Riding Out The Crisis: Glasgow’s Bike Heroes
Cyclists in Queen’s Park
Walking down Victoria Road at ‘rush hour’ has a distinctly eerie feel at the moment. The hustle of commuters taking steps two at a time to make the next train or dashing for the Number 4 bus seems like a distant memory. Shops that would have been opening for the day’s commerce remain shuttered and silent. The roads are practically empty.
In fact, the most recent figures from Transport Scotland show that rail journeys are down by 95 per cent, concessionary bus journeys by 85 per cent and car journeys by 70 per cent. Bucking the trend, however, cycle journeys are up by 120 per cent.
In Govanhill, the newly developed South City Way linking Queen’s Park to the centre of Glasgow may have caused some controversy. But many people are now using it for the very first time. Local Facebook groups have seen a surge in people looking to borrow a bicycle, as well as those offering to use their bikes to help out people who are self-isolating.
Air pollution levels and widespread concerns about climate change, have led to campaigners advocating for more of us to take to two wheels. But it seems it has taken a crisis, for this change to happen; during lockdown, bikes have proved to be a lifeline for many.
Free Rental Bikes For Glasgow’s Key Workers
The Bike For Good South Community Hub has been at the forefront of encouraging more people onto two wheels locally. Prior to covid-19, they offered cycling confidence lessons, opportunities to learn how to fix your own bike and free activities for people of all abilities.
Their value to the local community was demonstrated when they smashed their crowdfunding target, raising £12,555 to keep themselves going through the lockdown period.
But while the doors to their colourful Langside Lane hub have been mostly closed during this time, it hasn’t stopped them doing what they can to help the community. They are lending out their fleet of bicycles, free of charge to key workers in Glasgow. This is a necessity for some people, who are unable to get to work using the reduced services, or who don’t feel safe travelling by public transport.
Tracey Smyth (right), a home carer, picks up her newly borrowed bike from Bike For Good.
Advice from the Cycling Scotland website
It remains advisable to walk or cycle for your health and wellbeing. If you’re not self-isolating, we recommend walking or cycling for both essential journeys and exercise. It’s important to:
Cycle or walk alone, or with members of your household
Keep two metres away from others
Wash your hands on arrival at your destination
Cycle for exercise once daily only
Stay local and cycle within your ability level
Cycling is generally a low-risk activity but with our emergency services under pressure, it’s important that we all take steps to manage risk wherever we can. Please only cycle on routes you know well, that are close to home (in case of mechanical problems) and that are well within your ability level. To avoid unnecessary travel, Forestry and Land Scotland and many national parks have asked that no one drives to land that they manage.
If you're cycling on shared paths, please be considerate of walkers, runners and other people cycling: stay two metres from others, slow your pace and stop to let people pass.
Tracey Smyth is a home carer, who has borrowed one of their bikes for her daily commute. Prior to this, she hadn’t relied on public transport and hadn’t cycled for over 20 years. She says it’s made a world of difference: “It has made my life easier, as travel time is quicker between clients. I am now able to have a break on my shift. I'm planning to buy a bike when this is over and will definitely continue cycling – I'm enjoying the freedom that it has given me. I’m also using it outside of work, when I’m out with my four-year-old for our daily exercise.”
Coordinating the bikes for key workers scheme is Gail Murray. She says that “At the moment, we’re experiencing the equivalent of 1950s traffic. There’s far less vehicle traffic, making it far safer for cyclists.
“I think we’re going to emerge to a very different society, with different thinking patterns. And I think that people using bikes now – from us and from other organisations – will see the benefits and continue to cycle.”
Prior to the lockdown, Gail also delivered cycle training, teaching people from the age of four, right up to sixty-four how to ride a bike. She notices that: “It’s always the same expression, the same childlike excitement – the feeling of positivity, both mentally and physically. It’s almost a euphoria being able to ride a bike.”
It is not only Bike For Good that are offering free bikes to key workers. Next Bikes, with support from Glasgow City Council and Scottish Power are offering 1,000 free memberships in May, available to all designated key workers.
Two-Wheeled Deliveries
Bikes have also been made use of as means of delivering essential supplies. A common feature of the lockdown period has been third sector organisations working together for the good of the communities they serve. While the Simon Community have a van and an e-cargo bike to deliver food parcels people experiencing homelessness, they still needed extra support and Karlene Doherty was able to help using the South Seeds’ tool library e-bike.
Karlene is the Head of TP&E, one of Scotland’s leading sustainable transportation consultancies. She is also a trustee of Govanhill-based community organisation, South Seeds. The tool library is closed during the lockdown, but when it re-opens the e-bike will be available for members of the local community to borrow.
For now, her and other members of the Cycling Scotland team have been traversing the semi-empty streets of Glasgow, in order to help some of Scotland’s most vulnerable people. Like other cyclists, she’s been enjoying the quieter streets, saying: “There’s more space on the road, less traffic, and it’s noticeable that more people are out cycling. Although not under the conditions that we would have liked this to happen, it’s really positive that people are now seeing cycling as an enjoyable way of getting around.
“It’s also been good to see the government support the creation of more temporary walking and cycling lanes. This will give people the opportunity to build up their confidence, by cycling in times of less traffic, making it something they will hopefully want to continue.”
The Bike For Good community outreach team have also been out on the streets. Ali Ness, is the Health and Wellbeing Coordinator and has been coordinating six staff members. They are mainly delivering food packages and prescriptions to those who cannot leave the house, and have set up weekly deliveries to support a range of different organisations including the Govanhill Housing Association and Refuweegee.
Ali is enjoying the opportunity to be able to help others, doing something he is passionate about: “In my normal role, I help people improve their mental and physical wellbeing through cycling. So still being able to provide an essential service to these people in their time of need means a great deal to me. I have always loved cycling and seeing the joy it can bring someone who is struggling, so to be able to still use a bike as a tool for social good is amazing.”
Making the streets safer for cyclists
The campaign group, Pedal on Parliament, recently launched a national online campaign, #SpaceForDistancing, calling for the reallocation of road space to allow for safe distancing for people walking, cycling and wheeling. Measures they want to see introduced include the temporary widening of pavements to allow people to pass each other safely on foot and queue outside shops if they need to, as well as temporary segregated cycleways along key commuting routes to enable key workers and others to cycle where possible.
Iona Shepherd, from Pedal on Parliament said “Key workers, especially those without cars, have become increasingly reliant on active travel for getting to and from work during this crisis, and we urgently need to ensure that they have safe space to do this, safely distanced from others on our pavements, and protected from traffic.”
Last week, the Scottish Government announced £10m of funding to councils who wish to start to implement reallocation of road space for distancing measures. And at the weekend, Glasgow City Council closed off some areas in the West End to vehicle traffic. The council have not yet provided any details of the next phase of this work, and are currently working up what the next locations should be.
Where to get your bike fixed in Glasgow during lockdown
Sustrans have produced a map that plots all open bicycle repair shops and key worker rental schemes.
Around Govanhill, there is Willy Bains Bicycle Repairs on Pollockshaws Road, who is offering a limited service with social distancing measures in place and priority given to key workers.
Bike For Good Community Hub South are also trialling limited opening hours.
Whether changes made to road priorities will last beyond the pandemic remains to be seen. For now, many people are enjoying the freedom and the pleasure that travelling on two wheels brings. And all signs point towards this continuing when lockdown is lifted.