User stories identify barriers

Utility cycling, Active Travel, cycle commuting – cycling for everyday trips will only take off when it becomes more convenient than the alternatives.

Utility bicycles parked outside a supermarket

A major barrier to cycling becoming more convenient is the perception and reality of danger on the roads, caused by vehicular traffic. The solution is to reduce traffic levels and even more effective is to provide separated cycling facilities.

However, this is not the whole story. Taking a ‘Build it and they will come’ approach will only work in circumstances where ‘building it’ means that cycling becomes the most convenient method of transport. In Cities this is generally the case, as traffic congestion can be a real problem.

But outside of cities in small and even large towns, congestion is not that much of a problem. And ‘building it’, if that is all that is done, could see a reasonably coherent network seeing very little use. This causing willing authorities problems, as it then appears that demand does not exist.

So what else needs to be done, let’s consider a user story, a trip to a supermarket for an adult travelling alone…

Option 1 – The currently chosen mode: The car: Find keys, walk short distance to car, drive feeling safe to free car park, shop, put shopping in back, return.

Option 2 – What we’d like to see more of: The bike: Change clothes, find helmet, find lock, find lights and backpack, get bike out (fix puncture?), ride slowly down pavement as worried about traffic, park and lock bike to suitable object, shop, put shopping in backpack or hang on handlebars (eek!), return.

For most people the bike doesn’t win. It does for some people; myself included, but for me the bike option looks like this…

My bike trip: Pick up helmet, don’t change clothes, bike outside my house ready to go with lock/lights/mudguards/rack, ride straight down
road feeling safe as used to traffic, park anywhere with wheel lock on, shop, put shopping on rack, return.

So I choose to cycle to the supermarket because it is easily as convenient for me as driving, plus I enjoy the ride.

I think it is easy to see why habitual car users continue to choose the car when faced with the original bike scenario. I also think it’s clear what ‘we’, and the authorities can do to help reduce barriers to convenience.

For these barriers the following may help;

1. Segregated cycle path network.
2. Long term loan of utility cycle with suitable equipment, or scheme to make that type of cycle more accessible.
3. Bike hangar on road for secure parking but easy access.
4. Cycle training in a fun social setting to improve skills and confidence.
5. A cycle event to help break the habit in the first place.
   

We can use the user story to help understand barriers and then identify solutions. If we understand, and solve, the barriers faced by the next 1% of would-be cyclists, then we can incrementally chip away at modal shift.

Active Travel Consultation – Bring in the enthusiasts!

Could Active Travel consultation be improved by engaging a volunteer workforce?

Those who already walk and cycle may well be willing to help authorities with the consultation process.

There are walking and cycling enthusiasts all around Wales. When local authorities consulted with ‘the public’ about Active Travel I’d bet that the most vocal responses came from enthusiasts, people who love walking or cycling.

Reaching out to those beyond the usual suspects can be difficult and time consuming. With limited resources, the breadth of consultation carried out by authorities while developing integrated network maps seems to have varied considerably.

During scrutiny of the act Lee Waters asked, given austerity, what more can be done to reach people who currently do not walk and cycle? Transport Policy Team Leader, Natalie Grohmann commented that some authorities, “have done coffee mornings and all sorts of innovative things that you wouldn’t normally associate with a walking and cycling consultation.” Perhaps when best practise filters through, and if capital resource becomes available, all authorities will be able to do this.

If resource does not increase, then I have a suggestion on how to improve consultation: Harness the enthusiasts. Engage with local enthusiasts and ask these ‘usual suspects’ of the cycling and walking world to organise consultation events in their local area.

If my local authority had asked me to help with consultation, I could easily have organised a couple of meetings. I could have popped in and spoken with people at the school, health centre and library. I could have posted in local online forums, and contacted local groups with just a few phone calls. It really wouldn’t have taken that much effort.

Perhaps departments looking after active travel could, before the next round of consultation, look to set up working groups or to appoint a local champion in every locality. If local champions were provided with basic guidance and templates, then  consistent results could be ensured.

Sustrans already have a scheme for Community Volunteers. Perhaps there could be a tie in between local authorities and the scheme. Hopefully I’m not speaking out of turn – perhaps this tie in is happening already! But if it is happening, I haven’t heard it mentioned in the Act Travel Act scrutiny process. I’d be happy to be corrected.

It may be that managing volunteers is harder than just going out and doing the work. It may be that not enough volunteers can be found. But won’t know unless we ask and give it a go – surely it’s worth a trial?

Cae Coch footbridge

Cae Coch is linked to Cae Bedw via a footbridge over the old Railway cutting. Access to the bridge from Cae Bedw is along a smooth footpath;

The Railway ran from the Eagles Cross roads, to what is now ‘The Rock’ stadium. Trains would stop at Acrefair station, then pass through this large cutting.

Now the footbridge can be used to get from Trevor to Plas Madoc while avoiding the busy main road route. It is a bit slow as a bike route, but quite interesting.