Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the go ahead of HS2, there was also a £5bn announcement for new investment into vital local transport links outside London, as well as vital upgrages to local roads.

The multibillion pound package to transform buses and cycling will deliver at least 4,000 new Zero Emission buses, higher frequency services (including evenings and weekends), more affordable, simpler fares, and new priority schemes to make existing routes more efficient. The £5 billion in funding will also help build over 250 miles of new, high quality separated cycle routes, described as ‘Mini-Holland’ schemes to make town centres safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

The PM also pledged and outlined further upgrades relating to local connections including:

• Reducing congestion and boosting the local road network across the country by accelerating local schemes to the next stage of development, including Hartlepool in the north to Melksham to Salisbury in the South West;
• Upgrading Bristol East Junction station to tackle an identified major pinch point in the South West rail network, enabling passengers to travel in and out of Bristol more easily;
• taking forward work to improve the A1 north of Newcastle, strengthening the link to the Scottish Border.

After thorough analysis of the benefits and impacts of the project, mainly stemming from Douglas Oakervee’s independent review of HS2, work on Phase 1 (the route between London and Birmingham) is set to start in April. Government will revive the legislation to deliver Phase 2a (connecting Birmingham to Crewe) as soon as possible so that preparation works can move forward.

Phase 2b of the project involves extending high-speed rail from the West Midlands to the North. In order to deliver the Northern Powerhouse Rail and Phase 2b as effectively as possible, the government will draw up an integrated plan for rail in the North that will have been informed by an assessment from the National Infrastructure Commission.

This will work to identify the most effective sequencing of all relevant investments in the north, and look at how the two schemes can work together alongside wider investment in transport for the north and Midlands. There will be a further focus on ensuring that lessons are learned from Phase 1 of HS2 to drive down costs.

These announcements are especially relevant considering the ever relevancy of climate change and the increased need for sustainable travel.

Read the full story here:  https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-confirms-hs2-will-go-ahead-alongside-revolution-in-local-transport#

ID

Adur & Worthing Councils, with key partners, have been preparing a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) in a bid to make eco-friendly transport the natural choice for shorter and parts of longer journeys in the area.

The Adur & Worthing Cycling and Walking Working Group have worked on the proposals for primary cycling routes, secondary cycling routes and core walking zones created for this public consultation.

The proposals offer a strategic overview of the key routes and will define where interventions and future investment is required to create safe and accessible infrastructure. The strategy includes plans to double cycling levels by 2025, reduce the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured and increase the percentage of children walking to school.

Local residents are being invited to view and comment on the proposals at public exhibitions and share their views in an online survey. You can get involved in the following ways:

View the Plan at an Exhibition:

• 9:00 – 5:00 Wednesday 27th November 2019 – Monday 6th January 2020 In the foyer of Worthing Town Hall, Chapel Road, Worthing BN11 1HA and in the foyer of Shoreham Centre, 2 Pond Rd, Shoreham-by-Sea BN43 5WU

Attend a consultation event:

• 9:30m to 12:30pm, Thursday 19th December 2019, Worthing Town Hall, Foyer
• 2pm to 5pm, Thursday 19th December 2019, Shoreham Centre, Foyer

OR … you can view the proposals at: https://www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/lcwip/

HCH

The government has announced that a further £13 million will be invested in the Bikeability Programme following the scheme teaching 3 million children to cycle since the launch of Bikeability in 2006. The continuation of this funding means that the 50% of primary schools across England will be able to access the programme.

Therefore, more schoolchildren are set to benefit from the Bikeability scheme following the additional funding announcement. The announcement comes after the scheme has had a record year with 400,000 children completing the scheme up to April this year.

Source: Road cc

The Bikeability Scheme is offered at 3 levels based on a child’s age and experience. Training starts with basic bike-handling skills in a traffic-free, controlled environment and builds to managing a variety of traffic conditions on different types of roads.

The scheme forms part of the government’s long-term ambition for cycling and walking to become the natural choices for shorter journeys, or as part of longer journeys, in addition to the £20 million to provide traffic free cycling and walking routes and improved signage, road crossings and accessibility for mobility scooters, wheelchairs and adapted bikes as part of a programme of upgrades for the National Cycle Network.

Considering that being environmentally conscious is of paramount importance, this investment announcement could not be more beneficial or relevant.

