Steve Marsden, my hero has been made redundant!! He's got till the end of March. I'm soo upset, it's like all my support is disappearing. First Nigel, and now Steve.:(
Another thing!! Sustrans have invited me to a party at Westminster Palace, to celebrate the success of Hillsborough Cycling 4 All!! I'm deciding, because I have a mega important meet?
I've been to 'making it Real' which is a National thing, that Sheffield is apart of. But I don't feel like doing much :(
One of the problems with posts like Steve M's is that they are funded by a single block of money often obtained like a windfall, but there is no ability (apparently) to work with this money for the limited period it is available AND at the same time develop the sustaining flow of money that can keep the work funded (eg developing the idea of a small charge for coming along to a session at Hillsborough).
ReplyDeleteI can see some similar outcomes for some of the schemes being considered for initiatives like the Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) where the objective called for is to use the money as a Kickstart that covers the big step-cost of starting-up (buying bikes etc) but with a serious plan to be bringing in revenue, ideally from more than one source within the 3-year window.
For a Wheels for All scheme one option to make the money go further might be to source secondhand bikes - as is happening for a trams project in the UK - keeping the big costs of starting up down, and generating the potential revenue as quickly as possible (ie getting a payment for what you are delivering)*.
I've noted a few of the public cycle (hire) schemes which have clearly got this sorted out too - one has been running as a private commercial operation since 2006, and now is in 9 European countries, with a proven model that gets to be earning enough to pay operating costs within 2-3 years, and a more recent scheme has achieved a break-even position on some sites within 6 months.
So let's get back to that thinking cap - that tram scheme is planning to get delivered with a minumum amount of direct government money. This is generally a good move, as commercial and private sources of funding demand a far more robust business plan - but you do have an outline for this in having run a 'service' that people want to use, and have some operational experience of the staffing and other costs that need to be covered.
You can do it, but it will need a slightly different approach to how you achieve it. It might be an idea to look at something like Sally and Nick Clark are delivering with 93ft and The Chimney House on Kelham Island. http://www.thechimneyhouse.com/the_chimney_house_brochure.pdf
You can do this but you may need to refine your ear bashing techniques
* With the BMA and Chief MO all pointing out that for every £1 spent promoting cycling they potentially save £4 in NHS treatment costs, there are many pressing that cycling might be prescribed as a course of treatment/recovery for certain conditions, and all other agencies delivering treatments get paid to deliver them. Just need to work out how much a course of cycling needs to be charged out at - maybe there are some health professionals who can provide more detailed figures.
Post thought British Cycling has now been awarded money to develop more local, utility cycling initiatives, and they do have a strong reputation for being able to convert a start-up 'boost' into a longer term sustainable operation. Trip to Manchester maybe - they have a nice selection of 'mobility' bikes at the velodrome, which they manage for Manchester Council, and get to use the offices as their UK HQ. Through trains from Dore! Could your group link in with Skyride programme as an all abilities option?