Cardiff Cycle City Manifesto update: The Vision

Cardiff Cycle City Manifesto Discussion
Discussing the updated manifesto

The Cardiff Cycle City Committee have long expressed a desire to revisit, update and revise the Manifesto points developed during 2014, following the inauguration of Cardiff Cycle City as a movement.

In late August 2019 the monthly open meeting focussed on the next stages of working towards Cardiff being the Best Cycling City in the UK.

The points raised were collated through four discussion groups: Making It Happen; Schools and Young People; Infrastructure; Creating a Culture of Cycling

The points made then informed the start of this process to update the existing Manifesto and this first draft of a revision. The sub-points relating to each Manifesto point are taken directly from the points & submissions made at the above August meeting and are effectively a “to do” list.

Click on the titles below to reveal the list of submitted points:

1. MAKING IT HAPPEN

  • Pressure on budget holders – who are they?
  • Need an active travel expert in the planning department
  • Target developers and get support from Design Council
  • Ask our members to get more people to sign up (5 friends each)
  • Survey members/employers skills to help C=CC
  • Maintain pressure on decision makers
  • Flash mobs at problem points
  • Engage with decision at earliest stage network
  • C=CC should help promote Healthy Travel charter
  • Approach employers – healthy travel charter
  • Universities key employers
  • Private employers e.g. Admiral
  • C=CC employer benchmarking survey on cycling
  • Highlight good practice amongst employers
  • One unifying theme to unite issues
  • Contact other cities e.g. Bristol
  • Transport for new homes checklist
  • Build the movement
  • Encourage new cyclists
  • Signage is key
  • Should have a series of small campaigns
  • Increase C=CC membership
  • Blitz on the printed media
  • Other organisations’ campaigns – can C=CC do the same?
  • Learn from other campaign groups
  • Keep the pressure constant, avoid start-stop-start campaigns
  • Handholding “buddy rides”

2. SCHOOLS AND YOUNG PEOPLE

  • Obtain list of the schools that don’t have an active travel plan so that
  • C=CC can call for parent / governor/teacher/volunteers via social media
  • Set up XR Cardiff Uni Soc. General XR Media team will be v receptive.
  • The two passionate & enthusiastic “Extinction Rebellion” people last month were really impressive. Could we tap in to similar youthful enthusiasm for C=CC? Maybe via Cardiff Uni, Cardiff Met, Cardiff college etc.
  • Expand cycle training provision in Cardiff (and elsewhere), schools and link to school curriculum
  • C=CC to produce an information pack for school Governors and parent support groups
  • Talk to Sport Wales of Public Health Wales about how workforce (e.g Sport Cardiff staff) can be role models for using active travel modes
  • Encourage young people to vote! Politicians are afraid of losing YP votes. YP cycle and multimodal but don’t vote. Local post engagement about this
  • Make public and share good practice examples of schools where high numbers use active travel
  • Encourage more Scouts & Beavers groups to run cycle training sessions (some already do so) as part of their programme activities
  • Closed roads in front of schools at start and end of school day
  • Boulders – cool place to be, lots of people cycle there but its not easy. Also gyms. Advertise C=CC at these kind of places
  • Default 20mph around all schools

3. INFRASTRUCTURE

  • Better bike parking in city centre e.g. a central bike park like Utrect!
  • Good secure cycle parking at all stations
  • Residential bike hangers
  • Convert space in multi-storeys to bike parking
  • Need better publicity about what new infrastructure is planned
  • How to enforce 20mph?
  • Shared paths (bikes and walkers) need to be wider e.g. Castle St by bridge
  • Network of routes to train stations
  • Good cycle parking at stations
  • On key commuter routes no shared paths
  • Taff Embankment seems to work well
  • More zebra crossings
  • Change needed – walkers feels unsafe/ children
  • Need better reporting facilities
  • What happened to ENFYS?
  • “Keep Cardiff Moving” to inform people more about what Council is doing
  • Need for a process to capture bad routes and learn from. Does Council have a means of reporting?
  • Need for Council to promote and explain concept of superhighways – i.e. quicker travel/reduce air pollution.
  • Look at tiny improvements e.g. curbs as week as large changes
  • Planning guidance to (planning officers and committee) on new planning and active travel policy, also to developers preplanning applications
  • Levy on parking to encourage people to cycle
  • Use risk of air pollution to promote active travel
  • Side Road priority – essential
  • Group / individual ride and routes – report issues on C2C website & map systematically
  • We need assumed liability for vehicle drivers
  • Promote safe driving through social media e.g 20mph safer for everyone
  • Use Keep Cardiff Moving to inform more people
  • Porthcawl experience of shared walking and cycle route – negative for walkers
  • Need Quietways – barriers to vehicles but allow bikes through

