Mayor of Copenhagen talk on transport - Town Hall - April 6th

Probably a bit yawn for some, but could be interesting - about how they made copenhagen the eco-metropolis it's become and plans for the future. Should be a good deal of bike chat and inspiration.

Was quite interesting when he focused on bikes... the Q&A was only 2 questions and some guy from Cov (not me) hijacked one of those!

Basically the messages were:

Birmingham is too Hily for bikes (he backed down on this one a bit later - and said he was just making comparison with the flatness of C'hagen)

Bikes that store energy to release later are great (wtf?)

Lead by example - the more who cycle the more who will follow...

So, in a nutshell. Keep riding kids.

yep, it's hilly, but not too hilly

shame i missed this, sounds like it was interesting. Was there anyone from birmingham city council?

If he's the guy who oversaw the shut down ungdomshuset he aint that cool. The city is for everyone not just the architects, planners and politicians.
'Lead by example' is the only viable way to encourage cycling to grow. Investment in the bike communications and networks should be driven by those that cycle rather than a central policy. I read recently that oxford and york have received substantial money from the government, and yet these cities have a well established physical and communital infrastructure. Surely the money would have a greater impact in cities/regions such as ours.

As for hills, HTFU.

Investment in the bike communications and networks should be driven by those that cycle rather than a central policy.

agreed. I was going to say the exact same thing (but not as eloquently).

Birmingham aint that big at all really. Places like Seattle are way smaller, they have better bike infastructure (even bike racks on buses?!) and drivers are more accepting of cyclists. I think Birmingham just feels big because all the major roads (stratford rd, pershore rd, bristol rd, hagley rd, etc) into the city centre are so accommodating for cars, riding a bike on them can seem daunting.

shame i missed this, sounds like it was interesting. Was there anyone from birmingham city council?

Think there must've been - plenty of people there, wether the key decision makers were there or not remains to be seen.

If he's the guy who oversaw the shut down ungdomshuset he aint that cool. The city is for everyone not just the architects, planners and politicians.
'Lead by example' is the only viable way to encourage cycling to grow. Investment in the bike communications and networks should be driven by those that cycle rather than a central policy. I read recently that oxford and york have received substantial money from the government, and yet these cities have a well established physical and communital infrastructure. Surely the money would have a greater impact in cities/regions such as ours.

As for hills, HTFU.

Looks from the article (only scanned) that Faderhuset and the courts were responsible for closing that place.[B][/B]

I guess there's a wider debate on whether to invest in areas that are already showing successful growth, and have potential for further growth, or invest in areas where the current levels of cycling don't point towards a growth trend. A delicate balancing game for those with the money to share around.

Did Birmingham submit a bid to become a Cycling Demonstration Town? I know Cov did but wasn't succesful. It's not like they're not trying to get the money, there's just not enough being made available for every town and city in the country to benefit from.

Re: Hills... i'd like to see him go to the peak district then come back and say Birmingham is hilly!

... all the major roads (stratford rd, pershore rd, bristol rd, hagley rd, etc) into the city centre are so accommodating for cars, riding a bike on them can seem daunting.

In an ideal world perhaps, there'd be cycle training available (mandatory even) that was a pre-requisite to driving licence process. Drivers'd then be more considerate of cyclists, and cyclists would/could ride more confidently on the roads.