I’ve just spent a very informative day at the National Active Travel conference in Glasgow. Reflecting on the day a couple of hours after getting home I thought the presentations were inspirational, whilst being realistic at the same time. For me the talks by David Sim and David Ubaka were of particular note and I will make an effort to follow what the two of them do over the coming years.
Three issues that stuck out for me were:
1. The momentum is there for making our cities, towns and villages safer for cyclists and encouraging more journeys to be made by bike. Not only that, but we have examples of how to do it and some great experience to tap into. It’s about getting all kinds of people onto bikes, not just those of us who tend to wear lycra.
2. The two Davids described the enormous benefits of designing greenspace into the environments where we live and work. People in hospital that can see a tree tend to recover more quickly. Water features absorb latent heat and freshen the air around them. Again, some great examples of what can be achieved with some imagination, even in big cities like London.
3. There are towns and cities that face their rivers and enjoy being on or beside the water, and there are other places that tend to turn their backs on their waterways. It has always struck me that we have a tendency to be in the latter camp in the UK. The example of Malmo in Sweden brought it home to me how we could be making much more of our rivers and canals.
The question I asked in the morning session was about learning from what happens in York. By British standards York has lots of cycling and is a city that embraces its main river. York has always been a cycling city with a tradition of cycle commuting. I asked what we can learn from York and whether any UK city or town has started from zero and achieved a high level of journeys by bike. I didn’t feel that these questions were really answered by the panel, but I would be interested in continuing this debate and teasing out some answers to those two questions.
After the conference I wandered over to the Glasgow institution that is Dales Cycles. With a name like that I just had to visit them. It’s been on my list of places to visit for several years now and I finally made it this afternoon. I had to ask if you received a discount if your name was Dales. Unfortunately not, but a well stocked and friendly shop that I will definitely visit again.
Distant Relatives?