bemoreeco

The big news of the week is Bristol becoming the UK’s first Cycling City. Bristol has been awarded £100m to double the number of people cycling in the city. As reported in The Guardian:

Chief among the recipients is Bristol, which saw off competition from Manchester and Leicester to be named the country’s first “cycling city”. The city council, in partnership with neighbouring South Gloucestershire council, won the bid promising Britain’s first Paris-style on-street bike rental network, the offer of free bikes to people in deprived communities, state-of-the-art shower and locker facilities in the city centre, dedicated commuter “cycle ways” linking the suburbs and the centre, and an ambitious expansion in training for schoolchildren. It will match its £11.4m grant with the same amount from the two councils and their partners over the next 30 months.

It’s certainly an ambitious plan with a lot of promise. Will it be successful? Doubling the number of cyclists is not going to be issue and it requires committed activists to see the plan through the politics of running a city. Be sure to also read the Guardian’s Environmental Editor’s take on the decision: