Double discrimination

While looking for a pavement to park on by templemeads, this sign caught our eye:
 
Just beneath the advertisement for the bristol-bath cycling& walking route, on a pavement with signs saying pedestrians are allowed to walk on it, there are two other signs

• A "no entry to bicycles sign"
• A sign saying "cyclists dismount and give way to pedestrians"

The latter was our favourite. Think about what it means.

It means anyone who has dismounted and is now pushing their bicycle has to give way to pedestrians.

Clearly it means that cyclists pushing their bicycles are not yet pedestrians, they are still cyclists endangering pedestrians by their very insistence on walking their bicycle towards templemeads station -perhaps to get to the railway path, perhaps even to get on a train.

Either way, it's nice to see that whoever owns Templemeads Station hates cyclists whether on their bicycles or on foot.

Abbeywood Station

While obviously we don't use in trains and resent the fact that after privatisation the amount of our road tax spent on subsidising this form of transport has actually massively increased, we were at least pleased to see that the signage at the MOD side of the Abbeywood train station is aligned with our needs.

There is a faded bicycle under the barriers, not maintained as well as the no bicycles sign.

Interesting that it has a ring round the bicycle and Cyclists Dismount, does that mean they are required to get off their bicycles and then, well, just stand there or something?

There's another no bicycle sign to the lampost on the right, and one further up in the sky, in case inattentive cyclists were looking up there instead. This is the kind of cycle city signage we approve of -very Portsmouth.

Then S gloucs council waste the entire effort by having a sign up just outside showing people how to walk and cycle from the station.

Ridiculous.

Abbeywood Week: Filton Abbey Wood station

While visiting the abbeywood area (we drove, obviously), it seemed appropriate to check out the Abbey Wood station. We had heard of this, MoD backed station put in for commuters, offers fast travel from Wales and templemeads. Fortunately, no functional connectivity from the Severn Beach line, as that would actually make it possible for commuters in that part of the city to get in by train rather than by car -so threaten the entire economy of the city.

There are some signs of it being used, and that bicycles are a problem. All along the signs up to the station: no bicycles, and cycles dismount.

Coming down the hill, in the other direction, the same signs, in case bicycles come from that direction.

what kind of criminals do people here fear?

Ones who ignore police warning signs, although the fact the 1835 law they cite is about pavements beside public roads, doesn't cover footpaths, railway bridges and probably not even the bit of railway car park by the sign may be one cause.

There are also cycles dismount signs on the footpath signs, again, presumably disregarded.. We were not aware that cycles on pavements were such a threat to society in this corner of the Abbey Wood sprawl, but clearly it is. 

After a bit of research, we identified a potential cause. If you look at the abbey wood area on the council-supplied map (large PDF file), it's clear all the footpaths and footbridges are marked as green, places bicycles are welcome. There is a small note "Bridge please walk", but it doesn't say how far, and it doesn't cover the footpath with the cycles dismount sign.

The fact that the councils are giving away maps encouraging cycling is leading to this problem of bicycles on pavements, one the police are left to deal with.

All money enforcing cyclists dismount signs should come from the cycling city budget!

This plan has success written all over it

We in Bristol Traffic are pleased be the first blog to recognise the "reality on the ground" and celebrate the granting of planning permission to the Chocolate Factory development, a development which will bring progress to Greenbank, including progress to the green hedgerow along one side of the railway path.

The railwaypath is a family bike path at weekends. But what is interesting for the parent may not be for the child. Look at this photo for example. The parent may be enjoying their workout towing some extra kilos to bath and back, but what of the child. They get bored. The only bit that has some interest is the Bitton Railway, as trains are one product pushed at small children -in the form of Thomas the Tank Engine.

Closer to the city centre, no trains. But now we will have that other centrepiece of child literature to look forward to, Bob the Builder, at work. This will make family bike journeys more fun. Once the multiple new access stairs to the railway path are laid out, we will also have some places between the stairs to let the kids run and play, free from the risk of passing mountain bikers doing a bit of high-speed offroad. Hopefully the residents will contribute to this family feel by providing some picnic benches and play facilities.

The E.P. says, "This plan has success written all over it". We say "mission accomplished!"

