The Week's News Gathered Together 15.04.2011

I send this collection of the things I've tweeted through the week to our campaigners, but thought it might be worth putting it up here too for anyone else who's interested. I hope you find it something of interest here, but please note that this is just a snapshot from what I manage to collect, not guaranteed to be fully comprehensive:

Energy & Climate Change

Excellent to see Good Energy supporting FoE's Energy Bill campaigning: http://bit.ly/hUGJW1

RT @guardianeco: Biodiversity cause still lags behind climate change - despite UN's attempts | Ben Bryanthttp://gu.com/p/2ze4n/tf

RT @TennerFilms: Ha! This made me chuckle :-) RT @UCSUSACARTOON: arguments against #nuclear, #oil, #coal & #wind energyhttp://goo.gl/ueDAM

Messages from Japanese citizens to the world.http://www.foei.org/en/blog #japan #nuclear

RT @wwwfoecouk: Join in the ongoing #nuclear debate live on @TheEconomist website http://econ.st/g9DBjj

RT @ali_mfoe: Kenneth Richer from @wwwfoecouk calls to scrap targets: RT @BBCNews EU's #biofuel targets 'unethical'http://bbc.in/gZrO22

RT @grist: Japan could rebuild faster with renewables, says reporthttp://ow.ly/4z04J

RT @HallGreenCND: Candlelight vigil to remember Chernobyl (or should that be Fukushima?) http://bit.ly/gMeroN 25.4. 8-9.30 pm, Victoria Sq.

There's a guest article from our newsletter about what Aston University are doing to go green: http://bit.ly/ghq8vT

Very strongly argued: RT @guardianeco: How nuclear apologists mislead the world over radiation | Helen Caldicott http://bit.ly/e2Y06M

Local Shops & Food

Good analysis of survey figures here: RT @bfpeas: Our Attitude to Sustainable Food: http://wp.me/p1gLkK-vW #agrichatuk

Our school children need basic food prep lessons.Unless we act NOW the gov will take off curriculum. Hours left onlyhttp://bit.ly/f3auAL

RT @the_ecologist: Milk: why the white stuff leaves a bad taste in the mouth http://bit.ly/hVY2zV

RT @birminghampost: Tesco supermarket plan for Stirchley causes fears among local residents http://tinyurl.com/44eoh4f

RT @Bebirmingham: Green restaurants: it's time to bid for awards!http://bit.ly/g0Xt7a

Good luck to Woodhouse Community Farm in their efforts "to give it sustainable and valuable future": http://bit.ly/f7O7lm

Learn more about guerilla gardening on our website:http://bit.ly/eF2UN3

Tesco Bullies its way into Moseley - article from this month's newsletter up on website: http://bit.ly/ffhGHS

A rather lovely new blog post by Roxanne our campaigns coordinator on #cider-making and tasting the fruits at last:http://bit.ly/hWG1H1

RT @wwwfoecouk: Fossil fuels and meat & dairy farming causing costly nitrogen pollution – new research http://bit.ly/gN9VEQ

Don't think this limited to supermarkets: RT @TEEB4ME: Food from the sky! The future of more sustainable supermarkets?http://bit.ly/eGPJK5

As well as rainforest areas: RT @guardianeco: Crops for animal feed destroying Brazilian savannah, WWF warns http://bit.ly/eefIu5

Transport

RT @wwwfoecouk: EU green fuel tax plans welcomedhttp://goo.gl/fb/xIsCK

“I hope the Govt’s new thinking will encourage others to take a fresh look at their travel habits” http://bit.ly/ex7LM0 - yes, fly less!

