Tonight at our AGM Tricia Fort, who has been instrumental for many many years to the GoBike campaign, stood down from her role on our committee. She has been a key component to GoBike, leading the campaign for many years, as well as fighting hard in keeping up our consultations aspect of the campaign. Tonight, she echoed her calls to other campaigners to step up and get more involved – and what better inspiration for us than Tricia’s footsteps. We will miss her dearly but knowing Tricia, we are sure that she is going to continue to give up her free time for many years to come to make Glasgow and in fact our world a better place.

Messages of thanks to Tricia have flooded in and so we wanted to share some of them here.

Tricia has been unwavering in her commitment to the campaign to make Glasgow a better place to cycle. I have always looked forward to a new edition of the Consultation Digest- though I’ll admit sometimes with a little trepidation! Having that overview of the work underway across the wider region is so useful, and will have informed countless consultation responses. Thank you to Tricia for an enormous contribution on our journey to a more cycle friendly city.

Cllr Anna Richardson

 Well done Tricia for your massive shift working for GoBike. Your rigour and business skills dragged our small group from a low point, to building a campaign and membership that is vital, effective and a widely respected force. As chair and then source of consultation responses and news, you gave GoBike a lead role in bringing cycling to be top of the agenda for a future Glasgow. The high standards you set should also help enable riding a bike to becomes the norm for everyone.

Peter Hayman – ex-convenor GoBike (during the lean years)

Thanks Tricia for being the stalwart and no nonsense campaigner who has kept GoBike on track for all the time I have been a member. Also seen out on Saturday/Sunday rides, marches and other GoBike jaunts including Hadrian’s Wall C2C trip. Always ready with advice and support – you will be missed.

Jeremy Stevenson – GoBike Secretary

Tricia has been a real source of inspiration to me and my campaigning – when I took over from her as co-convenor of GoBike I knew I had big shoes to fill and I was quaking in those boots. However, she was a big help and source of encouragement to me when I did, and she has become a firm friend. Tricia’s principles and drive to make the world better for others is incredible and I want to thank her for everything she has done for GoBike throughout the years. I have every faith that she will use her new found time in the positive way she has always given away so freely.

Iona Shepherd – GoBike Campaigns Lead

Tricia’s grammar is impeccable and she has taught my wife all she knows about apostrophe’s. My lifetime goal remains to be allowed to follow Tricia on Strava.

Graeme Cook

I’ve known Tricia a relatively short time, from the beginning I’ve been open-mouthed at her capacity for organisation and keeping a grip on things.  And good old-fashioned hard work and dedication.  The effort she’s put into the Consultations Digest over the years would be incredible if the Digests weren’t there as evidence – and for the first years she was Convenor of GoBike at the same time.  Of course the words in the Digest are only the tip of the iceberg, she would mostly have been out to look at the proposals on the ground, and will have written the GoBike responses as well, while keeping track of the confusion of closing dates.  Now that she’s stepped away from responsibility for Consultations it’s taking more than three people to keep the system running, and I wouldn’t put money on the formulation of responses being anything like as complete.  And her skill at crafting short punchy letters is something to behold…

Brenda Lillicrap

I want to stay in the Glasgow that would exist if GCC had heeded all of Tricias consultation responses, what a great, healthy and sustainable place that would have been to live and love.

Caroline Thompson

I first became acquainted with Tricia in around 2009, when we both retired from paid work. I had been asked to volunteer for Sustrans – which, back then was a fairly small organisation, with a small budget and less than 10 staff to cover Scotland.

At that time, although we had had national routes 7 and 75 in Glasgow, that was about the sum total of cycling infrastructure in Glasgow, apart from some disconnected and very short – some very short! – sections which were characterised by notices stating ‘Cyclists dismount’.

GCC did have a cycling unit (almost all of whom have retired now), which was part of Roads, but was clearly far down the hierarchy when it came to funding and influence. The politics of the Council was very pro-roads and motor vehicles. So, the only way that the cycling unit could get anything for cycling was by squeezing it in at the edges. 

Around that time, there were two projects – “Smarter Places, Smarter Choices” which, for its time, was a pretty radical plan for the Bridgeton area (That’s where the segregated cycle lanes on London Road came from!) and the Millennium Project, which, for Glasgow, was “The Bridge to Nowhere”. Tricia and I were invited on to the steering groups for these and that is when we first became acquainted. 

Here, a Sustrans’ civil engineer argued her case strongly, the Roads officers (all men) behaved patronisingly and despite having agreed to points she made, simply did not implement them. The presence of another woman and, what’s more a woman who is also an engineer, and a woman who was not afraid to bite (figuratively ….. but I would not have pushed her too far!) was a great help. So, slowly – very slowly – progress was made, but the breakthrough came when the heid yins in Roads failed to come up with the cash – as promised – for “The Bridge to Nowhere” – and the project, which had become quite a prestige project, was likely to founder. Fortunately, because a project by Perth council had failed, Sustrans switched the cash to Glasgow and the bridge actually went somewhere.

