GoBike Call for Action Day – One Week To Go!

We are excited that there is only one week to go until our 2nd annual Call for Action Day.

We’d love to have you along for the afternoon to hear about what GoBike has been doing over the past year, including info on projects that came out of the Call For Action day last year including:

Friends of South City Way

Cycle Desire Network Map

#GlasgowCycleInfraDay

Continue reading “GoBike Call for Action Day – One Week To Go!”

Better buses in Scotland: call for help from FoE and Get Glasgow Moving

Please help our friends in Friends of the Earth and Get Glasgow Moving to get better bus services in Scotland; a better bus service means fewer people feel they need to get cars, so more room for bikes on the road and less pollution.  PLEASE USE THIS LINK TO ADD YOUR SUPPORT.  It’s quick and easy to do.  The information that follows is from Friends of the Earth:

Scotland’s bus sector is in crisis. 

In the last decade, bus companies have cut routes by a fifth and increased fares by a huge 50%. This dramatic deterioration is preventing people accessing basic services like hospitals and job centres, causing social isolation and inequality. It is also increasing the dominance of cars, exacerbating toxic air pollution and climate emissions.

Apart from Lothian Buses and a few other exceptions, most of Scotland’s buses are privately run, and all too often profit is put before people. Under public ownership and well-designed franchise models, profits from busy bus routes can be reinvested back into expanding the public transport network, improving reliability and reducing fares.

The Government wants your views about whether to shift the balance of power away from private companies and towards public bodies. 

Take your chance to demand Local Transport Authorities are granted the powers necessary to run their own bus companies, or failing this, to operate well regulated franchises.

It’s time for a decent, fully-integrated, accessible and affordable public transport network for everyone in Scotland. Take action today.

This will be a response to the official consultation on improving local bus services and is supported by Friends of the Earth Scotland, Get Glasgow Moving, Unison, and Unite Community. You can read the full consultation document here.

 

 

Ride for a better Byres Road, 22 October

 

We have been sent the following message, which we are pleased to repeat, to encourage you all to ride, and then act, to ensure the revamped Byres Road is cycle and active travel friendly:

If you are keeping an eye on the future design of Byres Road, you may be interested in this event this October.

Byres Road is currently undergoing redesign and it presents a great opportunity to make big improvements to this important street. Currently the road is dominated by motor traffic that makes for an unpleasant walking environment and a hostile cycling experience.

The current proposals lack the commitment and ambition that will make Byres Road a people friendly place. We want Byres Road to have a pleasant walking environment, safe cycling provision, and low volumes of motor traffic.

That’s why we’re Riding for a Better Byres Road on Sunday 22nd October. Show your support by coming on our family friendly ride. We’re gathering at the Transport Museum for 10:45am to leave at 11:00am to ride the length of Byres Road. We’ll then gather at Vinicombe St for 11:15am after which we’ll go for lunch and spend the walking and cycling pound!

Please feel free to pass this on to anyone you think might be interested.

Regards,
Euan Muir

https://space4peoplebyresroad.wordpress.com/2017/10/04/ride-for-a-better-byres-road/

Action Klaxon! Join Walk Cycle Vote for a “cake event” at the SNP conference on Sunday, 3pm at SECC

 

SNP Party Conference – 3pm on Sunday 8 October SECC, Glasgow – Please come along!

The force behind Walk Cycle Vote (GoBike’s a supporting member) have been kicking around the idea of a ‘cake event’ at the SNP conference on Sunday, to celebrate/acknowledge the doubling of the active travel budget.

They have just had confirmation from David Miller (the First Minister’s Special Advisor) that he’ll be able to arrange for the Transport Minister, Humza Yousaf,to join us at 3pm on Sunday.

If you can get along please do – the more the better!

  • Meet outside the SECC at 2.45 to assemble with the cake

(venue: https://www.sec.co.uk/visitor-information/how-to-get-here/bike)

  • Please wear a campaign or organisational T-shirt, jacket, hoodie etc to show the diversity of the partnership – hope you all have a GoBike t-shirt!
  • If you have access to children and are willing to bring them then please do!

Call For Action – A Success

The GoBike Call For Action Workshop was a success, with the first project #GlasgowCycleIinfra17 taking place very soon, follow the blog for more details.

GoBike members came together for the first ever Call For Action Workshop to decide on the projects GoBike should be taking forward for the coming year.

Presentations were given on some previous GoBike projects, as well as a talk how data can be used in cycle campaigning.  These were followed by a number of exciting pitches for projects proposed by GoBike members.