"Rising Oil Prices and the Threat to the Aviation Industry" - a new blog post by Danielle: http://bit.ly/ewSqQo

If you thought 400 km/h #HS2 trains were a bad idea, what about a 250 km/h bus? http://bbc.in/h6AFFQ

And another good post on cycling and urgent action needed to protect them from lorries: http://ind.pn/gSQsk0

Good post here on cycling, but despicable comments as usual. Some people have no sense of perspective! http://ind.pn/evcEiu

"Money is being taken from things that benefit everyone ... to benefit big corporations and business travellers": http://bit.ly/fZS9rz

Very odd figures! £2600 for each "working" family in the West Mids - how, when over what period? Need #factcheck: http://bit.ly/f1LzUI#HS2

RT @ENJOQUEEN: Public perceptions of aviation and the environment need to be turned around, says UK CAA chief on ..http://bit.ly/eu9RAW

New blog post by Danielle looking at the topic "Is Dangerous Cycling a Problem in Birmingham?" http://bit.ly/emoW2U

Good to meet @joelycett the other day and chat about buses. He's now got a blog going on his campaign - check it out:http://bit.ly/hti1EN

RT @SaveOurBuses_UK: Philip Hammond has written to tell us some bus cuts are ‘disappointing’. So what is he going to do?http://bit.ly/12Dpi

Wide ranging comment piece in @theeconomist on cycling, including the new law on dangerous cyclists and road space:http://econ.st/fly1Kb

One of many streets where traffic is travelling too fast in Birmingham: http://bit.ly/hkjWZe We need safer streets:http://bit.ly/aF1hjW

Waste
RT @wwwfoecouk: Increase in fortnightly bin collections welcomedhttp://goo.gl/fb/XWedQ #ignorepickles #talkingrubbish

Plastic-Bag Bans Gaining Momentum Around the World http://ow.ly/4vCgN #green #sustainability #zerowaste

Others

@Bham_FOE I'm organising a bike meet this Sunday, anyone welcome & bring a picnic. More info on http://renee.vanbaar.net/?p=194 pls RT?

Thanks for the promo: RT @BirminghamiNS Guerilla sunflower planting with FoE May 1st — http://is.gd/O2S8on

We agree with CBT about Enterprise Zones and ensuring they don't repeat previous mistakes: http://bit.ly/hwhGQM -tell @EricPickles if you do

Scrutiny Cttee Meeting on sustainability, Friday 9th April

I was invited along to give evidence to the scrutiny committee of Birmingham City Council last week. There was a pre-meeting in the week before, which is kind of like a rehearsal so you understand what to do on the day when it's in public and as it was my first appearance of this kind, I was quite glad of that and also the briefing I got from the helpful staff members - I certainly am not one to dismiss the worth of public servants.

Our work on the core strategy had certainly not gone unnoticed - our 25-page response to the consultation is available in the downloads section on our website - so I produced a summary of this for the committee and was asked to speak in response to what Sandy Taylor (Head of Sustainability and Climate Change) said to the committee in his report.

There is work to congratulate the city council on - their work on Combined Heating and Power (CHP) has been very good in the centre of the city and there was also a report on this, while the Birmingham Energy Savers project is truly pioneering and not only will it have a great effect on the homes concerned, but should also sustain a considerable number of local jobs, too. I saw my role at this meeting partly as one of saying "look what can be done when you show some ambition, so let's have more of it".

The biggest areas of controversy in what I said turned out to be on supporting local shops v supermarkets, the incinerator (which some councillors still believe is green!!) versus other forms of dealing with waste and transport, as these are the areas on which the council is doing worst in terms of sustainability.

After so many defeats in fighting off supermarket planning applications recently, the council had to be challenged on why they talk about boosting local shops, but do nothing to protect or support them. There was some support for this amongst the elected representatives, but Cllr Deirdre Alden took issue with this "idealistic notion" that we can go back to have corner shops within walking distance as most people can't afford to shop there! We're not just talking about corner shops, though, but vibrant local shopping streets with different types of independently owned retailers. People would in fact, find that overall this would be just as affordable and if you take out the need for a car to get there, that's even more money saved. See Tescopoly on food poverty.

The same councillor also challenged me on the incinerator, as she'd had a tour of it and been informed by Veolia that it was in fact very green as it generates electricity. In fact, I informed them that from a climate change perspective, incineration is worse than gas- or coal-fired power stations for generating electricity! I suggested that what we need is a truly ambitious programme of community recycling ventures all over the city, dealing with our resource use to make sure nothing is wasted, creating jobs and stopping the health-damaging emissions from Tyseley.

