A 'quick and cost effective' network

As Chris Boardman, Greater Manchester’s Cycling and Walking Commissioner, prepares to launch the city region’s cycling and walking infrastructure proposal on June 27, Juliana O’Rourke spoke to him about what he has been doing behind the scenes since he was appointed last Autumn

Cyclists on the Oxford Road Cycleway in front of the Cycle City Active City venue at University Place. There will be tours during the conference, with bikes provided by nextbike

Cyclists on the Oxford Road Cycleway in front of the Cycle City Active City venue at University Place. There will be tours during the conference, with bikes provided by nextbike

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) offers an interactive map of all 10 districts, enabling cyclists and pedestrians to explore traffic free routes, on-carriageway cycle facilities, crossings, cycle parking facilities and cycle shops. These Greater Manchester online cycle maps are funded by the Department for Transport and produced in partnership with the Greater Manchester local authorities and TfGM. Digital cartography by Pindar Creative

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) offers an interactive map of all 10 districts, enabling cyclists and pedestrians to explore traffic free routes, on-carriageway cycle facilities, crossings, cycle parking facilities and cycle shops. These Greater Manchester online cycle maps are funded by the Department for Transport and produced in partnership with the Greater Manchester local authorities and TfGM. Digital cartography by Pindar Creative

Cycle lane on Oxford Road, Manchester with cycle counter, autumn 2017. The most cyclists counted on this cycleway in one day was 5,803, reached on October 3

Cycle lane on Oxford Road, Manchester with cycle counter, autumn 2017. The most cyclists counted on this cycleway in one day was 5,803, reached on October 3

We’re looking to create a place where 50 per cent of kids ride to school every day, just as they do in the Netherlands, says Chris Boardman, Greater Manchester's Cycling and Walking Commissioner. ‘Everyone would like to see that, we are all agreed about the “destination”, the challenge is, of course, how do we get there?’

Boardman and his team looked in detail at what needs to happen to reach that end goal, and, with some design input from experts like Brian Deegan – who helped London to develop much of its cycling infrastructure – worked out a strategy. ‘We decided that, rather than focusing on Cycle Super Highways – which are very effective but also incredibly expensive and disruptive –  that we’d start by enabling people to use the assets we already have, that are hidden in plain sight. Much of the time, the problems that cyclists experience aren’t the busy roads, which are often avoidable, it’s getting across the busy major highways. There are lots of quiet roads in Greater Manchester; in fact I would allow a competent child of 12 to cycle on around 80 per cent of them, which is our acid test. But we don’t do it because, when we get to the end of the quiet streets, there is a very busy road at the end.’

So Boardman encouraged his team to look at ways to get cyclists across these busy roads and intersections, at places where they want to cross them, and then get on to the next piece of quiet road, and so on and so on, until they get – guaranteed – to where they want to go. ‘This was a really good place to start because, by focusing on these crossing points, we were beginning to create a cycling and walking network, quickly and cost effectively, that takes people where they want to go.

‘In this way, we believe that we can open up all of greater Manchester in a relatively short space of time,’ says Boardman, ‘at a price we can afford and without causing major disruption. This is our “phase one” strategy. Constructing segregated cycle ways and complicated junctions needs to happen, in fact there are many already being planned or in the works, but our first port of call is enabling better use of what we have, and starting to create demand. The big projects take time  – often several years to complete – and so will happen alongside our crossing strategy.’

Most people drive cars because they don’t have a suitable alternative, Boardman notes. Surveys indicate that people would be receptive to moving to non-private car modes, yet politicians and leaders, possibly due to fear of change, haven’t been enabling this. ‘They’ve been measuring street success by how many cars it moves rather than how many people it moves. Chris’ proposals – investment that would be implemented over the next decade and take Greater Manchester to 2050 – build on research that suggests a significant majority of Greater Manchester residents (77%) are in favour of more protected cycle lanes even if it impacts on other forms of road traffic.

The key driver for success, for Boardman, was that all 10 Greater Manchester districts had to ‘own’ their strategies and their parts of the network plan that TfGM will announce on 27 June. ‘We didn’t hold the pen on any of the design work, each of the districts decided what was needed for themselves, and I’ve been delighted by their ambition. In fact, it took just over three months for all 10 districts to produce a draft network plan. My design team did some work to help ensure each plan meshed at the borders, but this network has come together because the districts wanted it to happen. My team and I are simply facilitators. We have been able to move incredibly quickly on this thanks to support from the districts and Mayor Andy Burnham. To be able to deliver a network in less than a year is unprecedented in the UK.’

