Plenary, 10 Feb 2010

Meeting date: Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Official Report 468KB pdf

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The Bike Station

The final item of business is a members' business debate on motion S3M-5359, in the name of Ian McKee, on the Bike Station makes climate change a local challenge. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.

Motion debated,

That the Parliament congratulates The Bike Station, Edinburgh's bicycle recycling and cycling promotion charity, for its continued work in championing active travel; notes that the charity promotes cycling as a healthy and sustainable means of transport across Edinburgh and the Lothians and works to support people to start and keep cycling while assisting other organisations to promote cycling and bike maintenance skills; further notes that the charity has recently been awarded funding from the Scottish Government Climate Challenge Fund to take on the 80-40-20 challenge, aimed at encouraging commuters to leave their cars at home and use public transport or take up cycling; considers that the project will help reduce carbon gas emissions as well as improving the general health of people in the region; congratulates the charity's manager, Mark Sydenham, for taking on the challenge, and wishes the project every success in getting the people of Edinburgh to take local and concrete action to fight climate change.

It gives me great pleasure to open this debate and to highlight the excellent work that is carried out by the Edinburgh Bike Station and its manager Mark Sydenham, who has been named in The Scotsman's list of the top 50 people who are working for a sustainable Scotland. That record has enabled the Bike Station to obtain in the sixth round of funding from the climate challenge fund a grant of £750,000 to promote cycling and sustainable commuting in Edinburgh in the next 15 months, with the aim of avoiding the emission of 4,847 tonnes of CO2.

What does the Bike Station do? It repairs unwanted bikes and puts them on the road. There are about 150,000 bicycles in Edinburgh, many of which are unwanted. The Bike Station has taken in more than 19,000 bikes and kept 270 tonnes of waste out of landfill. Once its trained mechanics have refurbished the bikes, they are sold at low cost, and 84 per cent of the buyers would almost certainly not have bought a bike otherwise. Even a bike that is past the point at which it can safely be put on the road again has many parts, such as a light bracket or a bell, that can be used on other bikes. Metal parts that are beyond redemption are scrapped, which leaves only the tyres, which cannot be recycled.

The Bike Station has an educational function. It provides cycle training and runs repair workshops so that users learn not only to use their bicycles safely but to keep them in a safe condition. Even a bike that is in immaculate condition when it is bought needs regular care and attention. The Bike Station runs a mobile mechanic service called Dr Bike, which provides a mobile MOT service at schools, workplaces and events. That attracts people to use their bicycles, at least on the day on which the service is offered, so that they can benefit from having their bicycles serviced.

On the wider education front, the Bike Station liaises with employers and other organisations to promote cycling and maintenance skills. More and more employers are using the Bike Station to offer free cycle training as a way of overcoming the barriers to cycling to and from work in the rush hour. In co-operation with Lothian and Borders Police road safety unit, the City of Edinburgh Council and active schools co-ordinators, the charity delivers cycle training in schools to primary 5 classes, a playground-based set of skills sessions to primary 6 classes and further advanced work for primary 7s.

As the Bike Station is a social enterprise, the money that it receives from selling bikes helps to support its work of promoting cycling.

I will say a word about the 80:40:20 challenge, the aim of which is that 80 per cent of people will change their driving practices, 40 per cent will start to take the bus, cycle or walk and 20 per cent will regularly use those transport methods. Its message is that the response to climate change is not just to be left to Governments and large international organisations; it is to be tackled locally and by individuals. Indeed, if individuals are not motivated and involved, all the larger campaigns will founder.

As a former general practitioner, I am also interested in the health benefits that ensue from more folk getting on their bike, to paraphrase Lord Tebbit in a different context. Cycling can be part of a programme to lose weight. An hour's cycling can burn away about 300 calories. We are increasingly concerned these days about the epidemic of obesity that seems to be sweeping the country. Increasing physical activity has a large part to play in containing weight gain. The exercise of cycling reduces the risk of heart disease and other circulatory disorders and reduces levels of stress and depression.

The generous grant that has been awarded to the Bike Station will enable it to press on with its plans to promote cycling and sustainable commuting by working with partners such as Lothian Buses, the City Car Club, the Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative, Cycling Scotland and many others to provide practical assistance from free bicycle loans to maps, pedometers, free trial Lothian Ridacards, electric bikes and other means of weaning individuals off private cars and on to more sustainable life modes.

