Birmingham Council latest to consider cycling ban in city centre

Another council is considering a cycling ban in parts of the city centre to prevent the “dangerous combination” of pedestrians and bikes.

Birmingham City Council has become the latest in a string of local authorities to consult on clamping down on cyclists in pedestrianised areas, in addition to Colchester, Bedford, and Grimsby.

Cycling guru Professor David Cox, former chair of Cycling UK and leader of the charity’s Bike West Midlands Network campaign group, described the proposal as “counterproductive to Birmingham’s transport strategy”.

A community safety executive report to the council argues an increasing number of food and mail delivery cyclists are moving “at speed and without care for other pedestrians”.

The report recommends the council should consider restricting the use of bikes and e-bikes in pedestrian areas with particularly high footfall.

It suggests new restrictions could be introduced as part of the Public Safety Protection Orders (PSPOs) currently in place in the city.

Prof Cox, who has been cycling across the city centre for 50 years, argued the council should focus on addressing the specific issue of couriers on e-bikes.

He said: “Instead of dealing with it they want to ban all cycling. That will impact people who use bikes as mobility aids, and people like me who are elderly.”

The city centre has been “totally neglected” in terms of cycling infrastructure, Prof Cox claimed.

Martin Price, policy lead at travel campaign group Better Streets for Birmingham, said the solution is a “network of safe, separated cycle routes within the city centre”, as well as making delivery platforms “take responsibility for their couriers”.

At least nine cities and towns around the country have implemented cycling or skateboarding bans similar to the one proposed in Birmingham, The Guardian reports.

Bedford has seen 738 people fined for cycling in pedestrian areas in recent months, according to Peter Blakeman, chair of the Cycling Campaign for North Bedfordshire.

Writing an open letter in The Bedford Independent, Mr Blakeman said the outcome has been a “large drop in residents cycling to the town”.

In Grimsby, councillor Ron Shepherd told people to “get off your bike and walk along the relatively short stretch of pavement” if they wish to avoid a fine for riding in the city centre.

Birmingham City Council said: “We are considering measures to try and decrease instances of cycling at speed through one small area of the city centre where there is high footfall, and it is unsafe to cycle due to the likelihood of near misses and collisions.

“Before any decisions are made, we are seeking the views of all through a consultation on how best to manage the issue.

“This does not impact on the council’s commitment to prioritise pedestrians and cyclists as part of ongoing developments and its transport plan.

“It may be that appropriate restrictions should be introduced in this pedestrian-only area to restrict all cycles, some cycles, manage the direction of cycles to provide a safe flow of movement, or take no action in this issue.”