Category: GoBike

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Hustings: candidate Michael Shanks, Labour Party

Michael Shanks

Michael has replaced Claudia Beamish for our Hustings at fairly short notice, but he is the Labour candidate for Glasgow Kelvin, where he will be competing against Sandra White, current constituency MSP and Patrick Harvie, currently a List MSP.  Here is the statement on active travel submitted by Claudia Beamish:

“Claudia Beamish MSP, Shadow Minister for Environmental Justice,
Scottish Labour Party Candidate says –
“There are many imperatives which drive the impetus towards better cycling provision – Climate change, congestion and air pollution, health, enjoyment and practical reasons to name but a few.

As a rural dweller, I am determined to ensure that safe cycling and walking options are available within our towns and villages as well as our cities. In addition, it is important that links between centres of population are not forgotten. In this context, the National Walking and Cycling Network must be further developed in conjunction with local authority and voluntary sector partners. For example, South Lanarkshire Council is committed to joining more sections of the Network between Lesmahagow and Happendon within its present longer term budget cycle.

Planning policy has a strong role to play and should be revised to ensure that all new roads and house building schemes take cycling into account. The opportunity to take bikes on trains is still meagre in Scotland and I will continue to argue for better provision for tourism, leisure and work travel as well as more station bike spaces.

To help develop a cycling culture, a range of initiatives need to go forward in parallel. Safe and well maintained Infrastructure is essential of course. I am delighted that my idea for a funding award for local authorities has been adopted, initially by fellow convenors of the Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group for Cycling and now acted on by the Scottish Government. I look forward to hearing about the winners from a range of inspiring projects. Cycling and all road user education is also vital. I am clear that part of the Primary School Bikeability should be on road training.

I will continue to encourage the Scottish Labour Party to consider taking forward Presumed Liability, of which I am an advocate and to commission further research if necessary, before a decision is made to take this forward. I have taken on a Bike to Work scheme and though I feel disloyal to my 30 year old Raleigh Silhouette, I know the new model will help with my city commute to along the Union Canal. Scottish Labour will promote this scheme and the need for workplace bike spaces.

Bike maintenance can be a mystery which needs confidence to tackle so I will promote more courses such as the Belles on Bikes one I attended in the Borders.

Any policy shift is a challenge for political parties. Our Manifesto commitments will be highlighted nearer to the election. I am confident that as change happens in Scotland, we will reach a critical mass and cycling will be the preferred option of many of all ages and abilities as a transport mode.”

Find out more about the Hustings here

 

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Hustings: candidate Patrick Harvie, Scottish Green Party

Patrick Harvie

Here’s the text of Patrick Harvie’s statement on active travel:

“Patrick Harvie MSP, Scottish Green Party Candidate for Glasgow Kelvin.

SCOTTISH GREEN PARTY – PROMOTION OF WALKING AND CYCLING
The aims of our transport policy are to help create a carbon-free sustainable future, to improve safety – especially for vulnerable cyclists and pedestrians – and to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution. We also have to reverse the effects of car culture which has made walking and cycling increasingly unpleasant and sometimes dangerous.

We want to see a socially equitable and environmentally sustainable transport system for Scotland that prioritises pedestrians, people with mobility problems, cyclists, and public transport users. Driving tests and government information aimed at drivers should place an emphasis on the rights and needs of other road users, particularly the most vulnerable – pedestrians, horse riders, cyclists and motorcyclists. Alison Johnstone, Green MSP for Lothian, has championed the case for the introduction of presumed liability upon motorists in the Scottish Parliament to ensure better
protection for the most vulnerable road users.

We recognise the importance of walking and cycling as the most sustainable, healthiest, cheapest and most widely available forms of transport. By explicitly considering pedestrians and cyclists in the planning process and providing them with safe, attractive and well-lit routes to encourage more people out of their cars and onto our roads.