Over 12 months, the target is to recruit 12,500 employees from 250 workplaces, of whom 10,000 will reduce their car usage, 5,000 will use public transport or walk or cycle to work at least one day a week, and 2,500 will do that three days a week. If the Bike Station is successful in its aims, an economic return of around 400 per cent will result.

The motion congratulates this innovative company on a successful application and on its active involvement in environmental and community affairs. The motion also congratulates it on its extensive and value-for-money services to local people, and on the support and expertise that it provides to other organisations. The Bike Station is getting the people of Edinburgh fit and healthy and making climate change a truly local challenge.

I congratulate Mark Sydenham and his team, who are in the public gallery today. I wish them well in their venture.

I congratulate Dr Ian McKee on securing the debate. In his speech, he recounted a pretty happy story about an impressive outfit. Indeed, he outlined neatly what the Bike Station does to promote cycling. In ways that are different from many other organisations, the Bike Station gets involved in bike repair and maintenance and, in a pretty unique way, recycles bikes. Dr McKee gave a good indication of the number of bikes that the organisation has recycled over the past couple of years.

He mentioned the Bike Station's latest project—a £750,000 project to encourage people to lead healthier lives by leaving their cars at home, using public transport and, ultimately, cycling or walking. There is a double benefit from what the organisation is trying to do. The first is the benefit to Edinburgh from a reduction in carbon emissions. The second is that people will lead healthier lives by taking more exercise, thereby getting fitter and living longer—a benefit that, as a former GP, Ian McKee is happy to bring to members' attention.

An impressive aspect of the organisation is the fact that it does not work alone. Dr McKee mentioned about a dozen partners with whom it works, including Lothian Buses, the City Car Club and Cycling Scotland. On looking through the Bike Station website, I noted that it is working with about 15 organisations to try to ensure that it achieves the pretty strenuous targets that it has set for the next 12-month period.

I was struck by quotations that I found both on the website and in interviews in the Edinburgh Evening News. First, given that

"People might be afraid to cycle down somewhere like Leith Walk"—

which is a fairly busy road—

"we find a quicker and quieter route."

The Bike Station not only encourages people to cycle but helps those who would have to travel from home to work and vice versa along routes that are not conducive to cycling to find the best route, one that makes cycling a feasible and safe option.

The second quotation that I was struck by is a simple one: "We organise car shares." Car sharing may not be a particularly new idea, but the take-up of car sharing in Edinburgh and across Scotland is nowhere near as good as it could or should be. The fact that the Bike Station is going to go into 250 companies to organise car shares means that there is a fair chance that people will take up the offer. As soon as a critical mass of people become involved in car shares, the prospect of growth is pretty good.

The organisation has set some stringent targets. Aiming to get 12,500 people to fill out a survey is in itself a tough ask, as is the target of getting 10,000 people to reduce their car usage. Those targets lead on to tougher and more advanced measures: getting 5,000 people to use public transport or to walk or cycle to work one day a week, and getting 2,500 to walk or cycle to work three days a week. Ian McKee used the word "weaning", which is a nice term to use.

The Bike Station is an impressive project. Again, I congratulate Dr McKee on securing the debate. I look forward to hearing what the minister has to say. I wish the Bike Station every success over the next 12 months and beyond.

I, too, congratulate Ian McKee on securing this extremely good debate. I am pleased to say that the Bike Station is in my constituency of Edinburgh South. It is at 250 Causewayside in Newington, and its phone number is 0131 668 1996—I hope that everyone is writing that down. If someone needs a bike, it is the right place for them. That is a bit of free advertising.

People might not know that the Bike Station used to be situated at Waverley station—hence the name—but some time ago it moved to its present home. I was delighted to be invited to the opening of its new offices when it moved there. I remember that the event was extremely well attended by a huge range of people—even a three-year-old and a mother were there trying to sort out bikes.

As we have heard, the Bike Station is Edinburgh's bicycle recycling and cycle promotion charity. I could not believe that some of the wrecks that I saw when I was there would ever be functional again, but I was assured that I could come back later and purchase one of them as a completely good refurbished bike. Unfortunately, by then my days on a bicycle were past because of my disability. However, as Gavin Brown said, we all see more and more people on bikes as we go around our constituencies. One of my little hobby horses at this time of year is the fact that people often do not have their front or back lights on, which causes a considerable problem. I am sure that the Bike Station always provides lights.

