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Get on your bikes, council tells staff
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| PEDAL POWER: Adrian Felgate and West Dorset District Council leader Robert Gould |
COUNCIL officers have been told to get on their bikes.
West Dorset District Council is encouraging staff to cycle to appointments instead of driving in a bid to be greener.
The Dorchester-based authority has bought two bikes for its staff to share.
Council leader Robert Gould said: "We are keen to find practical ways to make the council greener.
"Providing bikes for staff may seem like a small thing but if we all make small changes we can start to make a difference.
"If staff can cycle rather than drive to appointments they will use less petrol and emit less carbon dioxide, which damages the environment and contributes to climate change. Cycling also helps reduce traffic congestion and with petrol prices soaring, it is cost effective too."
Coun Gould added: "We are keen to lead by example and improve our environmental record, so we can appeal to residents and businesses to do the same."
The two hybrid Carrera bikes come complete with baskets to carry council files in. They cost a total of £411.
One bike-rider is environmental health officer Adrian Felgate.
Mr Felgate said: "I use the bike to get to site visits. Cycling is a much nicer way to get around and it can be much quicker as you avoid the traffic and don't have to waste time looking for a parking space."
Tree and woodlands officer Graham Cox added: "I think the public feel more kindly disposed to us when we arrive on a bicycle. They sometimes expect us to be the face of officialdom so turning up on two wheels makes us more approachable.
"I find cycling a much faster and more efficient way of getting around town.
"It is a much healthier way of travelling too and I would definitely recommend it to colleagues and other businesses."
Grants and advice are available to businesses wishing to set up a similar bike scheme.
For more information contact Dorset County Council travel plan co-ordinator Chris Hook on 01305 225141.
10:28am Saturday 28th June 2008
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CommentPosted by: Mike, Portland on 11:59am Sat 28 Jun 08
If only W.P.B.C would get on their bikes.
If only W.P.B.C would get on their bikes.
Posted by: Slow Ranger on 12:58pm Sat 28 Jun 08
[quote]"Providing bikes for staff may seem like a small thing but if we all make small changes we can start to make a difference.
If staff can cycle rather than drive to appointments they will use less petrol and emit less carbon dioxide, which damages the environment and contributes to climate change. Cycling also helps reduce traffic congestion and with petrol prices soaring, it is cost effective too.[/quote] …and so does walking, jogging and using public transport.
A [italic]by-product[/italic] of cycling are benefits to the immediate environment and given the concern about AGW then it may help a bit there too just like walking, jogging or using public transport but cycling in particular inexplicably seems to have been hijacked to serve an extraneous agenda.
Would DCC have us believe that the two guys in the photo are wearing halos rather than helmets? Cycling isn’t a self-sacrificial virtue, and neither cycling or the road environment is likely to be improved by a bunch of two-wheeled holier than thou flagellants who’d leave the bike to rust if they could polish their halos in some other crusade.
Cycling feels good, you can cover significant distances, gain a direct awareness of your surroundings - if you enjoy that sort of thing. It is as Adrian Feldgate says above: “a nice way to travel and can be quicker“.
"Providing bikes for staff may seem like a small thing but if we all make small changes we can start to make a difference.
If staff can cycle rather than drive to appointments they will use less petrol and emit less carbon dioxide, which damages the environment and contributes to climate change. Cycling also helps reduce traffic congestion and with petrol prices soaring, it is cost effective too.
…and so does walking, jogging and using public transport.
A
by-product of cycling are benefits to the immediate environment and given the concern about AGW then it may help a bit there too just like walking, jogging or using public transport but cycling in particular inexplicably seems to have been hijacked to serve an extraneous agenda.
Would DCC have us believe that the two guys in the photo are wearing halos rather than helmets? Cycling isn’t a self-sacrificial virtue, and neither cycling or the road environment is likely to be improved by a bunch of two-wheeled holier than thou flagellants who’d leave the bike to rust if they could polish their halos in some other crusade.
Cycling feels good, you can cover significant distances, gain a direct awareness of your surroundings - if you enjoy that sort of thing. It is as Adrian Feldgate says above: “a nice way to travel and can be quicker“.
