By The #BuildOxfordBackBetter action gains momentum.
On Saturday 13th June 2020, over 100 residents of Oxfordshire gathered at various locations around the city in an attempt to bring more awareness to their petition regarding the installation of seven bus gates around Oxford.
The action, led by Extinction Rebellion Oxford and Green New Deal UK Oxford, insist that bus gates will improve air quality, safety and speed of travel around Oxford.
Event organiser, Charlie Hicks, says:
“Extinction Rebellion and Green New Deal UK Oxford are letting Oxfordshire County Council know that we want to #BuildOxfordBackBetter to turn Oxford into the UK’s leading walking and cycling city and to keep Oxford safe from a second wave of Covid-19.”
“Other cities around the UK are making really exciting improvements to cycling and walking infrastructure. We urge the County Council to take this chance to make the same bold steps to #BuildOxfordBackBetter. Since the public may not know what a bus gate is, we’re showing where they will go and what positive changes they will bring, in a typical XR-singing-dancing-flag-waving style, at an appropriate physical distance.”
The #BuildOxfordBackBetter campaign has three core demands, which have been developed by a group of 12 Zero Carbon groups across Oxford and Oxfordshire.
- Implement Connecting Oxford and create a plan to deliver Connecting Oxford Plus soon after [this builds on the longstanding campaigning of Cyclox and Oxford Liveable Streets, who developed the Connecting Oxford Plus plans]
- Implement specific measures for better cycling and walking infrastructure across the city of Oxford [this builds on work by the City Council, and which has been shown to have overwhelming business support across Oxford.
- Create full Park and Pedal schemes at all Park and Ride sites by the University of Oxford, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford University Hospitals and disability charity My Life My Choice]
Mr Hicks explains further:
“These plans, called ‘Connecting Oxford Plus’, are inspired by the city of Ghent, Belgium. As a result of bus gates, Ghent saw all the benefits you would expect: 25% more people using bicycles, an 18% increase in air quality, 12% less rush hour traffic, and a more beautiful and liveable city. But they also saw some less expected benefits for the city: a 28% increase in public transport use, much faster journeys around the city, and many more people using local shops rather than buying online, boosting the local economy!”
“To top it all, despite pushback before the plans were introduced, they proved to be incredibly popular with local people: the mayor who implemented it achieved his best ever election result the following year – so these plans are great for local politicians too!”
The petition can be visited by clicking HERE.
Future petition updates and actions will be updated by Gi Media Oxford.
To share your images of the event, please email oxford@gi-media.co.uk
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