4. CREATING A CULTURE OF CYCLING

  • C=CC to follow up with 2018-19 speakers to see what actions they promised are underway
  • Political support
  • Visible public bike tools – bike pumps
  • Facilitate fixing bike stands for new business i.e. provide a link
  • Visibility- Positive images – many good photos of diversity & style of Cardiff cyclists
  • Raise awareness of rights of cyclists
  • Air quality / wellbeing / health
  • Focus advocacy on developers and planners to get good infrastructure on new developers
  • Apply congestion charging
  • How can C=CC help Next Bike to be even more successful and also help tackle the vandalism problem
  • Streets where there is clear indication to motorists that cyclists have the priority over cars e.g Grangetown, Taff Embankment
  • Police enforcement to support cyclists. Heavier charges and sentences for offending car drivers
  • Go onto anti-cyclist forums and respond with positive cycling messages
  • Car free wards not just city day – get whole community behind the initiative
  • Close streets for Bike Days
  • Reduce traffic – introduce workplace parking levies / increase car parking charges. Reduce bus and train fares
  • Cycle counters in visible places
  • Guerrilla art campaign – benefits of cycling

These points were then condensed into an action plan, consisting of distinct ambitions and a number of actions in order to achieve them. Over a number of meetings this was distilled into the list below.

This is by no means a finished document, in fact we welcome any input from our followers in order to make it as good as possible! If you have any suggestions then please leave a comment below, or even better come along to one of our monthly meetings to discuss it in person!

THE VISION:

To make Cardiff the best Cycling City in the UK we will :

AIM WE WILL

TO make Cardiff a 20mph City

  • Lobby/demand/ work with South Wales Police to establish an effective Cycle Liaison Group
  • lobby/advocate for Sensitive design of streets to slow traffic

For every Child in Cardiff to be able to cycle to school safely

  • Be a conduit for information and act as facilitators and advisors for cycling to and from school.
  • Advertise and promote the benefits.
  • Help identify barriers to cycling to school.
  • Help highlight the possibilities locally for changing infrastructure or behaviour (e.g. safe routes, adult and child cycle training, 20 mph zones, ‘TRO’ Traffic Regulation Orders, school Active Travel Plans)
  • Develop and maintain a schools section of our website, in addition to publishing schools Twitter and Facebook content
  • Highlight good work and success stories locally and nationally.
  • Help publicise events and participation (e.g. Bike To School Week, Cycle To Work Day, Bike Week and the Sustrans Big Pedal).
  • Provide and manage a schools mailbox to handle C=CC e-mail queries and requests for assistance with schools.
  • Help parents, guardians, teachers, Governors or pupils with contacting and lobbying their schools on cycling and active travel.
  • Provide a bridge between schools, other stakeholders (e.g. parents, guardians, Governors) and Cardiff Council services
  • Foster links with and work alongside like-minded organisations (e.g. Sustrans, Living Streets, Public Health Wales)
  • Every child to be given the opportunity to understand Sustainable transport through the school curriculum.
  • C=CC to respond to any consultations on the Schools Curriculum content.
  • ??? TO DISCUSS Produce an annual Health Check for schools in Wales ???
  • Survey schools to find out how many provide cycle training

For People to be able to make whole, continuous journeys by bicycle – door to door city-wide

  • safe, direct, continuous
  • Covered parking when people reach their destination; 

For every New Development in Cardiff to be Cycle friendly from the outset

  • Demand Annual progress reports on (various issues)
  • Annual monitoring and report on modal split
  • Continue to influence and monitor and be part of the cycling Stakeholder Group
  • Demand that the Network of cycling (and walking) pathways and routes are well maintained
  • Take up the issue of Parking in Cycling Lanes (includes taking up with Police)
  • Support and promote Cardiff’s White Paper on Transport

For All Public Bodies to prioritise walking and Cycling and Public Transport to Places and Events

  • ???

For the new METRO infrastructure to be Cycle friendly/provide cycle infrastructure wherever possible

  • to maintain C=CC relationship with TfW and build on this.

To be a focal point/focus for Campaigning on Cycling related issues:

  • Link with Like-minded organisations to increase Welsh Government Annual spend on Cycling Infrastructure, Education and Promotion

To Make Cardiff A Great Place to Cycle to work

  • Provide information (via web-site) for Employers, Trade Unions
  • campaign for better signage on how to get about Cardiff
  • To act as “Facilitators” and “Advisors”.  (There’s a wealth of experience and knowledge across the Committee and wider C=CC and this could help get more people on bikes and improve Cardiff as a cycle city )
  • To provide information/links via the web-site to useful information/guidelines/links to local authority reporting tools etc.
   

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