Posted by: DingDonG, Wilds of Wiltshire on 8:53pm Sat 28 Jun 08
[quote]The two hybrid Carrera bikes come complete with baskets to carry council files in. They cost a total of £411.[/quote] Just waiting for the first report of "Council Bike Stolen...Police in hot persuit (on foot)"
The two hybrid Carrera bikes come complete with baskets to carry council files in. They cost a total of £411.
Just waiting for the first report of "Council Bike Stolen...Police in hot persuit (on foot)"
Posted by: maximus, Weymouth on 10:09pm Sat 28 Jun 08
Hopefully they will receive training on bicycle riding otherwise they could sue their employer if they fall off. There are newspaper reports about a community support officer who has been told not to ride his bike on police patrols until he has had training, does a similar situation apply here? I hope the bikes are provided with an audible means of providing a warning for when they ride across pavements together with insurance in case they collide with someone or something and then the riders will need to be provided with suitable protective clothing if they are using the bikes in the course of their employment!
Hopefully they will receive training on bicycle riding otherwise they could sue their employer if they fall off. There are newspaper reports about a community support officer who has been told not to ride his bike on police patrols until he has had training, does a similar situation apply here? I hope the bikes are provided with an audible means of providing a warning for when they ride across pavements together with insurance in case they collide with someone or something and then the riders will need to be provided with suitable protective clothing if they are using the bikes in the course of their employment!
Posted by: John, Weymouth on 10:14pm Sat 28 Jun 08
C'll'r Gould says that :
[quote]"We are keen to lead by example and improve our environmental record, so we can appeal to residents and businesses to do the same."[/quote]
I look forward to seeing the West Dorset councillors keenly setting the example by
pedalling to their meetings.
C'll'r Gould says that :
"We are keen to lead by example and improve our environmental record, so we can appeal to residents and businesses to do the same."
I look forward to seeing the West Dorset councillors keenly setting the example by
pedalling to their meetings.
Posted by: Tru Belle, purbeck on 10:26pm Sat 28 Jun 08
Well, on close examination of the Echo photo, it is a wobbly old road they pedal! Wow, just look at the lumps and the bumps in that road near the kerb- Still grim determination will get them there eventually, won't it?
Well, on close examination of the Echo photo, it is a wobbly old road they pedal! Wow, just look at the lumps and the bumps in that road near the kerb- Still grim determination will get them there eventually, won't it?
Posted by: Alan Barrington, The Arctic on 4:49am Sun 29 Jun 08
Perhaps if there was a decent network of cycle paths available more people would cycle. How does one cycle from Weymouth to Dorchester without risking life and limb for example?
Most of the cycle paths around are indirect, dangerous - wet leaves in winter, potholes year round, dog mess year round etc., and end up going no where....
Put in a network of cycle tracks which actually go places and people would be far more inclined to cycle to work. Easy, problems solved.
Perhaps if there was a decent network of cycle paths available more people would cycle. How does one cycle from Weymouth to Dorchester without risking life and limb for example?
Most of the cycle paths around are indirect, dangerous - wet leaves in winter, potholes year round, dog mess year round etc., and end up going no where....
Put in a network of cycle tracks which actually go places and people would be far more inclined to cycle to work. Easy, problems solved.
Posted by: derek, dorset on 9:50am Sun 29 Jun 08
Hybrid bikes , are these the ones that have the nasty polluting batteries , and how do they make the power to charge them , its the hot air generator how silly of me .
If they had pure pedal power then great , but the footprint of the manufacture , disposal , charging of these things is not as good as you think.
Hybrid bikes , are these the ones that have the nasty polluting batteries , and how do they make the power to charge them , its the hot air generator how silly of me .
If they had pure pedal power then great , but the footprint of the manufacture , disposal , charging of these things is not as good as you think.
