blog:
www.stibasa.blogspot.com.
e-group:
groups.google.com/group/stibasa
Saturday 13 October 2007: B&D Rights of Way Improvement Plan
See the entry in the
stibasa blog for this day.
The questionnaire can be
downloaded from here.
Wednesday 26 September 2007
Lists of cycle restrictions, block offs, etc that need fixing. Please let me know of any additions / corrections.
See blog on 26 September for more info.
Word version. Excel version
Friday 1 June 2007: Stibasa artwork
I've made
a pdf document that can be used as a generic handbill / poster promoting cycling locally.
Monday 23 April 2007: New stibasa blog and Google group
I've set up a blog at
www.stibasa.blogspot.com so my future
ramblings will be there. I'll try to put links on the links page. As to news I haven't yet decided.
I've also set up an
e-group,
primarily for LCC members in LB Barking & Dagenham, but also for anyone else interested in LCC
B&D and/or stibasa.
Monday 15 April 2007: International Design Competition for Barking Riverside
Date: 13/04/2007
Details: A design competition is to be held to help create a new inspiring
urban district.
An international competition for a new sustainable community has marked its
deadline for interested parties as 26 April 2007. A new community is planned
for Barking Riverside, London, in the midst of the Thames Gateway. It is the
aim of the competition to create one of the most important and inspiring new
sustainable communities in London.
It could end up housing more than 26,000
people, and it already has parkland, access to the river, improved transport
connections and a close proximity to the Barking town centre.
As a riverside
location, Barking Riverside aspires to deliver a blend of high-density design
and will offer a variety of tenures and affordable homes. This will be set in a
green environment, including both parkland and open space, and will be designed for the benefit of the entire community. Access to the riverside is a priority, and there are plans to open up 2 kilometres of riverfront to walkways and cycle paths.
The design competition aims to produce a new sustainable community where people
want to settle and stay, thus creating a new, inspiring urban district.
Two
independent design teams will be selected to work with Barking Riverside Ltd.
on two (Eastern and Western) stages of sub-framework plans. These plans will
be the first two of four and they will be set within the context of the
approved master plan and the Urban Design Guidelines, and will total the first
4,000 homes to be built on the site.
For more information on the competition,
please visit
www.barkingriverside.co.uk.
Sunday 15 April 2007: New LCC web addresses
New user-friendly addresses:
www.lcc.org.uk/campaigns;
www.lcc.org.uk/membership;
www.lcc.org.uk/jobs;
www.lcc.org.uk/consultancy;
www.lcc.org.uk/rides;
www.lcc.org.uk/londoncyclist;
www.lcc.org.uk/community;
www.lcc.org.uk/contact;
www.lcc.org.uk/news;
www.lcc.org.uk/info;
www.lcc.org.uk/about.
Sunday 15 April 2007: CTC Family membership offer
If you have family members you think would love CTC, we'd like to welcome them
to our family of cyclists. That's why anytime before June 2007, CTC members can
upgrade to a family membership for only £10*. So come on, get the family
involved.
CTC has been fighting for cyclists' rights for over 100 years; last year alone
we successfully fought and won many high profile campaigns including the
"highway code" campaign and the "Daniel Cadden" case. This year, CTC will be
fighting even harder for you with, amongst others, the Bikes On Trains and
Improved Cycling Facilities campaigns. CTC needs more members than ever.
By signing up family who are not yet members, you help us grow and campaign on
your behalf. Not only will your family thank you for introducing them to CTC,
o will we - with this £10 special offer.
Simply call 0870 873 0061 (national rate) quoting 'ectc' and give the details of the family
members you want to join. Yes, it's that simple, so come on, upgrade to a
family membership today for only £10.
Sunday 15 April 2007: Nationwide Access Register
New website aimed principally at people who have special access needs -
www.directenquiries.com.
Sunday 8 April 2007: Stealth bus route
I was looking up a journey on
TfL's journey planner which I thought should
use the 366 route (Cyprus <--> Redbridge). It didn't - and my search culminated in discovering on
this page that the journey planner denies it exists! I rang (020) 7222 1234 to report it, and after some
difficulty getting them to understand what I was saying, I was told that they didn't deal with that
kind of problem. I asked them if they'd pass it on - something I rather hoped they'd offer to do - and they said
they would. Meanwhile,
here's the timetable.
Friday 6 April 2007: New Highway Code shows contempt for cycling and safety
Road safety minister Stephen Ladyman has laid the new Highway Code before Parliament. If not contested by
MPs or Lords, it will be approved within 40 days [from 28 March - about 7 May].
The
new Code will require cyclists to use cycle facilities 'wherever possible', irrespective of the
consequences for their safety. Similarly cyclists will continue to be recommended to ride around the
outside of roundabouts, in the place where conflict is most likely. The rule that they 'should' wear
a cycle helmet is also retained.
70% of the 4,000 public responses to the draft Code came from cyclists, and there were as many responses
from cycling organisations (41 responses)
as from local authorities and road safety organisations together. Despite this, the Government has chosen
to ignore completely the clear concerns expressed about the impact of the new rules on cycling safety, and
the almost certain increase in counter-claims of contributory negligence that will arise when cyclists are
injured.
From the outset Ladyman has refused to meet with the cycling organisations to discuss the draft document.
However, there were more promising 'leaks' from civil servants that there would be changes. We were also
told that the new Code would not be ready before 2008. Cyclists can now rightly feel aggrieved that they
have been deceived and that prejudices and ignorance have ridden rough-shod over considerations about their
safety.
CCN, CTC and other cycling organisations are now considering their options, but will need the support of
cyclists throughout the UK to overturn this travesty, as we must. In the meantime, please encourage
cyclists once more to contribute to the Cyclists' Defence Fund and if you are likely to meet with your
MP for other reasons, please make him or her aware of your concerns.
Cyclists' Defence Fund.
Thursday 5 April 2007: Generic Doctor Bike website
I set up this
generic 'Doctor Bike' website over a year ago. It's
not very exciting, I'm afraid finding the time to update it is not easy. It's designed to explain what (who)
Doctor Bike is - and provide links to details of events where s/he'll be and to bike maintenance info on line.
Thursday 5 April 2007: Cityräder
I found
www.fahrraddirektshop.de - a Dresden bike shop's
(German only) website with what
look like really well specced hub geared bikes for really keen prices. Search
this page (with your brower's search facility) for
"Cityräder" or (singular) "Cityrad" to see what I mean. Also quite useful for learning the German words for bits of bikes!
Thursday 5 April 2007: Find your stolen bike on the Internet?
"The easiest way to sell a stolen bike is on the Internet using
services such as
Craigslist and eBay.
Finetoothcog takes over the menial task of
scanning these sites. Like a 'fine tooth comb' the fine tooth cog
covers the electronic sales methods and keeps you informed of bikes
for sale similar to the one you describe. It sends you an email digest
each evening and provides a webinterface to viewing what bikes are for
sale similar to yours."
Thursday 5 April 2007: Odd boundary for 20mph zone
I find it strange that a 20mph zone should come to an end at the junction of Abbey Road and Town Quay (Highbridge Road)
in Barking. Town Quay is part of the historic core of Barking and the road round the quay itself is narrow and traffic calmed.
The end of the 20mph zone should logically have been at the slip road to the A406.
Thursday 5 April 2007: Re~cycle East
According to
London Cyclist (April - May 2007) page 49,
Re~cycle East has a collection point at Vauxhall - (020) 7793 1110. I couldn't see any details on the
Re~cycle East website.
(Recycle - East is part of Re-Cycle. This is a small UK-based charity that aims to provide affordable bikes
to local people in Africa. This helps improve access to employment, education, healthcare and social
opportunities in rural communities.
From their Colchester UK base, they prepare and ship donated cycles to partner projects in Africa.
In Africa, they become essential transport and employment, and provide much enjoyment too.)
Thursday 5 April 2007: Velorution
Velorution is a bike shop, but also a cycling website with news, reviews and
stuff. Hard to explain -
sui generis. Note: Something strange sometimes happens when clicking on
hyperlinks to velorution. If this affects you try typing (or pasting)
www.velorution.biz into your browser's
address bar.
Thursday 5 April 2007: CTC Maps
The
CTC Maps is a useful looking source of on line maps and GPS data, along with
other cycle touring related information. Just the sort of information CTC has collated for donkeys' years, but now much more
computerised - including being on the web.
Thursday 5 April 2007: Eco Lidl?
The
Barking & Dagenham Recorder reports that the new Lidl (under 26 flats) where
The Robin Hood
used to stand will have 11 windturbines. Couldn't easily find anything about this on LIdl's own website.
Thursday 5 April 2007: Drought Buster siphon-pump
The
Watergreen is a simple syphon
and bulb pump device intended to enable you to get grey water from your bath or
rainwater from your water butt to put on your garden - saving mains water.
It is important not to use grey water on food crops.
Thursday 5 April 2007: New canal cycling rules / code
London Cyclist (April - May 2007) has an advert from British Waterways
catchily explaining the new code. "Two tings: ting your bell twice, pass slowly,
be nice." The same magazine has an excellent article by Barry Mason, in which it is
expalined that permits allowing cyclists on the towpaths in part of the system in London.
The article says that the permit free area is outlined
here, but it wasn't obvious to me.
Thursday 5 April 2007: Magical Heritage of Essex
This is a
portal to eight Essex attractions. I've included it here as it is
often striking that we haven't seen what is in our own "backyard" and because of
the current newsworthiness of not flying.
Thursday 5 April 2007: NICE Electric vehicles
NICE (No Internal Combustion Engine) produces a 2 seater electric car, a small
electric van and an electric motor scooter. Using lead-acid batteries they have
the usual range (and speed) limitations that electric vehicles didn't really ought
to have. They are visually appealing though.
Thursday 5 April 2007: Underground closures / c2c Diversion this weekend
From Good Friday 6 April until Sunday 8 April (owing to Network Rail engineering
work):
(1) No Underground train service between Plaistow and East Ham (bus replacement).
(2) No c2c services
to/from Fenchurch Street, Limehouse or West Ham (c2c trains will operate
between Barking and Liverpool Street via Stratford.)
