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Bradford to host this year's Cycle City, Active City conference

Event billed as Europe's largest of its type has previously been held in Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle and Leicester...

Bradford will this May host what is billed as Europe’s biggest cycling and active travel conference, Cycle City Active City, with hundreds of delegates from the UK and the continent expected to attend.

Venues including the Alhambra, the National Media Museum and City Park will host the event, which will be supported by West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s CityConnect team.

The programme will include presentations from leading figures in “active travel policy, infrastructure design and delivery, behaviour change marketing, public health campaigns and evidence,  place-making inspiration and examples and much more.”

Councillor Keith Wakefield, West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Chair, said: “Hosting Cycle City Active City in Bradford will be a great opportunity to showcase how we are supporting economic growth and job creation by developing a modern, integrated transport network for the City Region, with cycling and walking as key elements.

“Delegates from across Europe will be able to visit the 14km Cycle Superhighway connecting Braford and Leeds city centres, the first of its kind outside London, and hear what we are doing to develop cycling and active travel to address issues such as poor health and low air quality.

“It will also be an opportunity for us to learn from our colleagues about similarly innovative schemes across Britain and Europe.”

Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Environment Sport and Culture, Councillor Sarah Ferriby,  said:

“We are delighted to be hosting the Cycle City Active City in Bradford. 2017 is going to be an exciting year for Bradford in terms of cycling with key events being Stage three of the Tour de Yorkshire starting in Bradford city centre and going through the district, the Women in Cycling Conference and now this conference and exhibition.

“We already regularly host the cyclo-cross championships in one of our parks and our district provides fantastic opportunities for people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to get on their bikes.”

Now in its fifth edition, previous events have been held in Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle and Leicester.

This year’s event takes place from 11-12 May 2017 and more information can be found on its website.

 

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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8 comments

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severs1966 | 7 years ago
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This is only pretending to be a prestigious international cycling-in-cities conference.

The REAL one of those is the Velo City Conference, which is held (as you would expect) in REAL cycling cities. This year, it is jointly held by the neighbouring cities of Arnhem and Nijmegen, which are linked by a new cycle superhighway (no, an REAL cycle superhighway, not just a cycle path).

https://ecf.com/projects/velo-city/velo-city-2017

The conference mentioned in this article is the cycling equivalent of holding a vegetarian conference in a slaughterhouse, a pacifism conference in a machine gun factory, a rail conference in the central reservation of the M1... etc. You get the picture.

It is a teeny bit scandalous that the organisers are pretending to be holding the number 1, largest, most prestigious conference of its kind. Still, it's appropriate, because the past, present and probably future of cycle provision in this particular area has been dominated by lies and deception from the authorities, who are only pretending to care whether people on bikes live or die.

Just take the so-called "superhighway" from Bradford to Leeds. Incomplete, and now the promise of finishing it has been abandoned. Those promised parts which they could be bothered to build took much longer than promised. It was built to plans and standards different to those shown to the public and cycle consultation groups. It was built to incredibly dangerous "standards" in some places, with some parts that are an active threat to rider safety.

So remember: when the top nobs in Bradford come to this event promising to turn Bradford into a "cycling city", their promises are worthless lies; they have no such intention.

Councillor Wakefield should be ashamed of himself, but he will not show contrition.

 

the little onion wrote:

...hopefully we will get a bunch of Dutch and Danish cycle planners telling Bradford council that they are a disgrace, and we might get some proper infrastructure.

They already know they are a disgrace. The visitors might tell them so too. We won't get any decent infrastructure, but we might get some lines pointless painted on existing death-trap roads.

 

7rgv wrote:

...People want to transform Bradford into a a modern and thriving place like Leeds...

This is a mildly ironic comment, given that Leeds is a terrible, scary place to ride a bike, with a vanishingly low modal share and a council that has a long history of worshipping the car at the expense of all else, ESPECIALLY bike riders, which the police and council institutionally detest.

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7rgv | 7 years ago
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Bradford is one of, if not the, most unpleasant and dangerous places in the UK to cycle. Many Bradford drivers are careless and reckless, with near misses happening to me everyday. People swear and shout at you, and kids in hoodies throw stones at you. The police are lazy and slow to respond, if at all: I know from personal experience.The roads are in very poor condition too, puncture resistant tyres and strong rims a necessity.However, living in this city is like heaven and hell; Bradford is hell but to the North, West and South of the city is cycling heaven, some of the best cycling country in the UK: The Dales, Nidderdale, Bronte Country and Pendle Witch Country. People want to transform Bradford into a a modern and thriving place like Leeds, but this cannot happen without educating and disciplining Bradfordians.

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the little onion | 7 years ago
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I'm going to be positive - there isn't a single piece of good cycle infrastructure in Bradford (with the exception of a small number of short sections of the £30 million cylce "super"highway, although the project overall is an abomination). So hopefully we will get a bunch of Dutch and Danish cycle planners telling Bradford council that they are a disgrace, and we might get some proper infrastructure.

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SouthCraven | 7 years ago
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Haha Bradford! What a joke! The majority of people in Bradford view bicycles as kids toys and use their car to drive from their street to the one next to it because they can't be bothered walking.

All Bradford council will do is waste whatever money they get to do this, because that's what they are best at.

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brooksby replied to SouthCraven | 7 years ago
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SouthCraven wrote:

Haha Bradford! What a joke! The majority of people in Bradford view bicycles as kids toys and use their car to drive from their street to the one next to it because they can't be bothered walking. All Bradford council will do is waste whatever money they get to do this, because that's what they are best at.

In all fairness, Hull got "City of Culture" so maybe someone has a sense of humour...

Avatar
Yorkshire wallet replied to brooksby | 7 years ago
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brooksby wrote:

SouthCraven wrote:

Haha Bradford! What a joke! The majority of people in Bradford view bicycles as kids toys and use their car to drive from their street to the one next to it because they can't be bothered walking. All Bradford council will do is waste whatever money they get to do this, because that's what they are best at.

In all fairness, Hull got "City of Culture" so maybe someone has a sense of humour...

My wife made me go see Simple Minds there a while back. I think that's about as cultured as the place gets. It was pretty grim overall.

Avatar
stifflersmom | 7 years ago
1 like

Possibly the worst city in the UK to ride a bike. Near the top of the league table for uninsured drivers and an unhealthy culture of street racing and general bellendery. Good to see initiatives to promote all forms of cycling but it's like pushing water uphill in Bradford.

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Yorkshire wallet | 7 years ago
2 likes

Hopefully nobody will run over by the city's many lunatic drivers.

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