Posted by: Slow Ranger on 10:48am Sun 29 Jun 08
maximus, as you said: [italic]if they are using the bikes in the course of their employment[/italic] ie riding a bike is a duty required by a post holder the employer may then have responsibilities and liabilities.
derek: 'hybrid' in this instance simply means that the bikes borrow features from both road and mountain bikes in terms of frame geometry and components. It's actually just a marketing name for what you and I would think of an updated roadster - just a standard push bike where like any other bicycle the battery pack sits on the saddle.
maximus, as you said:
if they are using the bikes in the course of their employment ie riding a bike is a duty required by a post holder the employer may then have responsibilities and liabilities.
derek: 'hybrid' in this instance simply means that the bikes borrow features from both road and mountain bikes in terms of frame geometry and components. It's actually just a marketing name for what you and I would think of an updated roadster - just a standard push bike where like any other bicycle the battery pack sits on the saddle.
Posted by: John, Weymouth on 12:33pm Sun 29 Jun 08
Alan,
You are quite correct about the need for a network of well-maintained cycling routes.
It seems to me that many are provided simply as a means of getting cyclists off the road, with routes being decided by drawing lines on a map. All too often the result is the result is an inconvenient, indirect, and poorly maintained “build and forget” route. (Incidentally, the lampposts are still in the middle of the cycle path at Overcombe corner).
As a road tax-paying motorist who prefers to use a bike, I have no problem with money being spent wisely to encourage others to cycle as a means of helping to reduce town-centre congestion and pollution, and I suspect that the ideal solution the problem of indirect dog-fouled routes and poor maintenance is – so far as possible – to have those routes marked out on the (regularly swept and maintained) highway itself, with additional considerations such as those recently proposed by the county’s largest cycling club – the CTC and by Cycling England.
http://news.bbc.co.u
k/1/hi/uk/7478823.st
m (with supporting comments from the AA)
http://www.cyclingen
gland.co.uk/document
s/A.09.pdf
Alan,
You are quite correct about the need for a network of well-maintained cycling routes.
It seems to me that many are provided simply as a means of getting cyclists off the road, with routes being decided by drawing lines on a map. All too often the result is the result is an inconvenient, indirect, and poorly maintained “build and forget” route. (Incidentally, the lampposts are still in the middle of the cycle path at Overcombe corner).
As a road tax-paying motorist who prefers to use a bike, I have no problem with money being spent wisely to encourage others to cycle as a means of helping to reduce town-centre congestion and pollution, and I suspect that the ideal solution the problem of indirect dog-fouled routes and poor maintenance is – so far as possible – to have those routes marked out on the (regularly swept and maintained) highway itself, with additional considerations such as those recently proposed by the county’s largest cycling club – the CTC and by Cycling England.
http://news.bbc.co.u
k/1/hi/uk/7478823.st
m (with supporting comments from the AA)
http://www.cyclingen
gland.co.uk/document
s/A.09.pdf
Posted by: Slow Ranger on 5:46pm Sun 29 Jun 08
John,
I think you'll find the CTC consider the BBC report simplistic in its explanation of illegal behaviour on the road and factually incorrect concerning the highway code.
By the way you don't pay road tax. As a matter of fact it was abolished in 1936 under the Finance Act introduced by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer one Winston Churchill.
His response to the suggestion that a tax was introduced on the understanding that its yield was to be spent on roads was as follows:
[italic]it will be only a step from this for them [motorists] to claim in a few years the moral ownership of the roads their contributions have created.[/italic]
John,
I think you'll find the CTC consider the BBC report simplistic in its explanation of illegal behaviour on the road and factually incorrect concerning the highway code.
By the way you don't pay road tax. As a matter of fact it was abolished in 1936 under the Finance Act introduced by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer one Winston Churchill.
His response to the suggestion that a tax was introduced on the understanding that its yield was to be spent on roads was as follows:
it will be only a step from this for them to claim in a few years the moral ownership of the roads their contributions have created. Posted by: John, Weymouth on 9:00pm Sun 29 Jun 08
From the Telegraph, 28th June:
[bold]Cyclists 'forced to break law by Highway Code'[/bold]
Cyclists are forced to break the law and ride anti-socially because the Highway Code is not designed for bikes, a national cyclists' organisation has claimed.
The Cycle Touring Club (CTC) says cyclists deliberately break some of the road rules, such as turning left on a red light, for their own safety.
Now, the CTC has called for the code to be re-written to protect cyclists.
