Integrated cycling strategy

Since 2009, Mobiel runs one of the now 40 bicycle hubs (in Dutch: 'fietspunt') in Belgium, located at train stations. A bicycle hub is a site which offers a number of services for cyclists, with the primary aim of facilitating the transfer between train, bus or car and the bicycle. As the operator of the bicycle hub in Kortrijk, Mobiel monitors the bicycle parkings, offers bicycle renting and helps out cyclists who suffer from mechanical problems. In Kortrijk as at most bicycle hubs, it is also possible to rent a Blue-Bike, a public bicycle which is the Belgian equivalent to the Dutch OV-Fiets.

During the first 12 months of the Bike Friendly Cities project, Mobiel conducted a test in collaboration with Calllock to see how bike-sharing could be integrated in the city of Kortrijk. Eight bicycles were set up at the city hall and could be rented by the employees of the city with the simple use of their badge. Mobiel thus received insights in the technical aspects of the hardware offered by Calllock, but also in the behavioural aspects of the system.

Simultaneously, a financial plan was being elaborated, which cyphered how much it would cost to run a similar system city-wide. For now, he city of Antwerp is the only city in which a bike-sharing system has been implemented. Numerous smaller cities are interested as well, and there have been some initiatives launched by the Flemish government to further investigate the feasibility of this kind of schemes.

Last year, Cambridgeshire undertook a trial with a car shaped cycle parking rack. As part of Bike Week one car parking space outside the Kingston Arms was temporarily removed in order to install this cycle parking rack which emphasizes that 8 bicycles can be parked in the space taken up by one car. 

There is a great demand for cycle parking in the area, both from residents and visitors with cycles regularly cluttering the footway, causing an obstruction to pedestrians. This trial gave everyone a chance to see the effect of the removal of a car parking space and provision of on-street cycle parking.

Since this trial a Traffic Regulation Order has been advertised in order to install permanent racks in this location and Cambridgeshir is currently repeating this trial in a residential street.

Cycling in Southend has been cranked up a gear in the wake of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
More residents are hopping on their bikes to get fit, travel to work, go to school or even enjoy a leisurely Sunday afternoon ride along the picturesque seafront.The Borough is no exception, with more people signing up to many of the innovative schemes on offer under the Cycle Southend banner.

These include the Monday Morning Mums Bike Rides to Heycroft Primary School, regular Tuesday morning rides, which are attended by people as old as 83, and the Muckers Off Road Mountain Bike Group, which meets every Saturday morning and now has 181 members.

Thanks to the European 'Bike Friendly Cities' project, Cambridgeshire County Council has published a new map of Cambridge for pedal powered tourists, which was launched during Bike Week (16-24 June 2012).

The map, based on the existing city cycle map, includes French and Spanish translations, and provides information on cycle hire and tours, as well as recommending a cycle tour of the city centre and routes out to Grantchester and Ely.
Councillor Ian Bates, Cabinet member for Growth and Planning said "the map contains some vital road safety messages for foreign cyclists, and clearly shows where they are able to cycle, and clarifies the meaning of many road traffic signs ".
 

The quay route is an important route in Middelburg, for both cars and cyclists. The speed limit for cars will be reduced from 50 km / h to 30 km / h and there is more space for cyclists. So this route become more bicycle friendly.
The route is important because it leads to one of the two channel crossings in Middelburg

There are also additional bike parking and more space for pedestrians. The project will be realized this year (2014).

The 'Cycling in the Curriculum Project' enables us to promote our work to the whole school community. 

September 2012 saw the culmination of a year long pilot project to embed cycling into the school curriculum. Developing a comprehensive scheme of work, the pilot team engaged every child, parent and staff member, in both learning to ride and cycling during lesson time alongside a suite of classroom sessions using, cycling, bikes and some associated life skills, such as bike mechanics (working with tools) and route planning, as topics for cross curricular learning.

During the year the project team visited pilot schools repeatedly, delivering a series of sessions in an intensive format. This created a positive atmosphere throughout the schools, engaging not only school staff but also parents and the wider community.

