2024 has been funny year. A lot happened and yet nothing much happened. I think expectations are just so much higher these days. Bathonians look to neighbouring authorities who are not only consulting on schemes, but actually building stuff in the now, and wonder when we will get to see actual change on the ground?

A nagging doubt persists that one way or another, active travel schemes will be killed off. That could be by some groups demanding so much highways space for motor vehicles that everything else becomes impossible. It could also just be the poor interpersonal relationships in key political positions, which has seen WECA put into special measures and excluded (for now) from enhanced devolution plans under the new government.

One of the issues is we are expected to be happy with ‘progress’ that barely gets us to ‘square one’. For instance, there have been achievements removing discriminatory access barriers- but legally they shouldn’t be there and a huge amount of time is spent lobbying for this which means it cannot be used on other matters. Equally, we are now protesting against ‘paint only’ cycle infrastructure. This simply will not get funded under current rules, but the need to kick up a fuss about it again wastes time and energy.

And 2025 may well be more of the same. Lots of talk, more consultations, glacial progress on the ground. We are promised an explosion of real changes in 2026. For now, this feels as awful lot like ‘cake tomorrow’.

So, with what crumbs we have, let’s highlight the best bits… and a few of the worst!

Children with be Children Award (sponsored by WECA)

Winner: Freshford School Play Street – Talia Kelly

There is something so powerful in demonstrating what a different reality could look like. Talia and the Freshford PTA/Governors did a great job of bringing people together and making this happen.

Active Travel Conference of the Year / Idiot by a ‘cycling prohibited’ sign

Winner: COGS at the Salisbury Guildhall

What do you mean you weren’t there?

Consultation of the Year

Winner: Bath City Centre Walking and Cycling

A LOT of Bath centric consultations to choose from, but this was a clear winner simply in level of ambition:

• Driver lanes repurposed into cyclist lanes
• Some nice urban realm ideas
• Decent quality visualisation done by a professional rather than a year 6 student
• Maps that made sense

It even deigned to say the generally unspeakable, ie BATH WILL NEVER HAVE A DECENT BUS SERVICE WHILST PRIVATE MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVERS GRIDLOCK THE BUS STATION AREA.

For some reason we generally can’t say Dorchester Street needs a bus gate or similar, or that something needs to be done to manage the massive impact of the Southgate Centre subterranean parking garage (if only shoppers could access via the Manvers Street goods entrance…). The demands of Southgate have an impact on the bus service punctuality felt across the whole of Bath.

Needless to say, it sounds like the most meaningful changes are going in the bin. At least they started with the best intensions.

Head in the Sand Award (sponsored by Hanson Aggregates)

Winner: Banes Highways Team, Weston High Street

You can have as many inclusive design guides, Equality Acts and council policies you want. But so long as people refuse to engage with the contents and no one challenges them in court (and that is what it will take) we will continue to have hostile ‘roller coaster’ footways. Correcting these errors of the past would be an easy win during routine maintenance. But no.

Installing a cycle rack far too close to a shop front gets bonus points.

Before: Slopey, uneven pavement prioritising 3 vehicles a day over hundreds of pedestrians

After: Slopey, uneven pavement prioritising 3 vehicles a day over hundreds of pedestrians

Bonus point:

Disingenuous politics of the year

Calling in of the Southlands LN. Councillors from all across BANES (many of whom lived in LNs themselves) suddenly concerned about the affairs of a street they couldn’t even locate on a map. The height of hypocrisy.

Silly Sign of the Year

Always hotly contested, but there can only be one winner and here it is.

Not wanting to cycle head on with against a flow of massive machines which in a collision will kill or injure you, but cause no harm to the driver? It just isn’t an excuse. Thanks Bristol Council!

Local politician of the Year

Our local politicians get enough bile without me putting fuel on the fire. But suffice to say, there are certain politicians who are prepared to stand up and be counted when the going gets tough. Trying to deliver across the full spectrum of council objectives rather than being steam rolled by one noisy/wealthy group over one issue is no mean feat. WRB salute you.

National politician of the Year

Sir Sadiq – London Mayoral Election Winner who stuck to his guns after the Uxbridge By-Election ‘proving’ the ‘war on drivers’ guff was a winning strategy.