At the same time, Tricia began pressing for a Glasgow Cycle forum and persuaded Councillor Matt Kerr (Labour) and Councillor Mackay (SNP) to set one up. To be fair to both councillors, they were sincerely committed to cycling, and although the Forum met in the City Chambers it had no formal status. Often, it was just a ‘greetin meetin’ – and there was plenty to greet about! – but it built alliances amongst cycling groups and, gradually, the Councillors were able to get Council Officers and the Police to make reports. I can remember vividly Tricia’s terrier-like savaging of them – she did not miss them and hit the wall! Fortunately, we also had Peter Hayman’s courteous emollience to smooth things over! 

Tricia kept notes and did her homework so officers learned they had to deal in realities and start producing results on the ground.

Around 2012, towards the end of the financial year, the Scottish Government had a significant pot of money to distribute, because of various projects which had not spent sums during the year. The money was given to Sustrans to support Councils who had ‘shovel-ready’ projects to provide cycling infrastructure. The City of Glasgow had none! Edinburgh, for example, was able to claim about half the total cash. So, for a second time in two years Glasgow’s Roads Department had failed the citizens significantly.

Sustrans’ Chief Executive in Scotland met Tricia at several national conferences around that time and was very impressed, not just with her determination bur with her vision. Sustrans then funded two embedded officers within Roads. The purpose was to change the culture. This was facilitated by substantial retirals of many long-serving Roads officials. The Cycle Forum became a formal consultative Committee of GCC and it was chaired by the then Leader, Cllr Frank McAveety. It was still often a ‘hostile environment’ and often, things promised did not come to pass. But we had a place!

At around this time, Tricia became Convenor of GoBike and gradually transformed it into the strong campaigning body we now have. Whereas before, despite the outstanding vision of people like Andy Preece, GB was on the outside shouting increasingly frustratedly and angrily because of its seeming impotence, now, we had channels into the Council. Tricia organised hustings at election times and, from the start, SNP, Labour, Greens, Conservatives, LibDems, SSP, all sent representatives to these. Fairly significant figures were invited – and accepted – to address AGMs and to be questioned by members.

And, more, and younger members began joining. They had a range of backgrounds and expertise and so Council proposals could be criticised from a good knowledge base and, more importantly, constructive suggestions are being made.

Undoubtedly, Tricia has mellowed over the years (having a grand-daughter has helped!) and the experience gained in a number of forums enabled her to become more stateswoman-like, but the teeth are still there – and all are her own, still! She exemplifies the adage that you are never too old to learn and  she has the confidence to admit she has learned. 

She has other social interests, to campaign for such as the appalling homelessness and the lack of public toilets. And, she also has a strong intellectual side, with her years-long membership of the Royal Glasgow Philosophical Society, the pointy-heidit forum par excellence of this city, which has been addressed in its time by Nobel Laureates.

Glasgow has a long tradition of strong women like Mary Barbour, women who took on authority from a grass-roots moral stance. I think Tricia is part of that tradition. Grassroots campaigning does work, but it has to be smart and be prepared to engage and make the change. Sometimes, campaigning has to be side-lined for a while (Just a wee while!) to implement changes, even when some changes are not as much as we would like them to be.

I think Tricia is confident in the members of GoBike and knows that they can be constructively engaged in the changes that are in the future. 

If you had asked her 10/12 years ago whether would we have the infrastructure and plans we have now in Glasgow, I am not sure she would have dared to be so optimistic. There are still things to be done, but, never again will the City of Glasgow be in the shameful position of not having plans ready to be implemented and having to turn down funds. It is important to take time and reflect on what we have achieved. Tricia has achieved a lot.
Alasdair Macdonald

Thank you for everything Tricia!

What’s wrong with this picture?(We’ll get back to that subliminal message later.) Take a close look at the junction.

Look at those geometric, perfectly sharp, 90 degree square corners. This is the epitome of a side road turning with tight radii. It gives pedestrians a short direct crossing. It requires drivers to slow right down to enter or leave the side turning, giving them time to look for people cycling past the junction, and making them less likely to left hook someone cycling on their nearside.

This is a cartoon version of a side road junction without traffic lights, but it’s not quite a fantasy. It’s the style of junction recommended by guidance such as Designing Streets (1), Scottish policy since 2010 (see pages 16 and 18), and by a 2020 Briefing Sheet (2) for professionals on street design standards badged by the Institution of Civil Engineers among others. Even Glasgow’s own Public Realm Design and Maintenance Guide (3) says this (p 42), “Junctions should be designed in order to both make people feel safe and actually be safe. …. Designers should therefore start with the tightest radii that they feel can be accommodated and not the most forgiving [for] motor traffic …”

This guidance is for streets generally (no special infrastructure for cycling) and it’s important for two reasons. The first is that there can never be protected cycle infrastructure on every street, so the design of ordinary streets and junctions must focus on safety for people cycling (and walking and wheeling). The second reason is that on streets where there is protected cycle infrastructure, junction design that requires low motor vehicle turning speeds supports the case for the cycleway to be continuous across side streets.

So what can we deduce from the choice of this ideal junction design to illustrate a council campaign? Is Glasgow committed to following the guidance, designing junctions for the safety of people cycling (and walking) and now moving on to reinforcing the message implicit in junction design with ads? Well – no.

Here’s a junction created in the last couple of years for new student accommodation on the Scotway House site between the Kelvin and Glasgow Harbour.

