Aberdeen Cycle Forum

Getting Out and About use your LOAF -Come and Meet ACF!

Aberdeen Local Outdoor Access Forum – LOAF is the statutory body that advises the city council on the implementation of the outdoor access , rather boringly known as The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

ACF is a member of the LOAF and has been instrumental in getting a number of the new core paths adopted in the city

On Tuesday 10th November (18:30-20:30) the LOAF is holding an open public event in the Townhouse, ACF will be there and anyone is welcome to come along either to see us on our “stall” or to the presentations themselves. Download the agenda (PDF)

The LOAF can do a lot for cyclists in Aberdeen, a good representation form cyclists will help this happen, so come on down on Tuesday evening, there is even free coffee!

Active Travel – Inactive Government?

It’s not every day you get the opportunity to tell the Scottish Parliament what you think, however now you can. The Parliament is conducting a “call for views” on walking and cycling in Scotland, titled “an enquiry into active travel” ACF has responded to the consultation, you can see our response online (PDF).

In addition to organisations such as ourselves any individual in Scotland may submit their views, ACF encourges you send a few words to the comittee. No need to be formal – a simple email is enough – just email any or all of your answers to the questions below to: activetravel@scottish.parliament.uk. To get some tips you might want to see the responses of other individuals

• Q1 – What more can be done to encourage people to change their travelling habits and walk and cycle more?
• Q2 – Is enough progress being made in developing and delivering improvements in the uptake of walking and cycling?
• Q3 – If not, what are the barriers to progress? (for example, lack of policy development, lack of political leadership, lack of funding/investment, the lack of prominence given to active travel in transport policy development, project planning and construction etc.)
• Q4 – Why do walking and cycling policies set out in national, regional and local transport plans not result in a greater modal share for walking and cycling?
• Q5 – What further action is required by the Scottish Government, local authorities and other bodies to ensure that significant progress is made in the development and implementation of walking and cycling, particularly if transport is to make a greater and more meaningful contribution to the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions?
• Q6 What can Scotland learn from good practice/successful implementation in other countries?

Deadline for responing is Friday 11th December 2009 – so don’t delay have your say today.

ASDA’s Big Boss drops in to see ACF

ASDA Chief Executive Andy Bond is cycling from Land Ends to John O’Groats raising money for the charity Pedalpower. For those who dont know Pedal Power working with the CTC, is about to set up 300 bike clubs for young people across the UK.

Andy passed through Aberdeen where ACF were on hand to meet him at the Asda Bridge of Dee Store. Our ever popular stand provided shoppers with everything they wanted to know about cycling in Aberdeen.

 

Learn more and see some videos of the event at the Pedal Power Blog.

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New Signs Highlight Cyclist Safety

Aberdeen City Council has recently invested in a number of Variable Message Signs (VMS) at 8 locations in Aberdeen, these are designed to highlight traffic congestion and roadworks round the city. At times when there are no such problems (yes they do occasionally exist) the signs show a road safety messages randomly selected from a list.

ACF now has regular meetings with Grampian Police and the City Council to discuss cycle safety matters. At our suggestion the council has agreed to add two new messages to the signs’ list.

BE ALERT FOR CYCLISTS
GIVE CYCLISTS ROOM WHEN OVERTAKINGThese should now appear randomly in times of no traffic issues, so most motorists at some time or another should see them.

If you have any comments, suggestions or thoughts on how to further develop this idea them please do get in contact:

Change to June Meeting Location

Due to operational issues the normal meeting room in the townhouse is not available ? the meeting will take place at the meeting room above the Carlton Bar on the Castle Gate (this is in the South West Corner of the Castle Gate, enter the bar door and take the stairs immediately in front of you

What do you call a lady on a bike?

The latest cycle count results have again shown a significant bias towards males, a couple of months back Aberdeen Cycle Forum brought together a small group of women cyclists to have a look at this.

The group has had a few meetings now and have some great ideas that they are looking forward to putting into action. However before we kick off, we need a name for the group that describes what we are and what we do.. So suggestions please…

Sustrans have their Bike Belles, CTC Grampian have Five Mile to Fabulous, can you help us come up with a memorable name that would appeal to the women cyclists in Aberdeen? As an incentive the writer of the winning entry gets a

Cycle Count 2009

On 21st and 22ns April 2009 ACF conducted Aberdeen’s third cycle count and our first year-on-year one, so why count bikes? Cycle use statistics are important to ACF for three reasons: Quantified cycle use makes it a lot easier to lobby for new facilities in the city. Increasing or decreasing use shows if the (somewhat limited) facilities that exist do work. Statistics can be benchmarked with other cities in Scotland and further afield.

Cyclists are counted at 11 key locations around the city between 07:30 and 09:00, the objective of this is to gain a metric of cycle activity and not to count all cyclists. Details results are below, the striking change from 2008 are an overall increase of 10%, with the weather the same as the 2008 count this is encouraging. The largest increases were on the key commuter corridors of the Deeside line, King Street and Union Street, which recorded it’s first count of 100. From its original low level the number of female cyclists fell, if you think you know why let Liz know

Read the Detailed Statistics (PDF File, 22kb)

If you have any comments on the results, or want to be a “bike spotter” for our next survey (full training is given) please get in contact If you are interested in stories like this then why not join the ACF e-NEWS service to get alerts when new items are added to the web site

Get-About and Get Cycling

25th April to 2nd May is Aberdeen City and Shire Get-About week. ACF supported this Nestrans event with a kick off in Belmont Street on Sunday in Belmont Street where Get Cycling were on hand with a wide range of bikes for people to try.

Get-About week continues throughout the city and shire all week, if you missed the Get Cycling roadshow on Sunday they are at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (10:00-16:00) on Tuesday and Dyce on Wednesday (09:00-17:00 car park of Marriot Hotel map) So if you are in the area drop in. For information on other Get-About events, which cover more than just cycling visit the Get-About website

Try Cycling 2009

Easy-paced rides aimed at beginners or those who have not been in the saddle for a while

The rides, organized by the Cyclists? Touring Club and Aberdeen Cycle Forum, visit various places of interest such as ancient cairns, march stones, churches, bird hides, and local beauty spots. All are welcome, but they are aimed at beginners and those who have not been in the saddle for a while

• Experienced cycle trainers on all rides
• Families welcome (but see important note below)
• Start at 10.00 am, with a cafe stop on the ride, returning before lunch.

meeting points are:

FIRST Sunday of the Month – Duthie Park, at the pond off Riverside Drive (map)

SECOND Sunday of the Month – Hazelhead Park – Groats Road entrance (map)

THIRD Sunday of the Month – Seaton Park – at the car park on Don St. (map)

FOURTH + FIFTH Sunday of the Month – Duthie Park, at the pond off Riverside Drive (map)

Just turn up on the day, or for more information drop us a line on
trycycling@aberdeencycleforum.org.uk

Important Note : For insurance reasons all children under 17, need written parental permission. Those turning up as a family can just sign a form available on the day Unaccompanied 13 – 17 years olds will need to bring this with them, contact us for more details of whats required

Aberdeenshire’s Walking and Cycling Strategy

Well it’s been a long time coming, and thanks to everyone who participated in the Online survey. Aberdeenshire Council has now published it’s draft walking and cycling strategy. This is open to public consultation until 24th April, ACF will respond ourselves but comments are welcome from all stakeholders

You can read more, download the strategy document and have your say

Click here to go to Aberdeenshire’s Web Pages

Of course a strategy is really good, but what is even better is implementing it – as we have seen with other “local” local authorities this is the harder part. ACF watches with anticipation…