Case study - Transport Strategy course

Situation

Cycling is becoming more popular and more necessary due to rising fuel costs, increased levels of obesity and poor fitness due to sedentary lifestyles. A cycling increases so does the demand for infrastructure and appropriate transport planning.

As a result of this Warrington Borough Council approached BikeRight! to help them develop a better understanding of how cycling fits within overall transport strategy. What better way to do this than take a group of individuals with transport planning responsibility out onto the streets on bicycles. There is no substitute for first hand experience!

Our solution

We put together a course that would assess the problems transport planners faced in relation to cycling, cyclists behaviour, challenges faced by cyclists on today’s busy roads and the type of infrastructure needed to make cycling a safer, better and more viable experience.

The course became an opportunity to address these issues from a cyclist point of view - whilst out on two wheels as apposed to sitting in a nice warm office. Our course was designed to take the group through typical journeys, highlighting issues as the day developed.

Using our extensive experience of cycling, our instructors and consultants led the group on a cycle tour that included road junctions, roundabouts, cycle paths, traffic lights and pedestrian zones. The ride tool place within both residential, commercial and retail environments.

Benefits

• Developed a much better understanding of issues faced by cyclists

• Experienced first hand the real dangers of cycling on busy roads

• Undertook a real-world assessments of current infrastructure and identified where improvements could be made

Related projects

• Level 3 National Standards cycle training with Transport Initiatives

• Cyclist awareness course with Stagecoach drivers