Highlands & Islands MSP Emma Roddick visited two active travel initiatives in Inverness to show her support for their work and find out more about future projects – Hi-Bike and Velocity Café & Bicycle Workshop.
Commenting, Roddick said:
“I’m a big advocate for active travel but in order for it to work for people, it’s so important to make it affordable and accessible, and Hi-Bike and Velocity do just that.
“Both of these initiatives break down barriers for people that are considering using cycling as a mode of transport but find it daunting to think about it long term and all the maintenance that goes with it. I experienced this first-hand when I attended a Velocity workshop focused on building confidence and bike maintenance skills, supporting repairing and re-use, and it was great to hear about all the amazing work they do beyond workshops, connecting people, building a sense of community, and campaigning for health and active travel.
“The same goes for Hi-Bike. It was great to hear from Rhys from Hi-Bike discuss all the ways Hi-Bike is opening up cycling to a whole other demographic, evidenced by their usage statistics which are much higher amongst groups that are otherwise underrepresented in cycling, such as women and people from minority ethnic backgrounds.
“I loved getting out and about on the Hi-Bikes myself, it reminded me how much easier it is than taking a bus and I look forward to seeing both of these projects grow over the next few months and years.”
Emma Roddick MSP 