We will facilitate the widespread implementation of Home Zones and change legislation to enforce 10mph speed limits in order to give road-user priority to pedestrians and cyclists. Non-residential roads will be designed to give priority and allocate space to pedestrians, cyclists and public transport, and to maximise road safety.

We will give priority to the maintenance of foot and cycle ways and the filling of deep pot holes to protect cyclists and motorcyclists. Green MSPs have been calling on the Scottish Government to progressively increase the proportion of the annual transport budget given over to active travel from the current 1% to 10% over the course of the next Parliament. We propose the full adoption of the European Charter of Pedestrians’ Rights.”

Find out more about the Hustings here

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GoBike! Hustings, 1 week to go!

 

Just one week to go to the first ever GoBike Hustings.  We vote for our MSPs on 05 May and it’s important that active travel, ie walking and cycling, is high on the agenda.  Come to our hustings and ask the 6 candidates who will be on our platform your question about:

  • the government budget for cycling?
  • what is good infrastructure for cycling?
  • do they cycle?  If not, what would make them cycle?
  • why do cars park in cycle lanes and how do we stop them?
  • how do we reclaim our streets for walking and cycling?
  • etc, etc

Lots of details about the Hustings and the candidates are on our Hustings 2016 page on our website.

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Partick: proposed parking changes and new one-way streets will restrict legal cycling

 

Glasgow City Council propose very welcome changes to control parking, primarily by commuters, in the residential streets of Partick to the west of Hyndland Road.  However, at the same time, they propose the introduction of one-way streets, with NO exemption for cyclists.  We contacted the council hoping to discuss this before the TRO consultation closes but to no avail.  Thus our objection has been submitted and our letter may be seen on our Consultations page.

We are particularly disappointed with this proposal because it is so completely at odds with what was promised when the Glasgow Strategic Plan for Cycling was launched last week.

GCC replied to our e-mail of 01 March on 09 March, after our letter of objection was received and the full text of both e-mails may now be seen on our Consultations page.

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GCC Consultations: Sensible news on Fastlink, Govan plus others

 

Glasgow City Council propose, sorry, have already, moved the Fastlink bus route from the outer to the nearside lane between Whitefield Road and Elder Street in Govan.  Even more sensible is their move to allow cycles (and taxis) to use the nearside bus lane!  We have asked if this means that cycles may now (legally) use all nearside Fastlink bus lanes.  We await their response.

Response received – very promptly and here it is:

“The letter sent refers only to the section between Whitefield Road and Elder Street, where the bus lanes have been changed from offside, to nearside, and, the nearside lane in Golspie Street. All nearside bus lanes within this section will now be open to all Local Buses, Taxis and Cycles.

The only other lengths of nearside bus lanes along the length of the Fastlink route are between Elder Street and Moss Road, which are already open to all Local Buses, Taxis and Cycles.

The segregated lanes crossing the Clyde Arc are also open to Cycles, but not open to Taxis. The signing currently shows this, though the road markings have still to be amended, and will be amended in the near future.

All other segregated sections along the length of the Fastlink route will remain as Local Buses only. This refers to the segregated sections along Pacific Drive, along Golspie Street, and, at Linthouse roundabout.”  So now you know!

Kyleakin Road

Kyleakin Road, Thornliebank: GCC propose parking and loading restrictions on Kyleakin Road, particularly at junctions, which we applaud.  However, they propose to remove waiting and loading restrictions opposite the junction with Kyleakin Terrace, for which we have asked for an explanation.

Gartloch Road

On Gartloch Road, to the east of the city, it is proposed to reduce the speed limit from 60 to 40mph for a section.  We approve this reduction.

All our responses may be seen on our Consultations page   Please add your support by writing to the Council.

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Union Street Glasgow: an opportunity for cycling not to be missed!