A number of schools were used to pilot individual elements and working with the schools the team have developed these into individual modules which when assembled form a complete package. These are being delivered in the 2013/14 academic year in a number of schools. More schools are being introduced to the package by a phased implementation, generally starting with level 1 & 2 
Bikeability, delivered in an intensive format.

We are particularly proud our 'Cycle Safaris' where the team leads whole classes to local parks, open spaces or historic sites. Then supported by local community partners the children ride around the areas and receive lessons in the History and Natural History of their local community.
All this is having a significant impact, children, parents and staff are all cycling more often therefore we can see the culture is changing. Schools tell us the scheme adds value to education giving children a real-life context across the curriculum. With Families of school age children making up a significant proportion of our town's population we believe that the investment in time and money is justified. 

Perhaps the most surprising fact is that this has been achieved and a relatively low cost.

The Liane banks projects aims a complete change from "urban motorway" to qualified landscaped main road. The right bank of the project is financed through the Bike Friendly Cities projects and involves reducing a double carriage road to a single road. The space that then becomes available will be given back to nature: green space along the Liane (over 2 kilometres), a cycle route, a walking path and platforms on the river to watch nautic competitions.

The first work phase concerned the Damrémont neighbourhood area. It linked the new high level sport centre built along the river and the housing area to the Boulogne town centre back in 2012.

The Eco-Race is an easy to run competition, which encourages every pupil to note down how they travel to school, with those who choose active travel to school (cycling, walking and scooting) receiving higher scores - instructions and score sheets are supplied. The 2012-2013 Eco-Race was very successful and saw the participation of 25 primary and 5 secondary schools from Essex 

The 2013-2014 Eco-Race is FREE and is open to ALL Essex infant, primary, junior and secondary schools.

How does it work?

Participating schools are given Eco Race Class Score Sheets which, once stuck on the classroom wall, are used by pupils to circle the score relating to the way they travel to school: 5 points for cycling, 4 points for scooting, 3 for walking, 2 points for taking the bus and 1 point for coming by car/taxi/moped. This process is repeated every day for three weeks each term (nine weeks in the whole academic year). Class Score Sheets are then collected and sent to the Sustrans Schools officer who collates the data and allocates prizes at each stage of the Race 

Why Join?

Aim: To promote a more active and healthy way to start the day among your pupils. An active life starts at the front door! But also to reduce traffic congestion around your school roads. Too many pupils are driven to school instead of opting for a healthier, greener and less passive type of transport. The Eco Race rewards those who cycle, walk or scoot and makes the roads around your school more children-friendly during the school run.

Starting at the end of 2012, we felt the demand for more opportunities to learn to ride from a beginners level. 
We started these on a regular Sunday morning each month, allowing personal one to one attention for each rider. Within a short time our sessions were fully booked and we have been able to continue the programme and increase our Staff delivery team. We have to date trained just over 100 people, from as young as 5 to slightly older at 83! We have had marvellous comments from frazzled parents that had given up hope of their children riding as well as Adults who are now moving on to extended cycle training opportunities.

Quotes from happy new cyclers are : 
Once again I would like to thank you and those who give up their time to teach others how to ride through this initiative. Every single person we have encountered during Caden's time with Learn to Ride have been simply wonderful - I cannot praise you all enough. The sense of achievement every person and child I have seen come away with from their sessions is evident. Caden would not have achieved this without the dedication, patience and encouragement of your team!

So THANK YOU ALL so very much, A super proud mum and a cycle success story 7 year old!
Hi BFC Team I just wanted to e mail you to say thank you for all the lessons you 
booked for me, all the instructors were very good . I never in a million years 
thought I would ever ride a bike me and my partner both have a bike so now I 
can go out and about. once again many thanks for all that you have done. my 
best wishes to you and all the cycle team 
Thank you
Sandra

Mobiel has set up a small pilot project to investigate the need of secured residential cycle parking. A small cycle shed which can be completely closed has been installed in a district of the city of Kortrijk where inhabitants lack space to park their bikes inside. Usually they have to leave it on the street, only secured against theft with a lock. Five test persons now have a safer place to store their cycles and have been testing the hardware and software of the bicycle shed. There have been numerous positive reactions in the city, and therefore we expect its elected members to give a signal to have more of these cycle sheds built.