One proposal is to introduce an advanced green stage at a junction which allows cyclists to get away before motorists and they may also be allowed turn left on a red light.
Another proposal is to allow them to ignore instructions to stop at red on a pedestrian crossing, as they say being allowed to cross some red lights is safer.
Chris Peck, of CTC, told the BBC: "Most cyclists obey the rules of the road, there is only a minority that cycle anti-socially, like breaking red lights and cycling on pavements, but we have to realise why they are doing this.
"It's because the rules of the road are not set up for cyclists. The width of the roads, the layout of the roads, even cycle routes are not designed with the cyclists in mind, they are designed to keep cyclists off the road and mingle them with pedestrians."
Cycling is being promoted in English cities such as Bristol, with the government providing £140m of funding.
A spokesman for the AA, Edmund King, said that at times it appeared there were two tribes at war on the roads.
He said: "We do see cyclists just not obeying the rules of the road jumping red lights, one way streets, also we get motorists doing things that the shouldn't. So maybe we need to clarify the rules for all."
Earlier this month Bristol was named as Britain's first cycling city by the Government as part of its £94million drive to encourage people to use their bikes and tackle congestion.
It is one of a dozen towns and cities chosen by Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, to pioneer the project.
The Government funding is intended to encourage another 2.5 million people to take up cycling as a way of improving fitness and easing congestion.
Bristol will be the first city to get a bicycle rental scheme, similar to the Velib system in Paris, where cyclists are able to rent bikes stationed around the city using a special hire card.
The 11 other cycling towns and cities announced by the Government are: Blackpool, Cambridge, Chester, Colchester, Leighton/Linslade, Shrewsbury, Southend on Sea, Southport with Ainsdale, Stoke, Woking and York.
They will join Aylesbury, Brighton, Darlington, Derby, Exeter and Lancaster, which have been promoting cycling since 2005.
-----------------
A pity that Dorset appears not to have applied.
From the Telegraph, 28th June:
Cyclists 'forced to break law by Highway Code'
Cyclists are forced to break the law and ride anti-socially because the Highway Code is not designed for bikes, a national cyclists' organisation has claimed.
The Cycle Touring Club (CTC) says cyclists deliberately break some of the road rules, such as turning left on a red light, for their own safety.
Now, the CTC has called for the code to be re-written to protect cyclists.
One proposal is to introduce an advanced green stage at a junction which allows cyclists to get away before motorists and they may also be allowed turn left on a red light.
Another proposal is to allow them to ignore instructions to stop at red on a pedestrian crossing, as they say being allowed to cross some red lights is safer.
Chris Peck, of CTC, told the BBC: "Most cyclists obey the rules of the road, there is only a minority that cycle anti-socially, like breaking red lights and cycling on pavements, but we have to realise why they are doing this.
"It's because the rules of the road are not set up for cyclists. The width of the roads, the layout of the roads, even cycle routes are not designed with the cyclists in mind, they are designed to keep cyclists off the road and mingle them with pedestrians."
Cycling is being promoted in English cities such as Bristol, with the government providing £140m of funding.
A spokesman for the AA, Edmund King, said that at times it appeared there were two tribes at war on the roads.
He said: "We do see cyclists just not obeying the rules of the road jumping red lights, one way streets, also we get motorists doing things that the shouldn't. So maybe we need to clarify the rules for all."
Earlier this month Bristol was named as Britain's first cycling city by the Government as part of its £94million drive to encourage people to use their bikes and tackle congestion.
It is one of a dozen towns and cities chosen by Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, to pioneer the project.
The Government funding is intended to encourage another 2.5 million people to take up cycling as a way of improving fitness and easing congestion.
Bristol will be the first city to get a bicycle rental scheme, similar to the Velib system in Paris, where cyclists are able to rent bikes stationed around the city using a special hire card.
The 11 other cycling towns and cities announced by the Government are: Blackpool, Cambridge, Chester, Colchester, Leighton/Linslade, Shrewsbury, Southend on Sea, Southport with Ainsdale, Stoke, Woking and York.
They will join Aylesbury, Brighton, Darlington, Derby, Exeter and Lancaster, which have been promoting cycling since 2005.
-----------------
A pity that Dorset appears not to have applied.
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