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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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