The road is Castlebank Street, right next to the Clydeside Expressway. There is nothing about it to encourage drivers to pay attention to their speed. The flaring trumpet mouth of the new service road invites drivers to swoop into or out of the turning, scattering people walking and cycling to and from the Riverside Museum. (As an aside, the green fingerposts along the footway give cycling times to various places, inviting cycling on the pavement, although there’s no indication that this is officially a shared surface, but that’s another story.)

Here’s another example. This is on Polmadie Road, it’s the entrance to a site repurposed with a brand new Starbucks.

This time the pavement has the appropriate signs for a shared cycling and walking surface, but look at the flared junction again. Drivers on their way to or from the M74 can just twitch a finger to turn in or out for their caffeine hit, barely moderating their speed or looking out for active travellers. Sadly, the next step here is quite likely to be the installation of railings to give people walking and cycling further to travel and still require them to cross the path of vehicles travelling too fast. When junctions are designed to be intrinsically safe, add-on ‘protective’ measures are not needed.

What’s going on? The council has plenty of great sounding policies about encouraging active travel. There’s no shortage of what looks like useful guidance on how to design streets that invite people to cycle or walk, and which feel safer for walking and cycling. Yet the same old dysfunctional, dangerous designs keep on being wheeled out. There’s no opportunity for public input when turnings like the Castlebank Street and Polmadie Road are created but campaigners have argued extensively for the design of safe side road junctions for cycle infrastructure on (for example) Sauchiehall Street, South City Way, St Andrew’s Drive and Byres Road. Responses from officials have included:

• The guidance applies only to new developments
• Refuse trucks have to be able to get round the corners
• Police advice is that what you want isn’t safe
• We could be sued if we do anything different from what’s established.

So here are suggestions – for officials (if you happen to read this) and for campaigners:

• Make it council policy that the guidance for new developments must be applied to every modification of existing streets
• Buy refuse trucks with rear-axle steering (or just be practical and accept that having to use part of the opposite carriageway is not a deal-breaker).
• Come clean about the precise source of this nebulous ‘police advice’ and, since it’s contradicting all the expert guidance, what the evidence is for it.
• Read the section at the back of Designing Streets about the risk of being sued (very slight).

And an extra one:

• Make road engineers accountable for prioritising the safety of foot and cycle traffic over the flow of motor vehicles.

It’s not as though there are no junctions in Glasgow with square corners. The older areas are full of them. Here’s one (in Hillhead) that has a good idea for stopping drivers cutting the corners.

Streets in urban areas aren’t motorways – drivers need to slow down before turning off the main road, not afterwards. The people with their hands on the wheel and their feet on the pedals need to have their brains fully applied to communicating their intentions to other road users through the way they signal, decelerate, brake and position their vehicles.

Going back to that bus ad, we might charitably see it as a sincere effort to alert drivers to the danger they pose at junctions to people cycling. Perhaps the intention is to create a safer environment for cycling so that more people will give it a go. It’s pretty much a disaster then that what most people’s brains will get from a passing glance is “Cyclists, injuries, 70%”. Clearly, a message on the side of a bus has to be in shorthand, but this one invites the inference that if you try cycling there’s a 70% chance you’ll be injured.

What about the usefulness of advertising as a way to change driver behaviour? Here’s what the Briefing Note (2) on street design standards has to say: “ Drivers drive according to the environment, including the width, and curvature of the road. Greater width, gentler curves, greater visibility lead to higher speeds, high-energy collisions and increased injury risk.” Driver behaviour at junctions is determined by the design of the junction, not by an ad on the side of a bus (if there’s evidence otherwise, let’s see it). The money spent on the bus campaign should have been directed at getting junction design that’s safer for people walking and cycling. And if the response to that is going to be that the funding for the ad campaign came out of a pot designated for “behaviour change”, getting designers to design good junctions is behaviour change too.

References

1. https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/corporate-report/2010/03/designing-streets-policy-statement-scotland/documents/0096540-pdf/0096540-pdf/govscot%3Adocument/0096540.pdf?forceDownload=true

2. https://www.udg.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/files/Briefing-Sheet-Street%20Design%20Standards%20-%20Published%202020-08.pdf

3. Glasgow Public Realm Design + Maintenance Guide Version 4.0 October 2020

https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=50702

Peter Hayman, who has long been an active and effective GoBike campaigner, is a true cycling legend. Today, the 28th of March, he turns 80, and to celebrate his birthday, he is planning a hefty 80 mile cycle ride. For this adventure (and Peter is no stranger to adventures), he hopes to cycle to the coast via his previous homes in the West of Scotland and through the home town of his adopted football club, Kilmarnock FC, before returning to Glasgow.

Peter originally hailed from England, where he was born in Long Melford, Suffolk during World War Two and was then brought up in London after the war. He moved to Scotland in the 1970s and worked for Glacier Metal in Kilmarnock as an Industrial Designer, before setting up business on his own. When living in Fenwick his already keen interest in cycling became serious. This was, in part, owing to a cricket match that was organised between High Fenwick and Low Fenwick, in which Peter and two of his sons played for Low Fenwick. Although Peter found he could wield his bat and hit the ball well enough, running the distance between the wickets felt a bit of a struggle. His solution was to turn to his bike, and he began to cycle commute to work, building up his fitness and strength. This effected his interest in cycling to grow so much so, that he took up membership with the Cyclists’ Touring Club or CTC (now called Cycling UK).