Cllr Alden also seemed to think that because there are places with no reliable bus service now and because the roads are too dangerous to cycle on (she fell off once and will never cycle again), that we won't be able to get people out of cars. Fortunately there are other people on the council with a better understanding of integrated transport, but unless the most ambitious parts of the city's vision for movement, connected city and cycling strategy are out in place urgently, not only could we suffer more gridlock as recently, but when oil prices rise even further, some people are going to be really stuck!

Are we going to get more ambitious measures from the council to hit their CO2 reduction targets? I really hope so, but it needs to be an ambition that is taken on by the whole cabinet, not just the officers and one or two members.

Gridlock City

Yesterday a problem with a crane caused chaos. One incident in town and all the streets are gridlocked. Buses are nose to tail and can't move the queues of people who are waiting.

Birmingham is in transport crisis because it is the largest city in Europe without a mass transit system. It has failed to create this over the last 30 years and is dying as a result. People can't get around reliably and its fatal for any city. Our transport system is worse than 60 years ago. We should be bloody furious.

I don't want to go to Leeds or Manchester, particularly. I don't want 30 minutes trimmed off the journey to places that I don't go anyway.

Birmingham people deserve an effective convenient public transport system in this city. London has underground and suburban rail stations within walking distance of most streets. That's why it gets the investment and jobs, not Birmingham. We don't need a faster link to London. We need faster links to other parts of Birmingham. Let's forget HS2 and get onto the real business, before the price of oil goes through the roof and people can't get to work. It's urgent.

John Newson

Low Cost and Low Carbon Transport session at the Conservative party conference fringe

Yesterday I went along to the Climate Clinic at Baskerville House to hear the secretary of state for transport, Philip Hammond, answering questions on how we can deliver low carbon transport at low cost (the age of austerity is mentioned everywhere at the moment).

I was hoping to hear something about what's happening to transport funding ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review to give us an indication of what to expect and how the government will achieve cost savings and to be able to put a question the Philip Hammond myself, but neither of those happened.

I was pleased that the transport secretary does make all the right statements about the need to reduce carbon emissions, even if he doesn't seem to get all the issues, just yet. What I would definitely disagree with him on, is the idea of economic growth and carbon savings not being incompatible. Consumption seems to be so linked to economic growth and consumption = using levels of resources which are environmentally unsustainable on the whole. Also, the government has someone looking at reducing the need to travel as their remit, but this doesn't seem to be in evidence from a lot of the schemes that are going ahead; regional airport expansion, High Speed Rail etc. There still seems to be too much of a feeling that large transport schemes that encourage people to travel more are essential to a good economy.

Philip Hammond is very careful to say that he is “not anti-car, but anti-carbon” and sensibly said some things about which mode of transport was more suitable for which journeys. We agree that in rural areas, there is not always an alternative to the car and it would be very difficult to create an affordable one with such a lack of dense housing. However, there needs to be a lot more ambition in getting people out of cars for those journeys in urban areas, such as Birmingham, where the roads are totally clogged up and many areas have so many cars parked all over the pavements that it makes it hard for pedestrians to walk along them.

He stressed the importance of “greening the grid” for electric vehicles to play a full role as low carbon vehicles, but did admit that we can't make the change quickly enough with technology alone. Quite how he plans to go about achieving the necessary level of behaviour change is still unclear, though.

On land use planning, he said that we need to ensure that we build the homes people want (ones with gardens), not loads of 2-bed flats which nobody wants to live in, as has been the case. Doing this intelligently, and “without restricting people” is part of the solution according to Mr Hammond.

He also spoke about buses needing to change their image (and the people who introduced the meeting had stuff about marketing them for the greener journeys campaign), smart-ticketing across different transport modes and the need for innovative local solutions that are suitable for each area, rather than nationally decided policy.

The other speakers then had a turn – Sir Moir Lockhead from First Group talked more about buses and how they are friends with cars and want to have space for them in the roads, too. He also patted the industry on the back for offering 1million free tickets to people as part of a drive getting people onto buses. No mention was made of the potential cuts to the Bus Service Operators Grant and whether that will stay.