Integrated Transport Hub

Some of the local Green party activists are pushing for a "transport hub" near Templemeads. After the experience of trying to get a bus home from Templemeads at 9 pm, we opted for a transport hub that works: Bristol Parkway.

It costs 5 pounds a day to park here. Even with fuel costs, that's less than the bus fares for two people. It's way cheaper than the taxi too. And if your train from London comes it at 11pm, you can't be sure there will much of either around. Yes, Bristol has an integrated transport hub today: Parkway!

The seventies comes to Virgin XC

For anyone planning to head north by rail, the best way to do it in recent year is get a train to wales and then a Great Western train through the Welsh borders. Because the alternative: Virgin XC, was pretty mediocre. Sometimes, though, it was all that was on offer, especially if you were heading to Sheffield or Edinburgh. For that, there was the once-a-day Virgin cross country train, some slow vehicle that would not look out of place on a South London commuter run, but for long-haul journeys, journeys where luggage was something bigger than a small backpack, they were the wrong train. Even though there was a power socket for your laptop, you can't really get work done when the train is stopped somewhere for two hours in the midlands, the aisles full of people and their suitcases.

All this will change. Because Virgin XC have announced they will be rolling out 125mph high speed trains on the trans-country route, which is Bristol's only direct train to Scotland. Some people may despair that this means that the train line is rolling out trains that were first deployed in the mid seventies on British Rail Intercity. Some people may despair that long-haul diesel trains are still polluting and, if empty, fairly inefficient per passenger mile, and costed to cover all that diesel fuel that gets burned. There is also the fact that travelling by train is now viewed as a premium activity, and priced accordingly. These are negative viewpoints and will only lead to a crisis of confidence.

We in Bristol Traffic celebrate the redeployment of 1970s-era high speed trains to our region! We think it goes hand in hand with all the other 1970s retro events going on: abba musicals, oil price rises and the de-facto bankruptcy of the British Government, which, having taken over the banking system now owes a few trillion $ in credit defaults. Let's get those glam-rock clothes out and start dancing to Abba as we wait for our 125 mph trains to the North!

[Photo: a train heading towards Templemead from Parkway. Josh's proposed Northern Expressway cycle route would be on the left side of the lines].

Integrated Transport

Here are some shots from a train journey from Oxford to Bristol. Starting from Oxford, which has a rack of secure bike lockers for bikes that are valued.

Next to that, there is the covered parking. Enough room for a few hundred bikes. In Bristol, getting to Temple Meads is half the problem. The route from the railway path is down, the bypass had police "no cycling" signs up until the council told them to stop it, and the roads outside are some of the most dangerous in the city. And then there is the challenge of parking your bike or getting it onto a platform. Whereas in Oxford, the problem is remembering where you left your bike.

Really

And what's that in the distance? A bus? Yes -a red bus. With all those London Transport connotations, of a bus/tube service that is designed to benefit the city, rather than some distant shareholders.
Whereas we in Bristol, we get FirstBus. And to get to Bristol, FirstGWR. Which turned out to be very nice, they even let me on an earlier train without any fuss.

I got to arrive in Bristol early, at 9 pm.

This was the London train; the premium train between Bristol and The Big City. Its a mid-evening train, so anyone who stopped off for a bit of food or drink after a day's work may be on it. The taxis know this, they all pile in waiting for customers. But me, I'm waiting for a bus. I could walk, but I have luggage and a note from my physiotherapist that says "don't". I'm waiting for the bus. Given that FirstBus and FirstGWR are part of the same company, we'd hope they know the train timetables too, and arrange for buses to integrate with the trains. And look, after only 15 minutes wait, a bus pulls in. And turns its lights off.


Those few of us who dont either walk off, get taxis, or get friends to pick them up by car are left waiting for another half an hour before eventually the bus turns its lights on and decides to go.

The lesson for this is simple: don't rely on FirstBus/FirstGWR to do any co-ordination. What's interesting is to think, why not? Why don't FirstBus not only schedule buses to be in the station for when the trains come in, but even have announcements on the train advertising this. It's almost like they don't want to make money. And clearly, compared to the London experience, they don't want to provide a service for the citizens of Bristol.