The new post has been created to help combat the conflict occuring on the towpath between speeding cyclists and pedestrians.British Waterways, in partnership with Transport for London, has employed London’s first towpath ranger to help the many visitors to the capital’s canals enjoy the waterways safely, and encourage users to think of each other as they travel.
The new post has been created to help combat the conflict occuring on the towpath between speeding cyclists and pedestrians.
The new ranger, Joseph Young, will be on hand to remind both sets of waterway visitors about the towpath code of conduct by promoting the 'two tings' campaign, and encourage more understanding between the two groups as they travel along the traffic-free towpaths of central London.
Recent rises in fuel prices and awareness of our own carbon footprint have encouraged many commuters to get on their bikes and travel to work along the towpaths. Whilst the credit-crunch has forced budget conscious Londoner’s to ditch their gym membership in favour of free to participate keep-fit activities, such as running and power walking. These factors have all contributed to an increase in the number of people using their local waterway in the past five years, with over 34 million visits made to London’s canals and rivers in 2007.
Unfortunately a minority of these users don’t appreciate that the towpath is a shared resource. Since January 2008 alone, more than ten incidents involving cyclists crashing into pedestrians at speed have been reported to British Waterways, prompting the move to employ the new ranger.
Joseph, himself an avid cyclist and volunteer Sustrans ranger, is keen to encourage cyclists and pedestrians to share the towpath amicably. He said:
"As a cyclist myself, I'm all too aware that sometimes I just want to get to my destination quickly, but the narrow towpaths, designed for a completely different use over 200 years ago, aren’t really the place to travel at top speeds. They are great for getting to and from work, but at a gentle pace."
"The canals are a green route through the city, steeped in industrial heritage and a haven for wildlife. It’s a far more pleasant journey if you take all that in as you go."
And whilst most towpath encounters between pedestrians and cyclists involve a polite exchange of tinging bicycle bells and stepping to one side, when conflict does occur, and tinging turns to tutting and stepping aside switches to swearing, Joseph’s background in mediation between feuding neighbours as part of his previous role at a housing trust, will come in handy.
He explains: "Sometimes it just takes a third party to remind people about the code of conduct and to encourage people to think about how their actions may affect others to get them to change their behaviour. Speeding cyclists are giving other riders a bad name so part of my role will be to educate these few and encourage other users to share the towpath amicably."
Alongside these duties, Joseph will also be monitoring the state of the towpath surface and canal infrastructure, ensuring repairs happen where necessary and suggesting commuter friendly upgrades to the Victorian network of waterways.
With over 100 miles of canal and river across London, Joseph will be out and about for a large proportion of his working week, so regular users of the towpath will no doubt meet him soon.
Peter Mc Bride, Head of Cycling, Walking and Accessibility, Transport for London said: "We work in partnership with British Waterways to upgrade and improve London’s towpaths, and are keen to help everyone use the waterways safely. Joseph’s role as towpath ranger can only help to encourage more people to discover their local waterway, as well as remind some of the more enthusiastic users to slow down and observe the towpath code of conduct."