(3) No Hammersmith &
City Line service between Barking and Whitechapel
Thursday 5 April 2007: Bikes on trains campaign
A message from Jon Snow: "Cycling and rail travel are perfect partners. The
combination provides a 'doorstep-to-destination' option for longer-distance
journeys which might otherwise be possible only by car. It is also a really
simple way to set about tackling a whole range of problems all in one go:
obesity, air pollution, congestion and climate change to name but a few!
The Government is currently working on a White Paper which will determine
rail policy and spending plans for the next 30 years. It's due out in July,
so the time to influence it is right now.
You can automatically email your MP urging them to support cycle-rail
integration using a website set up by CTC - the UK's national cyclists'
organisation. Personal anecdotes about the problems (or examples of good
practice) you have encountered will help them to impress on Ministers that
this is an issue which really needs addressing.
So I'd urge you to visit
www.ctc.org.uk/cyclerail and follow the instructions
from there. And do pass this message onto other cyclist friends.
Remember this is a "once in 30 years" opportunity to influence Government
policy on this vital issue. Please get emailing - every message counts!
Yours in cycling
Jon Snow
President
CTC, the national cyclists' organisation."
Thursday 5 April 2007: rides to the tour de France - pre-registration
LCC has set up a
pre-registration page for rides to the Tour de France
prologue event on Saturday 7 July.
Family groups and
children will probably be more interested in the publicity cavalcade and all
the events
in the "People's Village" than the time trial race.
The web page will be highlighted on the
LCC home page from next week.
LCC members wishing to ride, or with friends/family who wish to
should contact their borough co-ordinator. There will be feeder rides from many parts of the capital
and it is recommended that riders join their nearest one.
Thursday 5 April 2007: Oyster confusion
There's an announcement being tannoyed at Barking & Gospel Oak Line stations
saying that "prepaid Oyster cards" are not valid on most parts of the Silverlink Metro group
of lines. What this means is that Oyster Pay-as-you-go (PAYG, formerly pre-pay) is not valid. It is quite
concerning that Silverlink should not have got the terminology right - the mame "Prepay"
changed to PAYG ages ago, but more importantly it is not the
card
that is valid (or not) but the ticket (product) on the card. The card itself
is only a container.
It's all very well using these terms loosely for members of the
public, but train companies need to get it right.
Friday 30 March 2007: E-cube commercial fridge energy saver
This gaj works by fooling the cooling sensor in the fridge to use the
e-cube's own
temperature - which emulates that of food - rather than air temperature - air warms
quickly compared to food. Not suitable for domestic fridges, sadly.
Monday 26 March 2007: Pro-road pricing petitions
there are over 1.4 million signatures on a petition to the PM to scrap the
planned vehicle tracking and road pricing policy. If you agree
that the fairest way of paying for roads is to charge for them at the point
of use, you could sign these petitions:
"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Introduce road pricing
nationwide and channel the money into improving public transport and
conditions for walking and cycling."
Submitted by Greg King - Deadline to
sign up by: 7 November 2007.
"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Don't Scrap the planned
vehicle tracking and road pricing policy."
Submitted by Tim Lewis - Deadline to
sign up by 11 March 2007
Monday 26 March 2007: Bike TV
BikeTV is a half-hour (28 min.) 'television' show produced by an
eclectic group of bicycling enthusiasts in the NYC area and beyond.
The show usually features three of four stories an episode about various
bicycle phenomena. Though much of the show takes place in NYC, we often
showcase events in other big bicycling cities as well.
Our mission is to
enlighten and encourage people of every age and persuasion to get on a bike by
showing the very diverse and fun nature of it all.
Monday 26 March 2007: Marks Gate Agenda 21 fun run
Runners, sponsorship and marshalls are sought for this fun run on Saturday 21 April, arranged by the
Marks Gate Community. I will add more details on the
events page when I get them.
Agenda 21 is an umbrella organisation or idea of local groups acting
on the sustainability agenda.
Monday 26 March 2007: State of London Debate
Every year, the
State of London Debate brings Londoners together to discuss key issues
affecting them.
Open and free to everyone, the conference is your opportunity to question the
Mayor, policy makers and representatives from London's agencies on topics
such as safety, transport, the environment and the 2012 Olympic Games.
This year's conference will take place on Saturday 12 May 2007, and
registration is now open.
Monday 26 March 2007: New recycling plant
The
Barking & Dagenham Post reported
on 14 March that the UK's first plastic recycling plant will open in Dagenham
in December 2007. It will have the capability to process 35K tonnes of waste
and will bring 50 jobs. It will be operated by
Closed Loop London, and "Marks
and Sparks" have already committed to sending their waste there.
Monday 26 March 2007: Council and Borough Commit to Fairtrade
Based on an item in the
Barking & Dagenham Post (28 Feb).
The council is committed to working towards Fairtrade status for the borough.
The council already serves fair trade tea and coffee at meetings in the Civic
Centre and Barking Town Hall but needs more businesses and organisations - especially cafés - to join.
More information here.
Monday 26 March 2007: Premership Grounds Ride
Congratulations to Dagenham's Keith Ross and cardiologist Andrew Deaner who did a
sponsored bike ride round every Premiership Football Stadium in tne country.
Read more here.
Based on
an item in the Barking & Dagenham Post (21 Mar).
Monday 26 March 2007: Cycling for Climate Change Week
Saturday 14 - Sunday 22 July has been dubbed Cycling for Climate Change week by
CTC. See
www.cyclingforchange.com for general details and
stibasa's rides and events page for things happening locally.
Monday 26 March 2007: The LCC office is recruiting
Chief Executive
LCC is looking to appoint a Chief Executive with the drive and
imagination to lead an organisation which is changing London.
Corporate Membership and Marketing Officer
An exciting new post created to develop our membership and
fundraising programmes through marketing LCC to businesses and other
organisations.
Membership Support Assistant
LCC is looking to recruit a Membership Support Assistant to support
the delivery of our membership and fundraising programme.
Please see
www.lcc.org.uk/jobs for full details of these posts and
how to reply. Any questions, please contact the office on 020 7234
9310.
Sunday 25 March 2007: Sustainable Communities Bill
Are you concerned at the decline of local communities, closures of post
offices, small shops, banks, police stations, pubs, and encroachment on
green belt land?
If so look up
www.localworks.org for details of the Sustainable
Communities Bill and the rally on Monday 26 March.
Sunday 25 March 2007: Hubbub April/May 2007
Aplogies to LCC members in B&D who didn't get Hubbub with London Cyclist.
Here it is for you to download..
Sunday 25 March 2007: Biodegradable Sandwich Packaging
The sandwich business
Foo-Go's
packaging is biodegradable, even the see-through bits (which
are made of corn starch) and a few weeks after use it is no
more than a memory. ‘We would rather see our packaging
disappear than the planet,’ says Foo-Go.
Not sure that quite makes sense, but we get the point.
Sunday 25 March 2007: Solar Cooking
Solar cooking
puts a black pot at the centre of a set of reflectors so that it
can soak up solar energy, cooking the pot’s contents along
the way. It’s a neat trick on a camping holiday
(
www.soltac.com), but can be a life-saver in the developing
world. Users don’t have to spend so much of their time
collecting wood for fuel and families spend less time
breathing in smoky air (
www.solarcookers.org).
Sunday 25 March 2007: Electrisave
Electrisave is a
portable energy monitor that keeps a check on exactly how
much electricity is being used in the user’s home or office.
The makers claim their gadget cuts
most user’s power bill by up to 25 per cent.
Sunday 25 March 2007: SoftAir furniture
Brainchild of Swedish designer Jan Dranger,
(
SoftAir sofas and chairs
are air-filled. That means that the material and energy used in manufacture
and distribution is less than a fifth of that of the mainstream
equivalent. It’s furniture to buy by mail-order; a sofa weighs a
bit less than 10kg, so you could take it home on your bike.
Sunday 25 March 2007: Renewable Fashion
Scottvest says it:
‘Provides the ultimate gear management solution for your
mobile lifestyle.’ That means you can take your mobile, iPod
and the rest with you when you’re out and about and solar
panels built into your jacket keep batteries topped up as you
go.
Sunday 25 March 2007: Recycled shoes
Most shoemakers use plastics, glues and other raw materials
that are polluting and don’t biodegrade.
Terra Plana doesn’t, making its
shoes out of
recycled foam and leather that is chrome-free (the metal is
widely used in the leather dyeing process) and by stitching
together all sorts of recycled materials – everything from old
tweed to bits of parachute.
Sunday 25 March 2007: T-cup service instead of Circle line
I'm mystified by the concept of delays on the Circle line. Surely the trains go
round and round and passengers just catch the first train (or in many cases
a District, Met or H&C train)? I suppose they could bunch - but they would soon unbunch.
As to having a timetable, seeing as it is not published to passengers, they are not going to
know that a train is late and anyway only care when the next one is coming.
TfL, however, do see the problem:
"The Circle Line and Hammersmith & City Line services will be replaced by
what is being called a 'T Cup' service, from
Hammersmith to Edgware Road via Liverpool Street and Tower Hill.
Trains will start at Hammersmith, go to Edgware Road and then back to
Hammersmith in reverse.
This is to create a recovery period (ie, a layover point) in the trips, which
the Circle line does
not have currently and which causes many of its problems. At present, trains
operating the Circle Line simply go 'round and round', so once running late
there is nowhere that lost time can be caught up."
Source:
www.urbantransport-technology.com/projects/london/ [adapted]
Diagram
here.
This T-cup sevice is going to cause some real confusion at Edgware Road. And
what is the front of the train going to indicate when it leaves Hammersmith?
It can't say Edgware Road (even though it's going there twice!). Circle line is
easy to understand. Are they going to call the new service the T-cup? How will
people visualize it?
As the Circle, Met, H&C and District are in fact one network (ie all the
lines join)TfL can pretty much run any service they want over these lines - more
so when the train stock is standardised. During engineering work they'll happily
dispatch a District line train from Barking doing the H&C route (ie round the
top of the circle).
Using the bay roads at Barking and
Plaistow, the double tracks at Whitechapel, and the terminal tracks at Tower Hill
and Masion House they must surely have enough scope to turn around and come
back without running unintelligible spiral services, though I don't see why they
shouldn't make more use of Edgware Road if they can.
Sunday 25 March 2007: Proposed changes to H&C and Met services
Apparently in connection with the T-cup service above, the H&C and Met lines
are planned to swap termini. The H&C will use Aldgate and the Met will use
Barking. I can't see how this helps anything - except making the "City" in "Hamm.
and City" more meaningful!