Next up was Edmund King of the AA, who was actually very sensible in what he was saying and quite positive and gave some good stats. He said that 90% of motorists said they would take steps to reduce their environmental impact, 70% of the people who lift-share say they do it for environmental reasons, but more people want incentives for doing it, such as exclusive parking spaces for lift-sharers. He also said that the scrappage scheme had meant 90% of the people switching to smaller, cleaner cars – is that true? He also emphasised the benefits of eco-driving which can reduce the amount of fuel used by 20% and gave the fact that 86% of journeys in the UK are made by car at the moment – another one I'm not sure of – is that true?

Doug Parr from Greenpeace was next and he said that transport is fundamentally different from other forms of carbon reduction because people really feel it in their everyday activity, unlike insulation, changing light bulbs, energy generation etc. he also spoke about oil and the dangers of extracting deep sea oil, as we've seen from the Gulf, and that we should be leaving it in the ground now to avert more environmental catastrophes in colder waters, such as the Arctic and off the coast of Scotland. Another good statistic that he gave is that there is £19 of benefit for every pound spent on walking and cycling initiatives – unrivalled by any other transport investment. I wanted to ask a question of Philip Hammond on this and why the government didn't invest more in it in that case, but wasn't able to do so.

Questions from the floor were asked on various issues while Mr Hammond was still there, including ones on biofuels, hydrogen vehicles, freight facilities for rail and nuclear power. I really wanted to get a question in on HS2 before Philip Hammond left, but the chair, just wouldn't come to me. He left at 7pm, after which there was time for my question, which was “If this is all about low carbon and low cost, why is everyone still talking about building high speed rail, which will not save any carbon and will cost a huge amount of money?”. The chair said “oh controversial question”, yet none of the panel who were left disagreed with me, so it doesn't seem that anyone but top politicians and a few business people really think it's a good idea.

Edmund King said he couldn't understand the reasoning behind it (maybe they'd rashly promised it when rejecting Heathrow) and spoke to me afterwards saying how convenient and easy he found the train for travelling between cities with no need for it to be any faster. Doug Parr was reluctant to rule it out but all the reservations that he gave are ones that the current plans do not meet and where on earth the funding for the transport infrastructure to link in other modes of transport as well as building HS2 is going to come from, nobody seems to have the answer.

Unless we are making the power supply truly green and the rest of the transport system geared to getting people door-to-door, we cannot support HS2 taking people between interchange stations based at airports – that is not low carbon or low cost.

Joe Peacock

Birmingham Transport Summit 2010 – Len Gregory's last one!

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Transport Summit at the council house in Birmingham. Whilst it wasn't quite so full of middle-aged businessmen in suits as the High Speed Rail conference the week before, it still seemed a case of style over substance and trying to impress everyone with big flashy projects, rather than local transport improvements on the ground.

Councillor Gregory was first up and did make some of the right noises about low carbon transport, but there was an insistence that this was a “carrot not stick” approach. To me this misses the point, as he is not offering a carrot to cyclists, as there is a lack of safety for them on the roads of Birmingham, to public transport users whose buses get snarled up in the congested roads of the city without being given priority or to pedestrians for whom the pavements are often in a shocking state of repair, aren't gritted and are often expected to cross busy roads without proper crossings or enforcement of speed limits to make it safer. Even though there is a pedestrian taskforce and I have heard good things of the meetings, there is little evidence of improvements on the ground.

Also notable was that he did not once mention cycling in the time he was speaking until a question was asked by John from Pushbikes at which stage he gave an answer that they had invested over a million pounds in cycling – really? I still remain convinced that he would rather bikes were kept off the agenda as much as possible, though.

There was much talk of the Camp Hill line and re-opening the stations that we have been campaigning for, which was encouraging in terms of the fact that we are listened to when public opinion is so strongly in favour, but short on substance of how quickly it can be done. With all the fervour about HS2 and “the opportunities” this brings (when it won't open for another 16 years at least), I would really like some more urgency on getting rail sorted locally in the short term, not in another 10 years' time. Unfortunately, he'd rather focus on glamorous projects like the “Gateway” project at New St, the new coach station (Mike Whitby called this the Selfridges of coach stations!) and HS2.