The Comfy Saddle is an exciting new outlet located in the center of Southend, inside Southend Central Train station, Clifftown Road entrance. It has lots to offer local cyclists and those wishing to travel by sustainable transport.

First opened in December 2012, the enterprise has different functions. It is a hub for local cyclists, providing information and organising events that promote cycling in the borough. The Comfy Saddle also provides visitors with sustainable travel advice.
It offers cycle maintenance, new cycles, accessories as well as reconditioning unwanted bicycles for re-sale, sold through its sister outlet The ReCycle Centre

Last summer, the city of Neufchâtel-Hardelot organised a weekly bike bus that covered the entire city. People from leisure centres picked up children at their usual bus stop and escorted them directly to their schools where they were offered a healthy breakfast. 

Parents were asked to verify the bikes (brakes, tires, lights and horn) before registrering their children. Moreover, a fact sheet had to be filled out before participating in the project in order to make the check-up on the safety of each bike by the local mechanical service of Neufchâtel-Hardelot easier. 

The Province of Zeeland has set the goal to actively monitor cycling projects that may be implemented throughout the Province. This means facilitating the demonstration of a number of bike friendly concepts and measures in practice. In all partner cities, selected measures from their integrated cycling strategies will be implemented that will demonstrate the effectiveness of new approaches both to the partners and to other European cities. During the project the effect and impact of these measures will be monitored and evaluated.

Some of these projects are: 

• Setting up and equipping cycle hubs by Middelburg, either as public service or as social enterprise
• Demonstration and testing of automated bicycle renting
• Parking facilities

Balanceability is the UK's first and only accredited 'learn to cycle' programme for children aged 2 ½ to 6 years old. Balanceability uses ergonomic balance bikes with a programme of activity that builds confidence, spatial awareness and dynamic balance skills enabling young children to cycle without ever needing stabilisers.
In Southend we have a fleet of Balanceability bikes. We can attend a playgroup or nursery and have all the children learning to cycle. We also run sessions in school holidays.

Quote from the latest preschool visited "I just wanted to thank you for the brilliant week that we had with you and your team here at Earls Hall Pre-school. I have had such positive feedback from parents. Thanks again and hope to see you again next year!"

Through Bike Friendly Cities, Southend-On-Sea Borough Council were able to get funding to trial a scheme for Council staff to use Electric Bikes for work purposes and for pleasure. The Council leased 18 Electric Bikes from The Electric Bike Network. The scheme has been up and running for over a year and the lease has been extended due to the popularity of it.

It has been proven very popular and worthwhile to staff especially for staff that have mobile jobs. The benefits are:

• Saving time stuck in traffic
• No problem trying to find a parking space 
• No costs for petrol

All of these things are beneficial to both staff and the organisation.

The Electric Bikes are well publicised with posters in the Civic Centre, out of the 18 bikes 2 of those are used as everyday pool bikes, as staff often asks if they could use a bike for just the one day. From the 16 bikes that are used for a period of two weeks there are always 12 out of the 16 bikes occupied. 

Bike Friendly Cities Cafe's are a newly launched initiative in Southend-on-Sea. A selection of cafe's and shops are now accredited bike friendly place, meaning that they have bike suplies, such as puncture repair kits, tools, etc. inside their cafe. They also advertise guided rides and events. In additon, these places offer great opportunities to meet other cyclists or to relax during your leisure trip. 

Project 49, based in Southend, offers day activities for adults with learning disabilities and established its own Bike Club last year with the help of Cycle Southend and Bike Friendly Cities.

Cycle Southend provided instructors to help with this group and did lend Project 49 adapted bikes.

Currently, the bicycle activities are run mainly by staff from the centre and volunteers. Cycle Southend provides just one Instructor to assist with the riding techniques. 

Members have completed Bikeability Training to boost their confidence and make sure they cycle safely.

The Southend BFC team have developed a new programme called 'Cycling in the Curriculum'. With this project every child (5 - 11 years) is taught to ride and or receives cycle training to improve their skill and confidence level during the school day. Additionally bikes are used in PE lessons for several weeks. In the classroom cycling and bikes are used as the topic in many subjects. Some associated 'life skills' such as Route Planning are used in lessons and a bike mechanics course may be the only time a child using a tool in school.

