The team behind the Dream

In October 2005 the Lancaster district became one of just six places in the country to be granted the status of a Cycling Demonstration Town by Cycling England (supported by the Department for Transport).Lancaster City Council were given £1.5 million in funding to show how increased investment could encourage more people to get on their bikes.

Together with match funding from a variety of sources, as well as the enthusiasm and commitment from a whole range of partners, including local cycling groups, the grant was seen as a fantastic opportunity for the district to show the rest of the country how we could turn it into the cycling capital of the north west.

In February 2006, the Cycling Demonstration Town (CDT) Project was launched with a simple aim - to encourage twice as many people to ‘go by bike’.

The project team, made up of just a handful of dedicated city council officers and a Sustrans Bike It Officer, has been busy spreading the cycling word through schools, businesses, community groups, the local press and even on the side of council vehicles!

Have you ever wondered who’s been behind everything cycling over the last 2 years? It’s time to reveal the team behind the cycling dream!

Rachel’s overall responsibility is to ensure that everyone gets the opportunity to make the most of cycling in the district by helping and encouraging residents to give cycling a go.

Some of you may have already seen her leading a group of cyclists out of Lancaster on a Sunday morning during her programme of guided rides or manning a cycling information stall in Market Square.

Through organising rides, events, training and allocating funding to community cycling groups to name but a few, Rachel works closely with the rest of the team to ensure that as many people as possible are kept up-to-speed on what’s new, what’s on and how residents can get involved.

Reassuring funders that their investment is money well spent, Rachel must evaluate the success of the project every step of the way and, along with her team members, discover new  ways to entice fellow residents to join them in exploring our glorious city, coast and countryside by bike.

She said:  “This is a really exciting project to work on because the challenges are so varied.  However, we do come across some negativity.  Everyone seems to have an opinion on cyclists these days but it’s nice to think that we are making a difference. 

“There’s still much work to be done and fun to be had so keep an eye out for details of more events, training and rides we have in store for 2008.”

Employed by Sustrans but based in council offices and supported by the team, Kathy has so far identified 18 local schools to be granted Bike It status.  She works closely with the CDT team and Lancashire County Council School Travel Plan Advisors to offer pupils the skills and confidence to cycle safely in and around today’s roads whether it be to school or for other journeys.

Bike It schools have been given the opportunity to put their best pedals forward with Bikeability training for children between the ages of 9 and 13.   Also on offer are competitions, fun events, Dr Bike and additional cycle parking to cater for the increasing numbers of children turning up to lessons on their bikes.

She said: “There are so many benefits to children who cycle to school. Helping so many of them overcome the barriers and start cycling is really rewarding.

“At some schools, I have seen as many as half of the children cycle to school in one day, and many of the schools have achieved high levels regularly.  You can see from their faces that these children are enjoying the independence and the exercise and we know that by starting cycling regularly now they are more likely to continue cycling and stay fit and healthy for the rest of their lives.”  

Since then, Matt has been working with local employers and their staff to promote a healthier, happier workforce by encouraging them to cycle to and from work and removing any barriers which may have discouraged them.

Each of these key workplaces has been awarded a sum of money to spend on improvements and activities to help encourage staff to cycle to work.  Matt continues to help to co-ordinate new cycle parking, events, training, and other cycle initiatives like pool bikes and bicycle user groups.

Matt is now looking to build on the success of the excellent work done in recent years by the CDT team which as an example has resulted in Lancaster University’s recent travel survey which show an increase in staff cycling to work from 11.5% in 2003 to 13.1% in 2007.

Commenting on his role he said: "My job is to get more people to cycle to work more often by working with organisations to break down perceived barriers and encourage those who want to enjoy the benefits of cycling to work."

“Our team sees the results of our hard work everyday on the cycle network in and around Lancaster and Morecambe.  Cycling to work is not only quicker, cheaper and healthier but also means we are all playing our part in making the District a greener and more enjoyable place to live."

It’s because of this that a major proportion of the funding has been allocated to not only improve the quality and accessibility of our cycleways but to expand them too.  This arm of the project is managed by Gary Bowker and his colleagues within the Engineering Team of Planning Services. The team has been ably assisted throughout the project by colleagues in other council departments, Lancashire County Council and our partner contractor Cumbrian Industrials Ltd.

So far they have overseen the opening up of in excess of 20km of additional safe travel both on and off road for cyclists, improvements to existing cycle routes, opening up additional points of access to traffic free paths and the installation of numerous direction and way-finding signs to point riders in the right direction. 

Commenting on whether the project has been a success Gary said:  “Indications so far are that there has been the desired increase in cycling levels throughout the district.  Samples taken from our automatic cycle counters suggest a year on year increase of cycling journeys of around 7%.  This compares favourably to continental towns or cities that have undertaken similar projects and levels of investment.”

Originally the project was due to end in October 2008, but due to the success of all the demonstration towns, Cycling England has recently invited them all to bid for additional funding to allow them to continue spreading the cycling word for a further three years.

In the Lancaster district, the extra cash would allow plans to go ahead to develop new cycle friendly routes into and across Lancaster city centre, health related cycling projects and continued work with major employers to support their cycle to work plans. The result of their bid is due to be announced soon.