Read the full article here

Find out more about the Bikeability Scheme here

Bike hire schemes have experienced unprecedented levels of growth across the country in recent years. The introduction of the electric bike, more commonly known as the E-bike has also been met with growing enthusiasm as schemes have been set up, bridging the gap between the conventional bicycle and motorised forms of travel.  E-bikes solve many of the reasons people do not cycle such as; distance, hills, and ownership while still offering the benefits of a car such as flexibility, range and rush- hour speed.  

Co- bikes was the UK’s first on- street solely e-bike hire scheme and still is the only docked model in operation three years after the scheme’s introduction. Co-Bikes is operated by Co- Cars which is a not- for- profit social enterprise that runs a successful car club company in Exeter. Co-bikes has a monopoly in Exeter, with no other competition from dockless schemes or other operators. Co- Bikes targeted locations within the proximity to transport interchanges and business hubs in the city. This included docking stations enabling users to hire or return e-bikes at various locations on an A to B hire model.  

When comparing how bike share schemes perform, there are considerable differences between models. The standard metric for comparing bike scheme performance has become trips per day per bike (t/d/b), as it allows for variation in the number of bikes in the system. Tracking the utilisation of each bike helps explain the level of success of bike sharing schemes. Globally, usages rates for non e-bike schemes range from 2 to 8t/b/d however other high profile schemes have been found to be as low as 0.3- 0.5t/b/d.  

When analysing Co-bikes usage, it is important to recognise that the scheme launched on a skeleton network when compared with other operators. In Co-bikes opening year it had an average of 0.5 trips per day per bike and has been improving year on year since. The scheme reached 1t/b/d in July 2018, with peak days recording 40 rentals at 2t/b/d which is a comparable usage on London’s Santander bikes.  

Exeter has shown that a phased strategy of delivery can be extremely effective.  Following the success of this pilot, Devon County Council and Co-Bikes have secured funding to expand the network to 100 bikes in 2019. This will need to be analysed to investigate the relationship between network size and bike usage while also investigating the correlation between docking station locations, trip purpose and redistribution. This work could be used as a guidance to future e-bike schemes across the country to gain an insight into the motives behind membership and the reasons for discourage use.  

LS

Between 23^rd-27^th September 2019, school children across the UK are invited to take part in Bike to School Week, an annual initiative organised by Sustrans and supported by Bikeability trust.

The initiative which celebrates cycling to school is aimed at increasing the number of children that travel to school sustainably. Unlike places such as the Netherlands where an impressive 49% of children cycle to school, current figures suggest that in England only 2% of primary school children cycle to school.

It has been proven that cycling has many benefits including mental and physical health benefits as well as positive environmental implications. It is therefore important that more is done to make cycling a popular option in the UK. It is hoped that Bike to School Week will play an important role in encouraging UK government to prioritise safer environments for both pedestrians and cyclists, in particular children on their journeys to/from school.

This year, families are invited to join two competitions:

• The Bike to School Week Sustrans photo competition, where sharing photos of cycling to and from school with the hashtag #SustransWin could see one lucky pupil win a brand new Frog Bike; and
• The Bikeability Trust story competition. All entrants with stories surrounding riding to and from school during Bike to School Week will be entered into a prize draw to win a brand new Carrera Abyss 24 inch wheel suitable for 8 – 9 years old. Find out more about how to enter. 

To find out more information or to download your free family guide, please visit: https://www.sustrans.org.uk/campaigns/bike-to-school-week-2019/

Good Luck to all of you entering this years Bike to School Week competitions.

MW

• 

Cycle to Work Day is back again for 2019! This event is the UK’s biggest cycle commuting event that will be taking place on the 8^th August 2019. Since 2012 there has been an increase in the number of cyclists hitting the streets to celebrate everyday riding.

This year, however, will be different as Cycle to Work day will be running on Cyclescheme’s Love to Ride community.  

How Can I Take Part?

In previous years, riders that have taken part have pledged the number of miles they plan to record on the Cycle to Work Day website.

You can sign up with Facebook, Strava or simply by entering your details, and then connect a smartphone app so you can log your rides. All the information you need to register is on the Love to Ride website ( https://www.lovetoride.net/cyclescheme ).

