Love Your Bike calls on Greater Manchester councils to support Adult Cycle training projects.

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Love Your Bike welcomes the announcement by Manchester City Council as part of the Bike Week celebrations that it is launching an Adult Cycle Training project at the Bike to Work day on Tuesday 22nd June to help encourage more people to cycle in Manchester.[1]

Lack of confidence cycling on roads is one of the major reasons people give for not cycling to work, the shops or for leisure. Cycle training projects can give people the skills and confidence to cycle safely and more frequently. The Manchester project has been developed following a Love Your Bike proposal to the Manchester Cycle Forum.

The adult cycle training will be delivered by BikeRight!, a Manchester-based national standards cycle training provider, and will provide cycle training for up to 300 people in the first year. [2]

Love Your Bike has written to the Leaders and Chief Executives of the other nine Greater Manchester local authorities asking them to honour their commitment in the Local Transport Plan (LTP2) to establish adult cycle training projects before April 2011. [3]

With public funding under severe pressure the good news is that investments in policies and projects to increase the levels of people cycling can save money. Research for Cycling England by SQW Consultants highlighted how “each new additional cyclist generated [by promoting and encouraging] cycling would deliver saving benefits of up to £382 in relation to health, pollution and congestion issues.”[4] The research also illustrated how a surprisingly small number of additional cyclists would pay for investment in new cycling infrastructure. [5]

Dave Coleman from Manchester Friends of the Earth said:

“We welcome the support for adult cycle training provided by Manchester City Council. Today, we are calling on each of the other Greater Manchester councils to show the same foresight in saving money and improving health, air quality and reducing congestion, by investing in cost effective and practical measures to help and encourage even more adults to cycle in Greater Manchester.”

More details of other Bike Week events across Greater Manchester can be found at the Bike Week 2010 website [6]

ENDS

CONTACTS FOR COMMENTS

Pete Abel, Love Your Bike campaign. Mobile: 07951 642858

Graeme Sherriff, Manchester FoE, transport campaign co-ordinator. Mobile: 07948 405071

Notes to Editors:

[1] Bike to Work day (Tuesday 22nd June). Albert Square, Manchester City Centre. 8am – 3pm. Open to all!

Including a Bike Friday on a Tuesday! Cycle in and earn your free Bike breakfast! Bike Maintenance, servicing, cleaning, information, advice, freebies and even have-a-go activities! Bike skills from 11.30am-2.30pm

[2] See www.bikeright.co.uk

[3] The LTP2 document states that: Actions for Cycling: During the next five years, we shall take the following steps to improve cycling: “Delivery of improved school cycle training and establishing adult cycle training – the latter inline with the recommendations of a study to be commissioned” www.gmltp.co.uk/gmltp2_html/section_113143151355.html

[4] “Valuing the Benefits of Cycling” [Page 2 of Exec summary], www.dft.gov.uk/cyclingengland/site/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/valuing-the-benefits-of-cycling-exec-summary.pdf

The research defines regular cycling as three times a week and measures the impact across the lifetime of a project – assumed in this study to be 30 years.

[5] www.dft.gov.uk/cyclingengland/2009/05/new-economic-analysis-signals-a-more-effective-approach-to-cycling/ The research suggested that:

* An investment of £10,000 requires one additional regular cyclist

* An investment of £100,000 requires 11 additional regular cyclists

[6] www.bikeweek.org.uk/event_search.php

[7] Love Your Bike is an award winning Manchester based campaign aiming to promote cycling and help make it an even more attractive, accessible and fun way to get around. Co-ordinated by Manchester Friends of the Earth, the campaign works in partnership with other like-minded organisations. See www.loveyourbike.org