The BFC team visit the school repeatedly, for sometimes weeks at a time, delivering sessions in a very intensive format creating a positive atmosphere in school. The children become inspired to learn, staff become engaged and in many cases have added additional content or developed their own follow- on sessions. 

The team have regular contact with parents both via written communication and in person. This has led to many becoming involved with the activities of our BFC Events Team and whole families are now cycling that did not previously. This project will continue throughout the current school year, increasing the number of schools involved. 

Where: Essex
When: 2013/2014
How:

Cafes in Essex have signed up to be part of a new and exciting project to encourage cycling around the county.

The Cake Escape which launched on Sunday 4 August 2013 is a joint venture between Essex County Council and Sustrans to increase the number of people cycling. 

The challenge is simple. Participants collect a passport, cycle to any of the 21 Cycle Cafes signed up to the project and earn a reward stamp at the till after making a purchase. Each time a cyclist collects four stamps in the passport, they will receive a free slice of cake at the next participating café they visit. 

The Cake Escape was launched with an event on Sunday 4 August at The Green Café in Blatches Gate. There was a led ride, free cake for the first 100 arrivals and live music.

The Cake Escape will encourage Essex residents to experience the best of local café culture, combined with a little exercise and the exploration of the countryside. 

Aim: To increase the number of people cycling, to encourage an active way of life, to support the local economy and generally support efforts to increase sustainable travel in Essex

To increase the number of people in Essex cycling regularly.
To raise awareness about the benefits of cycling among Essex residents.
To encourage more people to use their local cycle network.
To help local businesses to attract additional visitors.
To help promote an 'Edible Essex'.
Learn from similar successful schemes such as the Dutch Fietscafe scheme.

We expect there to be a number of secondary benefits associated with Cycle Cafes and The Cake Escape…..the Cycle Café challenge, including an increase in the number of people cycling for day to day journeys, a decrease in the number of people travelling by car and benefits across the wider community from community activities. 

Currently, Middelburg works on a project called bicycle hub. This hub will be placed in the peripheral area of the city in order to further facilitate and stimulate bicycle use in Middelburg and its surroundings. This means that the location needs to seduce people to leave their cars and take a bike. The location of the hub is perfect, because it leads both to the city center as to the surroundings of Middelburg. The municipality is investigating the possibilities to combine this hub with facilities such as a bicycle repair and rental service, toilets and a small shop. 

For each partner city a tailor made integrated cycling strategy will be developed jointly. These will target concrete local challenges by proposing detailed measures and solutions, thus enabling these cities to make the next step in becoming a Bike Friendly City. 

The Province of Zeeland and the city of Middelburg have jointly created a handbook with cycling strategies. This handbook shows how public organisations could develop their cycling policy. With help of a few simple steps this documents guides policy makers through the steps of initiating a cycling policy, elaborating the policy and creating a plan of action.

BFC Handbook FR.pdf
BFC Handbook NL.pdf
BFC Handbook UK.pdf

A series of events called 'Bike Friendly Tuesdays' were held at Ely Station. Free cycle repairs and safety checks were offered to commuters at Ely Railway Station on Tuesday 4, 11 and 18 October as part of a scheme to trial a 'cycle hub'. Commuters were able to leave their cycles from 7am, make their onward journey, and then collect them when they return to Ely before 7pm.

The events were successful in getting names of interested cyclists in the city and prioritising what they felt were important facilities to have for cyclists at the station. From these events a Cycle Forum and Cycle Campaign group have been set up both of which are contributing to the priorities for cycling infrastructure in Ely. These events were also the catalyst in getting Department for Transport funding for a Cycle Hub at the station to include cycle hire and a cycle shop.

The inner city of Middelburg is an old town; with a lot of monuments. There is also a lot of traffic; and a lot of cyclists. Of course we are happy with al those cyclist; imagine if they would use a car instead of a bike. But sometimes we say: their are an awfull lot of bicycles in Middelburg.
So we have to guide/lead all those bicycle users so they can cycle on a safe , quick, directly way through the city.

A lot of cyclist use the innercity to travel from A to B. They ride right through to the city. This can course some problems with the pedestrians in the shopping area.

