CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
"The Royal Mail has confirmed long-standing rumours that the traditional postal worker’s bike is to be phased out, citing the dangers faced by cyclists on Britain’s roads as a prime motivation behind the decision, and has rejected calls to use cargo tricyles instead of vans to deliver letters and parcels."
http://road.cc/content/news/16001-safety-concerns-prime-reason-behind-phasing-out-royal-mail-bikes?
Sounds like a prime opportunity to do a longditudinal study into the health of these cycling posties as they transfer into vans. Surely somebody would be interested in such a mass of data?
Sounds like a prime opportunity to pick up a second hand Pashley.
Here in lays the problem of having accountants running businesses which they have no knowledge of. The posties on the ground don't want electric trolleys because they know they were a bad idea and not fit for purpose. Now he wants to force it through and is using "safety" as an excuse. I was amused by the comment that “The use of freight tricycles is problematic unless terrain is extremely flat,” has anyone told The Village Trike?
Safety concerns are the prime reason. Hang on a minute...
"to which Lord Hunt replied that while active travel and cycling should be encouraged, it needed to be borne in mind that the decision was aimed principally at improving the efficiency of the Post Office."
Right, so that is the real reason then. Once again a van sitting in traffic is deemed to be more efficient.
Well this, and the points raised by people, will be getting mentioned in the new citycycling! (online this Friday folks... ;) )
Safety concerns a prime reason behind phasing out of Royal Mail vans
I first read it like this! I thought they had finally realised that too many people were at risk from badly driven mail vans..
Surely must be safer to use badly ridden bikes...
And Copenhagenize says -
http://www.copenhagenize.com/2010/04/danish-post-by-bicycle.html
Which Friday, Anth??
So the Royal Mail is also citing "efficiency" as one of their reasons for this absurd move alongside (perceived) safety.
Petrol prices close to record levels
So what are they going to run their vans on then if they are improving efficiency?
"...one peer, Lord Colwyn, voiced concerns that replacing them with vans might create a greater hazard to other road users, telling the House of Lords that the last two occasions he had been knocked off his bike, Royal Mail vans had been at fault."
As I said.... if the postal service want to increase road safety they should use less vans and more bikes.
Royal Mail's decision to park its bikes defies logic | Matt Seaton |
Environment |
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2010/apr/09/royal-mail-posties-bikes
This is what happens when you have people who have never done a real days work in they lives in charge. Be it senior managers or politicians.
And they will not sell me one. I asked:
Thank you for contacting Royal Mail.
I would like to explain that any surplus bicycles we not longer use are
donated to a charity who send them to Africa to be used.
Unfortunately as we have promised the charity these bicycles we are unable
to sell you a bike for your own use.
Looks like I'm still saving up for a Pashley.
PRESS RELEASE
"
CTC – the UK’s national cyclists’ organisation
Will Royal Mail’s new chief executive ‘Keep Posties Cycling’?
In the light of the appointment of Moya Greene as Royal Mail’s new Chief Executive, CTC – the UK’s national cyclists’ organisation is launching a campaign to ‘Keep Posties Cycling’.
According to a response written by former Royal Mail Chief Executive Adam Crozier to CTC Vice President and cycling politician Lord Berkeley, Royal Mail’s plans to force postmen and postwomen to use trolleys and vans instead of bikes is based on its expectation of “a reduction in the number of delivery accidents”.
Currently, Royal Mail staff use a fleet of 24,000 bikes, but the new measures could see that number drop to a few hundred. CTC opposes the plans and is not convinced by Royal Mail’s health and safety reasons for stopping bike delivery.
CTC Campaigns Coordinator Debra Rolfe said: “Many of the postal workers who have spoken to us don’t want to give up their bikes and be forced to deliver mail by trolley or van. Delivering mail by bike is good for the environment, for the health of posties and for the safety of everyone who uses the roads.”
Debra is also concerned Royal Mail has not looked at the other options seriously: “To overcome the problem of the increase in the number of parcels being delivered, Royal Mail needs look at using cargo bicycles and tricycles. These are already used in the UK by courier companies like DHL, and FedEx and are the norm in other European countries. It is also ironic that Royal Mail says it will always consider its environmental impact and wants to develop low carbon vehicles, when at the same time it is planning to stop using the one of the greenest forms of transport.”
Postman and anonymous blogger ‘Roy Mayall’ said: “Bikes have been one of the main tools of the postal trade for over 100 years. There’s a good reason for this. Aside from all the environmental and health benefits, a bike is a beautifully functional piece of machinery. It’s a bike. It’s a trolley. You can go fast. You can go slow. You can carry weight. You can use it to sort the mail. There are lots of compartments. You can park it on its stand and walk. There’s an old maxim: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Ask any postie and they’ll tell you. We love our bikes.”
CTC is asking everyone who would like to ‘Keep Posties Cycling’ to take action via CTC’s website. The online form automatically generates a letter that will be delivered in one load by cargo bike to Moya Greene at Royal Mail’s headquarters.
A copy of Adam Crozier’s letter to Lord Berkeley is available on the CTC website.
· More information on this campaign: http://www.ctc.org.uk/royalmail
"
Letter generated and sent.
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