Remember how controversial ULEZ was? Almost at the level of Bath’s wheelie bin introduction- yes, that controversial.

Emphasis on ‘was’. Turns out clean air (and safe travel options) don’t ruin your electoral chances. A memorial bench for his main opponent, who gave a masterclass on negative campaigning and being graceless in defeat.

My photo of the year

Taken in Oxford (of course) I love this image as it shows what all the advocacy is about in the end. If children can get around independently, you are winning.

Accidental Active Travel Heroes Award

Winner: Banes Highways Team, Circus Area

No sooner was almost every square meter of the circus area highway surface relaid with the usual lack of any meaningful improvements in active travel provision… the whole area was closed to through motor vehicles and there are so few drivers around it is a (relative) paradise for walking, wheeling and cycling. That beautiful smooth LEVEL tarmac belongs to the Evil Cycling Lobby now. Mwa-ha-ha!

Intentional Active Travel Heroes Award

Winner: Banes Liveable Neighbourhoods (LN) Team

Woefully underfunded, terrible comms, making proposals which don’t meet the funding criteria… the LN team are easy to dislike to be honest. BUT, it is easy to overlook just how much active travel is suddenly enabled by the installation of a handful of bollards or a couple of planters.

The LN programme is rapidly changing the face of Bath to provide genuinely safe, healthy, affordable travel options to all in Bath- notably the 25% who have no access to a motor vehicle. We will have something close to a network of safe routes by 2030 at this rate, the big task then being to connect them over/along main roads.

Resilience in the face of entitled drivers

Winner: Residents of Sydney Place/Road

Working their socks off to tell the positive stories around the Sydney Place/Road Liveable Neighbourhood (LN). If you can see children playing in your street, things are going in the right direction.

Dash/helmet cam footage of the year

Winner: Midford Hill overtake

Not exactly an award to be proud of, but overtaking both a car and a GCN rider where there are white lines, on a bend, heading uphill with vehicles coming the other way… a smorgasbord of potential offences. Citizens report it, up to the police to decide what happens next. Recently, Avon & Somerset Police have taken off extra staff to deal with the volume of footage being submitted.

So if you use your phone whilst driving, treat your vehicle as a weapon or do wheelies along public roads (fake number plate on that motorbike- weird…) be aware there are more ‘eyes’ on you than ever before. And consider how 6 points might impact on your insurance and your livelihood- yes Royal Mail driver, we mean you.

Pet hate of the year

Illegal emotorbikes being described as ‘ebikes’ in the media. Two photos below… only one is a 15.5mph ebike. Can you guess?

Mystic Guy put to the test

At the end of last year, I made some predictions for 2024. Let’s see how those panned out! Starting with:

•    Bath and ebikes are a happy marriage, and that will become very apparent in 2024. They are going to be everywhere, particularly long tail cargo varieties. 

Correct! Long tails in particular continue to boom!

•    More consultations!!! 

I would have to do an online survey to tell you the answer to that one…

•    Funding will be secured for Scholars Way 

Yes, allocated from the Clean Air Zone surplus

• All residents of Bath will be given equal access to the Tier escooters and bike

Sadly, no. The areas with lowest vehicle ownership are still banned from the scheme (south-west Bath). And everyone using Dott is banned from using the safe core of the active travel network ie. the river path and the Linear Park (Two Tunnels route). How about that for enabling choice? Time to trial better access for 12 months and see how it goes.

•    Residents parking zones will continue to grow notably in North West Bath and Moorlands

Wrong. And with big consequence. Motor vehicle levels are enabled by having somewhere to park. And the more people drive, the less safe our roads become, the less people feel able to walk, wheel and cycle

•    Pavement parking will not be addressed by national government… 

•    …but we will see ‘on highway’ parking for Tier shared scooters and bikes.

Right first, wrong second. To be fair, this is an issue that every local authority is grappling with. The painted boxes are a temporary bodge, but it is still far more organised than some hire schemes (notably in London)

•    More bike hangers

Er… none rolled out this year I think? There must be some due… all the Bath hangers were full last time I looked.