 

Glasgow City Council propose changes to Union Street by moving a taxi rank and parking places, changes to Argyle Street by removing the westbound lane under the Hielanman’s Umbrella and associated changes on Jamaica Street, Midland Street and Oswald Street.  This is ostensibly being done to improve bus flow but we see it as an opportunity missed to “humanise” Union Street and our alternative proposal to introduce a two-way contraflow cycling lane on Union Street (with the potential to extend south along Jamaica Street to the river) is here: TRO opportunity

Full details of the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) are given on the City Council website; there’s a link to the website and the GoBike letter in response to the TRO on our Consultations page.  If you support our counter proposal to get a good cycle facility to and from Glasgow Central Station please write into Glasgow City Council, by e-mail to graeme.dewar@glasgow.gov.uk by the closing date of 04 March 2016.

It should be noted that we have already discussed our proposal with Glasgow City Council, via the Glasgow Cycling Forum (set up on the initiative of GoBike!) and we are delighted that they are currently modelling the route!  Also of interest is the item on the Glasgow Taxis website opposing the changes, see: http://www.glasgowtaxis.co.uk/news/145-proposed-traffic-regulation-order.html

We will no doubt hear more of these proposals!

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GoBike! Hustings 16 March: one month to go

 

We go to the polls in May and it’s just one month today, four weeks tomorrow, until 16 March when we hold the first ever GoBike! Hustings at the Admiral Bar, 72a Waterloo Street, Glasgow.  Our 6 candidates are now confirmed and they are:

  • Claudia Beamish, Labour MSP for South Scotland list;
  • Cat Boyd, RISE candidate for Glasgow list;
  • Robert Brown, Liberal Democrat candidate for Glasgow list;
  • Patrick Harvie, Green Party MSP for Glasgow and Green Party co-convener;
  • Sandra White, Scottish National Party MSP for Glasgow Kelvin;
  • Brian Whittle, Conservative candidate for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley.

and the event will be chaired by Glasgow-based journalist, Pennie Taylor.

Doors open at 7pm, the event starts at 7:30 and you can book your (free) ticket at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gobike-hustings-tickets-7815340895

The event is not restricted to GoBike members; indeed we hope to attract a large audience, with visitors encouraged to join on the night to support the work of the campaign.

Booking a ticket will help us plan the event, and you can also e-mail your question to: hustings@gobike.org  We can then compile questions, and can even include your question if you are unable to attend.

Further details of the event are on our Hustings page.

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Cycle the Bears Way with GoBike on Sunday 07 February

Bears

GoBike’s ride this Sunday includes the Bears Way, A81 Cycle Route.  The route has been the subject of lots of opposition from local motorists and numerous articles in the Milngavie & Bearsden Herald, including one on page 5 of today’s issue, reporting that a car driver drove into another car parked in a parking bay apparently because of the cycle way on the other side of the road! (For some reason the article does not appear on the website.)

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20mph speed limit for Glasgow – under threat of very slow implementation.

20mph sign blue sky

Glasgow City Council’s Sustainability and the Environment Policy Development Committee meets on Wednesday 03 February to consider the report instructed from Land and Environment Services (LES) following the petition submitted last year requesting the implementation of a 20mph speed limit for most of the roads and streets within the city.  Hopefully, if you live in Glasgow, you signed the petition, which was set up by one of our GoBike! members.

LES have now submitted their report to the committee and it falls far short of the remit they were given!

The original remit given to LES is here and the full report for the committee is given here The 20mph report is Item 3 on pages 71 – 76 (yes, Councillors get a lot of reading!).  (You will see that Item 2 is the latest draft of The Strategic Plan for Cycling, which you might find of interest.)

We have now written to the committee members to request that they ask LES to meet the terms they were instructed to report on.  Our letter is here: SE Pol Dev Cttee letter 310116

If you care about the 20mph limit being implemented within the next few years, rather than over 40 years as per the current programme, please write to the councillors on the committee, particularly if one of them represents your ward.  They are listed at: http://glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/committee.asp?bodyid=8&bodytitle=Sustainability+and+the+Environment+Policy+Development+Committee