MattTurner

That would be me I was in the Council Cycle Forum meeting last week, about 15 people or so were there. "Hands up if you've crashed on tram lines", 70/80% of hands shot up. It's crazy how frequent these occurrences are, ask anyone who rides a bike in Sheffield and the likelihood is that they've crashed on tram lines.

I'll be there, sounds good.

I'm really happy that this has sparked a big debate. The closing date for submissions to the inquiry is tomorrow. If you have time then please tell the council what you think about cycling in Sheffield here: http://surveys.lasos.org.uk/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=8lM25p8 I'm very aware that not many people in Sheffield cycle regularly, it's very important that you respond and tell the council why you don't cycle. You're the people that we need to target, the majority. If you have any ideas about how to improve things which mean you'd be more likely to travel by bike then please tell them.

Hello Baby Monkey! There are a few sources of data for this information. 1) Cycle to work census data shows that we've gone from 1.16% to 1.86% of journeys to work being made by bicycle (2001 to 2011) - where people travel to work, excluding people who don't work or don't travel to work. I made a map of this data for Sheffield showing the variation across the city, it's here 2) Sheffield council traffic counts show us going from 0.34% in 2001 to 0.66% in 2012 (this is all journeys they count at certain points rather than just travelling to work) 3) The "Local area walking and cycling statistics" from the DfT show that in 2011/12 in Sheffield 13% of people cycled at least once per month, 7% at least once per week, 4% at least 3 times per week and 1% at least 5 times per week 4) The National Travel Survey 2011/12 showed that in Yorkshire + The Humber 1.00% of trips to school were by bicycle I think that's all of the sources of data I know about.

I think you mean Friday Night Ride http://www.sfnr.org.uk Great fun, you should come along!

I've just noticed that Costa Coffee have put in a planning application for signage at the old Gracies Coffee Shop in Hillsborough (next to the tram stop) (13/03177/FUL) Is Hillsborough about to get a big national coffee chain on the High Street? Shop Frontage Picture Planning Application Link

Hi, Sheffield City Council have launched a cycling inquiry to review cycling in Sheffield and to eventually develop a new cycling strategy. What's good about cycling in Sheffield? What's bad about cycling in Sheffield? What benefits are there from increased cycling? What should the council do to increase levels of cycling? They've setup a questionnaire to get peoples opinions on cycling in Sheffield here. http://meetings.sheffield.gov.uk/council-meetings/scrutiny/culture-economy--sustainability/cycling-inquiry If you cycle in Sheffield then please have a look and fill it in. If you don't cycle in Sheffield then please fill it in and explain why you don't! Thanks!

I can't find an example of any other large city in the UK that didn't submit a bid for the Cycle City Ambition grant. As far as I can tell Sheffield is the only one that didn't bid. I don't understand why we're so different in Sheffield from the other cities. Anyway, never mind, the opportunity has passed, I just hope we manage to bid next time

Hi Planner 1, Sheffield did not bid for the Cycle City Ambition Grant. Full stop, end of, no arguments. I am the author of the blog post linked to in this thread. Please see linked letter I received from the Department for Transport confirming this. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B84mpgL4eqfuQ1djS3piTHR3ZVE Perhaps the Department of Transport are mistaken? I think you're referring to the Linking Communities Grants to Support Cycling in National Parks grant of which Sheffield is supporting the Derbyshire County Council project to create a leisure route to get people to and from the Peak District (http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/transport_roads/transport_plans/transport_funding_bids/pedal_peaks_phase_2/default.asp) The West of England area (Bristol and Bath) has a population similar to Sheffield, half a million, they were awarded £7.8 million from the DfTs Cycle City Ambition Grant. Newcastle has a population half the size of Sheffield, they were awarded £5.7 million. Sheffield was awarded nothing, we didn't even apply. I hope this helps to clear things up

I've written about this on my blog before. Did you know that in 2011, there were 501 injured, 92 seriously injured and 1 cyclist killed by car doors being opened in their path? http://www.greatgasbeetle.com/cycling-in-the-door-zone-injury-statistics/ It is against the law to open a car door if it will endanger or injure someone. (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1986/1078/regulation/105/made) This is punishable by a fine of up to £1000 (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/42 and http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/53/schedule/2)

Get a better bike! Ikea Cargo Bike

My aggressive and confrontational manner of cycling? Are we watching the same video? I moved into an empty lane to make a right turn!? Sometimes I stay in the cycle lane for longer and still have problems Sheffield is a great place to cycle. We have huge rates of increases in cycling. People see it as a way to keep fit, to live healthier longer happier lives, to save money and to make our city a nicer place to live for everyone. My videos are my way of trying to tell the unfortunate tale of how when I'm riding a bike in my local city, I'm sometimes treated really badly.