On buses, Councillor Gregory suggested that “the bus network works well”, which will be news to many people who suffer unreliable services and are unable to reach anywhere but the city centre with any ease. He instead blamed Birmingham's climate and the fact that it rains here, which prevents people from walking to a bus stop apparently, for the fact that people still choose car over bus. Well, in my experience, it's the waiting times and lack of reliable information at bus stops, anti-social behaviour on buses and fact that they get snarled up in traffic (making reliable journey times impossible) that puts most people off. Many people do use the bus, so obviously it's not always that bad, but I'm not sure everyone would agree that perception matches Gregory's claim that the safety record has improved dramatically and the operation to do this has been “highly successful”.

What he seemed to be most proud of was the PFI for the highway network, which he claims will bring in huge amounts of investment into this infrastructure, sort out all the problems with pavements and potholes. Generally, PFIs fall well short of what is promised, so we'll have to wait and see on this one and I don't see any point in commenting further at this stage.

There was also mention of a freight hub for distribution of good throughout the city and using canals for freight with waste carried along them too, as facilities are next to them. Promising projects, but there was not enough detail on those for BfoE to comment at this stage.

Len Gregory admitted that he would not be missed by many when he leaves his post during this speech and I for one will be looking for much more ambition from the next cabinet member for transport, to take Birmingham towards a low carbon transport future.

Does The 11 Go There?

On the 11th November a group of BFoE people went for an evening out on the annual no. 11 bus 11-11-11, run by Jon Bounds of BiNS fame. Those unfamiliar with the 11-11-11 event should take a look at the 11 Bus website, but essentially it consists of riding a full circuit of Birmingham's famous no. 11 bus sometime on the 11th of November (although some have taken it to extremes and ridden it for a full 11 hours).

So, a bunch of us from BFoE met up in King's Heath by the superloo, where we also hooked up with some Birmingham bloggers doing the same thing. All in all a 15 strong band, to document the 26 mile round trip through photographs, video and twitterings. Before proceedings could get underway however, there was the decision about whether we would be riding an A or C - in other words would we ride Anti-clockwise or Clockwise? Eventually after a little debate the 11C won out, and so off we went, clockwise!

Along the route various points of historical, bizzare or humorous interest were pointed out by various 11ers, each it seemed with their own area of geographic knowledge, which worked out rather well in letting us know all about the variations of the outer reaches of the city. Inevitably we received a few funny looks and questions as to what we were up to (just as one of the 11ers gaffer taped a video camera to a handrail), and even after an explanation they still seemed perplexed. The passing round of the sweets probably only compounded their confusion! Given that we had taken up most of the back half of the top deck, it seems we also confused quite a few seasoned back seat dwellers by occupying their preferred spot, and hence forcing them to sit in unfamiliar territory further towards the front.

Our route took us through Cotteridge (which bizzarely has a high proportion of party shops), Bournville (with the Cadbury chocolate factory - obviously), Selly Oak, Harborne, Bearwood, North Edgbaston, Rotton Park & Summerfield, City Hospital, Winson Green (home of HM Prison Birmingham), Handsworth (with the ever lively & colourful Soho Road), Handsworth Wood, Perry Barr, Witton (just near Villa Park), Stockland Green, Erdington (and the infamous 6 Ways island) and Ward End, where the BFoE bunch of 11ers disembarked for a well earned pit stop, whilst the Birmingham bloggers held out for a full uninterrupted circuit.

So after a quick drink in that famous North-East Birmingham drinking spot, The Fox & Goose, we reboarded the next 11 bus for the final leg through Stechford, Yardley (and the rather sad looking vacant Swan Centre), Acocks Green, past Sarehole Mill, and through Billesley back to our starting point in King's Heath. With the wonders of Twitter we managed to track down the location of the Birmingham bloggers we'd left on the bus at Ward End, and join them for a celebratory drink in the Hare & Hounds to chat about the journey.