Sunday 25 March 2007: Quickrelease TV
Quickreleasetv is a brand new site featuring video and audio cycling-related podcasts.
Sunday 25 March 2007: Street Sensation
"London's favourite streets. Entire streetscapes showing over 3000 shops, bars
and restaurants in the liveliest areas of London - Oxford Street and Regent
Street; Portobello Road and Notting Hill; the King's Road in Chelsea; Carnaby
Street; Covent Garden, Bond Street; Knightsbridge; Soho and Chinatown;
Islington and Camden."
What
Street Sensation shows is
images of the actual frontage - rows of shops etc - and underneath each shop some
information and links. Novel.
Sunday 25 March 2007: B&D Council in CTC London Benchmarking Project
Congratulations to B&D Council for taking part.
More details of the benchmarking project.
Sunday 25 March 2007: Underground announcement oddity
A few weeks ago I heard an announcement at Embankment station. It
started "Ladies and Gentlemen". Polite, but uninformative. Then it
gave a reason [for delay]. Interesting maybe, but unhelpful. Then it said
"in both directions". By now we're tantalised. And finally it told you which
line was affected - the first thing you needed to know. "The ---- line has
delays in both directions, because of ..." is how to do it.
Sunday 25 March 2007: Women's cycle clothing
A cyclist living in Hackney is doing some research aimed at women urban
cyclists. She's trying to find out whether women feel satisfied by the cycling
gear and clothing that's currently available to them.
She has an
online survey.
This is private research and isn't done on behalf of
any company or organisation.
Sunday 25 March 2007: Netmums
"
Netmums is a unique local network for
mums with a wealth of information and advice on being a mum or dad in your
home town.
The network helps mums cope and enjoy being a mum.
If you are a
Dad, don't be put off by the name. Dads are welcome too! ... as are
childminders, nannies, grandparents, health visitors... and anyone working
with families."
Sunday 25 March 2007: Netregs
"
NetRegs provides free environmental guidance for small businesses in the UK.
We will help you to understand what you need to do to comply with
environmental legislation and protect the environment. We may even help to
save you money by showing you ways to use your resources more efficiently!"
Sunday 25 March 2007: Naked Streets
A road sign in the small town of Makkinga in the Netherlands says
‘Verkeersbordvrij’: ‘free of traffic signs.’ Motorists are meant to be kinder
to soft and squishy urbanites such as pedestrians and cyclists when there’s no
white lines, speed bumps, slow down signs or road markings of any sort.
And the idea is catching on, with trials taking place all over Europe,
including in Kensington, London.
Such a civilised approach to traffic calming tends to work best when there’s a
healthy number of soft and squishy urbanites wandering about.
It’s the critical mass concept taken to the extreme: if there are more and
more cyclists using the roads, drivers have to slow down.
Here are two videos showing opposite ends of the concept. The first is a
video of an unmarked traffic junction in Saigon, but it could be almost
anywhere in Asia. It’s mesmerising to watch the cyclists, pedestrians and
scooter riders successfully negotiating the junction at speed. Cars and buses
also use the junction successfully but are forced to go slow.
Saturday 24 March 2007: Save the Eastway Legacy
See London Cyclist April/May 2007 (page 5). The successor to Eastway Cycle
Circuit (for the Olympics, Eastway is being closed and a replacement
built) is threatened to be a pale shadow of Eastway, despite the promises
made when the closure was first proposed. See
www.lcc.org.uk/campaigns/ to get involved / protest.
Saturday 24 March 2007: British Waterways abolish cycle permits in London
From mid May 2007. Sorry I have no more details.
Saturday 24 March 2007: TfL report on pool bikes for business
If you're pressing your employer to do more for cycling (if you're not,
why not?) you may find this useful:
TfL report on pool bikes for business.
Saturday 24 March 2007: Rides database and list
The LCC
'Rides and Events'
database is now performing well after suffering teething problems on the new website.
LCC rides can also be entered on the
lccrider email list.
Saturday 24 March 2007: Bike theft report
There was a short report in the Independent about cycle theft
here, but I'll reproduce it below anyway. It's a useful warning (as if we didn't need
one already) not only about locking our bikes but being careful about
buying on eBay.
---
1,200 bikes are stolen every day, says study
By Alan Jones
Published: 16 February 2007
More than 1,200 pedal bicycles are being stolen every day across the
UK, research has revealed.
A study by the insurance company Direct Line suggested that about
440,000 bikes are being taken by thieves each year.
Direct Line "planted" locked bikes in 10 cities and within 24 hours
most of them had been stolen, with half disappearing within just two
hours.
A bike left in Croydon, south London, was stolen within an hour and
bikes locked up in the centre of Manchester and Liverpool lasted less
than two hours.
Direct Line warned that consumers could be fuelling the problem by not
checking the ownership of a bicycle if they buy one second-hand.
Almost a half of second-hand bicycles are bought over the internet,
where people are far less likely to ask about previous ownership.
Andrew Lowe, of Direct Line, said: "With bike theft on the increase
cyclists need to be more careful than ever when leaving their bikes
locked up in public.
"Using a good lock and placing the bike in an open and visible area
will all help. However, our experiment demonstrated just how quickly a
bike can be taken even when locked up in a public area," he added.
Saturday 24 March 2007: 20mph Parliament debate
From Richard Evans, leader of Merton branch of LCC:
"John Leech MP (Manchester, Withington, LD) introduced a ten minute rule Bill
on 27 Feb to reduce the default speed limit from 30mph to 20mph on
residential roads. The speech is posted on the Parliament website -
http://tinyurl.com/2vnw97
Hurrah!
MCC and LCC have been campaigning for 20mph default limit for years (see
manifesto at
http://www.mertoncyclists.org.uk). It is in my view the
single greatest step we can take towards better road safety in this country,
especially for cyclists and pedestrians who in themselves cause no danger.
I have sent a supportive email to the MP."
Saturday 24 March 2007: Berlin: cycling up to 11.5% with just 9 deaths in 2006
The latest cycling data from Berlin is now out. Berlin has half the
population of London but with a 15% increase last year now has 11.5% modal
share for cycling, almost ten times that of London.
TfL still uses for reference purposes a figure of 5% cycle share in Berlin
which dates from the early 1990s is now clearly both totally out of
date and also demonstrative of TfL's lack of vision. (incidentally 5% is also
TfL's "ambitious" target for London to reach by 2025).
In 2006 9 cyclists were killed (2005: 7), while there were 512 (2005: 493)
seriously injured and 4,002 cases (2005: 4,118) of minor injuries. In 2003
there were 23 cyclists killed. Deaths and serious injuries tended to involve
cyclists going the wrong way on tracks, riding on the pavement or most of all
being hit by drivers turning across their (cycle) paths. It would be
interesting to find some detailed research showing how they've managed to get
the death rate down so much.
Allowing for population, Berlin has about the same number of cycle deaths as
London, despite cycling levels being almost ten times that of London. Berlin
is further north than London, has harsher weather and excellent, cheap public
transport so offers less fertile ground for increasing cycling. However the
experience in Berlin shows that cycling can have a high modal share even in
Europe's largest cities.
So what have cycle campaigners been doing over there? Big issues are HGVs
(mirror requirements etc), bikes on public transport, introducing cycle lanes
(now favoured over cycle tracks), high quality greenways and leisure routes
and innovations like cycle roads.
More info (in German) at
www.adfc-berlin.de
Saturday 24 March 2007: What do/don't you like about Barking & Dagenham
Use
this survey to let the council know. A chance to plug cycling.
Saturday 24 March 2007: Everyone's talking about China
This is an
article in the newsletter of
Good Energy, from whom I buy my organic, recycled
electricity (or whatever it is). The basic idea is that although China is often said to
put out more CO2 than us, this article says that per person they don't. Also, of course,
the Carbon they put out making stuff for export should (arguably) partly count against whoever imports it.
Saturday 24 March 2007: Council Tax based on property values - fair?
Well, to an extent, yes. With the housing crisis, we don't want really people sitting
around in large properties with too much space. If the Council Tax reflects the unused space,
that will encourage the occupier to downsize or take in a tenant/lodger to fill the space and bring
income to the household. Win, win?
Saturday 24 March: Cycle Parking in LB Waltham Forest
I'm including
this information as the
Barking & Gospel Oak line serves four
stations in the borough at Leytonstone, Leyton, and Walthamstow (2).
Saturday 24 March 2007: Cycling for Change
This is the CTC's
climate change campaign among cyclists. They are making a short film near
Brighton on Sat 31 March. It may not be too late to sign up as an extra.
Saturday 24 March 2007: Upminster Farmers' Market
There's a Farmers' Market at Upminster on the first Thursday of each month, 9-2. At
only 8 minutes (station - station) from Barking, this is pretty handy for Barkingites.
More details
here.
Saturday 24 March 2007: More Police on B&GO
From
The Barking - Gospel Oak Line User Group: "At our February meeting we had
an interesting update from the
British Transport Police, who have stepped up their patrolling activity on the line,
both on stations and trains. Apparently our line has very few reported crimes -
if you do witness or experience anything that needs reporting to the BTP,
the number to ring is 0800 40 50 40."
Saturday 24 March 2007: Green Lane Bike Shop
Here's a
Yellow Pages link to the
details of the shop.
Saturday 24 February 2007: Oyster PAYG (prepay) to be same on Overground
I asked TfL: "Will the Oyster pay-as-you-go fares for
London Overground be the
same as those for the Underground?"
They replied: "Yes, Oyster fares will be
available on the
lines we're taking over from November 2007 and subject to the
same system used on the other parts of the network."
A little vague, I thought. What are "Oyster fares" exactly, what is
the "system" and what is the "network"? But let's focus on "Yes".
My annual zone 3-4 travelcard would cost £600 if I bought it today. The Oyster PAYG fare
is £1 each way. As I would only go to work 222 days a year (less sick, flexi days
and days working from home). The £600 is not looking so good. OK I also have to take into
account the
money saved using my Gold Card and the extra £1 a return journey
into central London would cost, but £156+ is a lot to use up.
Saturday 24 February 2007: "fixed text"
It doesn't seem to be that common knowledge that SMS ("text") messages can be sent to pretty much any
phone line, not just mobiles. If the phone cannot display the message as text (as mobiles and some
fixed line phones can) it will be read out by a voice - TTS or Text-to-speech. See
www.fixedtext.com for more details.