The Bike Station is making a positive contribution to tackling climate change—the more people who get on their bicycles, the better.

I understand that the Bike Station gets its bikes from all over Lothian and beyond. It is one of the largest and best-established bike recycling projects in the United Kingdom and will take any part of a bicycle, large or small, to use in reconstructing bikes. The only things that it does not take, according to its website, are helmets. That must have something to do with health and safety—goodness knows why.

The Bike Station is always involved with schools. As has been said, it works with Lothian and Borders Police road safety unit, the City of Edinburgh Council and active schools co-ordinators—Gavin Brown mentioned a considerable number of other organisations—to deliver cycle training in schools at primary 5; a playground-based set of skill sessions with the Scottish cycle training scheme at primary 6; and journeying and mechanical sessions at primary 7. If a school wants to take advantage of that opportunity, Bike Station will help with fund raising to pay for some of the services.

As Ian McKee indicated, the Bike Station will send Dr Bike to schools, either before cycle training or to attend events to promote the eco-school concept. Dr Bike is a fixer, but he or she is also a mobile mechanic who will come to a workplace, a school or any sort of event to service and fix bikes—as Ian McKee said, to give them a good MOT. There is a charge for Dr Bike's services, but it depends on what is required. I understand that the cost includes some smaller parts—perhaps a new set of brake rubbers or other bits and pieces. If someone needs a new wheel or even a whole new bike, in the event of a completely failed MOT, they can be assured that the Bike Station will almost always have a selection of newly refurbished bikes from which to choose.

Finally, here is my next advert for the Bike Station: if people take their bikes to the Meadows between 8.30 and 10 o'clock in the morning and 4.30 and 6 in the afternoon on the last Tuesday of any month, Dr Bike will be there. If they cannot make those surgeries, others can be found on the Bike Station's website.

I add my words of congratulation to Ian McKee for putting this issue on our agenda and securing tonight's debate. I also offer my support and congratulations to the Bike Station which, along with other bike organisations in the city, has done a great deal of work to put cycling on the map over the past few years.

I remember the statistics for the number of bikes that are locked up in garages and never used that were cited when the Bike Station was established. People buy bicycles, but never get around to using them. The Bike Station has prompted people to get some of those bikes out of their garages, get them refurbished and get them back into use, which has been of huge benefit, particularly to the people whom Ian McKee mentioned, who otherwise probably could not afford to have a bicycle, or who might not get round to getting one. The Bike Station's work has been of superb benefit to many people throughout the city. It is important to inject new life into bikes in that way; otherwise, they just gather dust. Bikes are in the opposite situation to cars. People who have cars tend to use them a lot. Cars are quite expensive, so people think that they must get the best use out of them. When someone gets a bike, it is often tempting not to get on it. The project is really useful.

As other members have said, there is no argument against the economic and health reasons for getting more people on to their bikes. The more people use their bikes, the more it attracts other people to do the same. There is a real issue about safety and feeling safe on the roads, but the situation improves the more of us people see on the roads. That could be seen in London after congestion charging was introduced, where there was a significant increase in the number of people who cycle to work. It is positive reinforcement.

The project will encourage a little bit of thought about the blocks or obstacles to people getting on their bikes, including attitudes. Anyone who has been attempting to cycle in the city over the past couple of months will know that it has not been a joy on many days. That will not be the same for the rest of the year, however. There are issues with workplaces. How welcoming are they to bikes? Have they got secure parking? Do managers support cycling? Do people have jokes directed against them if they cycle to work? It still happens in certain workplaces.

For a lot of people, the key issue is safety on the roads, which I will return to later.

The project will provide lessons that can be learned across Scotland. I hope that the minister will take them on board and use the influence and leadership of the Scottish Government to get more and more people to change their habits. I like the 80:40:20 targets. They are not overly ambitious; they are about making relatively small changes that will add up over time. If 12,500 people, working at different companies across the city of Edinburgh, make lifestyle changes such as those that have been suggested, it will make a big impact on the city. Everyone knows about the congestion.

