Discussion on our sister website GatesheadCycling sometimes goes into a spin on the subject of cycling numbers in Gateshead. So it's worth noting that recently we were reminded by the census that Gateshead is far from seeing a cycling revolution. With a meager 0.4 percentage point increase cycle commuting now has a modal share of 1.5% in Gateshead, "boosted" from 1.1% in 2001.
This is almost below detection limits! And should serve as an eye opener to Gateshead.
Did you know that our patron is Prof Stephen Singleton? He has been backing the campaign since our early days: "Cycling could transform Tyneside. If cycling was a tablet or a medical intervention it would be a best buy for the health service" and he continues here. More recent developments in the health landscape will result in decision-making on public health strategy and budget spending being more made more locally.
The new strategy has been delayed, and is not due to be made available until December. We will continue to watch any developments with the new strategy and we will also provide input and comments on it, once it is available.
This week the Campaign for Better Transport released their 2012 Car Dependency Scorecard. In the scorecard, Gateshead was ranked last in the category for Walking and Cycling, with Newcastle also ranking low at 22nd (out of 26).
In the scorecard, the Future Plans for Newcastle and Gateshead are also seen as a problem as they seem to have no measures to address the low Walking and Cycling scores for the area.