Saturday 24 March 2007: Digital mapping / route finding and GPS utility
Satnav. Does route planning - ie works out a route between various points (waypoints and trackpoints) provided to it.
Crucially, one of these points can be where it physically is - which it gets from GPS.
Databases exist here there and everywhere which will convert between simple coordinates and more useful labels for
places such as the name of a place or the postcode.
Some systems (more expensive) overlay all this route and location information onto electronic
maps for display.
GIS - this is basically a map built up in layers onto which other information with a grid reference can be plotted by a computer.
Google Maps is a well known example. A satnav's maps are basically GIS.
Anyway - look at
www.gpsu.co.uk. There's a freeware utility that enables you to create
export and import waypoints and trackpoints from your GPS unit or digital maps like Google maps. You can also import map images -
maybe ones you've scanned and overlay your stuff on them.
It can't plan routes,
but the point is most route planners are set up for cars. One thing cyclists like to do is to plan
their own routes and use their Satnav to follow them. The routes, once digitised into waypoints and trackpoints
can be shared with others.
Saturday 24 March: Gridlock Petition
"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to end congestion by
introducing a congestion charge without satellite tracking." Sign
here by 19 August 2007.
Slightly silly summary? The petitioner wants congestion charging introduced to reduce
congestion and (presumably) doesn't wish to wait for the satellite technology
to be up and running.
My view - and I'm not alone - is that all (or as many as possible) motoring costs should be subsumed into
fuel costs so that the more you burn the more you pay. This seems to press all the right buttons. There
may have to be some transitional relief for people in remote areas until local
amenities are resurrected and schemes for collaborating to save fuel are established
, but it seems fundamentally fair and requires no great technological installation to implement.
It doesn't preclude road pricing or congestion charging to target particular places and times
- and could also include basic insurance making that harder to avoid as well as "pay as you drive"
or more accurately "pay as you burn".
Saturday 24 March 2007: Government distributes climate change film
to all secondary schools
Al Gore's climate change documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" will be sent to
every secondary school in England, Environment Secretary David Miliband and
Education Secretary Alan Johnson announced recently.
The film, which will form part of a climate change pack, documents the
former US vice president's personal mission to highlight the issues
surrounding global warming and inspire actions to prevent it.
"The debate over the science of climate change is well and truly over, as
demonstrated by the publication of today's report by the IPCC," said Mr
Miliband.
"Our energies should now be channelled into how we respond in an innovative
and positive way in moving to a low carbon future.
"I was struck by the visual evidence the film provides, making clear that
the changing climate is already having an impact on our world today, from
Mount Kilimanjaro to the Himalayan mountains.
"As the film shows, there's no reason to feel helpless in the face of this
challenge. Everyone can play a part along with government and business in
making a positive contribution in helping to prevent climate change."
Mr Johnson said that influencing the opinions of children was crucial to
developing a long term view on the environment among the public.
"With rising sea temperatures, melting ice caps and frequent reminders about
our own 'carbon footprints', we should all be thinking about what we can do
to preserve the planet for future generations. Children are the key to
changing society's long term attitudes to the environment. Not only are they
passionate about saving the planet but children also have a big influence
over their own families lifestyles and behaviour.
"Al Gore's film is a powerful message about the fragility of our planet and
I'm delighted that we are able to make sure every secondary school in the
country has a copy to stimulate children into discussing climate change and
global warming in school classes."
The DVD will go to 3,385 secondary schools in England. It make up part of a
Sustainable Schools year of action to help all schools become models of
sustainable best practice.
Other tools and support being produced include teacher resource packs, a
pupil 'detective kit', guidance for bursars and governors and a new teaching
award.
www.defra.gov.uk/news/latest/2007/climate-0202a.htm
Saturday 24 March 2007: Neighbourhood Fix It
This is a brilliant, quick and easy to use map based street problem reporting system.
It's worth seeing for the large scale mapping alone.
Make it one of your favourites (IE only).
www.neighbourhoodfixit.com
Barking and Dagenham Council Bike Users' Group
If you work for B&D council and cycle to/from or for work, make yourself known
to the BUG leader
Alex Irvine.
The BUG is a good way to be in touch with colleagues who cycle to give and get
help and support both from each other and the employer.
Saturday 24 March 2007: Matching tradespeople to jobs
Three websites enabling people wanting jobs done to find a tradesperson to do it
- and vice versa.
www.problemsolved.co.uk
www.myworkman.co.uk
www.whoocan.com
24 March 2007: Motorists and CO2
Not exactly any radical ideas here, but maybe useful reminders to some motorists
who want to get more miles for less C02.
Top tips on how to drive smarter.
Saturday 24 March 2007: Manual for Streets
"The Department for Transport and the Department for Communities and Local
Government (DCLG), with support from the Commission for Architecture and the
Built Environment (CABE), has commissioned WSP , TRL , Llewelyn Davies Yeang
and Phil Jones Associates to develop a
Manual for Streets that will give
guidance to a range of practitioners on effective street design."
Saturday 24 March 2007: Friends of Parsloes Park
I had a note of this, but I don't know if it has been set up. It was an action point for
The Barking & Dagenham Partnership
so maybe that's the best source of information.
Sunday 11 February 2007: Bobbies on bikes nick shoplifters
Two suspected shoplifters have been nabbed in Chadwell Heath by two PCSOs on bikes and handed over to police.
Sunday 11 February 2007: Watch out for the textile bins
The Barking & Dagenham Post reports that textile bins are to be put outside "supermarkets across the
borough". The money raised will go to Richard House Children's Hospice.
Sunday 11 February 2007: Learning Centre gets architectural award
Barking's new Learning Centre (née library) won't win any awards for being finished on time, but
architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris have gained first place in the MIPIM Architectural Review Future
Project Awards. More on
B&D council's website.
Sunday 11 February 2007: Passengers rate rail services through B&D
c2c did rather better in this survey than 'one' which serves Chadwell Heath, if I've weighed up the
Barking & Dagenham Post article (7 Feb) fairly. 'one' scored worse on fares - possibly because c2c accepts
Oyster Prepay between Upminster and Fenchurch Street. Both companies were criticised for lack of staff. The survey was
carried out by
Passenger Focus the national rail watchdog.
Saturday 10 February 2007: Footbridge saga continues
The tread covers on the steps from Essex Road up to the bridge over the railway
to Salisbury Avenue are still not in place. The latest is that B&D council told me Network Rail
is responsible. Previously NR have told me it isn't. We'll see, but the contact I've
been given is Tom Stephenson (020) 7904 4361.
Saturday 10 February 2007: Sad news of Sheldon Brown
Sheldon's site is an absolute mine of (mainly but by no means entirely)
technical cycling information.
"Hi – I expect most people know of Sheldon and his wonderful site.
Picked this up today – very sad news:
you've ever Googled for something related to bicycles or bike
maintenance, you've probably landed at SheldonBrown.org.
Under the banner of Harris Cyclery, Sheldon has posted hundreds of
articles relating to different brands of bikes, their components, and
how to fix those components. He also posts on some other interests,
which include arts, books, jazz and his family.
Lately, he's also been writing posts about his health, which sadly is
deteriorating. The bicycle guru can no longer ride a bicycle and began
riding a recumbent trike in September.
He's been to three neurologists who can't seem to agree on a
diagnosis. Neurologist "#2", as he calls him, is of the opinion that
Sheldon suffers from a primary progressive form of multiple sclerosis.
Neurologist #3 says there might be something other than MS, or
something in addition to MS.
His plight has hit the blogwaves this week [c. Nov 2006] at Bike Friday Walter,
Bicycle Design and Cyclelicious.
Let's join those bloggers and offer our support for Sheldon by making
a donation to the National MS Society or signing up next year [ie 2007] for one
of the nearly 100 MS bike tours that are held throughout the summer
across the US. The rides are typically two-day events that cover about
150 miles. The season starts in Florida in April 2007, according to
the calendar at the MS bike tour webpage.
Bob MacQueen
Saturday 10 February 2007: Greenpeace "car advert"
Nice
video from Greenpeace,
worth a look.
Saturday 10 February 2007: Cyclist who refused to stay in the gutter
wins re-trial
(CTC press release, 26 Jan) A cyclist who was found guilty last year of inconsiderate cycling,
whilst cycling in accordance with the National Standard for cycle training,
has today won a re-trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court.
CTC member Daniel Cadden was cycling fast downhill on a single-lane carriageway
when he was stopped by police who believed that the position he had taken in
his lane was forcing cars to cross the solid white line in the centre of the
road illegally in order to overtake. But rather than stop the cars that had
broken the law, the officers decided to charge Daniel Cadden with
inconsiderate cycling.
The judge and two magistrates accepted the arguments put forward by Cadden's
barrister, Francis Fitzgibbon, that there were contradictions in the police's
evidence, that there was no legal obligation for cyclists to use cycle tracks
and that causing only a short delay to drivers did not constitute
"inconsiderate cycling". The judge who sat at his first trial believed Daniel
should have not been on the road at all and instead should have crossed three
lanes of busy traffic to use a cycle path, which runs alongside the road where
he was stopped.
Speaking outside court, Daniel Cadden said: "I am overjoyed that the ludicrous
decision to prosecute me has been overturned. The recognition in this case must
go to the real heroes, all those people who have supported it either
financially by giving to the Cyclists Defence Fund, by joining CTC or by
sending messages of support to myself and my family. Without the support of
these people this fight would not have been possible. The overwhelming sum
donated to the Cyclists Defence Fund has been testament to the solidarity
shown by the cycling community on this issue."
"This success serves to reaffirm the right of cyclists to decide when to use
cycle facilities and when they are inappropriate or dangerous. The first
judgement was unreasonable in denying this."
CTC's Campaigns and Policy Manager Roger Geffen added: "This ruling is a
tremendous victory, both for Daniel Cadden personally and for all the cyclists
whose donations to the Cyclists' Defence Fund have helped support this case.
We hope the Government will now heed the voices of 11,000 cyclists who lobbied
their MPs when a draft revision of the Highway Code threatened to enshrine
into law the misguided views of the original police officers and trial judge
in this case. We are picking up signs that the Government has been listening,
so we hope there will be more good news on this when the new Code comes out
later in the spring."
