AWARD WINNING TV PRESENTER AND ACTOR SIMON O’BRIEN PRESS RELEASE

“SOUTHPORT COULD BE HEADING FOR PARKING CHAOS. NEARLY 200 TOWN CENTRE PARKING SPACES MAY BE LOST TO CURRENT MOTORISTS!” says the star of hit Channel 4 shows Find it Fix It Flog It and The Great House Giveaway in his role as the Liverpool City Region Active Travel Commissioner.

Here’s why.

Monitoring figures just published by Liverpool John Moores University show that the Council's Emergency Active Travel ‘pop up lanes’ along Hoghton Street and Chapel Street to and from Southport’s town centre recorded 28,976 individual cycling journeys between November 05th 2020 and January 21st 2020. Let’s break that figure down. That is 392 journeys per day in the middle of winter.

Fact. It’s fair to assume that the vast majority of those are two journeys made by individual cyclists riding to and from the town centre. So that’s 196 commutes or shopping trips by bike along the lane every day. However there is a lobby to get rid of the lane and thus discourage people from using a bike to get into Southport. I read with interest the reasons for wanting to scrap the lane.

‘No one uses the lanes’

The figures from the roadside monitors do not support that statement. Bike lanes are a very efficient way of moving people and so they can create an illusion of being relatively empty. Nearly 30,000 journeys over two winter months. Wow. They are the best figures for any ‘pop up’ lane across the region. Something for Southport shout about and build on.

‘Parking in Southport is already an issue. We need cheaper parking, or parking concessions, and we need more parking spaces to be made available, not less.’

What if those people cycling in every day decided, for their own personal safety, to drive instead? That’s 196 more cars trying to park in a town centre already struggling for parking spaces. A majority of people throughout the region say they would cycle more if they felt safer on the roads. Proper cycle lanes (not just painted lines) would encourage more people out of their cars and onto their bikes freeing up more parking for those that need it, the elderly, blue badges, business deliveries and longer distance commuters.

Our town centres are facing unprecedented pressure. The explosion in online shopping and food deliveries looks set to continue. So Southport needs to adapt. This lovely town has always been a destination for short term visitors and it needs to build on this ethos. The tourist industry is vital to the local economy, but this like any other, is a very competitive market. People want to visit places where they and their children can wander freely and safely away from busy polluted roads.

It is well documented that when places feel pleasant, safe and quiet, people loiter and spend more. ‘Green tourism’ is a rapidly growing sector and those people who chose to travel in this way are very discerning. They know exactly what they want to spend their money on and where they want to spend it Change is often difficult but there are huge issues facing us all and change is needed.

The Climate Crisis, air quality issues, an obesity epidemic. Depressing stuff but they can all be tackled by acting positively now. Help create liveable neighbourhoods and amazing town centres. I believe that Southport has the heritage and location to be one of the best places to live, visit, stay and shop in the country but only if it keeps pace with the rapidly changing world.

It is not enough to say ‘we want bike lanes but just not here’. Solve the parking issues by giving people a safe, direct alternative for shorter trips without the car. Now is the time to embrace the amazing success of the first ‘pop up’ lane and join the chorus for more. Consider again those monitor figures from Chapel Street - 28,976 trips and counting in just two winter months! The evidence is clear. Provide decent bike lanes and they will be used.

Roving eye, can you go out and actually find some news rather than just continuing to stir the motorists vs cyclists stories.

In the first lockdown you claimed you could travel about with your press credentials (you even compared them to the likes of Sky etc!) If you want to be taken seriously as a journalist, how about doing the job?

Many who ride here, have been saying the same as Simon for many years, only to be repeatedly ignored. Literally paying the price for being cyclists in costly fines, simply for using Chapel St - and this right in the heart of our so-called 'Cycling Town' - duh!

I, and many others, very much appreciate the recent about-face by those at the top. Here's hoping the local anti-cycling fraternity and their publicity seeking 'mouthpieces', fail in their recent selfish efforts to trash and discredit safe cycle infrastructure.

Can someone post a link to the actual research? 28,976? Really?

