"Bus loads" of people cycle into St Helier each day

Wednesday 15 February 2017

10 bus loads of people – or possibly even more on warmer days – cycle into St Helier each morning, a local environmental campaign group has found.

Members of Jersey in Transition turned out on a chilly January morning to count the cyclists entering St Helier between 8:00 and 9:00 – the morning rush hour.

According to a subsequently published report, 386 cyclists – the equivalent to a full medium-sized carpark of people – were happy to brave the cold and take the eco option to travel into town.

Stationed at nine points around the Island, the group discovered that the overwhelming majority of bicycle commuters – 199 in total – came in via the West Park cycle path.

54 came from Trinity Hill, 37 came from both Route du Fort and Harve des Pas, while St Saviours Road and Mont Millais had 12 cyclists each.

Pictured: Two young cyclists shun Victoria Avenue for the seawall cycle route. (Photo: Jersey In Transition)

For the Coordinator of JiT’s Sustainable Transport Group, Ruth Baier-Rolls, the findings reflected that, “…people are very happy to cycle into town if the right kind of conditions are created.”

“It shows a lot of people have come around to the thought that it is a good thing to cycle, especially when they can use cycle paths and cycle without the hassle of the traffic.”

“While we haven’t looked where electric bikes were being used, I know that quite a few people now that have started with [the Department for] Infrastructure’s electric bikes [initiative].”

But while it’s a step – or a cycle – in the right direction, more has to be done to make the East-West route viable, she says. “Sometimes you’re on a path and then all of a sudden, it stops. Like at the Harbour, you go along the front, you have to cross near Normans, then continue along the other side.”

Not only is this an inconvenience, but a potential safety hazard. “There’s no signposting for cars to make them aware of this happening to say, ‘please take care, cyclists crossing the road’.”

“Often people who don’t cycle aren’t aware of the risk, but signs to help avoid accidents would be something that wouldn’t cost that much money, but have a huge impact.” 

The findings follow a States of Jersey Department of the Environment report, which stated that, “Despite a target to reduce peak hour traffic by 15% in 2015, levels have only decreased by 1.6%.”

St Helier Connétable Simon Crowcroft and Minister for Infrastructure Eddie Noel welcomed the results in yesterday’s States sitting.

During the Assembly, Deputy Noel commented that he hoped to work on future initiatives with Jersey in Transition, and encouraged Islanders to take advantage of the remaining £50,000 ("some 150 bikes") of electric bike grant scheme funds from which around 350 islanders have already benefited.

Pictured: Islanders that have benefited from the e-bike grant scheme.