Daniel Cadden was supported in his defence by the Cyclists' Defence Fund (CDF),
the independent charity which was founded by CTC to provide cyclists with
support in legal cases. Over £25,000 was donated to the CDF by cyclists keen
to show their support for Daniel."
To donate money to the Cyclists' Defence Fund, go to
www.cyclistsdefencefund.org.uk
Saturday 10 February 2007: Flammable train maps
I wrote to Silverlink asking them to correct their on board route diagrams (maps)
to reflect on the B&GO the closure of their service between Stratford and North Woolwich.
I thought they could just put a sticker over, indicating the part that is now
served by DLR only. Here is the surprising reply I got:
"The reason for the delay in these amendments is due to the fact that the
posters on the trains, for health and safety reasons, have to be coated in
a specially formulated fire-retardant covering and we cannot simply put the
new posters over the previous ones. These posters are installed when the
trains are out of service for scheduled maintenance. This is to avoid
having to take all of our trains out of service, which would have an effect
on the performance of our timetable."
They still haven't managed to find the time. The London Connections maps on
B&GO trains haven't been updated since a 2001 edition.
Saturday 10 February 2007: ELVS bring new year cheer
Government regulations coming into effect on 1 January will see car owners
entitled to "free take-back" of their old vehicles, known as End of Life
Vehicles (ELVs).
Car manufacturers have established new national networks of existing facilities
that will accept their own brands, when those vehicles reach the end of their
lives.
More details
here.
Saturday 10 February 2007: Active Travel Directions
Sustrans has produced
good practice
advice on encouraging active travel through travel directions to visitors and staff.
Saturday 10 February 2007: Retail case for sustainable transport
High street must come first, says Government's transport advisor
The UK Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT) has released a
report looking at how different modes of transport impact on the retail
environment and, in particular, looking at the shopping habits of car
drivers.
CfIT was asked by Government to examine the impact of shopping behaviour
on congestion and accessibility at retail and leisure sites. Its study
shows that despite some retailers' current perceptions, it is bus users,
cyclists and walkers who support their town centres the most. These
transport users visit town centres more frequently than car users, who
instead tend to drive to out-of-town shopping centres and supermarkets.
The study also shows that the ways shoppers get to their shopping
destinations have very little effect on how much they spend, with income
level being a more significant factor. This suggests that better public
transport and facilities for walkers and cyclists can help attract more
shoppers back to local high streets and that more needs to be done to
manage transport demand at the big out of town shopping centres.
Saturday 10 February 2007: World Transport Policy & Practice
The international journal World Transport Policy & Practice has published a
special edition on cycling.
Saturday 10 February 2007: Videojug Bike Maintenance videos
On line here
and
here.
Saturday 10 February 2007: Barking Bus Spider Map
Barking Bus Spider Map.
I have also added this to my old Barking Station website, which I really must get around to upgrading to the easier to use stibasa standard.
Saturday 10 February 2007: Cycle to Work scheme facilitators
The Cycle to Work Scheme is a tax incentive wherein your employer buys a bike aand associated equipment for your use, and you "rent" it
tax and NI free. At the end of the rental period you get to buy the bike outright and the total
saving on the retail cost of this scheme can be as much as 50%.
To help employers deal with the scheme, "facilitators" offer to help with sourcing the bike and equipment and easing the paperwork.
Currently the facilitators include:
See also
Bikeforall.
Wednesday 7 February 2007: Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation vs nuclear
The people behind
TREC-UK Who argue in favour of collecting solar
energy in Africa and the Med. as a cheaper, greener and safer option than
nuclear are organising an
online campaign against nuclear power and in particular refutnng articles
advocating it and glossing over its disadvantages.
Wednesday 7 February 2007: Journey check
A rather nice to use portal giving real time train running info from several Train Operating Companies.
OK if you know which company you want.
www.journeycheck.com.
Wednesday 7 February 2007: Wedge Loyalty Card
"The
Wedge Card is a new way to get discounts and special offers from
hundreds of local shops and independent businesses. Our aim is to re-vitalise local communities by offering an
affinity scheme to customers using loal shops and services. It also supports charities, with 25-50% of the price of each
card bought going directly to projects in your area. Initially launching in Central London, we aim to spread
across the city in the months to come."
Wednesday 7 February 2007: Guide me green
This is a
website promoting green companies and brands - "a growing resource for the ethically and
environmentally friendly conscious [sic] shopper".
Wednesday 7 February 2007: Walkit
Walkit is a website promoting and supporting walking as a transport choice.
They currently only cover central London.
Wednesday 7 February 2007: Social Enterprise
"Social enterprises are businesses
with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the
community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners."
Wednesday 7 February 2007: Electric vehicle petition
Electric vehicles (not just cars - don't forget bikes) are arguably an important aspect of sustainable transport
especially if they use renewable energy. There's an online petition in support of them
here.
Wednesday 7 February 2007: Fill that hole, clear that trail
CTC has launched two online tools to make it easier to report
road
defects and
obstructed rights of way. You fill in information
about the problem and pinpoint it on a map. The local authority responible for fixing it them gets notified.
Sunday 4 February 2007: Electric vehicle conversions
I came acoss
Alternative Vehicles Technology AVT - a that converts new or
second hand motor vehicles to run on electricity. They offer a lead acid battery option (cheaper first costs but
poor speed and range) and two sizes of Lithium Ion battery packs. These will set you back a lot more at the outset
but will give much better range. The running costs are extremely low but it would be great if the up front costs could
(optionally) be spread out more per mile or per year - perhaps with government assistance with raising capital.
Of particular interest from AVT I thought are the SMART car, the mini Van and the Micro Car hich is legally a quadricycle.
The Micro car has a top speed of 40mph and a range of 80-100 miles between charges. Electric vehicles are exempt from VED
("road tax"), and congestion charge - and many other car related charges will be lower or free.
Sunday 4 February 2007: New cycling e-zine
There' a new cycling magazine on line, called
City Cycling. It looks
what I think they call "funky" or possibly "cool" - but I found it a little quirky from a quick glance.
Sunday 4 February 2007: Barking Station loos insult
The toilets at Barking Station are still pretty new, yet they are already closed, and have been for months,
alegedly (the sign on the door says) "due to flooding". If this is the real reason it should have been sorted out
ages ago. If it isn't, our intelligence is being insulted.
Sunday 4 February 2007: Dagenham Dock DLR extension
Tfl has
started consulting on its plans to
extend the Docklands Light Railway from Galions Reach to Dagenham Dock. This will involve a crossing of
Barking Creek - almost certainly in tunnel.
Sunday 4 February 2007: Coach Network
Someone called Alan Storkey has come up with the idea that the National Coach Network should run entirely
on motorways, connecting with local bus and coach services at service stations. This would cut down on delays
as coaches pick their way through cities right to the heart where the coach station usually is, delaying everyone.
George Monbiot liked the idea and wrote about it in the Guardian on 5 December 2006, as well as
publising it on his own website.
Sunday 4 February 2007: Through traffic back in Barking Town Centre
The Barking Northern Relief Road was designed to keep through motor traffic out of Barking Town Centre. But
as traffic has continued to grow, it has battled its way back. This week's Barking & Dagenham Post has two
legal notices:
The first says "The No Right Turn (except for Buses, Taxis and Cycles) affecting Linton Road (Northbound) at
its junction with George Street into Cambridge Road is to be revoked." That is, all vehicles will be able to
turn right from Linton Road into Cambridge Road - not just buses, cycles and taxis.
The second I can only guess at, becuse the notice refers to the order and doesn't explain the change - or it's
just unclear. See what you make of it:
"The effect of this order will be to vary parts by revocation of items 4 b) Cambridge Road, the north-west side
(north east bound Contra-flow lane) of Schedule 1 of The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (North Street,
London Road, Wood Lane, Cambridge Road, Linton Road, Ripple Road, New Road and Longbridge Road) (Bus Lane)
Order 2002."
I think this means the bus lane in Cambridge Road (it goes towards the station) will be taken out and - this is
unclear - whatever the "north east bound Contra-flow lane" is. I think that must be London Road from North
Street (The White Horse) to Linton Road.
Saturday 27 January 2007: Motorway problems
Barking & Dagenham is not exactly overwhelmed with bike shops, so I was sorry to read
(Barking & Dagenham Post 24 Jan)that there are problems with the street trading licence for Motorway in Church
Street, Dagenham Village. I hope the matter can be sorted out amicably so that the combined car spares and cycle
shop can carry on trading.
Saturday 27 January 2007: Growing scope of Oyster Pay-as-you-go
Hot on the heels of c2c's agreement to extend Oysteer PAYG to Dagenham Dock and Rainham (see 21 Jan)
Chiltern Railways (who run trains to/from Marylebone) have agreed to extend it to more of their stations. Other
companies have until 31 January to take up the TfL offer. There's a
handy online map of which National Rail lines take
Oyster PAYG. Do not be confused. This is about Oyster PAYG (formerly pre-pay). Travelcards on Oyster are
valid too and always have been, though you can't get a one day travelcard on Oyster.
Children's drawings in road safety calendar
I like children's drawings and it's good that children are being taught more about road danger reduction
(ie slow down, basically) than old-school road safety based on drilling children (and everyone else) that it is
their primary reponsibility to avoid danger. Children's drawings on the subject often get incorporated into
20mph zone signs, but these B&D schoolchildren's pictures are published in a calendar, produced by the
London Safety Camera Partnership. The Barking & Dagenham Post newsdesk
(020 8709 0012)had some to give away.
Sunday 21 January 2007: Get an Oyster Card and save money
The
Barking & Dagenham Post (17 January) reports that Londoners are "wasting"
£600,000 a year buying cash fares instead of using Oyster Pre-pay/pay as you go. Clearly Oyster
pre-pay fares have been set much lower than cash fares to encourage people to switch.
Sunday 21 January 2007: Marks Gate recycling continues to flourish
The East London Community Recycling Partnership, which started as an initiative by
St Mark's Church, Marks Gate have added composting to their class-leading recycling and sustainability
portfolio. The kitchen and garden waste is given back to those who contribute it in the form of compost.
Sunday 21 January 2007: Heathway the focus of £3.1M local transport grant
Apart from mundane (though important) improvements like extra crossings at the junction
of Heathway and Ripple Road, there's the more interesting prospect of a "green avenue" from Heathway to The River -
part of Ken's "100 public spaces" programme. This sounds like it fits in well with Living Streets'
recommendations for Heathway. Other local transort improvements include bus lanes in Chadwell Heath.
