Made To Move
If we want people to use bikes, we need to stop talking about bikes.
Right now the term ‘cyclist’ tribalises people, sets them against each other. We need to focus on what people want not what they need and critically, talk about it in the language they choose, not the one we are comfortable with.
Personally, I don’t want more people to ride bikes per-say, I want the outcomes that more cycling and walking brings. I want people to feel able to leave the car at home, potter slowly to the shops and take the kids to school without being in a traffic jam or getting stressed-out finding somewhere to park. Those are scenarios people can picture, alternatives to the status quo they can get behind.
These thoughts were front and centre when I was persuaded by Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, to take on the role of Cycling and Walking Commissioner for the City Region. They were the foundations on which the "Made to Move" report, a 15 step program to radically change the way we travel, was built. Forget the facts, we know why less cars would be good for us all, we needed to present the alternative in a way that people wanted to buy it.
When I started the role, I spent 3 months trying to understand as much as I could, to drill down into why we continue to travel in the way we do. Startlingly, 30% of all journeys made by car in the region are less than 1km. That's 250,000,000 journeys a year, in a car, that could be walked in less than 15 minutes or ridden in 5. Whilst embarrassing, this statistic was also exciting. I could see how little we would have to change to make a huge difference.
Car use, good or evil, is firmly embedded in our lives. The only way to get people to change their travel behaviour en masse, is if they can look out of the car window and see something easy, attractive and safe. Because if it doesn't look appealing, why would they change? Two simple rules were proposed, underpin all decision making and spending around cycling and walking:
- Cycling: Make it usable and desirable by a competent 12 year old and their parents would let them cycle more.
- Walking: Make it desirable and safe for a parent pushing a double buggy.
These two proxies represent: pensioners, the infirm, parents with kids, people who haven't ridden a bike since childhood, all the people currently making those short car journeys.
Ask one hundred people to describe a streetscape where this could happen and I guarantee their descriptions would list the same ingredients. These rules are both simple and dauntingly ambitious. Most importantly, they convey a very clear mission in language the listener understands, and paints a picture of a place they'd like to be.
The "Made to Move" report was unanimously and enthusiastically adopted by the leaders of Greater Manchester in late 2017. Pretty exciting stuff, that a whole city regions is ready to change its streetscape to prioritise moving people not traffic.
Next move is to start implementing the 15 steps in the report, to double and then double again the level of cycling and walking in Greater Manchester.
To change the culture of a whole city region is a monumental challenge but we have a clear strategy, dedicated resources and most importantly, leadership. With those ingredients and a great product, how can we fail?