So that was the end of an alternative but curiously fun night out, in which we saw some previously unexplored parts of Brum, dredged up some old memories, and discovered that if you're having a party, then Cotteridge is the place for all your party supply needs! Remember to check out the 11 Bus website.

SOB - Save Our Buses?

There are worrying signs that all is not well with bus provision in Birmingham. Instead of improving the services, anecdotal evidence suggests that they are becoming even more infrequent in places where people need them. Only today there was an article in the Birmingham Mail about prices being too high and we have been campaigning for months for better bus services to be driven by a Statuatory Partnership which would be responsible for driving improvements. There is an e-petition for this and we have been collecting signed letters from discontented bus users.

It seems that National Express, which runs TWM (the company responsible for buses such as the one in the picture) is in financial difficulty and may not be able to survive. This means that a new company could soon be running the buses here and we need to be ready to engage with them and explain what it is we expect from the bus service in this city.
At the transport action group meeting on Monday evening it was decided that we need to hold a special meeting to draw up our demands or "bus manifesto" to be prepared for such a situation and use in our campaigning. Next Monday we have a general campaigns meeting at 7.30, but we'll also be holding a special bus meeting before it at 6.30. So, if you feel strongly about this come along then, or email your comments to campaigns@birminghamfoe.org.uk and we'll use them to guide the discussion.

Following on from In Town Without My Car Day

Last Tuesday some of the Birmingham Post's Power 50 took up our challenge to show some leadership and give up their cars for the day on In Town Without My Car Day. Even senior figures at the council pledged their support for the idea and so we are hoping that next year there will be some officially sanctioned events, but, even more importantly, some drastic improvements in public transport provision in Birmingham and in safety measures for cyclists and pedestrians.

One of our volunteers went with councillor Salma Yaqoob as she did without her car for the day.


Pictured here walking children Mikael and Aslan to school, councillor Yaqoob said "Normally taking the children to school and travelling to work in the morning is a last minute rush. We lead such a packed life so we save time in the car. Today it felt good - not driving. I had to do this. We had extra time to chat. Walking is good exercise and it felt like the right thing to do."

Her eldest son, Hamza (not pictured) goes to school on the bus every day, which councillor Yaqoob thinks is important for teaching him independence. "Over-protecting our children doesn’t help them so it is good for him to go on the bus."


Salma Yaqoob herself confesses that she doesn't use public transport very often because it takes longer than going by car and she can't afford the time. She also conceded that it was time to take action to improve the situation "As a party, we need an integrated transport policy. The less people feel daunted at leaving cars behind the more they will use public transport because it is convenient and it saves time".

She also pledged to improve her own record in future "I hope that this time next year I will have a it more of a record of using public transport, refocusing my good intentions. The test is whether I can keep it up. I think it will be a slow and steady change for me".


Another of those who took up the challenge on the day was Professor David Bailey, who is very clear that it's the lack of decent public transport that keeps people in their cars and asked “Why not have road pricing like in London and put the money into public transport?”

From the business angle, Jerry Blackett from the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce also took part and was pictured with his folding bicycle on the fron page of the Birmingham Post. Of the experience, he said "The journey took 45 mins which is 20 mins longer than by car. However, being on the train for part of this, I could read my day’s meeting papers etc. for 30 mins, so gained time overall."

He also said that he would support having a good look at organising something more substantial for the day next year, although encouraging cycling in general should be the highest priority, "As a cyclist, I also want to see more provision of road space. This is difficult for Birmingham. We don’t have the wide streets some other cities enjoy. But I’d like to see what we think we might achieve".

Many of Friends of the Earth's members and supporters are car-owners, so we would agree with Mr Blackett when he says "I think it important we don’t demonise the car driver", but also that we need to "make alternatives to the car attractive so that drivers get more choice".

Our campaigns are not about taking all cars off the roads every day, but encouraging people to use other forms of transport when possible and recognise that roads are not only for cars, but for cyclists and pedestrians too. Pedestrianisation has made a huge difference to Birmingham city centre, but we sincerely hope that the Big City Plan will also make a difference to the accessibility of wider areas of the city by cycle or foot.