A simple solution? Ride there on a bicycle, there are loads of safe off road cycle paths all around the retail park linking it to other parts of the city.

This makes me really sad. Fear should never be a factor in someones choice of transport.

I have another option. The design of our roads is hostile to cyclists, or the behavior on our roads is hostile to cyclists. Or perhaps one is the cause of the other. Take a look through the videos, I'm very very open to criticism, I don't like these things happening to me and will change my riding to prevent them if there's a better way. Here is an example from the very same road where I remained in the cycle lane and things still went wrong for me with a dangerously close pass by a bus... This video also shows me using the pavement/crossing/lights as I described before. I am the cyclist in these videos.

When you ride a bike do you wear lycra?

Hello! I'm the cyclist in this video... I cycle from Hillsborough to the City Centre for work most days using this route. I use the Penistone Cycle path and then join the ring road at Shalesmoor. I don't normally have problems, but very occasionally something like this happens (which is why I have a camera). I really really dislike this part of my journey, it feels frightening. I have to make a right hand turn onto Gibraltar Street and this is really difficult. There is often a lot of traffic going faster than me. I'm constantly looking for a gap to pull out into. Normally it's OK as the traffic lights at Shalesmoor open up gaps in the traffic for me to pull into. If I get to the traffic lights at the crossing (the ones in the video) but haven't been able to move out by then I give up and pull onto the pavement on the left. I press the crossing button to stop the traffic and move out into the outside lane from the pavement and make the right turn. This is safe as the traffic doesn't catch me up before I get to the right turn lane. Some people have said that I cycle slowly, I do! I ride a heavy mountain bike, wear normal clothes, I'm not very fit and I'm overweight. I don't think Lycra would suit me very well! At the beginning of this video, I had moved into the centre of the lane to pass the bus safely. There is a bend and I need the driver to be able to see me in his mirrors as I'm coming past, staying in the cycle lane puts me in danger if the driver pulls out. So... I'm in the centre of the left lane, no traffic behind me (apart from the bus), perfect time to move out getting ready to make the right turn (so I check over my shoulder, indicate and pull out). I could have pulled back in to the cycle lane, waited for the bus to pass, then pulled back out, but I try not to weave backwards and forwards. If any other traffic appears from behind, then it's too late for me to pull out and I'm stuck on the left when I need to turn right. So... any questions? I'm happy to change my riding style, all I want to do is remain safe on the roads. And I'm very happy to change whatever I've done wrong if I did do anything wrong:help:. However I thought and still think that I was doing the right thing in this video. I'm getting a lesson from PedalReady soon (Sheffield cycling instructors) on how to cycle this part of my journey safely as I don't like things like this happening to me! I have reported this, the police viewed the video and agreed that there was nothing wrong with my cycling, however you've only got my word on this.

I know you've asked for car parking advice, but if I ever need to go into town that early (to catch a train or something) I normally cycle. I never have any problems parking a bike and it's not far from Darnall.

Oh no... I didn't mean it to be depressing! There's plenty of opportunity to improve the situation and I hope that given time things will improve. There has been a commitment from the Taxi Licensing Board to create a clear policy on what happens if taxi's are reported to be parking in area's they shouldn't, this is the first step towards fixing the problem. It has come about because of the volume of complaints I've raised and my councilors helping to push for a solution. Illegal taxi parking is a hot topic at the moment at the council, I'm not sure what they make of the crazy number of reports I file but it has certainly got their attention. I'd really recommend sending a letter/quick email to your local councilor. Believe it or not, it would really help, especially to keep the momentum up.

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It is VERY important to report these incidents to the police, they will be stored against the drivers file and usually the police will either write to the driver or visit them in person to discuss. I know that if I received a visit I'd have a good long think about my driving standards. If things go further then the police have the power under Section 59 of the Police Reform Act to issue an on the spot warning that:

Yes... go anywhere, but go by bike! For more inspiration see here: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com

Filtering on the inside can be dangerous, but nomally only if other road users don't look before changing their position in the road. I always wonder why we have cycle lanes on the inside of roads, it seems like a silly place to advise cyclists to cycle. A nice video demonstrates the dangers of using some cycle lanes when other road users don't look before changing their road position.

Grrrr! I came very close to this bus this morning, I'm not too sure why he came so close to me! I don't think I did anything wrong to deserve this...

Is this is actually an 11 page thread where people are complaining about a speed limit reduction which will increase journey times by 54 seconds along this road... 54 seconds! (based on a 4.8 mile journey at 60mph and 50mph)