Bedford Borough Council has confirmed that its controversial Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) that bans cycling in the town centre will continue for another three years. The Bedford Independent reports that the majority of 215 respondents to a consultation on the matter said they thought it should remain in place.
Bedford is one of a number of towns to have a PSPO with cycling not permitted in certain parts of the town centre between 9am and 6pm.
PSPOs have drawn criticism from Cycling UK for the way in which they target cycling as a whole rather than only those who cause a danger or nuisance through the manner of their cycling.
In February, round-the-world cyclist Josh Quigley was handed a £75 fine for riding his bike in Bedford, not realising it was an offence.
Earlier this week, BBC broadcaster Jeremy Vine offered to pay the fine of a woman who was booked for cycling, reasoning, “I don't want her to be put off cycling for a second.”
Since January 2018, enforcement of the PSPO has been contracted out to Kingdom Securities, a private firm that is also responsible for enforcement of a similar PSPO in Peterborough.
In Peterborough Kingdom has raked in over £80,000 in fines for unauthorised cycling. Similarly, the number of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) issued in Bedford rose six-fold in just nine months from 181 in January 2018 to 1,127 in September 2018.
There have also been accusations of heavy-handed enforcement. Peter Blakeman of the Cycling Campaign for North Bedfordshire said that, “a number of reports were heard of the aggressive behaviour of the officers towards the elderly and foreign visitors.”
Here come the tired 1930s tropes....
If you don't like 'em, why give 'em what they want?
He adds nothing to the debate....
Murica, f*** yeah! Why isn't this at all surprising? I guess the surprise is they didn't shoot him.
Sounds like the council's drivers / maintenance contractors - and their street designers - aren't fit for purpose......
Isn't that what they mean by a grace period?
Nonsense. We all know that for the sudden appearance of cyclists in front of you tidal waves, landslips, falling chimneys, terrorist (or other)...
Practice is unfortunately the way forwards, Pace partner/robo pacer rides are a great help for this as they're not trying to drop you like other...
Agree, no matter how attractive the rail lines may seem for a new cyclepath as they have attracting elevation profiles for lazy people like me,...
The types of bike with be quite varied covering all corners of the market. Road bikes, Mountain, Hybrid, E-Bikes, Childrens, City. You name it they...