As some of you may already be aware, I am now a student at UWE, which is in Britain’s first “cycling city” (although technically the main Frenchay campus where I live is in South Gloucestershire). I am on the Architecture & Planning course which is AFAIK unique as a dual honours degree, so I have lots of lectures on things like “Making Places” and “Economy, Society and the Built Environment”, as well as lots of time to look at mistakes like the Temple Way Underpass – a perfectly good grade separated interchange (in engineering terms) in a completely inappropriate location (next to offices and pubs).
Aside from academic considerations of urban planning and transport, there is the issue of how students actually convey themselves. I am fortunate to be on campus, and I also get a free bus pass for trips into the city centre or to the other campuses, but other journeys can be a struggle. There is a Sainsburys within walking distance, but walking any distance with a crate of 20 cans of Strongbow and two large shopping bags (filled with Basics cheese and tomato pizzas) is a struggle which required a mid afternoon nap. A bicycle with rack and panniers would make the shopping trip much easier. [This is an appeal to any Bristol based members!]
The ability / willingness / competence of educational establishments (as opposed to local authorities) in cycling matters is often doubtful – from my bedroom window in my university halls, I can see a cycle lane. Surely I would be riding up and down it randomly in joy (if I had actually bothered to take a bike with me or buy one)? Well, no, because:
- The cycle lane is so narrow, the cycle symbols straddle the double yellow lines and still manage to touch the dashed line at the edge of the cycle lane.
- The remaining traffic lane is barely wide enough for a Ford Transit.
- There is a roundal painted on the road with “5” in the middle. If vehicles were actually travelling this slowly, even a properly constructed cycle lane would be pointless because this is a no through road leading to the sports centre – the staff parking and bus stops are elsewhere.
Now, this was probably “designed” by the university itself, which is an educational establishment and not a conglomerate of traffic engineers. It nonetheless demonstrates poor design skills which were probably inspired by some local examples on public roads. I understand that even at smaller sites which don’t have private roads within, incompetence can be demonstrated with the poor installation of parking facilities, which I haven’t had a reason to check out due to not having a working bicycle to bring with me* [repeats appeal for a cheap bicycle].
Most people my age are not terribly interested in transport, but they are important end users. A lot of my friends can drive, but some of those who had cars at sixth form have sold them before going to university. It is worth pointing out that at UWE, students in halls are not allowed cars, but on the Frenchay campus there are over 20 numbered car parks and I have met students who commute daily from as far away as Cardiff.
Students are price concious – the cost of public transport is usually regarded as excessive, but not as much as taxis (which are usually only ever used by students to get home from a nightclub at 4am). Car insurance is also derided as excessive, but unfortunately reflective of the risk of damage or injury as I know quite a few people who have written off their cars driving into ditches / bollards / wild animals, and one girl at sixth form who I had barely heard of drove into an elderly man on North Street in Guildford.
Some of my friends are fortunate to have an alternate perspective. I was very surprised to find out that one of my friends who had left a private day school in Guildford and was going to the University of Bristol had lived in Wassenaar, a town near The Hague where I have been on holiday! He described Leiden as being the busiest place he had ever cycled, while I took the chance to point out the inadequate cycle lane on the A3100 south of Guildford (this is despite it being 2:45 am at the time, with us walking home to avoid those expensive taxis). So while this was not on the “Situations Vacant” page, does anyone think having a student post of some description would be a good idea?
