been attracted through investment in this aspect of rail travel.
38% of journeys to Dutch train stations are currently made by cycle or scooter and 10% of journeys from stations are made in this way. Netherlands Railways are currently investing around 140 million in supplying 18,000 new cycle storage racks and cages to their stations. There are no figures available to show the modal split for British stations but it is estimated that less than 1% of rail passengers cycle to/from stations!
Extract from Spokes 77...
The Sustrans Safe Routes to Stations project aims eventually to lift Britain to European figures. With 60% of the population living less than 15mins cycle from a station this must be realistic!
Sustrans has studied access at 100 stations, mainly near the NCN, and under a 3-year Railtrack/government pilot is carrying out 30 schemes a year. It means safer, more direct routes, good parking, signing, and even linked town centre 'station shop windows' with information, ticket sales, etc
WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW...
For the address/name of your MSP/MP phone the Citizens' Advice Bureau [see phonebook]. Note that it is worth writing to your MP as well as your MSP since with a UK general election likely in 6 months MPs should be eager to please their constituents - and much rail policy is anyway a UK matter.