•    We will finally see a school street – and then all schools will want them

Fail. Bristol are rolling them out. Frome too. This is starting to look a bit embarrassing. Easter 2025 was the target at last time of asking. For one school street.

•    We will have a London mayoral and a national election and issues around private cars, clean air zones, LTNs etc will not translate into votes. 

Spot on

•  After a 4 year break, the RUH will start charging for staff parking again. 

Yes. They are also adding to staff parking to get more people driving to the site. More people driving= more collisions, poorer air quality, more lifestyle illness… great business! Except the poor health of the nation is going to bankrupt the NHS single handed. Hey ho.

• There won’t be any ‘spades in the ground’. The best we will see is some ineffectual paint. All together “PAINT IS NOT INFRASTRUCTURE!” 

BANES excelled here. No spades in ground, a bit of paint on London Road but also proposing loads more paint as part of Bath Walking, Wheeling and Cycling Links. Welcome to 1995 everyone!

•    Submissions of road danger recordings (from dash cams etc) to Avon and Somerset Police will continue to rocket and their actions based on these will rise proportionally. 

Correct. They have taken on extra staff to deal with the sheer volume of people wanting to see a higher standard from people driving.

•    The use of the word ‘accident’ in reporting of road collisions will become unacceptable. 

Correct. The media agreed new reporting guidelines and the Police recently agreed to stop using ‘Police – Accident’ signs, rolling out ‘Police – Collision’ in their place.

• The prospect of a work place parking levy will start to be openly discussed. But it won’t happen 

Yes, much talk continues. Who is going to make it happen?

• There will be no change to the contractural arrangements of buses (including the P&R)

Yup, don’t expect Dan Norris to do… well, anything much. Apart from photocalls to raise his profile in quest to be an MP. Worked out nicely there!

So, I am going to give myself 7/10. Not bad! And some predictions now for 2025

Mystic Guy speaks on 2025

• The Green Party will whip up their Bristol base and nearly win the election to be WECA Mayor
• Dott (formerly Tier) will finally expand to cover all of Bath…
• …but the council and the Canal and River Trust will continue to exclude them from the core of the active travel network (River Path, Linear Park, 2 Tunnels, all canal tow paths) thus limiting uptake of the scheme (in which WECA have a profit share). If Dott is such an issue, why are other commercial cycle hire operations in Bath not? (and there are several hiring out ebikes)
• No meaningful change in dedicated safe cycling provision…
• …nevertheless, more people will be cycling simply as they are so concerned with climate emergency and they are willing to risk their life (vice driving) to do something about it.
• The impact of a warming climate will continue to be measured in the devastating impact on… cars. Images of cars submerged in water, floating down streets, piled against bridges will continue to be a staple of news feeds. So spare a thought for those cars everyone!
• A ban on pavement parking in urban areas with local authorities given power of civil enforcement will be proposed by central government
• All the most recent Liveable Neighbourhoods will be made permanent and the roll out will continue. The ‘one to watch’ is Pultney Estate and potentially Camden Road will be juicy too.
• One school street will be implemented
• The reopening of the A36 at Limpley Stoke will not happen until late Summer
• The A36 will be reduced to 20mph throughout urban Bath
• No expansion to residents parking zones
• No work place parking levy
• No changes to bus ownership structure
• No reduction in single occupant vehicles going to RUH, Bath Uni and Bath Spa Uni.
• The CRSTS programme leads will start to panic about undeliverable elements and there will be opportunities to grab funding for active travel and LNs.
• A ‘Movement Plan’ will be published to essentially define for the first time what we consider to be our ‘main road’ defined by politics rather than drivers. Expect some heated debate around likes of Weston Road, Camden Road and Old Fosse Road.

One final bit of news, I will step down as Chair of Walk Ride Bath at the end of Jan 2025. It has been a huge challenge and an eduction working with some great people. We have had some notable successes and I remain hopefully we have done enough to lay the groundwork for a decent active travel network in Bath by 2030.

Thanks to everyone who puts time into advocacy- it is a grinding task and often results take so long the original motivation has gone ie. your children are off to uni and you are still campaigning for primary school children to have safe cycle routes to their school. And apologies for all my spelling and grammar errors. Proof reading is not my strong point.

Happy new year to all!