There are many more opportunities for people now. There is a bus company involved in the project, which is excellent. So is the City Car Club, which has continued to expand over the years. There are choices, which means that, even if people do not want to cycle to everything, they will be able to rely on either the bike, the bus or the City Car Club and, potentially, taxis. It is a mix of transport options that could help people to become more healthy.

I would like a little more examination of the possibilities for promoting the project. There is a statistic that 45 per cent of the city's residents live less than 5km from their workplaces, which is an ideal distance for people to cycle. As long as people do not have a huge hill to go up—as I do—they can get to work in decent condition. It is possible for people to do that as they get fitter—their cycle route will get easier. Although it might be off-putting at the start, it really is a doable distance. We need to do a lot more to encourage people to get on their bikes.

If we meet the targets that the Bike Station has set out, a reduction of 4,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in one year will be a pretty good achievement, bearing in mind the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. What really leaped out at me was the figure of £2.8 million of savings to the people who get involved. That is a really good saving, and we should capture that.

We need a positive message for employers, and we need the support of colleagues and families to encourage people not just to try out their bikes but to cycle regularly. The key thing is to make our streets more accessible and more welcoming to cyclists. I have noticed that the quality of the environment for cyclists in Edinburgh is deteriorating. We have a problem with potholes because of the recent weather. That is not just an issue for car drivers—it is also a real issue for cyclists and it makes the streets less safe and less attractive.

We have been losing some advanced stop lines. That is a small thing, but those lines are not just a token measure: they really improve cycle safety.

I hope that the minister will take the lead. I hope that we monitor the project and that such projects will be rolled out across the whole of Scotland over the years. It is exactly what we need.

It is with great pleasure that I rise to congratulate Ian McKee on securing the debate. I pay tribute to the extraordinary dedication, energy and application of Mark Sydenham to the Bike Station project from its very beginning. I have followed the project and visited it. Like Mike Pringle, I was there on the day when it opened its office, which was some day. It was stunning to see so many bikes and to learn about the distance that they had travelled.

The project is stunning in its success, in the comprehensive range of people that it has worked with and in the way in which it is taking things forward by considering not just biking but walking, bussing and transport in general. Gavin Brown said that he counted 15 organisations that have worked with the project. It is good to consider the range of organisations that are involved: they include the Danish Cultural Institute, the Scottish Community Foundation, South Central neighbourhood partnership, the City of Edinburgh Council countryside rangers service, Lothian and Borders Police, Greener Leith's we love Leith campaign and Skills Development Scotland. The Bike Station won the special sustainability award at the Scottish transport awards for its work to promote cycling, and I look forward to it winning more national and, perhaps, United Kingdom awards for its work, because of its comprehensive applicability to communities, children and everyone who travels to work.

I do not always remember to do this, but often when I go into schools I ask a class, "How many of you own a bike?" In most schools, every hand in the class goes up. Then I ask, "How many of you ride your bike to school?" No hands go up, or just one hand goes up. It is clear that we need to do a lot more, not just to provide safe places for bikes in schools, but to make our streets safe for cyclists, as Sarah Boyack said. The Bike Station recognises that and works on safer and quieter routes.

In Holland and other parts of Europe, and even in Cambridge, there is a presumption that cars, pedestrians and cycles can share space safely. I would welcome an indication from the minister that we will make more than a nodding acquaintance with 20mph limits and streets that are safe for everyone to use. I know that there is a substantial campaign against shared spaces, but I hope that people who campaign in that direction—for good reasons—would derive considerable comfort from seeing how shared spaces work in Europe.

We need to take an holistic approach, as the Bike Station is doing. Cycling is a form of transport that we should promote as much as possible, for convenience and health reasons, but I like walking and using buses. My preferred route to school—school? I meant to the Parliament—is a mixture of a bus ride and a walk across the Meadows, if it is a fine day, or a longer bus ride and a walk down the High Street if it is not such a fine day. At my age I am a bit wobbly on a bike. I would be interested in finding out whether there is a nice, safe route all the way from sunny Morningside to the Parliament, which I could use without feeling too nervous about turning round to check the traffic behind me before making a move.

I congratulate Ian McKee again on securing the debate. I also congratulate the Bike Station and I wish it well. I am sure that it will make progress. It was with great contentment that I read the Bike Station's introductory section on its website, which says that a lot of its funding comes from the climate challenge fund—a combined Scottish Green Party and Scottish National Party initiative, which was initiated by the Scottish Green Party.

