Sheffield council reshuffle

[lil-minx92 10]

On 09/05/2019 at 13:50, Cyclone said:

Hugely misguided sentiment.

Roads are perceived by many would be cyclists as dangerous (for good reason).  The environmental cost of installing cycling safety features (like segregated cycle paths) is recouped quickly from the increase in cycling and the reduction in motor transport.

I suspect that most people that want to cycle around the city already do. I've never heard anybody say "I'd love to cycle to work but its just too dangerous". They might say "Id love to cycle to work but the weather is always rubbish / its too hilly / I cant cycle in my work uniform / its too far / I need a car for work / I drop the kids on the way to work" etc etc.  Improving cycle routes wouldnt push any of these onto their bikes. 

I'd like to see evidence for your assertion.

[Cyclone 10]

I suppose it's something that comes up in conversation often is it?

 

Cycling groups identify the lack of infrastructure as a barrier when they actually investigate why people don't cycle (along with the hills and other things that can't be influenced).

 

It's too dangerous and I'm scared of the traffic is a common reason given along with the others that you pointed out.

Edited May 10, 2019 by Cyclone

[swarfendor437 14]

Well it's easy to see why the home of Cycling, the Netherlands (http://top10hell.com/top-10-countries-with-most-bicycles-per-capita/)

has the highest per capita use of cycles - it's totally flat and below sea level in parts: "The Netherlands is geographically very low relative to sea level and is considered a flat country, with about 26% of its area and 21% of its population located below sea level, and only about 50% of its land exceed one metre above sea level." from Wikipedia.

 

The solution? Home working! But that would not work for those who have to work in customer facing services.

[ads36 216]

I am hopeful that this council re-shuffle is a sign that they want to do things a little better - and a better approach to transport is very much part of that.

 

In the Netherlands, a lot of people get around on bikes, but their government wants to encourage/enable even more bike travel. So they're still building more+better bike routes, and it's working. Even in the flat Netherlands, if you want people to choose to cycle, you need to make it safe. 50 years ago they were as car-centric as we were (still are).  They changed it with decent bike routes.

We're  getting better at building short stretches of half-decent bike routes, we're still catastrophically bad at making them join up.

 

It's not the terrain, it's the infrastructure (the Dutch keep building, and more people keep using it).

 

 

[Longcol 600]

12 minutes ago, ads36 said:

 

It's not the terrain, it's the infrastructure (the Dutch keep building, and more people keep using it).

 

 

Don't be silly - of course terrain is a factor- the Netherlands being flat obviously has an affect on the number of cyclists - same as Sheffield being hilly has an affect.

 

If we built a dedicated 20 foot wide cycle track up to Lodge Moor the locals are highly unlikely to abandon their cars for the joys of a climb of several hundred feet, especially in winter.

[Dggsheffield 10]

I was comming up Halifax rd earlier this week and saw a tractor rotivating the existing grass , next day a different tractor tilling the soil, now more soil,dumped , can anyone explain the reason they are re-seeding perfectly good grass and the cost must run into 000s wasted from our council taxes

[Thorpist 72]

With the purchase of ebikes becoming more popular the hills have become less of a factor in reasons not to cycle.

On deciding wether to cycle it seems if the price dropped there would be a big uptake in sales as in Sweden where there are subsidies for ebike buyers.

The other two big factors are weather (which we can do nothing about ) and road safety for cyclists which we can.

[Longcol 600]

8 minutes ago, Thorpist said:

With the purchase of ebikes becoming more popular the hills have become less of a factor in reasons not to cycle.

 

The price of an e-bike is as much as many Sheffielders will pay for a second hand car. Can't get much shopping or many kids in an ebike.

[Cyclone 10]

Many Sheffield people pay thousands for bikes.

 

But yes, the terrain is a factor, and so is the lack of infrastructure.  One of those is within our power to change.

Edited May 12, 2019 by Cyclone

[Tony 10]

When the council issue workers with bikes instead of car and van allowances we should start paying attention. Until then this is just zeitgeist  posturing about doing things which are more about the council's smaller budget than the environment, no matter how much some people might have convinced themselves that they actually care. 

[Cyclone 10]

If someone has a van then a bike is unlikely to be a reasonable replacement...

[Planner1 431]

5 hours ago, Tony said:

When the council issue workers with bikes instead of car and van allowances we should start paying attention. 

The Council do have pool bikes (conventional and electric)  for staff to use and staff who use their own get a mileage allowance.