Workshop TR 8.1, Thursday 22 June, 14.00 - 15.30

What roles can stakeholders play

Andy Clarke, Executive Director, Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, USA The Bicycle Coordinator / Cycling Officer: A Critical Catalyst for Change in a Car Culture What can the typical US city, with less than one percent of trips made by bicycle, teach the world in comparison to the typical Dutch or Danish urban area where closer to one third of trips are made by bike. Sadly, many parts of the world are closer to the US situation than the Dutch and thus might find it useful to learn that in almost all successful cities for cycling in North America and at the Federal and State level of Government, dedicated bicycle program staff have been a critical catalyst for change. What does the bicycle coordinator do? Where do they work? How much do they earn? What impact have they had? How do they operate? Are they required? This paper would present answers to these and other questions based on more than a decade of working with Federal, State and local bicycle coordinators throughout the United States and Canada. The author completed detailed surveys of bicycle coordinators in 1990 and 1995 and will present the findings of a 1999/2000 survey currently underway on behalf of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals.

Ian Ker, Director, Integrated Policy, Office of the Director General, Transport WA and Councillor, Town of Vincent, Western Australia Revolving Doors: Aligning the user, the planner, the bureaucrat and the politician The author has been a cyclist for 45 years, a planner/policy-maker for over 30 years, a cycle planner/policy-maker for 15 years, rarely a bureaucrat (but has worked with many) and now a local politician for 5 years. Successful development and implementation of cycle programs depends upon achieving a balance between these four key roles - user, planner, bureaucrat and politician - failure in respect of any one can jeopardize the success of even the 'best' initiatives. The paper will build on insights, success and failures (of the author and others) to identify ways of: * creating user acceptance of the real physical and political context within which cycle programs must evolve to be successful; * persuading the planners and policy-makers that it was really all their idea in the first place (and hence it must be an extremely good one); * removing the bureaucrats from potentially obstructing positions of influence; and * presenting politicians with opportunities too good to refuse. The examples are largely drawn from Australian experience, but the lessons are universal. Some examples are drawn from other areas of transport that live outside the mainstream, but the lessons are relevant.

Carlos Balsas, Center for Economic Development, Univ. of Massachusetts Vertical and horizontal integration in bicycle planning A contribution from the USA Position Paper