Sunday 21 January 2007: Smooth Trainline/Fastticket purchase
It should always be like this. I ordered train tickets on line from The Trainline and the same evening collected
them from a Fastticket machine at Barking, with no hitches. I was told the software has been upgraded, and
it certainly seemed to me that the whole operation was faster than previously, especially validating my bank card.
Roll on integration with Oyster!
Sunday 21 January 2007: c2c to accept Oyster pay-as-you-go at Dagenham Dock, Rainham ... and beyond
Well done to c2c for their firm plans to extend the acceptability of Oyster pay-as-you-go to their two stations
in Zones 1-6 that currently don't. Later, they'll accept it at Grays and Chafford Hundred. Read more on the
TfL
and
c2c websites.
Sunday 21 January 2007: How to fix a puncture - and other bike maintenance videos
Here on
Quickrelease.tv is a growing collection of videos, including i-pod versions.
Some are also on youtube, including the
how to fix a
puncture one. Brilliant idea and execution.
The video shows a front wheel puncture on a mountain bike, with a quick-release (QR) front wheel I've never been a fan of QR
- too easy to nick the wheels. In fact you can by gadgets to make the QR harder to remove - which defeats the object!
Anyway - you don't
have to remove the wheel to fix a pucture - which might be a relief to know if you get a rear wheel
one - especially on a hub geared or (worse) hub braked machine. You an lever off the tyre with th wheel still in place - it's
best to use the non chain side on the rear wheel.
I have cut myself on puncture glass before now - so I always
look round the outside of the tyre first.
I squeeze the tyre in to (temporarily) open up any cracks or cuts - and I go right round, digging out an bits of glass. Better
late than never: This is the kind of tyre inspection we should do regularly - but who does? Doing it when you're looking for the
puncture causer may prevent or delay your next one.
If you have to take the back wheel off a hub geared/braked machine (a workshop job if you're lucky) it's a good opportunity to put on a new tyre.
If the old one is still good for a few miles, keep it for front wheel use. It works less hard there and it's easier to
replace a front tyre. Keep a new spare tyre in stock.
Finally, if you can, especially on your regular routes, remove (and recycle) any discarded bottles you see; and
sweep up/away any broken glass - I carry a hand brush for this. Be careful, of course, of sharp bits. This should
reduce the risk for you and your fellow cyclists.
Cycle Asylum of Manor Park has some puncture prevention and product advice
here.
Sunday 21 January 2007: Onya bags
If you're an impulsive shopper who uses new shop carrier bags, consider one of these strong, compact, light, shopping bags, called
"Onya" bags. Since the original idea, the makers have added other
products, too.
Tuesday 9 January 2007: Red light runners
The Barking & Dagenham Post of 29 November reported that 4702 red light offenders were
caught on camera in 2005/06 in Barking & Dagenham and a further 42 fines were issued by police.
The borough was third highest in London for red light offences.
Tuesday 9 January 2007: DLR to Chequers
In the same B&D Post as above, our GLA member John Biggs is quoted as arguing for the DLR to be extended beyond Dagenham Dock to Chequers
corner. He says Dagenham Dock is in the middle of nowhere. True - but the point of the DLR
extension is to aid the regeneration into "somewhere".
Tuesday 9 January 2007: Bobbies on bikes - yet more
In a pre Christmas Barking & Dagenham Post we read that Asda in Dagenham has sponsored a
new bike for the Goresbrook Safer Communities Team. Sgt Ian Lain said "Now we have bikes we can get
to emergency calls in our ward
quicker than a car and we are more accesible; people can stop and talk to us." [My empahsis].
Tuesday 9 January 2007: Council slates unfair green survey
In the same B&D Post as above, the council disagrees with Locallife.co.uk's survey of 325 towns for greenness. B&D came in the bottom 10.
As with anything like this, it all depends what you count and what weight you give it. Locallife counted availability of local produce, which does
seem a bit silly in a large city. Gordon Glenday (a strategy planning officer for the council) says that B&D is "a very
environmentally-orientated borough and [has] been commended as such by the Mayor of London". I don't know what this refers to, but he adds that
"We have also received the
Green Apple Award three years running [I couldn't find any mention
quickly on the website] and are currently in the finals for a Green Roof Award - which is very prestigious." A quick Google of "green roof award"
again didn't find anything obvious.
Monday 27 November 2006: Trainline and Fastticket
I've been having more adventures: I couldn't get my tickets out of the Fastticket
Machines at Barking because all four were broken. I reported this to Shere (the
manufacturer) and they came but failed to fix them properly.
Meanwhile, a member of c2c staff at Barking station told me (incorrectly) that
The Trainline don't take ones money until the ticket is printed. Therefore, he
said, I should re-buy the tickets at the station. If there were any problem, I
should claim refund from The Trainline.
Looking around on The Trainline's website, I find that they say their agreement
is that the stations should issue the tickets if the Fastticket machines don't.
What a disappointing fiasco.
What I did discover is that Barking amongst several others offers (or should) a
Fastticket
collect service. Instead of entering your code into the
machine, you give it to the clerk and s/he enters it and issues the tickets. In
fact I asked the c2c person at Barking to issue me the tickets in this way and
he said he couldn't.
Railway Footbridge Problems
Several times when I have complained to the council about problems with railway
footbridges they have claimed not toknow who owns them. Absurd, as they are
owned by Network Rail and have been by them or their predecesors since they were
built. The council just forgets this. Anyway, to report and chase up problems,
try calling National Rail on 08457 114141.
The report reference for the missng treads on the one between Essex Road and
Salisbury Avenue, Barking, is 156560.
27 November 2006: Metal punches available for hire
David Garfield of Raiinham has a set of
punches suitable for marking bike frames or other valuables with a postcode etc.
He may lend them to you in exchange for a small donation.
27 November 2006: Senior Railcards now available on line
Anyone over 60 can get one of these for £20 and start saving money on many of
their off-peak train journeys.
Senior Railcard website.
27 November 2006: Order your Rethink! postcard today
Aviation is the fastest growing source of climate change emissions.
Friends of the Earth, as part of Airportwatch, have launched a new
campaign postcard to demand that the Government rethink their aviation
policy.
You can view the postcard at
www.foe.co.uk/resource/marketing_material/rethink_postcard.pdf.
You can help influence the Government by getting friends and family to
sign a postcard or displaying them in your local area (shops, libraries
etc.). Order the postcards by emailing the aviation campaign at
simonbw@foe.co.uk saying how many you
want and a postal address to send them to.
27 November 2006: CTC Mapping project
The CTC is gathering information and data about people's favourite touring and
leisure routes - preferably in a digital format (GPS) but not only that. Read up
about it
here
and contribute if you can.
27 November 2006: Route plotting on Google Maps
I'm not totally conversent with digital mapping on line, GPS and computerised
route planning, so can't explain fully. But have a look at
www.gmap-pedometer.com. It lets you
record points on Google maps and export them to your GPS/Satnav thingy so that
that can guide you (I think!).
27 November 2006: The Bike-inn
Claims to be "the UK's one stop site for all your maintenance and training
needs". They provide cycle maintenance courses, amongst other things.
Website.
Monday 27 November 2006: Stop climate change chaos
Sign up on the
icount website.
Monday 27 November 2007: Even more police on bikes
The
Barking & Dagenham Post reports on 22 November that the Reede Road Tenants'and Residents' Association
has collected £400 to buy a bike for the Alibon Ward Safer Neighourhood Team. And there's a quiz night on Tuesday
12 December (7pm) at
Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club to raise money
for a second bike for the Eastbrook Ward Safer
Neighbourhood Team.
Friday 3 November 2006: Pale Green Tesco
The Tesco challenge: "We'd like to hear from you with 'green' thoughts, tips and advice on how we can all be more
environmentally friendly. And for every idea that we print, we'll send you a £20 Tesco
voucher. You can
email us, or write to Tesco magazine, Cedar
Communications Ltd, Pegasus House, 37-43 Sackville Street, LONDON, W1S 3EH.
The Tesco challenge? Tesco wants to contribute to increasing recycling rates in the UK by
50 per cent in the next year – so take all your paper, cardboard, metal, plastic, glass etc and
get on down to your nearest Tesco recycling site and together we'll make a greener world."
I don't want to be too cynical or disparaging, but isn't there oodles of information on being more environmentally friendly around? Websites galore,
just for starters. While you're down at Tesco's (presumably by car) spending your £20 voucher, you can also handily do your recycling.
Fair enough if you were going to Tesco's anyway, perhaps, but this does look rather like a marketing ploy.
Friday 3 November: Solarsmart boiler
I've come across a combi-boiler that uses pre-heated water from solar panels. I think these are rare - I've read that they exist
but this is the only one I've actually found. The
web page
says "A system boiler fires to heat stored water as soon as it drops below a certain temperature, regardless
of immediate demand. A combi boiler only fires when the stored water temperature needs raising and there is an
immediate demand for it, so reducing gas usage even further."
I think it must still need a tank to store the solar heated water. If I get anymore information / clarity
I'll add it.
Friday 3 November: Cyclists' Defence Fund
You may have heard the recent case about the chap who was stopped by police for obstructing traffic because
he chose not to use a cycle track (which he didn't think was up to the job). This nonsense has to be put right in court
and as you know lawyers don't come cheap. This is the reason for the
Cyclists' Defence Fund. If you can spare a little something to help them sort out injustices
like this that would be great.
Friday 3 November: Become a CO2 neutral driver
Pretty much a contradiction in terms for most cars/people but have a look at
this website. The basic idea is
you cough up an average £20 a year to help fund sustainable/renewable energy products. BP is behind it.
Friday 3 November: Share the road campaign
The boys at TfL dreamed this one up. The basic idea is hard to disagree with - roughly if everyone is nice to each other, patient and co-operative,
it would be better out there. I'm not going to disagree either, but the campaign has been used to launch attacks on various writers
bêtes noires.
Quite often cyclists, you may be surprised to read. For me the
Road Danger Reduction Forum gets it spot on:
"With resources only available to deal with a tiny proportion of rule and law breaking, this has to be
prioritised to the behaviours that are most dangerous to other road users, rather
than everywhere where this offence is committed."