I would be interested to see actual proof of these 28976 cycle journeys. It very easy for Sefton Council to announce figures to support its ill thought out scheme, but somehow I very much doubt that the Council would be able to actually prove it to be true.

Originally Posted by roving-eye

“NEARLY 200 TOWN CENTRE PARKING SPACES MAY BE LOST TO CURRENT MOTORISTS!” says the star of hit Channel 4 shows Find it Fix It Flog It and The Great House Giveaway

Where exactly are these 200 parking spaces?

I've re-read the article three times and can find nothing that explains that figure.

What am I missing?

So, according to the figures of 392 journeys a day on the cycle lane, taking the average day of 16 hours (excluding being used at night) that equates to an average of seeing one cyclist every 41 seconds using Hoghton Street.

Wonder who gathered the figures together? An independent survey company?

Simon O’Brien named as Liverpool City Region cycling and walking commissioner who was appointed in 2019.

Cycling around WITHOUT a helmet - all very safe I don't think!

https://www.liverpoolcityregion-ca.g...-commissioner/

Originally Posted by SalusPopuli

Where exactly are these 200 parking spaces?

I've re-read the article three times and can find nothing that explains that figure.

What am I missing?

Hello namesake, what the article is suggesting is that if the 200 people per day who are currently cycling into town were to drive instead then they'd be occupying 200 parking spaces meaning there'd be 200 fewer spaces for those who are currently still driving into town.

I must admit that it's a bit of a stretch. Some of those cyclists would have been cycling anyway, some of them might be heading through town to another destination, some might not have cars etc...

Originally Posted by libraryguy

So, according to the figures of 392 journeys a day on the cycle lane, taking the average day of 16 hours (excluding being used at night) that equates to an average of seeing one cyclist every 41 seconds using Hoghton Street.

Wonder who gathered the figures together? An independent survey company?

Excuse me if I'm wrong but 16 hours is 16 x 60 x 60 seconds = 57600 seconds. Divide that by 392 journeys and I get 147 seconds.

Originally Posted by libraryguy

So, according to the figures of 392 journeys a day on the cycle lane, taking the average day of 16 hours (excluding being used at night) that equates to an average of seeing one cyclist every 41 seconds using Hoghton Street.

Wonder who gathered the figures together? An independent survey company?

Maths not your strong point?
392 in 16 hours is 24.5 per hour, so 1 every 147 seconds (almost 2.5 minutes)

Originally Posted by salus.populi

Maths not your strong point?
392 in 16 hours is 24.5 per hour, so 1 every 147 seconds (almost 2.5 minutes)

Perhaps libraryguy could kill 2 birds with 1 stone and make an enquiry regarding Maths courses whilst checking up on the validity of the report in question.

To my mind Hoghton Street is quite wide. There is plenty of width for cars to park, allowing room for cyclists also, so no need for dedicated cycle lanes and the loss of parking spaces. As for Queens Road no entry system, it is just a pain, pushing more traffic around onto Park Crescent and Albert Road, causing more congestion. Dread to think how it will be when lockdown starts to ease!!

Originally Posted by justbecause

I would be interested to see actual proof of these 28976 cycle journeys. It very easy for Sefton Council to announce figures to support its ill thought out scheme, but somehow I very much doubt that the Council would be able to actually prove it to be true.

Chapel St might well be quieter now, due to the lockdown. But those survey figures include the busy eight week runup to Xmas, when there were a lot of people about, and a great deal of shopping was being done - inc by cyclists.

Originally Posted by TDM900

To my mind Hoghton Street is quite wide. There is plenty of width for cars to park, allowing room for cyclists also, so no need for dedicated cycle lanes and the loss of parking spaces. As for Queens Road no entry system, it is just a pain, pushing more traffic around onto Park Crescent and Albert Road, causing more congestion. Dread to think how it will be when lockdown starts to ease!!

It won’t work, cars manoeuvring in and out of spaces, car doors being opened into the pathway of cyclists, it would be dangerous. A cycle path for cyclists needs to be freeway, clear of such obstacles.
And as for Queens Rd, all those motorists flagrantly breaking the law, need to start keeping their eyes peeled. It hasn’t gone unnoticed by Merseyside Police.