Cycling review of the year in Worcester 2023

It’s been a busy year here at Bike Worcester HQ, and we were delighted to be asked by the Worcester News to reflect on 2023  from a PPP (pedal powered perspective).Boosted by a City Council grant the Bike Buses we support continue to grow, with twelve routes going to nine schools and more planned for 2024, we’ve now assisted children’s arrival to school on over 350 trips. We shared our experiences at an international summit in Barcelona and at UK wide Active Travel Cafe, and appeared briefly on the One Show!We’ve now had 130 bikes donated to the Bike Worcester and Crowngate recycling scheme, with 70 of these now back out on the streets, enabling children and adults alike to make more journeys by bike. November saw the 30th consecutive Critical Mass ride, with four Kidical Mass rides, including a world record attempt and a ride as part of the carnival. Our volunteers have organised cycling confidence sessions for women, a Fancy Women Bike Ride, have provided Bikeabilty training, attended scout groups, school fetes and community events, where we talk incessantly about bikes and cycling while simultaneously fixing punctures. Huzzah!Last month also brought the news that our own Georgina Tucker (founder of Cycle Sistas), and Katie Collier (Kidical, Bike Bus, Cycling Confidence) made it onto the Cycling UK’s list of 100 Women in Cycling for 2023. High praise indeed.A huge thank you to Deputy PCC Marc Bayliss for organising a grant which funded cameras and Pass Pixi signs. Many people are uncomfortable cycling in traffic; the solution is a network of low traffic or segregated routes across the city (we’re working on it), but enabling and encouraging the reporting of illegal and anti-social driving helps to reduce road danger for everyone, with the Pass Pixis reminding drivers they can and will be reported. Bike Worcester submission guidelines to West Mercia can be found here, with volunteers also mapping all submissions, which is shared with City and County Councils, and West Mercia Police. Illegal driving can be reported here.We completed our barrier map of the city, with the information now being used by the councils to remove barriers. We enjoyed the mapping process so much we did the same with lots of other infrastructure (check out Maps on our website) which includes a log of all the improvements in the city. I mean, we’d like it to have more dots on that one, but I’ll be festive and chalk it up as a work in progress.In the background we diligently attend various meetings, review planning and policy documents, and raise issues with councillors and officers. A huge thank you to for everyone’s time and patience in dealing with us; but expect more in 2024. So here’s to active travel, and to a New Year with more people cycling in the city; our next article will focus on our plans for 2024!