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Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide1

Richard Armitage

The art of the possible:Groningen chosecycling heaven

Socialist Health Association • Manchester • Transport & Obesity

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide2

Cycle hell in Manchester?

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide3

City of Groningen:cycle city

Pro-cycling actions since 1970sKey city in north NetherlandsResidents: 180,000+ and risingLarge student populationRegional economic powerhouseCycling investment has had no

adverse economic impact

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide4

3 in 5 journeys by bike within3km radius of city centre

2002 data: 37% of all trips

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide5

Supermarket bike park

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide6

Afternoon school run

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Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide7

How much road forpedestrians and cyclists?

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide8

Bike + pedestrians can mix

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide9

Cars not allowed throughthe city centre

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide10

It willbe

multi-storeybike

parksnext

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide11

10,000+bikes at therail and businterchange

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide12

Putting your bikeon level 2 is easy

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Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide13

Finding it later is harder

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide14

Cycling trafficmanagement

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide15

3,000 bikes in lock-up,beneath the rail station

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide16

Cycle route signs

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide17

Public realm transformed -cycle investment continues

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide18

More new bike parking

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Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide19

It’s part of the culture

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide20

Quick chat, then off home

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide21

Cycle heaven: divineintervention not required!

In Groningen:1969-1972

–all political hues accept new traffic policy–city centre - no through route for cars

1976 Verkeerscirculatieplan- 42% ofbudget spent on cycling facilities

1989-2000 c.£15m (would have been£210m in Greater Manchester)

2006 €5.5m (GM equivalent: £52m)Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide

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Why so little progress oncycling in the UK…

Poor leadershipGM’s LTP2 draft - decline in walking!

Scraps from the funding tableBut the M6 widening gets approval

Cycling engineers & promotersLow salaries, lowly status, no support

Media biasJournalists wedded to their cars

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide23

The missing ingredients

Ambition, imagination, visionStrategic plan (is this the TIF?)

Large scale investmentProgramme lasting 20+ years

Marketing (at ‘car’ levels)Multi-agency joint action plansSense of urgency

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide24

Imagination…

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Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide25

Vision… (ofloveliness)

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide26

Ambition…(makingthe bus cool)

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide27

Richard Armitage Transport Consultancy Ltd.Oxford House, Smithy Fold Road, HYDE, SK14 5QY

Tel: 0161 368 6603richard@ratransport.co.uk

www.ratransport.co.uk

Visit: www.fietsberaad.nl,go to Rapporten,and download:

Continous and integral: The cyclingpolicies of Groningen and otherEuropean cycling citiesFietsberaad-publication no. 7, April 2006

Richard Armitage • Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester • 8 October 2007Slide28

Manchester Utd. After thematch 20 September 2012