When Peter and his wife, Anne, later moved to Glasgow, Peter joined GoBike and became one of the small band of people who kept the campaign going through its leaner years. Peter was one of the campaigners instrumental in having the segregated cycle path installed beside the A77, a route that continues to be heavily used by people on bikes every single day. Peter’s enthusiasm for cycling knows no bounds and has been a massive part of his life for decades. It was this, allied with his work as an Industrial Designer, that encouraged him to enter a design competition, with an innovative bike design, many years ago, becoming one of the finalists.

Peter responds very positively to anyone who shares his interest in cycling, and his youngest grandchild, still at primary school in New Zealand, is very fortunate in this regard, since she is very keen on her bike. He has been such a good influence that his three older grandchildren have followed a similar choice of career to their grandfather and have studied art and design at university.

In addition to campaigning with GoBike and Cycling UK, Peter also advocates for safe cycling provision in Glasgow through his membership of the Merchant City & Trongate Community Council. He is a well known figure among people who cycle in Glasgow and we all thank him for everything he does.

Peter, who is fit and healthy and a shining example to us all to keep active, is now in training for his 80 miler. So if you see him, either practising for the return of fans to football stadiums on his standard cycle trip to Kilmarnock, heading over the Cathkin Braes and Fenwick Moor, or even pootling out to get his messages, do give him a wave!

Here is the 80 for 80 route that Peter will be undertaking, if you wish to check your own cycling prowess in honour of our Mr Hayman: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1440288

Wishing you a great big Happy 80th Birthday Peter!

This blog would not have been possible without the help of Alasdair, Andy, Anne, Bob, Garry and Iona.

Tactiles – those patterned square slabs set into pavements and paths – are there to give messages to people with visual impairments. Different patterns, different messages. Some of them carry messages about cycle infrastructure. Glasgow is using these incorrectly so often that using them at all is a waste of money. Read on to find out how and why.

Should cycle campaigners care about the correct use of tactiles? Yes, we should. As vulnerable road users we want streets that are safe for everyone to use, whether cycling, walking or wheeling. We don’t want our protection from motor traffic to create unnecessary extra problems for other people. When funding for cycling infrastructure includes providing tactiles to help keep people safe around silent cycles, those tactiles had better be giving the right messages.

Yet in Glasgow the tactiles used in cycle infrastructure (old, new and still under construction) seem to be chosen by some kind of lucky dip.  It takes an amateur about 30 seconds to find the guidance for which tactiles to use where (here).  So what is it that’s stopping Glasgow getting this right?

To be clear, we’re not talking about the most commonly seen tactiles, the ones with a stud (or ‘blister’) pattern.  They show where there are (relatively) safe street crossings.  If there are problems with how those are installed they’re too subtle for us to have noticed.  The next most commonly seen tactiles are the ones with a pattern of bars. The problem is that there are two kinds.  One kind has bars with a round section (‘corduroy’ pattern) closely spaced (30mm between bars).  The other kind has flat-topped bars (‘ladder/tramline’) not quite so closely spaced (70mm between bars).  The correct use of each is unambiguously distinct:

• the ladder/tramline kind  advises visually impaired people which side of a segregated shared cycle/footpath is the side for walking
• the corduroy kind advises visually impaired people of a hazard immediately ahead (“You’re about to fall down a flight of steps”).

So what’s the reason for the widespread incorrect, inconsistent and misleading use of these types on segregated cycle/footpaths in Glasgow?

Sometimes Glasgow does get this right.  Here’s the correct use at the southern end of the new cycleway on Garscube Road.

These are the tactiles with flat-topped bars, with the ladder orientation on the walking side and the tramline orientation on the cycling side, as described in the guidance.

(To digress here for a moment, much as we might wish for the unnerving wheel-catching tramline orientation to be on the walking side rather than the cycling side, there are better ways of spending the limited budget for cycle infrastructure than on digging up all the existing cycle/footway tactiles and swopping them round.)

But too often the choice of tactiles on these shared paths seems just random.  Does no-one notice there are two kinds?

The picture at the top of this piece is from the cycleway round the eastern side of Festival Park, which uses the (wrong) round-topped tactiles.  Those round-topped bars on the left (footpath side) are saying to someone (who needs their message) walking into the correct, safe, footway side, “You’re walking into a hazard”.  And on the cycling side, the round-topped bars are even better at that unnerving wheel grabbing than the flat-topped bars are, so people sometimes choose to cycle over the ladder-oriented footpath side instead.

And here are the tactiles on the paths on North Canal Bank Street (left) and (for a clear look at the round tops) Old Dumbarton Road (right), both currently under construction, both giving the same misleading message.

The guidance is clear – round topped tactiles are to warn people with visual impairments of a hazard ahead (a flight of steps, a platform edge).  Using them where there is no such hazard is crying ‘Wolf’ all over our streets.  Putting them across the pedestrian side of a segregated path (the safe place to walk) destroys their credibility as a warning of a hazard.

(The only use for the round-topped corduroy tactiles in connection with cycling is to warn that a footway is joining a shared route at a T-junction.)

Glasgow’s non-compliant use of tactiles goes beyond ‘just’ (!) picking the wrong type though.  

Here’s an inventive use at a bus stop on the cycleway on Paisley Road.