I've uploaded a
pdf copy of RDRF's note about it. In it they give figures to show
what law breaking is most dangerous as well as analysing the bias that the apparently uncontroversial campaign
shows.
Friday 3 November 2006: Dual flush adaptor
I've come cross
this
retro-fittable product which has two flush buttons - one for number
ones and one for number twos. In combination with
"If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown flush it
down." this
would seem to be a good way of saving water.
Friday 3 November 2006: Passion for the planet
This is
an internet and DAB radio station with an environmental
conscience.
Friday 3 November 2006: Public Recycling Database (UK)
On the web
here.
Friday 3 November 2006: The Curtain Exchange
This firm brokers curtain exchanges for those who wan a change
or decide they don't like the ones they've just got.
Friday 3 November 2006: Community Repaint
If you don't like your paint either (see above) or have some left, try giving it away to
this lot who will pass it on
to a deserving cause.
Friday 3 November 2006: Retail Vitality
Next time you hear shopkeepers moaning that lack of car parking is hurting their business, remember
this
Shoppers Study that Sustrans did.
The subject has local relevance because of the depressing slow demise of Dagenham Heathway.
Friday 3 November 2006: Zonal National Rail Fares from 2007
Long overdue, zonal fares will be introduced on National Rail in London from 2007. I think I remember correctly that 93,700 different
single, return and cheap day return fares will be replaced by 16 - it's that dramatic, anyway. Clearly some fare payers will gain and some will
lose, but it will make life simpler and hasten the coming of Oyster pay-as-you-go (pre-pay) on all National Rail in
London. Rail only season tickets are unaffected for the time being. There's no change for National Rail lines that charge/accept Underground fares
(therefore including Oyster pay-as-you-go) like c2c and a few others.
There's more
here, including the cost of the fares in two tables - one for National Rail only and one for journeys that start National Rail but use the Underground on the way.
Friday 3 November: Bobbies on Bicycles again
See 15 March for last mention. Back on 6 September the Barking & Dagenham Post had an article about how shopkeepers
raised money to fund two bikes plus equipment for Becontree safer neighbourhood team's police officers. The
team now has three bikes. And guess what? To quote one shopkeeper "the negative element seems to have disappeared". To
quote Sgt John Greene: "The shopkeepers like the high visibility the bike gave us". And to quote the article itself: "Safer
Neighbourhood Teams have been issued with push-bikes so they can cover more of their patch during each shift. The
bikes have proved particularly useful in raising public awareness of police presence, as well as catching mini-moto
riders and suspects who try and make off across parkland." Exactly!
Friday 3 November: Child Cycle Training
Has featured twice in the Barking & Dagenham Post lately. On 30 August there was an article about how the
Dagenham Fire brigade had worked with the Police and the council to give kids some training in Old Dagenham Park.
No on-road training, from what I can tell, but still good.
On 25 October the paper featured the council's Craig Elliott teaching kids from years 2-6 according to the
National Standards. (Years 2-6 is top infants to top juniors in old money).
This article prompted my letter
to the paper which you may have seen published. The gist was: On the web see
www.ctc.org.uk/cycletraining/ for general information. There's a link there to
Bikeability
which is the brand name for National Standard Child Cycle Training. Adults wanting training
should approach the local council for where they live
or where they work to find out if the training offered is free
or subsidised. In Barking & Dagenham contact the
Council's Road Safety Team.
Incidentally, much of the cycling information on B&D council's website is at best controversial and at worst plain wrong.
Much is off-putting. Please take it all with a large pinch of salt.
Wednesday 23 August 2006: "Eco-friendly car insurance"
Trying to say that cars are or can be eco-friendly is a tall-order, but Co-operative Insurance has introduced a product called
Ecoinsurance, which offers discounts to drivers of band A vehicles, an "eco-friendly
repair network (recycling actively encouraged), and inclusive offset of 20% of car CO2 emissions. On the principle that every little
helps this should be cautiously welcomed.
Norwich Union already offers
pay as you drive car insurance and I read that
Moreth>n will offer it too. Anything that makes car costs proprtionate to pollution generated
is to be welcomed, so pay as you drive insurance is right. Third party insurance could be bundled in to the pump price of petrol.
This would encourage less car use, more economical driving and more economical vehicles. Also it would be hard to evade. It might
hit country dwellers harder, but that should boost rural shops and other amenities which have suffered badly from car culture.
Friday 4 August 2006: UEL sets up BUG and introduces cycle purchase scheme
Greg Price at the
University of East London is taking the lead on
the
staff bicycle purchase scheme and intends to set up a
Bicycle Users' Group for UEL. More news when available.
Friday 4 August 2006: Modern Railways features B&GO
Modern Railways magazine's August edition features the Barking & Gospel Oak Line in a
full article on pp 52-55. Other articles include one about John Betjeman (who would have been 100 this year) and the railways, one about
refurbishing the Waterloo & City line and one about the future of 9train) travel information.
Wednesday 2 August 2006: New Friends of the Earth Local Group
Friends of the Earth now has a B&D local group off the ground. There's limited information
on
the website - more later. One of the first main activities
of the group will be
"The Big Ask",
FoE's campaign to get a climate change bill in the Queen's speech. They're asking people to lobby their MP between 12 September
and 11 October. Check out the website for more details.
The group's next meeting is on Monday 4 September 2006 at 7.30pm in
The Spotted Dog near Barking Railway Station. Come along to that to find out more or contact
David Babbs at FoE for more information.
Wednesday 2 August 2006: Fastticket
I have successfully ordered tickets from
www.thetrainline.com (see 24 June) and printed them out
at one of Barking station's Fast Ticket machines. Now, even Victoria station (where I'll be travelling from) is not on the trainline's list
of stations with Fast Ticket machines - so I chose Fenchchurch Street, but it does seem like it doesn't make any difference. I did
have plenty of time to collect my tickets - I wouldn't rely on being able to "unofficially" collect tickets at Barking if I were
you!
Wednesday 2 August 2006: Solar/Wind power for all
German boffins say it woul be possible to use the sun in countries around the Mediterranean to make steam (so called CSP - concentrating solar power)
to turn turbines to make electricity, which can them be sent all the way to northern Europe where we don't get enough sun to make the electricity we
need and thus are threatened with getting more nuclear power. Apparently the energy needed to push the electricity down miles of wires
is not all that much and there'd be plenty of electricity for our future needs, though we might need some more conventional power
stations to cope with peak demand. In an "eat the feet" piece of cleverness, they've also come up with the idea of using waste heat
from the process to de-salinate water! A copy of the report ('TRANS-CSP') can be downloaded from
here and Further information with links to other sources is
here.
Yet more boffins want to do something similar with wind power, to alleviate the problem of the inconstancy of wind. This idea comes
from
Airtricity but it's not obvious from a quick their website.
Sunday 25 June 2006: Domestic/small scale 1kW wind turbine
Windsave WS-1000
Sunday 25 June 2006: Save our small shops
Although I'm not sure I completely agree with all the Evening Standard's individual proposals for protecting small shops, I do agree with the
principle. There's an
on line petition to sign.
Saturday 24 June 2006: Fastticket, The Trainline and Gold card
I usually order National Rail tickets at
www.thetrainline.com and have them posted, but
there is the option of collecting them by Fastticket - The trainline sends you a code which you type into the Fastticket machine,
which then prints out your tickets.
The trainline website forces one to choose a Fast ticket machine at a selection of main stations (the London termini, for instance),
but there are Fast Ticket machines at Barking - clearly displaying a sign that prepaid tickets can be collected there, which could
be much more convenient. I have asked the trainline to add Barking to their list (if a list really is is
necessary which, I doubt, except to tell us which stations have the machines) but they wouldn't commit to it in the near
future.
Told by techie friends that in fact the Fastticket machines are networked and that I should be able to get my ticket from any one
of them, anywhere, I tried at Barking but to to no avail: Two of the 4 machines that appeared to be working (ie they let me type in
my code) but "failed to contact the TOD server" (the central computer issuing the tickets). A third kept my card stuck in its card
reader (I have to prise it out with a penknife) and the fourth was out of order with a printer problem.
The station staff seemed uninterested in this poor state of affairs, so I located the
manufacturers and found on their website a link to their support people. I had nothing to lose
so I sent an e-mail explaining the problems at Barking and was pleased that they called back. They confirmed that I should be able
to get my tickets from any Fastticket machine and that Barking station staf were disinclined to sort out problems with the machines
either themselves (they are equipped for some fixes) or by contacting the manufacturer as they apparently easily can.
With my tickets out of reach I phoned the Trainline to ask for them to be posted, but they claimed that they'd "already been sent
to the machine I'd chosen". In fact one chooses a station, so if there are - say - two machines the system would have to send the
tickets to both. I'm sure the tickets are held centrally and can be printed on any Fastticket machine, but have not proved this
for myself nor understood why the trainline should deny this.
The tickets I was trying to collect were in two orders, because of a bug in the trainline's software. I have reported more than once
now this but have had no response. With an annual Gold Card (a bit like a rail card, issued automatically to annual travel card
holders in London) the holder and 3 people travelling with can get about a third off some rail fares. However, when I ordered
4 tickets the trainline only offered the discount on 3, so I had to make two orders as a work-around. Oddly, I have found
-
Scotrail's Ts&Cs for
the Gold Card easiest to find. TfL's current fares booklet doesn't mention the discount for 4 people travelling together -
and I have pointed this out to them.
Presumably as a result of my reports through the website and to an engineer working on a Fastticket machine at Fenchurch St, three
of the 4 Barking machines seemed to be working on Friday night (no error messages on walk up). Only the one with the dodgy card
reader wasn't, but at least it had been turned off.
The combination of the trainline and Fastticket could be powerful and flexible - but at the moment seems to be yet another layer
of awkwardness in rail fares.
Sunday 18 Jun 2006: Top tips to get cheaper rail fares
Yesterday's
Guardian has an excellent article on how to reduce rail travel costs, without catching different trains, especially for
those travelling at peak times. Barry Doe - a name well worth Googling - is the expert on this subject, but here are the tips in
summary:
1) Split your journey up into segments. For example, instead of buying a return from London to Newcastle, buy a return to
Peterborough and another from Peterborough to Newcastle. This might enable you to access the off-peak fare from Peterborough and
thus save money. This can only be done by splitting the journey at a station where the train stops. However, see also tip 8.