We will continue to push the council to improve public transport and facilities for walking and cycling. Our twenty's plenty e-petition can be signed here and there are also petitions for better bus services and re-opening rail stations.

Next year we would like Councillor Len Gregory to take In Town Without My Car Day seriously and organise some proper events for it, as other towns do. With such actions we can start looking at changing Birmingham's reputation as an overly car-friendly city that is not suitable for cycling or walking around.

Photographs: Jane Baker / www.greensnapperphotography.com

In Town Without My Car Day 2009

Every year we moan about the council not doing anything about In Town Without My Car Day and then leave it too late to organise a big event. But leaving your car at home shouldn't be such a big deal, should it?

Tens of thousands of people travel to work every day without using a car and over 30% of households in Birmingham don't actually own a car so are reliant on other means of transport to get around.

So, what happened when Birmingham Friends of the Earth challenged the 50 most powerful and influential people in the region (according to the Birmingham Post) to give up their cars for the day?

What did we expect? Polite refusals? To be completely ignored? For everyone to say yes?

I was not sure what would happen, but I thought that, in the current climate of individuals being seen to take a lead on being greener, it might just work. Over the past few weeks I have been collecting responses, prompting those who didn't reply, contacting the press and other media about the story and the interest has grown and grown to the extent that Birmingham City Council actually put up a message of support for it on their website.

If you want to know what the results of this challenge were person by person, then read on.

1)Paul Thandi: NEC Group – No reply, other than acknowledgements from his PA that she had passed on my emails to him.
2)Paul Kehoe: BIA – I was informed by his PA that as he was away on leave until just before it he could not do it.
3)Lord Digby Jones – I was informed by his PA that he is out of town and not able to participate.
4)David Bintley: Birmingham Royal Ballet – No response received at all.
5)Gary Taylor: Argent Group – Informed us that he cycles at least once a week to work now and will be away on Tuesday, but will cycle the day before.
6)Neil Rami: Marketing Birmingham – Will also be away on the day, but the rest of his company will be doing it, apparently.
7)Clive Dutton: Birmingham City Council Planning and Regeneration – Said he would certainly do it.
8)Professor David Bailey: Coventry University – Said he would be taking bus and/or train as usual.
9)Andris Nelsons: CBSO conductor – Is in Vienna on the day, so unable to take part.
10)Mike Whiby; Leader of Birmingham City Council – Has “long-standing commitments on the day in question which make it difficult to honour if he could not use a car”, although he will try to walk between meetings.
11)Christine Braddock: Birmingham Metropolitan College – No response
12)Julie Moore: CEO of local NHS – No response.
13)Andrew Mitchell: MP for Sutton Coldfield – Will be in London cycling to work as every day.
14)Glynn Purnell: Celebrity Chef – Unable to do it for “personal reasons”.
15)Paul Tylsley: Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council – Not in Birmingham on the day.
16)Liam Byrne: MP for Hodge Hill and cabinet member – No response.
17)Stephen Hughes: Chief Executive, Birmingham City Council – Will catch a train to the airport, which, unfortunately, is unavoidable to keep commitments. Always walks to work when in the city.
18)Suzie Norton: Screen West Midlands – Is on maternity leave.
19)Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya: Warwick Manufacturing Group – No response.
20)Ravi Kant: Head of Tata – Didn't attempt to contact him.
21)Randy Lerner: CEO, Aston Villa – Not in town on the day. I requested someone else high profile from the club, but got no response.
22)Anthony McCourt: Birmingham Development Company – Walks to work every day.
23)Jason Wouhra: East End Foods – No response.
24)Salma Yaqoob: Councillor – Will walk or use public transport instead of car for the day.
25)Stuart Griffiths: CEO, Birmingham Hippodrome – No response.
26)Phillip Singleton: City Design, Birmingham City Council – Will take the bus.
27)Professor Nick James: University of Birmingham – Cycles at least once a week and takes the train from Longbridge other days.
28)David Smith: Jaguar-Land Rover - Didn't attempt to contact him.
29)Dr Waldemar Bujalski: University of Birmingham – No response.
30)Justice Williams: Inner City Creative Media Group – Unable to contact.
31)Clare Edwards: Gigbeth – Works from home most days and says she'll take public transport if needed on the day.
32)Trevor Foster: Bigwood/Lockton – No response.
33)Paul Bassi: Bonde Wolfe – Unable to contact.
34)Tom Lawes: The Electric Cinema – No response.
35)Andeep Mangel: ICAEW – Unable to contact.
36)Paul Bradshaw: BCU – May well be working from home, but doesn't own a car for environmental reasons, anyway.
37)Helga Henry: Fierce Earth – No response.
38)Simon Wales: THSH – Was supportive and often takes the bus to work, but has to take equipment to the NEC for a stall on the day in his car.
39)James Yarker: Stan's Cafe Director – Always cycles around the city and takes the train when travelling to other towns.
40)Professor Julia King: Vice Chancellor, Aston University – Out of town on the day, but encouraged all staff at Aston to take part and leave their cars at home.
41)Kerry Thomas: Fused Magazine – Very supportive and would have done it if in town, but away on the day.
42)Steve Dyson: Editor, Birmingham Mail – Unable to do it due to meetings and commitments in several parts of the city.
43)Bennie Gray: Custard Factory – No response.
44)Mick Laverty: AWM – Unable to contact.
45)Stuart Rogers: Birmingham Rep – Happy to do it and will take the bus.
46)Paul Hadley – Rhubarb Radio – Works from home and says he always takes the train when travelling in and out of Birmingham.
47)Adrian Goldberg: The Stirrer – Will be in London on the day, where he will use public transport for all his journeys. Wishes the same was possible in this area.
48)Jerry Blackett: Birmingham Chamber of Commerce – Will take train and folding bike, as he often does.
49)Ian Austin: MP, Dudley North and regional minister – No response.
50)Martin Mullaney: Cabinet member, Birmingham City Council – Will be taking his scooter.