These tactiles have the flat-topped bars for use on segregated shared paths —  but they’re being used to mark a crossing to a bus stop.  For someone walking from right to left (crossing to the bus stop) they’re saying “You’re entering the walking side of a shared path”, i.e. “You’re safe”, when they’re about to walk across a separate cycleway.  For someone walking along the footway (bottom to top of the picture) they’re saying “ You’re entering the cycling side of a shared foot/cycleway”, i.e. “You’re in the wrong place”, when actually they’re safely on the footway.  We think the ‘blister’ pattern tactiles should have been used here.

And so to the flagship Sauchiehall Street Avenue.  Here are the tactiles marking its termination at Charing Cross:

Again, the tactiles are the ones with the flat-topped bars associated with cycle infrastructure.  But they’ve been used only on the cycleway with none on the footway side of the shared path.  And they’re on the cycleway in the ladder orientation.  They’re used this way at every side turning and on both sides of every mini-zebra crossing.  What’s the message?  For someone whose vision is impaired who sets out walking along the cycleway the message is “You’re on the footway side of a segregated shared path”, in other words “You’re in the right place, you’re safe”.

And on the footway side there are no tactiles which would send the message that there’s a parallel cycleway, separated only by the median slightly raised strip visible in the last picture.

Keep your eyes open around Glasgow and you’ll find more examples of the incorrect, and inappropriately inventive use of these tactiles, delivering inconsistent, unreliable messages to people who already have more than enough challenges in negotiating our streets.  These messages embedded in Glasgow’s streets are so unreliable that we can only assume that no-one pays attention to them.  Certainly no-one can depend on them.  What is it that stops Glasgow from getting this right?  Is it that the wrong person has the responsibility for specifying the details of cycle infrastructure?  Is it that minimal value is placed on getting the details right when cycle infrastructure is created?  Where does the accountability lie?

If we can’t get it right (which, observably, we can’t), the money it takes to specify, purchase and install these tactiles should be spent instead on a few more feet of cycleway, or more effective assistance for people whose vision is compromised.

1. Guidance on the use of tactile paving surfaces, DETR, 1998

We could be like Paris, Milan, Oakland and many other cities around the globe. However, 11 weeks since staying at home was put into place and two weeks since Glasgow City Council passed the motion to move forward in creating Space for People with £3.5 million, and we have not seen any concrete plans on our streets.

Where is the space for people queuing at shops, bus stops and services? Where is the space for people to make the choice to simply use the humble bike to get around? Where is the space, and the leap needed toward creating a new normal that puts walking, wheeling and cycling at the front?

We have seen a few additions, and it was nice. We can now walk, wheel and cycle along the full length of Kelvin Way, which has been a great addition to creating a calmer and greener space for the people of this city. We have a few cycle lanes, such as the westbound lane between Saltmarket to the Clyde Arc, which has the ability to reduce the pressure on the river walkway. However, it is not only solely westbound, but also just looks like road works to the untrained eye; where is the humble round blue cycle sign? We also have one in the east, and well done to On Bikes for creating that tactile urbanist cycle lane which the council has now made official with some bright green paint! 

Is that it though? Where is our network? Where are our pop-up connections that are needed to create a safe and accessible network to get the people of our city around efficiently and simply, to reduce strain on our public transport and to leave the car at home in order to give those who need to use one the ability to use it without being stuck in traffic?

We need this change, we need to get things down on our streets, and we need things done in weeks not years! We need to keep the pressure up and we need to keep demanding this change, the change for making Glasgow a city that puts people first, a city that lets its people make the choice to walk, wheel and cycle!

Please keep sharing your views on Glasgow Council’s Commonplace map and nagging your local elected officials to push for this change to happen today and not when it’s too late!

If you haven’t yet, you should add your voice to GoBike by joining us today, because that’ll help us make our collective voice louder.

See: https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/spacesforpeople/programme

and: https://reglasgow.com/miles-of-city-centre-road-space-to-become-people-friendly-including-one-third-of-street-parking-bays/

GoBike is delighted to see these moves from the City Council.

Allied to making more space for active travel GoBike has been working with Glasgow Eco Trust and On Bikes to collate information across Glasgow to help improve walking and cycling to create Streets for All.

This project aims to gather information about how walking and cycling can be improved across Glasgow.

The more people involved, the better the needs of the whole community will be reflected, so please do look at the Commonplace map and add to it!.

Then please share the project with people you know locally.

The creation of temporary cycle lanes has been rolled out by many cities over the world, in response to Covid-19. It is heartening to see that Scotland’s main cities are following suit.

There are many areas within Glasgow that do not have access to safe segregated cycling infrastructure. Even though we have wide open roads, such as St. Vincent Street, Edinburgh Road and Great Western Road, most of the shared use paths are woefully narrow, making it impossible for pedestrians and cyclists to maintain a safe distance. 

GoBike have been critical in the past of the space given to walking and cycling at the Riverboat Casino on the Broomielaw. At this point, while there are 4 lanes for motor vehicles. For this to be one of the first temporary cycle lanes is encouraging.

We recognise that these are just the first steps and that much more must be done. Similar measures must be rolled out across the city as quickly as possible. The Glasgow Times encouragingly reports that Byres Road and Partick, Dennistoun, Shawlands and Maryhill, Pollok, Drumchapel, Easterhouse and Castlemilk have been identified as places where the temporary measures can be introduced.