2) Apparently this technique (above) works particularly well with cross country journeys - because through booking won't show up the cheapest
fares - which could be singles. The Guardian's example was Exeter-Birmingham and Birmingham-Sheffield (two singles out and two back).
They got the fare down from £94 to £63 and think they could have got it down further by booking ahead.
3) Book your ticket 12 weeks in advance. Rail companies are obliged by law to start offering tickets at this time.
Engineering works can affect this.
4) Buy at your local station. Not the sort of advice you're expecting here, but Barry Doe says it's better, if you know your stuff.
Whether Barking station is suitable in practice, I can't say.
5)
www.nationalrail.co.uk is the best online source even though one can't
buy tickets from that site.
6) Watch out for
www.thetrainline.co.uk charging £1.50 for credit card transactions
(and also - not mentioned by the Guardian, untick the insurance box if you don't want the insurance the trainline offers.
7) If you have a
railcard, as the minimum fare is £10, it might work out cheaper to buy
a more expensive ticket to access the discount.
. No minimum fare on Gold cards.
8) The rules forbid this dodge, but apparently (in the Gurdian's example) the return fare to Glasgow on the 08.46 is £94, whereas
the fare to Carlisle on the selfsame train is £222. If you are stopped at Carlisle with a Glasgow ticket, they can legally charge
you the difference. This contradicts tip 1 - the point is to CHECK fares.
The more people know about these loopholes, the more pressure will mount on the railways to have a sensible fare structure. Ticket
sellers are legally obliged to sell the ticket you ask for and are not allowed to suggest buying two tickets (as above) to save
money. In the Guardian article, and ATOC spokesman said that ticket staff cannot be expected to take customers through the various
options because of the time it takes. Fair point, but why not just sort out this ridiculous system?
Sunday 18 June 2006: End of 'Cyclists don't pay road tax' jibe
In the last budget the Chancellor created a new zero rate of Vehicle Excise Duty (commonly referred to as “road tax”) for cars
with the lowest emissions. The old chestnut that cyclists shouldn’t be on the road because we don’t pay road tax should be laid to
rest now that owners of certain types of car no longer pay.
Sunday 18 June 2006: List of green things to do
Have a look at
this list and see how green you are / aren't.
Sunday 18 June 2006: Alternatives to air travel
The Man in Seat Sixty-One Tells you "How to travel by train & ship... Maybe you don't like
flying, or are concerned about the environmental impact of flying. Or perhaps you just prefer real travel by train or ship, where
the journey is part of the adventure... Either way, this website will tell you how to travel overland comfortably & affordably
where you might think that air was now the only option.
Sunday 18 June 2006: Pay your own carbon tax
www.climatecare.org is a facility for air travellers to donate money towards projects that
will offset (use up) air travellers' share of the carbon emitted by planes they've flown on.
Sunday 18 June 2006: Oyster reader roll out to all zone 1-6 stations
This
Tfl press release tells
how TfL is going to pay for Oyster readers at all London zone 1-6 stations, laying the groundwork for the hoped for acceptance of
pay-as-you-go electronic ticketing.
Sunday 18 June 2006: Winchester Miracles and Bikeabout
The
Winchester Miracles project is a demonstration project in sustainable
transport - and includes the Bikeabout cycle hire scheme which costs a one off £15 (£25 joint) for unlimited use.
Sunday 18 June 2006: ITV big clean up day
www.csv.org.uk/Campaigns/Big+Clean+Up.htm. Joint CSV/ITV project to
find young people to lead and take part in litter cleanups on Sunday 17 September. Deadline for applications is Thursday 22 June.
Sunday 18 June 2006: Megatrain has added new destinations
Megatrain offers tickets for as low as £1.50 one way (including 50p booking fee) and now serves over 20 destinations. The further
in advance you book the cheaper the ticket. There are also innovations like m-tickets - paperless tickets sent to your mobile phone.
Directgov council portal
www.direct.gov.uk/mycouncil is a very good portal for reporting problems such as
potholes and abandoned vehicles to any council and carrying out other common council transactions. The relevant council is worked out from the postcode entered and you are taken
straight to the relevant web page of the relevant council's website.
Friday 16 June 2006 - More police on bikes success
The
Barking & Dagenham Post continues to cover this subject, and on Wednesday 14th it featured Becontree
Ward shop owners presenting the police with a bike they had clubbed together to pay for. Sergeant John Greene said "we now have three bikes [in the Becontree team]
which I am more than happy with. I would like to get my whole team trained on the bikes eventually." Cllr Alok Agrawal - a shop
keeper in Becontree Avenue - said "the extra police presence [makes] a lot of people feel a lot safer".
Thursday 8 June 2006 - More trains and new timetable on B&GO
Thanks to TfL funding there will be more trains in the rush hours on the Barking & Gospel Oak Line, starting Monday 12 June. To even
out the service frequency, the times of some trains have been changed. Check the times, especially if you travel in the rush hour. You can do online
this with TfL's journey planner or on the Silverlink website
Wednesday 17 May 2006 - Redbridge Cycle Maintenance Workshops
Redbridge Cycle Maintenance Workshops need a new manager (or managers) for the courses (three sessions over three weeks) of
basic cycle maintenance which are so ably taught by Chris Rigby and John Lewis. The workshops provide one of
Redbridge LCC's most useful services but they cannot continue without being efficiently
managed.
Job description: arrange dates and booking of garage at Wanstead House; print and distribute publicity before each course;
accept booking and payments from students; ensure Wanstead House garage is set up with the correct tools & equipment the day
before; and find a safe home for tools etc at the end of the course. It's not as much work as it sounds - the system is all set
up and much of the publicity and booking can be done on-line.
Payment: Nil. Job satisfaction: High. You get to meet lots of new
cyclists at the workshops, you help people to gain cycle confidence, and you get to have a beer with Chris and John as well!
Details from
Gill.
Wednesday 17 May 2006 - Hubbub June-July 2006
Download a copy
here (.doc).
Friday 12 May 2006 - Fast Ticket
I'm reliably informed that even though when you buy a ticket on line and opt to collect from a fast ticket machine you are asked
to choose a station, and Barking is not on the list, you can nevertheless use any fast ticket machine. I haven't tested this,
so don't rely on it.
Wednesday 15 March 2006 - Bobbies on Bicycles
The
Barking & Dagenham Post has covered this story several times (see 11 March and 23 February
beelow) but this week's issue shows 7 officers in uniform on their new bikes. One officer is quoted: "They have been absolutely
brilliant because you can cover a much wider area than on foot. The public seem to love it as well. They see more of us and we get
to sort out more problems for them. In a car you don't get the chance to talk to people but on a bike you can stop whenever you like."
The first and last points will be well known to any cyclist, but all the points are ones that campaigners including myself have been
making for years - check out
22 October 2003. At last something has happened.
Wednesday 15 March 2006 - Cycling in Parks
B&D council has a poster up in Barking Town Centre, advertising the borough's parks. A photo shows someone cycling in (I think)
Barking Park.
Tuesday 14 March 2006 - Tanner Street Gateway
I've been struggling to find much information on this development - the developers don't seem to have submitted their sites to
Google. Anyway
here is a marketing site - which reveals two of
the road names and shows the road layout without names. Many addresses have been added to Church Road (IG11 8PF) including -
oddly - 1 Church Road which as far as I knew is The Britannia's address. The new roads are: Roberts Close (IG11 8PA) and Loftus
Road (IG11 8QT). From another source I found out about Pickering Road (IG11 8PG), which features numbers 16a-q.
Saturday 11 March 2006 - Bobbies on Bicycles
See entry for 23 February.
The Barking & Dagenham Post
reports on the Goresesbrook Safer Neighbourhoods Team getting push bikes "in the next few weeks".
The article is accompanied by a photo of 7 officers.
Saturday 11 March 2006 - What can be put in the orange recycling bags?
If, like me, you don't find this completely clear, this quote from the Communications Education Liaison Officer for Shanks
East London (the councils waste management partners), in a letter in this week's
Barking & Dagenham Post may help:
"The ... bags clearly identify to the householder what ... can be placed in them including newspapers; magazines; junk mail; empty
steel and aluminium cans; clean foil; empty plastic bottles and thin cardboard like cereal boxes." Not glass - take it to
a 'bring site' and not Yellow Pages (because of the yellow dye).
Wednesday 8 March 2006 - No more 87 Bus
Much hoo-hah in
The Barking & Dagenham Post today because TfL is withdrawing the route from
Saturday 25
March. The 5 route will be extended to Romford to compensate - and there will be more 387s. More thoughts under
views.
Wednesday 8 March 2006 - Stop at Red campaign
This new campaign is about getting cyclists to promise to obey red lights. If you feel strongly about the
matter, sign up. I explore the point more under
views.
Sunday 26 February 2006 - Highway Code Consultation
The Driving Standards Agency is
consulting on revisions to the code. The CTC has
begun a
campaign which in essence is to get the word "should"
removed from the rules which recommend (a) wearing a helmet and (b) that cyclists "use cycle
routes when practicable and cycle facilities ... where they are provided". The big problem is that in court, lawyers may try to make the case
that a cyclist was "contributorily negligent" - that is in part to blame, even though s/he may have deliberately decided not to do
these things for good reasons: There are some very poor cycle 'facilities' and the jury is still out on whether cycle helmets
are a benefit (see
www.cyclehelmets.org for more). CCTC has provided a standard text
which can be edited and sent to your MP on line. More positively, they ask the DSA to add a clause recommending national standard
training to cyclists.
Thursday 23 February 2006 - Bobbies on Bicycles
The inevitable headline from
The Barking & Dagenham Post for this welcome development: "Police from the safer neighbourhood
teams have received 17 mountain bikes to patrol the streets."
Sunday 19 February 2006 - East London Transit
Transport for London (TfL) is consulting on detailed plans for the East London Transit route from Ilford Hill, through Barking,
Thames View and Barking Reach to Dagenham Dock Station, and from Barking to Gallions Reach. Some fairly extensive changes are
proposed in Barking and Ilford Town Centres. Consultation closes on 13 April - and there will be exhibitions in Barking and
Ilford. See
TfL website for full details. I plan
to put my response on the
views page here.
14 February 2006 - TfL takes over "North London Railway"
Tfl is to take over running Silverlink Metro (including the Barking and Gospel Oak Line) from 11 November 2007.
Full story on TfL website
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