It is the view, expressed by Prof John Whitelegg, at the recent Go Dutch event, that there is no reason why Manchester could not achieve a 20% modal share for cycling by the year 2020.
You can read his presentation here.
Think about what Manchester would be like if cycling made up 20% of all journeys. It would transform this noisy, polluted city centre. Turning a city dominated by the motor car into a city which gave over space to people.
If you think this could never happen, then go and look at Oxford Road. It is one of the busiest roads for cycling and here you will already find during the rush-hour a 20% modal share by bike, and that is on one of this country's busiest bus routes.
The key message from Love Cycling Go Dutch Manchester was that the city needs political vision and leadership to drive through the necessary changes. However, don't expect that leadership to come from the council. The council leader may ride a bike, but he shows no sign of leading the city towards a cycling revolution. He's a political manager, not a leader.
If Manchester is to become a world class cycling city then we, those who care about our city, need to voice that vision and provide the leadership. We need to show the people who run this city just how much better Manchester could be, economically, structurally and environmentally if it were to truly provide streets fit for cycling.
Come along to PopupBikes in January and help start the process.
I'm a fan of this blog. Like you I saw that presentation at the Go Dutch event, and I share the dream. My four-year-old has just learnt to cycle and I wish I could believe that by the time she nears adulthood there might be somewhere for her to use the skill without both of us living in fear. Manchester is flat and has massive reserves of "potential cyclists", if only the foresight and political will were there.
ReplyDeleteBut if you plan to continue using your "20% of journeys on Oxford Road" statistic then I'd love to know where it comes from. I only wish it were true, and if you can give a reliable source to show this is consistently correct I'll be very interested.
I queried it here previously - I don't know if you've seen my comment?
http://www.roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com/why-is-cycling-popular-in-the-netherlands-infrastructure-or-history/
Cheers.
From one of Manchester Council's officers at the event - part of the transport/cycling team - he was probably referring to the max levels when the students are around.
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