Delighted at the City's success today - being chosen as a lead authority to develop the "Smarter Choices Smarter Places" initiative - I spoke about the matter on Radio Tay this afternoon. Here's the City Council's news release :DUNDEE LEADING WAY AGAIN
Dundee looks set to become one of the first local authorities in the country to run a self-service cycle hire scheme following a successful bid for Scottish Government backing.
The city has been awarded £2.1 million from the government's Smarter Choices Smarter Places initiative to encourage and develop sustainable and active travel throughout communities.
City council planning and transport convener Councillor Fraser Macpherson said: "The fact that we have been successful with this bid is a very firm indication of the high regard that the government has for Dundee as far as travel issues are concerned.
"We have been leading the way with initiatives to encourage less use of cars by, for example, bringing in millions of pounds to improve public transport, and this latest funding means we will be able, with our partners, to continue to make improvements that will have a very real effect on people's lives.
"The council's bid for Dundee to become a Smarter Choices Smarter Places city will be delivered through a project called Dundee Health Central.
"The project will be delivered over a three-year period and the cycle-hire scheme - similar to those run in cities such as London, Paris and Barcelona - is one of a number of initiatives designed to encourage healthy living by cycling and walking within our communities and using the facilities within them, rather than using the car - which obviously has worthwhile environmental benefits."
The partners supporting Dundee Health Central include NHS Tayside, University of Dundee, bus companies, Sustrans and Tactran, of which Councillor Macpherson is the chair.
The hire scheme is among a package put forward for the project to encourage active travel to promote healthy lifestyles for residents of and visitors to the study area of central Dundee. The area will be used to test a variety of Smarter Choices measures, to find out which would be best to eventually roll out across the city.
The project aims to promote change for everyone living in or visiting the study area and will reach people in a number of ways, including NHS patients through GPs' surgeries, children and their parents through schools, city-centre workers through employers and students and staff through universities.
As well as the cycle hire scheme, initiatives include:
· Cycle training for all the family to encourage more use of bikes;
· Complimentary trial journeys to encourage people to use buses;
· Providing information and resources to encourage more use of local facilities that avoids the need for car journeys;
· Identifying physical barriers such as poor surfacing and drainage, narrow pathways or poor lighting that would put people off walking.
Dundee looks set to become one of the first local authorities in the country to run a self-service cycle hire scheme following a successful bid for Scottish Government backing.
The city has been awarded £2.1 million from the government's Smarter Choices Smarter Places initiative to encourage and develop sustainable and active travel throughout communities.
City council planning and transport convener Councillor Fraser Macpherson said: "The fact that we have been successful with this bid is a very firm indication of the high regard that the government has for Dundee as far as travel issues are concerned.
"We have been leading the way with initiatives to encourage less use of cars by, for example, bringing in millions of pounds to improve public transport, and this latest funding means we will be able, with our partners, to continue to make improvements that will have a very real effect on people's lives.
"The council's bid for Dundee to become a Smarter Choices Smarter Places city will be delivered through a project called Dundee Health Central.
"The project will be delivered over a three-year period and the cycle-hire scheme - similar to those run in cities such as London, Paris and Barcelona - is one of a number of initiatives designed to encourage healthy living by cycling and walking within our communities and using the facilities within them, rather than using the car - which obviously has worthwhile environmental benefits."
The partners supporting Dundee Health Central include NHS Tayside, University of Dundee, bus companies, Sustrans and Tactran, of which Councillor Macpherson is the chair.
The hire scheme is among a package put forward for the project to encourage active travel to promote healthy lifestyles for residents of and visitors to the study area of central Dundee. The area will be used to test a variety of Smarter Choices measures, to find out which would be best to eventually roll out across the city.
The project aims to promote change for everyone living in or visiting the study area and will reach people in a number of ways, including NHS patients through GPs' surgeries, children and their parents through schools, city-centre workers through employers and students and staff through universities.
As well as the cycle hire scheme, initiatives include:
· Cycle training for all the family to encourage more use of bikes;
· Complimentary trial journeys to encourage people to use buses;
· Providing information and resources to encourage more use of local facilities that avoids the need for car journeys;
· Identifying physical barriers such as poor surfacing and drainage, narrow pathways or poor lighting that would put people off walking.