These measures must not just be on single streets.  We call on Glasgow City Council to embrace the public willingness to make these changes to our public spaces.  Joined up routes need to be created to ensure that people of all ages and abilities can use cycles to get around.  

Joined up safe routes, from areas like Castlemilk and Easterhouse, need to be created to enable people to cycle to the City Centre.  Key workers who live in these areas often do not have access to a motor vehicle. They are reliant on public transport, in particular buses, to get to their work in shops, hospitals and care homes.  Providing a segregated cycle lane will enable those with cycles to have this as a realistic, safe option. We have a moral obligation to ensure our key workers can get to and home from work safely.

There are many more areas that could be improved. Gobike are using the Streets For All Glasgow Portal to collate. Please add areas to this including the hashtag #spacefordistancing in the comments.  The locations will be collated in the next 2 weeks and passed over to the council.

Let us all work towards making the new normal one that has people, and not cars, as its priority.

Streets for All Glasgow is a joint project between Glasgow Eco Trust, On Bikes and GoBike.

Kelvinway Photograph courtesy of https://twitter.com/jebusdk

Our letter can be read below:

Dear First Minister,

Maintaining Outdoor Exercise in Scotland

In our capacity as the Strathclyde Cycle Campaign, GoBike urges you to help people find responsible ways to continue to get essential outdoor exercise during the current emergency.

We are concerned with the current tone emanating from the British Government with regards to “banning” exercise.  We would hope that the Scottish Government would take a pragmatic approach and one relevant to Scotland to continue people to be able to exercise, either by foot on or bike. 

We are also concerned that by banning people from exercising on cycles that you will also discourage them from using for transport.  Bikes are proving to be an important tool in the fight against Covid-19 and are enabling people to get to the shops, as well as healthcare professionals to get to work safely.

Regular outdoor exercise is vital to maintaining good physical and mental health in normal times;  in the present circumstances is even more important. Ill-targeted restrictions that seek to curtail people’s access to outdoor facilities and activities could lead to unintended negative public health outcomes. 

In making any changes to the current guidelines, please take into account the following:

• Evidence that regular exercise, especially in surroundings that offer exposure to nature, greenery and water, is beneficial for general physical and mental health, including respiratory health (e.g. Cycling and walking for individual and population health benefits: a rapid evidence review)
• The large proportion of the urban Scottish population that lives in flats, without access to private gardens or outdoor space sufficient for physical exercise
• The increasing stress being generated by the constant stream of worrying news 
• The prohibition of everyday activities  

Widely publicised examples where individual decisions may have led to too many people arriving at one location should be addressed by offering advice and ideas for a wider range of exercise choices and by expanding public recreation space through the reallocation of roads to people walking, cycling and running. 

GoBike is a voluntary organisation that campaigns, in the Strathclyde area, for political decisions which will encourage cycling to become the natural way of getting around for people of all ages and abilities.

We hope that you will make a decision that is right for Scotland and for the people of Scotland.

Yours Faithfully
John Eddie Donnelly and Thomas Cornwallis

Co-convenors

GoBike

I thought it would be a good time to introduce myself via my first blog post on GoBike website to let you all know a little bit about me and how I got here!

It was a beautiful spring day in April last year (2019) as I was commuting by bike from Clarkston to Glasgow Green to a new job. Due to parked cars, junctions, and my own safety, I found myself cycling in the middle of the lane, however luck was not on my side, and this sunny day very quickly became clouded. A grumpy SUV driver took me off. I don’t remember coming off. What I do remember was swearing and shouting as he drove off. He had decided that saving five seconds on his journey was of more importance than my wellbeing. However, he did seem to find the time to come back and accuse me of damaging his car, not once saying sorry. It took a month, but he was charged with careless driving. Result! As to be expected, I was angry, but I was not going to let a wee minor cut and feeling a little sore put me off being on a bike. 

Cycling to my next work shift and was determined to get back on my bike, if only to make a point in showing that I can and that I should be able to cycle. I was on the Clarkston Toll roundabout – if you know it, you will know it is not round but oval, and very outdated – I made a shoulder check and then looked forward, giving me only a spilt second to witness the car failing to give priority and pass the give-way line. I slammed into the tarmac six metres away and ended up in back of an ambulance – laughing away on laughing gas. My wrist was broken and it seemed my faith in safe cycling had crumbled.

These two incidents occurred within nine days. Just over a week. Some would call it unlucky, but I cannot help but feel that there was more to it than just bad luck. Why do we have a world like this? A world where we play cat and mouse just to be able to get from A to B on a bike (walking and wheeling too). We see the Dutch, the Danish, and a few other places moving forward; changing with the times. We see them making cycling safe and available for all ages and abilities. Why aren’t we? Why are we falling behind?

So, I got myself GoPros and I turned to Twitter, where I complained about it to anybody that would stop and listen. I had become a “ranty” cyclist. An angry and annoyed tweeter. I had found a platform where I could moan. Where I could tag councillors in tweets. Where I could have arguments, albeit it not always civil, with anybody who I disagreed with.

