Irontwit

Yet again Metrolink seem to be intent on short-changing cyclists. Nobody denies that the carriage of pedal cycles would present any light railway operator with significant issues. Yet tomorrow (Friday) the Capital Projects Committee will meet to discuss a report recommending the continued banning of pedal cycles from trams during off-peak hours. This report is based purely on the views of a private firm of consultants and has had zero public consultancy (it has also taken 7 years to produce). If you have a spare five minutes and you are interested in encouraging more people to take to their bicycles then please copy/adapt the letter below and email it to your area representative on the committee (see list below).

You can find an actual copy of the report here.

Dear Cllr Wright,

As a long term and committed cyclist who commutes around Gtr Manchester on my bicycle on a regular basis I was heartened by the possibility that Metrolink were considering allowing the carriage of bicycles at off-peak times on the trams. I understand that, this week, the GMPTE have submitted a report on “The Implications of the Carriage of Bicycles on Trams”, with the recommendation that members should endorse the decision to continue with the current policy to ban the carriage of bicycles on the Metrolink network.

I am extremely concerned that having taken 7 years to produce the report it is being rushed through the transport committee this Friday without allowing groups such as the Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign any chance to comment. This, despite the fact that the GMCC have regularly provided information and analysis of the carriage of bicycles on light rail systems across Europe and North America, none of which seem to concur with any of the problems highlighted by the report from the GMPTE.

In particular I am concerned that the recommendations in the report are purely based on the views of consultants Mott MacDonald, and there has been no public consultation or consultation with interested user groups.

Furthermore there seems to be remarkably few facts and figures in the report and much of the “evidence” seems to be assertion on the part of the aforementioned consultants and as such may contain misleading or incorrect information which no group or individual has had the opportunity to challenge.

It seems to me to be highly undemocratic and not in the best interests of Manchester voters to allow this report to be adopted without proper consultation. I would therefore urge that the committee postpone the decision to adopt the Mott MacDonald Report until proper public consultation and representation has been allowed.

Yours faithfully,

John Sutton

Committee representatives:

dylan.butt@trafford.gov.uk,
Councillor.Dawson@salford.gov.uk,
cllr.a.fender@manchester.gov.uk,
cllr.d.jones@oldham.gov.uk,
richard.knowles@oldham.gov.uk,
councillor.macdonald@salford.gov.uk,
scottsclp@aol.com,
E.Smethurst@wigan.gov.uk,
cllr.david.white@stockport.gov.uk,
victoria.fletcher@tameside.gov.uk,
cllr.k.whitmore@manchester.gov.uk,
M.Winstanley@wigan.gov.uk,
cllr.craig.wright@stockport.gov.uk,
peter.evans@rochdale.gov.uk,
P.Holland@wigan.gov.uk,
cllr.d.sandiford@manchester.gov.uk,
cllr.v.stevens@manchester.gov.uk,
b.theckston@bury.gov.uk, Councillor.Warner@salford.gov.uk

Image by Ingy the Wingy under a creative commons license from Flickr