A road revolution: What prospects are there for urban cycling safety in Manchester?

By Jack Drummond

Don't hold your breath, but Britain could be on the cusp of a cycling revolution.

On Thursday over 70 MPs from all parties, including Gorton's Sir Gerald Kaufman, packed out a small chamber in Parliament's basement to discuss the long-neglected topic of Britain's approach to cycling.

The meeting was remarkable for a number of reasons, not least because it marked the crystallisation of The Times' own Cities Fit for Cycling campaign - spurred by the serious injury of the journalist Mary Bowers.

In recent weeks it has garnered support from more than 30,000 cyclists and supporters across the country as well as from across the political spectrum, raising the question: How will the country cope after the Olympics once people are inspired to cycle?

"We have had several really tragic cases within the cycling community and even personally within our own club," says Viv Slack of Manchester Wheelers, one of the oldest cycling clubs in Britain, on the safety campaign and the recent flurries of government pledges.

"It's really important to us that it gets taken seriously," she explains. "The only thing that concerns me is a backlash from people who still don't understand the issues and believe only expensive petrol driven vehicles have the right to be on the road."

The parliamentary debate was also remarkable for one other reason: the very fact it was happening reminded us all of how shockingly far this country has to go to catch up with its continental neighbours.

Britain has one of the lowest modal shares for cycling per journey in Europe. In Holland, which managed a 45 per cent increase in cycling between 1985 and 2005, spending on nationwide cycling facilities is roughly £12 per person. In the UK, it's closer to £1.

Whether it's through Hoy, Pendleton or the meteoric rise of Cavendish, top-level competitive cycling is fixed in the nation's eye as a gold medal sport and the UK is arguably the best nation in the world at it (seven competitive British titles and rising since the start of 2012). Oh, and Manchester is of course the home of British Cycling - lest we forget.

But what of the hundreds of thousands of commuter and recreational cyclists who take to the roads every day?

In 2010, 2,771 cyclists were killed or seriously injured (KSI) on Britain's highways just because they dared to take up two wheels. Department for Transport (DfT) figures so far for 2011 don't seem much better, with injuries for cyclists in the three months to September 2011, compared with the same period the year before, increasing by seven per cent. Aside from motorcycling which increased by two per cent, every other category in the figures witnessed a decline.

"Driver's don't understand [cycling]," explains 21-year-old Manchester University student Alex Foreman who was knocked off his bike last fortnight along his daily Oxford and Wilmslow Road commute. "They just pull out without looking. It's simply dangerous."

Alex has now been knocked off twice along the same stretch of road. In neither case did the driver stop. Asked what he would want to change: "Cycling needs to be clearly separate from the rest of the road."

In Greater Manchester during the 12 months up to September 2011, there were 746 reported KSI incidents, with 73 of those being fatalities.

Significantly, Viv's experiences are similar: a driver, pulling out without indicating, causes her to crash, slamming her into the door.

"I was upset with the drivers reaction," she says. "He opened his window and told me as I was on the ground: 'Its not my fault, I didn't see you'.

"Thankfully another driver that had seen the incident stopped and came to check I was alright, which made me feel better about the human race," she adds.

Not so long ago, in 2009, if a person even popped on a bike to commute to work, they were eyed with suspicion, apprehension and disrespect. They could be harangued as 'lycra-clad velociraptors' by other road users on the one hand (at least according to Labour MP Stephen Pound), or 'tax dodgers' on the other.

However there are signs that the traditional frosty animosity between the motorist and the cyclist is beginning to thaw, with British Cycling's Road Safety Report published in January issuing pleas for a new atmosphere of mutual respect on the highways.

This was the final notable aspect of last Thursday's Parliamentary debate. Among the bi-partisan support, there was a general feeling that the perception of cycling had to change. It is not simply the past-time of dangerous thrill-seekers, health-freaks or people wanting to avoid a 'road tax' (if the Manchester Evening News' Andrew Grimes is to be believed). Yes, it is healthy and relatively inexpensive, but more than anything else it is enjoyable.

There was also cross-party support for the introduction of 20mph speed limits in residential areas, a key part of The Times' pledge, and the idea was trailed that every city should appoint a cycling czar to monitor plans and boost cycling's uptake. Just days before, Cambridge City Council became the first local authority to officially back the newspaper's campaign.

"In Manchester, we already have 20 mph speed limits in around 150 locations and we're looking to extend this further, making roads safer for both cyclists and pedestrians," explains Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council.

"Cycling is a cost effective, quick and healthy way of getting around and we'd like to encourage more people to use their bikes while making sure it's safe for them to do so," he adds.

In conjunction with British Cycling, Manchester City Council also recently launched its interim strategy on cycling in December 2011. The plan is to make Manchester a 'world class cycling city' over the next decade, harnessing the potential of the Olympics together with the city's already acclaimed reputation as a cycling hub.

This came in addition to the already pledged portion of a £1billion injection of funds into a 'Greater Manchester Commuter Cycle Project' as part of the coalition's Local Sustainable Transport Plan.

As part of the plan, three cycle centres will be built in the city centre over the next 18 months, providing cyclists with places to safely store their bikes, have them repaired and even shower after their journeys.

However, the question remains whether the momentum for change can be maintained. The UK has seen countless aborted and abandoned stop-starts on cycling initiatives ever since the first expansion of the highways in the 1960s. The most recent was the bonfire of the quango Cycling England, the government body staffed by cycling experts killed off in the cuts.

Compare this with the Transport Minister Norman Baker's £15million boost earlier this month to the Local Sustainable Transport Fund for cycling and walking measures nationwide and we have a patchwork quilt of funding ins-and-outs.

So with the government cutting with one hand and providing with the other, it remains to be seen whether these raft of pledges are knee-jerk responses to an issue long overdue, or a genuine attempt at changing the culture, perception and safety of cycling on Britain's roads in the long-term.

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