Many people in Portsmouth have been campaigning to make the town a safer place to cycle.
Portsmouth Cycle Forum was today to launch its strategy called “A City Share” in aim of changing the way the streets are designed to accommodate cyclists and encourage more residents to cycle. The scheme is also hoped to reduce traffic congestion in the city and improve the over all health and well being of residents.
The plan was announced after city council leader Councillor Donna Jones invited the forum to suggest improvements when the group wrote an open letter to the council in August. The forum is now calling for a cross party group to be set up to help tackle the issue. The group wants to research options to create specific space for cycling through the main city routes.
Public transport operators are also to be consulted on to how best to support the increasing number of customers who switch to cycling. A cycle safety action plan is also being drawn up in a similar vein to one already in place in London to address the level of cycle accidents.
Chairman of Portsmouth Cycle Forum said that something has to be done. They are not suggesting that everyone stops driving or should be charged a congestion charge, rather just proposing that is it easier for people to have the opportunity to cycle and use their cars less. Portsmouth has a safety problem so their needs to be action taken to address that issue. Only around 4.6% of people commuting in Portsmouth are made by bike which is a lot lower that the 16% in Cambridge. With the right infrastructure in place, Portsmouth could be an ideal city for biking and it is hoped that the percentage of commuting journeys is to rise by 10% by 2020.
Making changes to the city to make it more cycle friendly will benefit everyone. It should hopefully bring great benefits to the health, wealth and well being of the whole city. Part of the transformation of Portsmouth cycling scene will also be down to employers encouraging and making it easy for commuters to cycle. This could involve providing a cycle shelter, cycle stands and much more. If you are interested in doing this in your workplace visit our website.