So we propose in Bike Friendly Cities to make a bicycle ring road. Here you see a concept of that idea. A wheel around the center to ride from A to B (not through the centre but around the centre). And from this wheel leads some roads/cycle lanes directly to the centre where you can park your bike.

We want to guide the cyclist around the centre; so they don't have to use the shopping area to ride from A to B.
Cyclist are prepare to use this bicycle ringroad if the delay is not more then 1.2 times the original traveltime.
And of course the bicycle ringroad has to be comfortable and quick (for example it must be possible to reach a high speed with your bike); so the cyclist has priority at every junction (crossroads).

From several points at this bicycle ring road you can ride to the centre.; and there it must be able to park your bike. 
Untill now a lot of the cyclists park their bike in front of the shops; so they don't have to walk from a bike parking place to the shops. Especially the - so called - run shoppers (whoa are only a small period in the shopping area) park their bike near the shops. The funshoppers - they spent more time in the city - the are more prepared to park their bikes at special bike parkings. 
All those wild parked bikes courses problems in the shopping streets. So if we have enough special bicycle parkings we want to prohibited to park your bike in the shopping streets.

In January 2014 Sustrans were pleased to announce the launch of the BFC mini-movie 'The Journey to School'. 

Sustrans, working with European partners, produced the film to demonstrate how young people in the UK, Netherlands, Belgium and France travel to school and why cycling levels vary across Europe. We hope the film will be distributed by BFC networks, social media and the internet to help young people compare their journeys, understand why there is a difference in this common journey and to see why cycling is a sustainable, clever, healthy and fun form of transport.

We are encouraging all to share with pupils, schools, colleagues, partner organisations, decision makers and local authority contacts. If you have twitter accounts, websites or social media campaigns please create a tag/link to the film.

Thank you to everyone who has been involved in the production. We hope you all enjoy the film.

Bicylcle programme Middelburg.

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This is a fantastic opportunity to come along and learn some simple bike maintenance or get some on-road cycle training - all for free!

We are running a series of health fairs promoting cycling and nutrition aimed at marginalised communities in south Belfast. The Well on Wheels project aims to raise awareness of the benefits of cycling and offers practical help for people to get about by bike.

The health fairs will help the local community, including the many refugees and asylum seekers who live in the area, to acquire recycled bikes and free on-road cycle training skills. There will be bike maintenance demonstrations, for example, showing people how to repair punctures and information on route planning so people can get around Belfast more easily. Dieticians from Belfast Health Trust will also be giving advice on ‘food as fuel’ and basic nutrition facts to help people stay active. 

So if you're a complete novice and don't know your v brakes from your allen keys or you want to know more about eating healthily then come along and sign up to learn how to take care of your bike.

Cost: Free

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A ride along the beautiful Loughor estuary to the Wildfowl Centre at Penclacwydd, where there will be time to explore.  We will return towards Dunvant with a stop at Loughor Boat Club before travelling on to Ddol Farm where tea and cake will be served. There will be time to explore the farm, with its bees and grapes.

This led ride is one of 21 rides making up the Gower Cycling Festival.

Event details:

• Meet at Dunvant RFC at 10am.
• This ride is an easy 16 miles of mostly flat route, aiming to return to Dunvant RFC at 5pm.
• Lunch can be purchased at the Wildfowl Centre, or bring your own.  

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Join Sustainable Sustrans volunteers for a Go Explore Bike Ride along the foothills of Dartmoor on Sunday, 21 August 2016.
 

Cycle 24 miles of spectacular scenery discovering hidden river valleys, through leafy woodlands and beside wild flower meadows. The little lanes are overlooked by high moors and remote farms as the ride takes in quiet roads on the National Cycle Network to the South Devon Steam Railway at Buckfastleigh, where we stop for refreshments. The return is on a slightly shorter route. The total journey will take about five hours.

The Watermark Centre in Ivybridge is the start and the finish of this ride. There is an option to join for a slightly shorter route at South Brent Post Office. A back up car will be provided.

Meeting times:

Ivybridge, Watermark Centre:   10.00am
South Brent, Post Office:           10.45am

Total journey will take around five hours
 

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This is a fantastic opportunity to come along and learn some simple bike maintenance or get some on-road cycle training - all for free!