Like others, I congratulate Dr McKee on bringing the subject to the Parliament for debate. It is one in which we can all usefully engage, and there is an overwhelming consensus around the usefulness of the work that the Bike Station undertakes.

The debate has included a number of interesting speeches. Ian McKee talked about weight loss and cycling. In the past fortnight, I found another way of losing weight: I had toothache and lost 4 lb because I was not eating. However, I would really rather lose weight by cycling than by having toothache; the two are not comparable in any sense.

Mike Pringle talked about the Bike Station being in his constituency and the range of services that it offers. I have never owned a new bike in my life but have had a long series of second-hand bikes—starting with my mother's, on which I learned to ride—and have hired bikes from time to time. Therefore, I hope that I am showing some of the leadership for which Sarah Boyack looks, although I concede that more can always be done.

Sarah Boyack made the point that many bikes are locked up in garages, unused. The status of my current bike fits that description exactly. In my constituency, many bikes—including mine—are acquired at a roup. I think that there were 20 bikes for sale at the roup at which I bought mine for a fiver. Many of us acquire bikes in that way, but they are not of the standard that the Bike Station turns out because they are not maintained and often not particularly safe. Therefore, the Bike Station's role in turning old bikes into useful and safe bikes is excellent.

I think that Sarah Boyack said that 45 per cent of people in Edinburgh live within 5km of their work. Of course, 54 per cent of all car journeys are less than 5km. The two facts come together rather neatly. Indeed, 40 per cent of car journeys are less than 3km. There is a clear opportunity for people to get out of their cars and on to their bikes, the bus or their own two feet. For me, 3km—about 25 minutes' walk—is a walk rather than a cycle. We must try to encourage that.

An important reference was made to children having bikes but not using them to go to school. If we get children cycling to school, we get mum or dad not taking them in the car to school. If mum and dad start the day without having to get into a car to take their children to school, there is a good chance that they will change their travel options—perhaps they will get the bus, do some walking or get the train. There are all sorts of important linkages.

Sarah Boyack also referred to potholes as a major problem, so I am sure that she will join others in welcoming the finance that was announced today for dealing with them throughout Scotland.

I return to the Bike Station. Its ambitious 80:40:20 project can make a real difference in Edinburgh and, perhaps more fundamentally, can show other parts of Scotland what it is possible to do. The team that will provide support, run promotions and try out equipment will not only be doing something in Edinburgh but showing the whole of Scotland what is possible.

The project is about sustainable transport, personal travel planning, engaging companies in cycle challenges, doing training, loaning bikes and all the other things that we have heard about. We have engaged with the Bike Station to encourage Scottish Government staff to cycle to work regularly. One of our senior directors regularly appears at meetings with me straight off his bike, carrying his helmet in his hand, which is an inspiration to others. The Dr Bike scheme that was referred to earlier is excellent in engaging with people and ensuring that their bikes are safe and that they understand how to be safe on them.

I visited the Bike Station in 2008 and presented Mark Sydenham with a Scottish transport award for sustainability. I also had the pleasure of awarding £86,000 for the build-your-bike scheme. Of course, that scheme provides not only environmental benefit but social benefit, in that it often engages with youngsters who have difficulties in their lives. The scheme gets them involved in purposeful activity, and they end up with a bike that they can take away. They are also given the opportunity to spend a day off-road, perhaps in Glentress forest near Peebles, to ensure that they understand that bikes are not just utilitarian things but can be great fun. As others have said, the Bike Station has brought together an alliance of people with shared interests.

The City of Edinburgh's active travel plan has a target for 15 per cent of all trips to be made by bike by 2020, which is in line with the Brussels charter that it signed last year. I understand that Edinburgh is the only United Kingdom city to have signed the charter. Let us see whether more cities in Scotland can take that on board and make a similar commitment. I repeat that this is not just about Edinburgh but about the whole of Scotland. Much is going on across Scotland to encourage more active travel.

I am pleased that, through the motion, Parliament is celebrating the work that has been done on our doorstep. I have personally considered whether I should buy a unicycle, but my wife has dissuaded me from doing so—she foresees my hurting myself too much. I therefore think that two wheels are better than one and that two wheels are better than four every time.

Meeting closed at 17:47.