As guardians of the £160 million Transforming Cities fund, continues Boardman, we’ve agreed some strict criteria for accessing this money with leaders across the Combined Authority. ‘The boxes that need to be ticked have been very carefully considered so that we know when we spend this money on schemes, at the end of this process, we can almost guarantee there will be modal shift. It is proper joined-up thinking,’ he laughs. ‘One of the key things that has come out of devolution is that local people can get around a table and make things work.’

So what does the future hold for Manchester’s active modes? ‘The split of the budget is approximately £10 million in year one and £50 million for the next three years, which gives us time and resources to get going,’ says Boardman. ‘The sheer desire to change, along with the courage to do it, is making  this possible across Greater Manchester. People have looked at health and congestion and realised that they can’t afford to carry on with a “business as usual” scenario. I have experienced real readiness for change – even if it involves some pain – and the feeling is unanimous. My role is simply to coordinate. Every step of the way, our districts have been courageous and have moved quicker than any other local authorities in order to start delivering this network. I am confident that I can help to deliver the change that has been promised and I’m excited and inspired by the prospect. Quite frankly, I expected my task to be much harder than it has been. I’ve been very pleasantly surprised.’

Chris Boardman, Cycling and Walking Commissioner for Greater Manchester, will be speaking about his new proposals at Cycle City Active City, along with Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, and Nicola Kane, Head of Strategic Planning and Research, Transport for Greater Manchester. See the full programme online.

Greater Manchester: active travel milestones

Summer 2017: Chris Boardman tasked by the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham to produce a report on how to deliver a step change in the numbers of people walking and cycling in the city region.

Summer 2017: Dockless bike share operator Mobike launches. 

Autumn 2017: Bike Life Greater Manchester 2017, published by sustainable transport charity Sustrans and TfGM, identifies that almost seven in 10 people say Greater Manchester would be a better place to live and work if more people cycled. Key findings included:

• 77% of residents are in favour of more protected cycle lanes (the type completely separated from vehicles by a kerb or bollards etc), even if this means less space for other traffic.
• 65% of residents interviewed across the city region would cycle more if on-road cycle routes were physically separated from traffic.
• 69% say Greater Manchester would be a better place to live and work if more people cycled, 31% of residents don’t currently ride a bike but would like to and three-quarters support more investment in cycling.

The results also show several improvements in people’s attitudes to cycling since the last report two years ago. In 2015, for example, 33% of residents said the amount of cycle routes was good and 37% thought the condition was good, while in 2017 this has increased to 40% and 43%.

October 2017: More than 5,000 people a day ride on the new protected cycleway along Oxford Road and Wilmslow Road in Manchester. Cycle counters record more than 5,000 cyclists a day on twelve occasions, with the most cyclists counted in one day being 5,803, reached on October 3.

Winter 2017: The report ‘Made to Move’, by Cycling and Walking Commissioner Chris Boardman, is published on December 15, 2017 and features ambitious targets to improve cycling and walking rates in a bid to improve air quality as part of the Mayor’s green city agenda, as well as tackling congestion and improving public health and wellbeing. The 15-point plan includes proposals to publish a detailed 2018 Greater Manchester-wide walking and cycling infrastructure plan, as set out in the Greater Manchester Strategy. The plan includes a ring-fenced, 10-year, £1.5 billion infrastructure fund for walking and cycling. This would bring Greater Manchester’s spend on cycling and walking in line with other major conurbations, including London and Oslo. Other recommendations include:

• A highway design guide
• Street festivals to trial street closures and temporary schemes to trial new initiatives
• Cutting the number of lorry and van movements
• Traffic and parking controls around schools
• Developing a street satisfaction index

May 2018: Nearly 400 guided walks are to take place across Greater Manchester in May as part of a festival to encourage people to make journeys on foot and explore the region. Cycling and Walking Commissioner for Greater Manchester, Chris Boardman MBE, says: ‘Since it first ran in 2015, more and more people annually have been using the Greater Manchester Walking Festival as the inspiration to start leading a more active life; to get their kids spending more time outdoors; to meet up with old friends and, in many cases, to make new ones.’ 

June 2018: Launch of the Greater Manchester city region's cycling and walking infrastructure proposal on June 27 in Salford by Cycling and Walking Commissioner for Greater Manchester, Chris Boardman.

June 2018: Cycle City Active City 2018: Chris Boardman, Cycling and Walking Commissioner for Greater Manchester; Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester; Jesse Norman, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department of Transport, Julie Harrison, CEO, British Cycling; Nicola Kane, Head of Strategic Planning and Research, Transport for Greater Manchester; Laura Hales, Head of Development, England, Cycling UK; Isabel Dedring, Global Transport Leader, Arup, and many more gather in Manchester for two days of insight, discussion, cycling and walking tours, workshops, speed learning sessions and networking. Join us to see how Manchester has raised the bar for cycling and walking, and how your town and city can do the same.