Manchester's cycling revolution

Plans include five cycling centres in Manchester and Salford

Is Greater Manchester geared up for a green transport revolution? We look at a £29m bid to put cycling at the hub of plans to promote sustainable travel.

Cycling is the simplest form of transport bar walking yet a recent survey revealed that just 1% of journeys in Manchester are made by bike.

Despite this, Greater Manchester is bidding for £29 million from the government to encourage people to leave the car at home and get on their bikes instead.

If successful, Manchester would become the first city in the country to have five innovative cycling centres with bike parking, changing facilities and showers as well as offering cycle hire.

The cycle centres would be located at Salford University; Manchester University; Manchester Victoria rail station; Manchester Piccadilly /Metrolink station and Oxford Road railway station.

Plans also include: -

Parking restrictions in cycle lanes could be enforced

• a cycling education programme in schools and businesses;
• Family, group or one-to-one training in safer cycling;
• Support for more 20mph zones;
• Enforcement of no parking in cycle lanes;
• Grants to employers to introduce secure cycle parking, showers, cycle training and maintenance points;
• A recycling scheme to recover and repair 5,000 bicycles a year from the tip for use in deprived areas;
• Individualised travel plans to encourage car sharing, cycling, walking or public transport;
• A single source website providing information about sustainable travel choices.

Training

There are really good measures in there that can help to increase cycling skills, increase enforcement of the law and basically make it a much safer environment. Olly Glover

The bid is being spearheaded by the Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority. Chairman Keith Whitmore said the cycle centres would be much more than just glorified cycle sheds:

"There's nothing worse than turning up to work having made the effort to go on a bike and having no facilities to get changed. So that's something that's very important as part of this programme."

Adding: "Our bid seeks to challenge people's perceptions of walking, cycling and public transport and show that they really are attractive and viable options - and to provide facilities like the cycle centres to address some of the barriers to making the switch."

Olly Glover of The Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign said he was largely pleased with the plans:

"One thing in there that's really important is adult and child cycle training - the opportunity for individuals, either in groups or one-to-one have cycle training to build up their skills and confidence on the roads.

So there are really good measures in there that can help to increase cycling skills, increase enforcement of the law and basically make it a much safer environment."