So, what can we see from this?

Well, apart from the lack of responses from 14 people – about a third, I was encouraged by the number of people who are very much aware of the issue and already use other forms of transport on a regular basis. Almost half of the “power 50” gave us such positive responses about their travelling habits and I would suggest that this means a minority of these people take their cars into town every day.

What about being without a car every day?

This is, of course, the most important point to be made. It's all very well doing a one-off attempt to be more sustainable, but if we're going to cut transport emissions and congestion and deal with the related health issues in this city we need to get more people out of cars and onto public transport, bikes or walking as a matter of course. This would enable us all to use the space we have in this city more usefully.
We are working hard on campaigns such as “20's plenty for Birmingham”, “Re-open Our Stations” and “Better Buses for Birmingham” to tackle the issues that prevent people feeling that they can get around the city without using a car. If you want to help us with any of the campaigns, please contact us on campaigns@birminghamfoe.org.uk to find out how.

Future events

By next year I sincerely hope that steps will have been made to improve the experience for people using public transport, walking or cycling in the city and that when the council launches its own In Town Without Your Car Day events, we'll see streets filled not with cars, but with people out there talking to one another and enjoying sharing the space together.
Does anyone else agree that it would be a good idea?

E-petitions R Us

The council now has a site with e-petitions where we can ask them to do things that are within their power. I had a bit of trouble getting them to accept the wording of mine about train stations, but generally I think this has to be a good way of promoting campaigns in the digital age.
Anyway, we have three big transport campaigns at the moment and each one now has its own e-petition. Please sign them if you want Birmingham city council to do something about giving us a better transport system.

Firstly for our 20's plenty campaign to make the roads safer for everyone and encourage greener forms of transport, such as cycling and walking go here:

http://epetition.birmingham.public-i.tv/petition.php?id=51

Secondly, for our Better Buses for Birmingham campaign, this is the link:

http://epetition.birmingham.public-i.tv/petition.php?id=60

Thirdly, for the campaign to get railway stations re-opened in Birmingham: http://epetition.birmingham.public-i.tv/petition.php?id=67

I hope that we can get a lot of support behind these campaigns, but at the moment the old fashioned ways have got us far more signatures for each one than the electronic forms. Let's promote them wherever possible and show that we can mobilise support through the net.