Good news on Rufforth to Knapton bridleway

The cycle route between Rufforth and Knapton has re-opened earlier than anticipated. The council decided to put up a temporary bridge over Foss Dike whilst awaiting a permanent replacement to the old one, which was judged dangerous. A further short closure will be necessary when this is installed.

How YOU can help YCC

York Cycle Campaign needs you!

We are looking for members to put themselves forward as regular volunteers to help strengthen and grow the Campaign. In particular:

A secretary (committee member): you’ll help to keep the committee and wider campaign on track. You don’t need to have specialist knowledge of cycling – just be organised with good admin skills and be willing to organise others! The key job of the Secretary is to prepare the agenda for committee meetings and keep the minutes.

A press officer (optional committee member): you’ll draft press releases and work with others to ensure that YCC and cycling feature positively in the traditional (press/radio/TV) media.

Planning portal monitor: you’ll keep an eye on the Council’s planning portal and identify if there are planning applications that the Campaign needs to respond to.

Volunteers to marshal Kidical Mass ride

Marshalls/stewards needed – NO experience necessary: email with “Kidical mass 6 Oct” in the subject line to volunteer or find out more.

Help York Kidical Mass be the biggest yet!

Last year we had 170 take part, and this year we want to make it even bigger to help drive home the message of the importance of cycling provision for future generations:

• print the A4 Kidical Mass poster to put up in your window, local shops and schools, or share it with your friends or family.
• If you have child(ren) at a York school please consider sharing the details with the school and other parents/ on school facebook pages, posters etc.
• bring your child and a couple of their friends for the ride?
• bring along work colleagues or friends too.

Welcome Fair at the University of York

We will be holding a stall on Saturday 21 September from 10-4 pm. This will be a great opportunity to recruit some young cyclists and talk them about cycle security since we will be in the same area as North Yorkshire Police who are marking and registering bikes. It will be on the West Campus (marketplace near Nisa) YO10 5DD. We need volunteers to help set up and recruit on the day. If you help even for a few hours, please email us.

Subgroup to support York’s Transport Plan

We hope to work with the Council to steer its highway schemes e.g. identifying “quick wins” with low cost improvements to be added when resurfacing (and re-lining) takes place or when traffic lights are replaced. For example, the changes made at the Barbican Rd corner when traffic lights were replaced, with the junction layout changing to separate cycles from traffic, add in an advanced signal for cycles and sharpen the highway corner to slow down traffic speeds. Please contact Andy D’Agorne if this is something that would interest you.

Follow us on social media

We now have a new ‘Threads’ account so you can follow us on @YorkCycle as well as X/Twitter, Instagram, Facebook (there is a private members group you can join, already has 230 members). Like, share and repost our events and joining appeal. Join our rides and get your bikes security marked if you can to help cut bike thefts.

Active City Conference

Credit: Leah Bennett

Three campaign representatives recently met with council officers and Cllr Kate Ravilious as Executive Member for Transport to highlight some of the messages from the Active City Leicester Conference and lessons for York hosting the event in July 2025. Andy D’Agorne, Leah Bennett and Andy Farndale were able to go to the two day conference, along with council Transport planner Greg Morgan. Notes from the sessions they attended are available on the campaign forum. Kate is keen to incorporate Active City measures into York’s Movement and Place Implementation Plan, and for next year as conference host to think about what we want to ‘showcase’ or get expert minds applied to finding solutions. We plan to establish a working group to help shape the event, and have already asked about funding for ride leader training so that we can take delegates on bike rides around different parts of the city. If you want to be more involved look out for details soon.

Mixed news on active travel

The annual Department of Transport survey shows that people in England are driving more, cycling less but walking further.

News from elsewhere…

India

Read how cycles have transformed the lives of schoolgirls in India, although the gender gap in cycling still remains.

Netherlands

Amsterdam has just started implementing the traffic project “de Oranje Loper”, with completion expected by 2029. It aims to provide more space for cyclists, pedestrians, public transport and greenery.

Indonesia

A member who recently visited Indonesia was astonished to hear that, every Sunday morning, part of Jakarta is closed to cars allowing people to walk and cycle without taking their lives in their hands. If such a car-centric city has managed to successfully run this scheme since an initial pilot in 2007, surely it’s worth implementing more widely.