An update on #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17

Time flies when you’re having fun! It’s been more than a week already since #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17 and after such a phenomenal response it has mostly spent reading and re-reading Tweets, whilst staring at a spreadsheet, trying to figure out how best to put them together in to the story of Glasgow’s cycling infrastructure.

As you might expect, most of the submissions were negative.  If you’re familiar with cycling in Glasgow you can probably imagine them; pictures of potholes and flooding, of cars parked in cycle lanes, of busy roads with no infrastructure and of barriers blocking access.

Examples of bad infrastructure

Perhaps more surprising was that around one in eight of the Tweets were positive.  With so few examples of truly segregated cycling infrastructure in Glasgow, you sought them out and held them up as examples of what you need.

Unfortunately it’s not all good news.  Poor maintenance, flooding, and in some cases bad design decisions all meant that the negative feedback for segregated infrastructure outweighed the positive more than 2-to-1.

Whilst the Council might believe that they are ‘leading the way in the UK regarding implementation of segregated cycle facilities‘ the results of #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17 would suggest there’s a way to go still.

So what’s next?

First up, there will be another blog post here shortly focusing on the details of some of the worst examples from #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17 and how they relate to Glasgow’s Strategic Plan for Cycling 2016-2025.

A similar approach will be taken when communicating this year’s submissions to Glasgow City Council, tying them in to the Strategic Plan for Cycling to help to identify areas which need increased focus.

Finally (for now), where specific safety issues were identified, these will be raised directly, and individually, with the Council to ensure that they are rectified.

Whilst all this is happening, the Tweets for #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17 have (so far as possible) all now been added to the CycleStreets.net.  Have a browse; seeing them mapped across the city really highlights how much work people put in on the day to cover as much of the city as possible.  So thanks again to everybody who took part.

 

 

Today is #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17

#GlasgowCycleInfraDay17
It’s Friday!

It’s September 8th!!

It’s #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17!!!

 

Yes, the day has finally arrived for us to take to the streets of Glasgow and show the world exactly what our cycling infrastructure is like.  Some of it will be good, some of it will be bad, and we need to see it all so we can show it to the Council and help to make ours a true Cycling City.

Keep your camera with you today and when you spot any cycling infrastructure that you want to highlight (good or bad) – or if you spot somewhere that’s crying out for infrastructure it doesn’t have yet – take a picture and Tweet it with the hashtag #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17.  Don’t worry if you don’t have Twitter, you can still take part by emailing your pictures to us at CycleInfraDay@gmail.com.

You’ll be able to watch the gallery build throughout the day by keeping an eye on the hashtag on Twitter (you don’t need an account for this – just click this link), or by following the Twitter account (@CycleInfraDay).

Remember, this is supposed to be an easy way of documenting a day in the life of Glasgow’s cycling infrastructure.  So please be sensible; don’t go dashing across busy roads to get an ‘action shot’, or exploring the collapsed section of the cycle lane along the Clyde to show the damage after the weir jammed last week.

Most importantly… have fun!

#GlasgowCycleInfraDay17 is coming tomorrow!!

Just one more sleep until the return of #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17 to our city!

#GlasgowCycleInfraDay17

With the Scottish Government this week announcing their commitment to double the budget for Active Travel in 2018/19, making sure your voice is heard when that money gets spent has never been more important.  Tomorrow you can shout it out loud.

It’s as easy as snapping a photograph of Glasgow’s cycling infrastructure and posting it on Twitter with the hashtag #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17.

Take pictures of the good stuff, what we want more of, as well as the not so good stuff.

Don’t worry if you don’t have a Twitter account; just email your pictures to us at CycleInfraDay@gmail.com and we’ll upload them for you.

So, get your cameras ready, charge your batteries and load up your memory cards… for tomorrow we shape the future of cycling in Glasgow!

 

#GlasgowCycleInfraDay17 needs you!

#GlasgowCycleInfraDay17 Needs You!

The first GlasgowCycleInfraDay, back in 2015, was the brainchild of Magnatom (a.k.a. David).  Shocked at the state of Glasgow’s cycle lanes he put the call out on his blog one Tuesday night.  With a little over 24-hours notice, the response from across Glasgow (and beyond) was phenomenal.

This year’s campaign, #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17,  is nearly here.  Next Friday, September 8th, it will be time once again to fill Twitter with the best and the worst of Glasgow’s cycling infrastructure.

Taking part on the day will be easy.  All you need is the desire to make Glasgow a better city for cycling… and a camera.  You don’t need a fancy camera, the one in your phone will do the job.  Just take a picture of any cycling infrastructure you see on Friday that you think is worth recording (or a place where you think it’s needed) and Tweet it with where you took it and the hashtag #GlasgowCyclieInfraDay17.  Don’t have a Twitter account?  No problem, just email it to CycleInfraDay@gmail.com and we’ll Tweet it for you.

It couldn’t be easier to help shape the future of cycling in Glasgow for everybody.

But we need your help before then too.

The more people who take part, the better the picture of Glasgow’s infrastructure we’ll end up with and the harder it will be to ignore us.  So please, spread the word.  Tell your friends.  Tweet about it.  Every single photograph is important so shout it from the rooftops: #GlasgowCycleInfra17 is coming! Get involved!!