Along with expressing myself on Twitter, I went and joined the group GoBike; a group who are pushing for the change we need in infrastructure in order to make cycling available to all ages and abilities. I started to follow more and more accounts on Twitter, and I started to see that I was not alone in this. There is an entire community of people like me. People who want to see a better and safer world. One where cycling is truly available to all those who want to or need to.

As I immersed myself into this new found community, I also began to calm down and started having more constructive conversations. I was happy to see that I am not the only one, but that there are so many groups and people pushing for good change, be it, volunteers in GoBike, or those at Cycling Scotland and their cycling officers, also Bike for Good, as well as councillors and politicians. 

I slowly came to the realisation, that we will not be able to achieve change and get the future we so desperately want by being “ranty messes”. We need to be constructive and we need to show others that cycling is a net positive for all, even if you are not the one cycling. 

My journey into this new community began with the horrible luck of two road traffic collisions, which I was fortunate to walk away from with only minor injuries, to now writing this blog post, albeit with a slightly dodgy wrist.

I now ask everyone, those who never want to cycle, those who do, or those who want to cycle more, to join the communities (join our discussions on blogs and twitter, if you wish or become a member to GoBike and join our lively Slack group where we bring ideas and discuss how to respond to issues and matters). We need your voice and support to help bring about the change for a better future. It is an uphill battle, but I know we can make ours and lives of others better, and after all, that is what matters most.

Stay safe, have fun cycling! 

Thomas’ Personal Twitter Account https://twitter.com/tcornwallis

Cycling for transport and exercise is currently one of the essential things getting us through the Covid-19 crisis and GoBike are really grateful to the people out there helping to keep cycling going in Glasgow and beyond. The government have listed cycle shops as an essential service, and so we wanted to highlight the businesses still up and running, many of whom are offering discounts to our hero key workers, should you need a bike or essential repairs. 

** NEW ** Cycling Scientist (Cumbernauld)
Servicing Only: thecyclingscientist@gmail.com

** NEW ** Getting Better Together Transport Hub (Shotts)
Bike Loans & Servicing: junebtshotts@btconnect.com

** NEW ** Glenboig Development Trust
Bike Loans & Servicing: alister@glenboignh.com

** NEW ** Socialtrack (Wishaw)
Bike Loans & Servicing: daniel@socialtrack.co.uk or their website

** NEW ** De’ils On Wheels (Glasgow Eco Trust)
10 Kelso Street, Yoker, Glasgow G14 0LL
De’ils on Wheels will be offering some basic services from 12 May 2020 onwards but subject to conditions which are listened on their website page and bookings are made through the website too.

Willy Bains Bicycle Repairs
Pollokshaws Road, Pollokshields 0141 423 9010
Mon Wed Sat 10ish-6 / closed Sun & Tues
Repairs and parts available to everyone with priority and free labour for key workers for services and repairs.
No entry to shop, communicate via phone number in window sign, Willie will come out for your bike, payments will be taken over the phone.
Bike pump and gloves can be made available outside the shop for anyone who needs it.

Bike Bunker
Bothwell Street, City Centre, 07833687905
Currently open by appointment only with bikes collected from you for service or repair, within a 3 mile radius (£7.50 additional delivery charge if out with this distance and within the G postcode).
Gloves and mask worn on arrival – contact free collection.
Contact via facebook page or text 07833687905.

Bikechain
Dumbarton Road, Scotstoun 0141 958 1055
Mon – Sat 9.30-5.30  / Sat 9.30-5.30 / closed Sun
Still offering services, repairs and bike sales with priority for NHS workers. Also providing on the spot puncture repairs.
Social distancing policy in place with door locked and one in one out and internal disinfecting taking place.

** UPDATED** Bike for Good
Closed but crowdfunding to help them survive here.
Still providing:
Free bike loans for key works – with lights a lock and panniers. Email gail@bikeforgood.org.uk to set up a bike loan.
Free virtual route planning via zoom. Email gail@bikeforgood.org.uk and she will set up an online meeting with you, to help you figure out the best route for you.
Free delivery service for community groups with elderly or vulnerable service users. Email alasdair@bikeforgood.org.uk if you are a community group that needs our help with delivery.
Heavily discounted Nextbike memberships for those on low to no income via the Bikes for All programme. They have moved to remote sign-ups, so you can email wheelbeing@bikeforgood.org.uk to get set up.

**UPDATED** Bikelove
Garscube Road, Maryhill 0141 945 0999
Mon Wed Fri 9-6 / Tues Thurs 9-1 / Sat 9-4 / Closed Sun
All labour charges cancelled for NHS or emergency service workers to allow folk to use their bike to get to and from work. Only charging for parts used. Staff ID needed to qualify.
Open for repairs, servicing and parts for all – knock inner door and wait outside. One in one out policy in place.

Billy Bilsland Cycles
Saltmarket, Merchant City 0141 552 0841
Mon – Fri 8.30-6 / Sat 9-5 / Sun 10.30-4.30
Continuing with servicing, repairs and bike sales.
Social distancing measures in place – bell at the door, shop has been cleared out, one in one out, two meters distancing policy.
Check facebook page for current info – new collection and delivery of repairs and new bikes service starting soon.