The successful pitches are now being taken forward by the members are:

  • #GlasgowCycleInfraDay
  • Desire Network
  • Friends of South City Way
  • Local Understanding of Cycling Infrastructure
  • Quick, simple and Cheap
  • The Idaho Stop
  • Cyclist are People Too

More details on each projects can be found on the dedicated projects page on the GoBike website:

Projects

The projects will be managed through Trello and Slack, with joining details of these being sent out to each GoBike member shortly.  This enables all GoBike members to participate in all the projects they want to.

The next Call For Action event will take place in November, which will enable the current projects to report back and any new projects to be started.

Cycle Campaign Workshop. 29th July, 1 day to go!

1 day to go!

We have a few more interesting project ideas ranging from engaging local communities, French traffic lights rules and how to investigate road accidents. Come to the workshop to find out more!

Eventbrite - GoBike Call For Action Campaigning Workshop

Lunch and tea breaks are provided, but a £5 donation will help cover costs.

Directions for parking and registrations on the day:

Between 10:30 and 11:00am we will have someone outside letting attendees on bicycles through the barriers at the road entrance of City Park, and round the back of the building to the underground carpark. There are bike racks and another helpful person will direct you upstairs to the registration desk on the ground floor.

If you are coming by car or by foot, car parking is next to the building at the front and you will find the registration desk straight on through the main door entrance on the ground floor. We will direct you to the workshop from there.

Yellow: Wheeled entrance. Red: Cars park here. Green: Bikes cycle to underground parking. Blue: Walk to Registration. (B) = Barriers (R) = Registration (P) = Bicycle parking (L) = Latecomer’s bicycle parking

Cycle Campaign Workshop. 29th July, 2 days to go!

2 days to go, nearly there!

Eventbrite - GoBike Call For Action Campaigning Workshop

Here are two more campaign ideas to think about:

#GlasgowCycleInfraDay2: A short concentrated twitter campaign to highlight the good and bad examples of cycling infrastructure in Glasgow. #GlasgowCycleInfraDay last ran in 2015 and we hope to repeat it’s success for the new GCC administration. Looking for people to help with scope, time, promotion, collation methods and of course participation.

Quick, Simple and Cheap: Get people cycling in Glasgow city centre by giving them ad hoc infrastructure to try-out. Real world, quick response cycle infrastructure built with simple, cheap segregation would soon show what the real demand was, highlight problems and justify a permanent solution; or could be easily be removed. This could dramatically speed up the present long winded process for establishing cycleways.

Directions for parking and registrations on the day:

Between 10:30 and 11:00am we will have someone outside letting attendees on bicycles through the barriers at the road entrance of City Park, and round the back of the building to the underground carpark. There are bike racks and another helpful person will direct you upstairs to the registration desk on the ground floor.

If you are coming by car or by foot, car parking is next to the building at the front and you will find the registration desk straight on through the main door entrance on the ground floor. We will direct you to the workshop from there.

Yellow: Wheeled entrance. Red: Cars park here. Green: Bikes cycle to underground parking. Blue: Walk to Registration. (B) = Barriers (R) = Registration (P) = Bicycle parking (L) = Latecomer’s bicycle parking

Cycle Campaign Workshop. 29th July, 3 days to go!

3 days to go! Don’t forget to book!

Eventbrite - GoBike Call For Action Campaigning Workshop

Lets showcase two potential campaigning projects:

Cycle Desire Network map: Using local knowledge and cycling data we can highlight the missing gaps and most important direct routes that need to be made safe for all. Using QGIS mapping software people can help contribute to a configurable digital map which can be shown to councillors and decision makers; this has been well revived in other cities. Having a laptop will be useful for using the open source software.

Friends of South City Way: With a new protected bike path from Queens Park to the city centre, we anticipate a bike lash. By setting-up Friends of South City Way the hope is to minimise misinformation and increase local support. Looking for people to be involved in setting-up a website, social media, organising local events and of course joining our campaign!

Cycle Campaign Workshop. 29th July, 4 days to go!

4 days to go!

We have some interesting 10 minute talks about what local campaigners have done recently in the Glasgow area.

  • 20mph – for a new default urban speed limit. Tricia Fort GoBike Convener
  • Pedal on Parliament in Glasgow. Lizzie Reather
  • Friends of the Bears Way. Euan Muir
  • Using cycling data. Bob Downie.

Some of the talks have a direct relevance to some proposed pitches, more about that soon!

Do sign up if you haven’t already.

Eventbrite - GoBike Call For Action Campaigning Workshop