Manchester Gets Ready to Vote on TIF

Manchester has started the referendum on whether to continue to be a clogged-up congested, polluted city or start to bring some sanity to the streets. The vote on whether to introduce a peak-time congestion charge, and use the money raised to improve public transport, cycling and walking facilities continues until 11th December.

Our colleagues in Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign are at the forefront of the Yes campaign and have arranged a series of events including their biggest ever Critical Commute, this Friday the 28th - to join see http://www.loveyourbike.org for details or just turn up with your bike at 8.30am at the Peace Gardens, St Peter's Square.

Meanwhile there will be a Tour De Tiff a Tour of Greater Manchester on Saturday 29th November. The start will be at Swinton Town Hall, (officially called Salford Civic Centre), Chorley Road, Swinton, Salford M27 5AW. The finish, 80 miles later will be at Manchester Town Hall, Albert Square.

Olly Glover, GMCC Secretary says " There is much in the proposals which will benefit cyclists, directly or indirectly, and the behavioural change programmes are the most radical this
country has ever seen."

Please support them in any way you can. See http://www.gmcc.org.uk/ for more information.

===posted by Simon===

CABE describes Waverley proposals as 'disappointing'

CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, has criticised plans for a new town at Waverley, on the Sheffield-Rotherham border. You can read their review here.

==posted by Simon===

New rail service good for cyclists

A new hourly train service between Leeds, Sheffield and Nottingham starts in mid December. This means that there will be a half hourly service between Nottingham, Sheffield, Barnsley, Wakefield and Leeds. The good news for cyclists continues because the new Leeds - Nottingham trains are run by Northern, like the current fast Leeds service - bikes go free and no reservations are needed. The new trains call at Dronfield almost every hour, as well as the other stations to Nott'm.

Northern operate a two bikes per train policy but have given their staff the flexibility to allow additional bikes on their trains if it is safe to do so.

East Midlands Trains' Liverpool - Norwich trains still run as now.

With most trains to London becoming Meridians, with very limited bike space, the new service to Nottingham offers an alternative to East Midland towns and St Pancras by going on Northern to Nottingham and then by EM Trains to St P. Most of the Nottingham - London trains will be High Speed Trains with better cycle accommodation.

Services from Langley Mill and Dronfield are improved although Dronfield to Sheffield isn't *that* well served in the peak - departures are 0705 0720 0825 0850. This is a major commuting corridor as Dronfield is virtually a dormitory town for the big Sheffield employment centres (despite being in Derbyshire).

Dronfield is also a handy jumping off point for cycling in the Peak District - take Lea Rd to Church St, left onto High St, left on Gosforth Lane, continue over the by-pass to Cowley Lane and you're away. Should you require refreshment we can recommend the Coach & Horses, next to the Sheffield FC ground, the world's oldest football club, on Sheffield Rd.

For Sheffielders wishing to travel to Nottingham for an evening out the last train home is still very early - 2143 during the week and earlier at weekends, too early for concert and play-goers, so they will presumably continue to drive, although using the park'n'ride off the A610 and the NET is an option. Nottingham folk wishing to come to Sheffield for a night out are better served with a last departure at 2338.

However additional capacity between Nottingham and Sheffield is badly needed and with the service in place there is always scope for improvement in the future.

New car registrations fall by 21%

See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7654648.stm

Have sales of bicycles gone up accordingly?

Sheffield Emulates Cambridge on Signs

With reference to the Cyclists Give Way to Pedestrians signs appearing and written about here it is interesting that Cambridge has had something similar but just slightly more co-operative for ages - this is a step in a good direction IMHO

The Signpost to More People Cycling More Safely More Often

http://axelrod.plus.com/ppmw/images/9/9e/Poster.pdf

(Our entry for the Cambridge Cycle Campaign Conference Poster Competition)

On your bike with Eurostar

From the Eurostar website:

From 7 April you will be able to reserve a place for your bike *on the same train that you are travelling on*. (This is subject to space being available). This service operates on our London, Paris and Brussels routes only and will give you added assurance of knowing that your bike is travelling with you.

You can make a reservation or find out more about this service by calling us on 08705 850 850 or visit the EuroDespatch Centre in person at St Pancras International. Charges are £20 one way and it’s necessary to quote your Eurostar reference or show your ticket.

This puts Eurostar on parity with low cost airlines such as Ryanair on cycle carriage, but with the benefit of offering you a carbon neutral journey.

This change in policy has come about as the result of sustained lobbying by cycle campaigners such as the CTC and Camden Cycle Campaign. (If Eurostar had realised that by moving to St Pancras they came under the purview of Camden CC they might have decided to stay put! )

==posted by Simon==

Funding Confirmed for Supertram Specials

Funding confirmed for Supertram Specials

Steve Marsden, our new CTC Cycling Development Officer for South Yorkshire, has gained agreement to make up any shortfall in cost for the Supertram Specials onwards - we just need to send him numbers of people and their names and postcodes as outcomes for his job, plus some photos for publicity.

Hope to see lots of you enjoying and supporting the Cyclists' Special on March 30th.

(p.s. If you need to drive your bikes to Cathedral to take part in this event, see this map for parking. However, please cycle if you can - traffic is light in Sheffield City Centre on sunday morning and we'd like to keep it that way!)

European Mobility Week Award 2008

Amazingly, the UK winner is... SHEFFIELD

press release here http://tinyurl.com/22sczd

pics and poem by the Bard of Barnsley here: http://tinyurl.com/2yb7k2

press releases from all ten winning towns and cities here:
http://www.mobilityweek.eu/Mobility-Week-Award-2008

blog here: http://www.mobilityweek.eu/blog/

The press release says "The city of Sheffield permanently closed a busy street to motorised traffic and installed cycle stands." Perhaps someone from the council can tell us what street that was exactly?

===posted by Simon===

Cycle Safety Plea

Cycling has made the front page of the Sheffield Telegraph.

The headline is "Cycle Safety Plea - Motorists urged to take more care as road toll rises"

This is the follow-on from the presentation by Road Safety at the last Cycle Forum.

Not online - 80p from your newsagent

Simon

A Cautionary Trail

Out of our area, but!

This is the proposed new route for cyclists to replace the A3 at Hindhead
(the Devils Punchbowl) :
















Apparently the National Trust use it to wash their
Land Rovers...
















The A3 is to be dualled at this location and put in a tunnel, avoiding
the scenic National Trust estate. All well and good, but what cyclists wanted
was for a narrow section of the old A3 to be preserved as a cycle route.

All is not lost however as the Old Portsmouth Rd has been re-surfaced:-











(This would have been the route Nelson used when he went down to Portsmouth to join the fleet)

Petition to reduce urban speed limit to 20 mph.

You may wish to sign the following petition, which is on the PM's website.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/20limit/