Oxford City Council has installed 130 additional bike parking spaces at Park & Ride locations to help commuters cycle the last miles of their journey into the city.
64 new bike parking spaces were installed at Redbridge Park & Ride, 42 new spaces at Peartree Park & Ride, and 24 spaces at Seacourt Park & Ride to allow commuters to reach their final destinations in Oxford using a bike.
Under its ‘Park and Pedal’ initiative, in 2015 the City Council installed 110 cycle parking spaces across Redbridge Park & Ride and Seacourt Park & Ride.
At Peartree Park & Ride, the space for the new bike parking spaces will come from underused and available blue badge parking spaces. The City Council will also be working with the County Council to explore how cycling from this park and ride can be made more convenient.
At Redbridge Park & Ride, the new bike parking spaces are alongside the existing bike parking on the pathway by the building. At Seacourt Park & Ride, two car parking spaces gave way to 24 cycle spaces, located close to existing cycle parking.
The City Council has committed £234,000 to work on measures needed to enable pedestrians and cyclists to safely maintain social distancing in the city –this includes £100,000 of CIL funding to make emergency changes to support more people to walk and cycle, and a further £134,000 of Government funding.
Bike Week aims to encourage and celebrate cycling and its benefits. Oxford has the second highest prevalence for cycling at least once a week in the country (39% of residents), and the second highest rate of residents cycling to work (25% of residents).
Further cycling support
A survey of Oxford residents in June 2020 found that 47% plan to cycle into the city centre as it reopens, and 79% of Oxford residents supported the introduction of more cycle parking at Park & Rides.
The City Council has also surveyed businesses on the range of measures to ensure social distancing across the city – including allocating more space at Park & Rides for bicycle parking in order to encourage ‘Park & Pedal’ journeys into the city – with 78% of businesses in favour of the measures. Businesses that responded to the survey included some of Oxford’s largest employers, small and large retailers and hospitality businesses, cultural organisations, NHS institutions and university colleges.
News via oxford.gov.uk