We are running a series of health fairs promoting cycling and nutrition aimed at marginalised communities in south Belfast. The Well on Wheels project aims to raise awareness of the benefits of cycling and offers practical help for people to get about by bike.

The health fairs will help the local community, including the many refugees and asylum seekers who live in the area, to acquire recycled bikes and free on-road cycle training skills. There will be bike maintenance demonstrations, for example, showing people how to repair punctures and information on route planning so people can get around Belfast more easily. Dieticians from Belfast Health Trust will also be giving advice on ‘food as fuel’ and basic nutrition facts to help people stay active. 

So if you're a complete novice and don't know your v brakes from your allen keys or you want to know more about eating healthily then come along and sign up to learn how to take care of your bike.

Cost: Free

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Sustrans and Vintage present two options for a Vintage Bike Ride by the Sea with wonderful views across Morecambe Bay, as part of Vintage by the Sea. Bring your classic racer, sit up and beg or 60s shopper. Don’t have a vintage set of wheels? Bring your modern wonder along! Feel free to don some vintage attire and join in. Open to everyone!

Event details:

Lancaster to Morecambe led ride: meet at Lancaster Lune Millennium Bridge at 10:00am for a 10.15am departure. Due to arrive at the Vintage by the Sea Festival in Morecambe at approx. 11:00am. This ride is approximately three miles. You then have the chance to spend some time exploring the festival before the promenade ride.

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IT'S BACK FOR THE SIXTH YEAR RUNNING!

Sport your finest vintage or tweedy attire and join us for a lesiurely social jaunt about town.

FREE ENTRY

Meet at Belfairs woodland centre to leabe around 2pm or join us from Priory park gated entrance at Victoria avenue around 2.30. We should arrive at Southchurch Park approx 3.15pm.

PRIZES FOR THE BEST DRESSED RIDER AND THE BEST VINTAGE INSPIRED BIKE. 

Check out our gallery or our facebook albums for glimpses of years gone by........

Event is FREE but please pre-book if you require a £3.50 cream tea of £7.00 high tea by phoning 01702 215595 or emailing cyclesouthend@southend.gov.uk

Dressing up is optional.

This year the Ride is being run in a different way to that used for the last sixteen years. Instead of raising funds for a specific charity or charities, this year the choice of charity to support is entirely up to the entrants. When you complete your application you will be asked to select a charity from a drop down box. Although there are over 700 charities listed, if your favourite charity is not shown, please email rotary.ride@sky.com with the full name and charity number of the charity that you wish to support.
 

Enjoy refreshments at Great Wakering Primary School where the ride starts and we hope that you will visit the Heritage Centre in the former Foulness Church of England Primary School built in 1846.  Developed by the local residents it contains many fascinating exhibits showing the history of life in this timeless corner of Essex. Refreshments will also be available at the Heritage Centre and at Churchend Post Office Store.
 

For more information and to enter please visit thorpebayrotaryevents.co.uk

Join us for two days on Newport's first annual celebration of cycling. Dust off the bikes, gather the family, and come out to experience all the fun through our local communities in a safe, healthy, and social way.
 

Our FREE cycling festival will be based at the historic Tredegar House and Newport Wetlands National Reserve, where Sustrans Cymru will be hosting guided rides, Changing Gearz will offer cycle proficiency training, bike inspections by Dr. Bike, Savage Skills mtb stunt shows, along with a great selection of stalls and pitches from local to national organisations offering professional advice and cycling related goods.

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The learn to ride sessions are suitable for both adults and children, however minimum age of 4 years is required.(So far we've trained from ages 4 to late 80's!)

Book your 45 minutes 1:1 training session with one of our accredited cycle instructors, and be given all the help and advice that you could ask for. Time slots available at 9.00, 10.00, 11.00 and 12.00. If you have a time preference please include this in the additional information box at the time of booking.

Our sessions can start from the beginning, but are also great for those of you who've been out of the saddle for a while and would like to regain confidence.

Haven't got a bike? Hire one of ours! Bikes are available to hire for an additional £5.00 per session - when booking please include and height or additional requirements in the additional information box.

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