Camglen Bike Town
Thomson Court, Rutherglen 0141 647 3250
Tues Thurs Sat 11-3
Reopened for sales servicing and repairs.
Outwith hours offering an appointment system for key workers – email kw@biketown.org.uk with your name and a contact number.
Operating a queuing system in their yard, to ensure a safe distance is kept between customers and staff. Only one customer on premises at a time and only one staff member to one customer. No bike loans at this time.

Clarkston Cycle Centre
Clarkston Road, Netherlee 0141 633 1152
Mon – Sat 10-4 / closed Sunday
Shop still running for repairs and some servicing.
Social distance one in one out measures in place.

Corner Bikes
Deanston Drive, Shawlands 0141 440 7069
Mon Wed Thur Fri 9.30-6 / Tues Sat 9.30-5
Open as usual for servicing repairs and accessories.
Strict rules over personal space in place and priority given to those using their bikes for commuting.

Cyclelane
Clarkston Road, Merrylee 0141 637 2439
Shop closed but still operating collect/return priority repairs and servicing for key workers – please get in touch for this via email or phone on 0141 637 2439 or by their webform.

Dales Cycles
Dobbies Loan, Cowcaddens 0141 332 27057
7 days 10-5
Shop is closed but online click and collect bookings for repairs and servicing continues here – drop off by their side door.
Social distancing info on the website.
10% ongoing discount or NHS staff.

East End Bicycle Workshop
Hillfoot Street, Dennistoun 0141 554 1414
Tues – Fri 8-6.30 / Sat 8-4 / closed Sun & Mon
Open for repairs, servicing and spares and accessories with priority for essential workers.
Social distancing measures in place with one in one out and two meter rule. Bikes and surfaces are all wiped down regularly.

Gear Bike Shop
Gibson Street, Hillhead 0141 339 1179
Mon-Sat 10-6 /  Sun 12-5
Still open for servicing sales and hire with repairs prioritised for key workers.
Social distancing measures in place within shop.

Glasgow Bike Hive
Hayburn Lane, Hyndland 0141 328 0988
Thur Fri Sat Mon 11-7 / Sun 11-5 / Closed Tues Wed
Running servicing and workshop repairs.Strict social distancing policy in place – ring the bell and follow instructions on the door.
No contact cargo bike pick up and drop off service with priority for key workers – contact via email.
20% discount for health workers.

** UPDATED** Helensburgh Cycles
5 West Clyde Street, Helensburgh 01436 675239
Opening hours vary – please call email or contact on facebook.
Remains open but please only enter the shop if your visit is essential – no browsing.
Priority is to keep staff and customers safe – please only visit if you and household are free from Covid-19 symptoms . Contactless payments in place.

**UPDATED** JG Cycles
Duke Street, Dennistoun 0141 572 0424
Tuesday to Saturday 10am-4pm & Closed Sun & Mon
Bicycle repairs by appointment only – please phone ahead.
Priority for key workers with social distancing measures in place at drop off/collection.

**UPDATED** love-ebikes
648 Dumbarton Road, Thornwood 0141 339 8349
Tues – Sat 11-1 / 2-4
Operating on a closed shop, appointment only basis.
Two people maximum per appointment with 48 hour notice required.
Email for appointments  info@love-ebikes.co.uk

Next bike
Hire locations here.
Offering free rides and memberships to NHS staff (in partnership with GCC and Scottish Power). More details here.
“We’re cleaning the handlebars and bike computers of all bicycles as regularly as we’re able to in the field and in the workshop. We’re also recommending customers wear gloves when using the bikes, as well as washing hands before and after use.”

On Bikes
Langdale Street, Glasgow North East 0141 770 8559
Providing loaned ebikes with locks and lights to key workers.

**NEW** Philip Lang Cycles
163 Gallowgate, Glasgow G1 5ED
Shop has been been operating, however opening times not confirmed, we will update once we know.

Solid Rock Cycles
Colbeg Farm, Balmore 01360 622699
Mon Tues Thur Fri Sat 10-6 / closed Wed & Sun
Shop operating as normal with social distancing measures in place – one in one out at a time with a two meter rule inside.
Able to take payments over the phone or by BACS and drop off pick up service available outside shop.

Torvelo Bike Repair
Burns Street, Maryhill 0141 230 3802
Mon – Thur 9-6 (appointments outside opening times are available on request).
Torvelo is still open for workshop appointments and online/phone sales.Free servicing to our amazing NHS staff to travel to and from shifts as easily as possible – they’ll even give you a backie if you need it!
Zero contact and distancing rules in place.

**UPDATED** Veloworld
Rouken Glen Park, Whitecraigs 07842 474879
Workshop remains open for repairs – observing all recommended social distancing and sanitation measures and ask that you respect this and do not enter the workshop during this time.
Phone, email or message facebook page to book in for a repair.

Wheelcraft
Clachan of Campsie, Campsie Glen Mon – Sat 9.30-6 / closed Sunday
Open as usual for wheel builds, servicing and repairs.
Social distancing two meter rule applies.

If we’ve missed anything that you think should be on this list please drop us a line on our social media – facebook / twitter or  via the contact form on our website.

Remember that social distancing rules apply when you’re cycling too. Ride only yourself or with people you live with. Stop at least two meters behind other people on bikes at traffic lights. Take the lane when you can. And just be sensible. Cycling as transport is essential for many and exercise is really important too. As Albert Einstein once said “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”.