Once you are signed up, you can invite friends and colleagues, and share experiences of trying out a commute on two wheels.

7 Weeks of Cycling:

In comparison to previous years where it has just been about cycling to work on the day, the scheme has had an upgrade this year with 7 cycling challenges over 7 weeks, that you are able to take part in and possibly win!

Joining the Community:

If you are already a member of the Cyclescheme Love to Ride community, all you need to do is take part in the challenges.

If you want to join the Cyclescheme Love to Ride community and take part in the Cycle to Work Day 2019 challenges, follow the links below:

1. Register for free
2. Undertake the 7 weeks of cycling challenges (most of them have passed now)
3. Make sure you commute to work on the 8^th August
4. Invite friends and colleagues to join in the fun
5. Get rewards and win prizes

Oxfordshire County Council have announced that residents will be able to take part in exciting new plans to improve the county’s cycling network. OCC have launched a survey enabling residents to understand what cyclists like and/or dislike about cycling in Oxfordshire as well as identifying any specific problem locations they have.

Following the collection of this data, it will be used to help OCC to draw up the first Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIPs). These will help to create a cycle network that is easy to use, attractive and accessible for all.

Considering that it is Cycle to Work Day on Thursday 8th August, Councilor Yvonne Constance has encouraged residents to complete the survey online. Research shows that more and more people are already choosing to cycle. Around 40% of adults in Oxford cycle at least weekly, with around 300,000 cycle trips made in Oxford every week and another 150,000 cycle trips in the rest of Oxfordshire.

As there are still concerns over the safety of certain cycle routes, the aim of the LCWIPs is to help identify better cycle routes. The survey is open until the 6th September: https://consultations.oxfordshire.gov.uk/consult.ti/Cyclesurvey2019/consultationHome scroll down to the bottom and click “other ways to respond to this consultation”.

Heathrow has teamed up with First Bus to offer a new route and RailAir service from Guildford to Heathrow, which will take just under 60 minutes and has the potential to take thousands of cars off the road every year.

RailAir, from First Bus, operate 2 routes to Heathrow departing from either Reading or Guildford Train Station, which run 7 days a week. You can travel from Reading Train Station to Heathrow Airport on the RA1 service up-to every 20 minutes and now from Guildford Train Station to Heathrow Airport on the RA2 service up-to every hour.

The service will operate hourly starting at Guildford Train station from 03:40 to 23:00 every day. It will call at the University of Surrey, RHS Garden Wisley and on through to Heathrow Terminal 5, the Compass Centre and Central Bus Station.

The new route ‘RA2’ will provide the South of England with better connections, timed to connect with fast trains from Portsmouth, Petersfield, Havant and Haslemere. The Guildford RailAir coach link will also make passenger journeys easier to plan and purchase with the introduction of through ticketing. Linked to the rail network, passengers will be able to purchase one ticket to use on the South Western Railway network between Portsmouth and Guildford and for an extra £9 add-on the coach service.

HC

The electric car revolution is set to grow in Oxfordshire following a successful County Council bid to obtain a share of £37 million government fund. As part of this, Oxfordshire is expected to launch two major initiatives which will provide more charging points for electric vehicles across the country.

Innovate UK has awarded the funding to the projects, under the government’s £37 million investment into British engineering to transform electric charging infrastructure, revolutionising the experience for the record levels of electric vehicle (EV) drivers on UK roads.

Park and Charge Project:

This project will see up to 300 charging points installed in residential ‘charging hubs’ using car parks located in residential areas where properties do not have their own off-street parking. The pilot will provide drivers from all over the county who don’t have access to home charging on a private driveway, with chargers placed at a local ‘hub’ where they can park and charge their EV overnight. Oxfordshire County Council has been awarded around £750K of funding for this initiative, of which the majority is earmarked for the district and city councils.

VPACH (Virgin Park and Charge) Project:

This project will use existing Virgin Media cabinets to reduce the cost of installing roadside EV chargers and minimise the amount of street clutter needed for power supply. This project could see on-street EV charging deployed in Oxfordshire in towns and villages where Virgin Media are already present. Oxfordshire County Council is set to receive £100K of funding towards this scheme.

Both projects are expected to use geospatial planning tools to map EV demand, electrical grid constraints and infrastructure costs to find the most suitable charging point locations.

ID