{"id":431824,"date":"2026-01-23T08:43:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T08:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/431824\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T08:43:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T08:43:15","slug":"cycling-trial-for-town-centre-changed-for-disabled-cyclists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/431824\/","title":{"rendered":"Cycling trial for town centre changed for disabled cyclists"},"content":{"rendered":"

Disabled people will be able to cycle through Sheep Street in Bicester during market hours after a change was made to a cycling trial for the town centre street.<\/p>\n

Sheep Street is pedestrianised, but since March 2025 people can also cycle in both directions on the road, under an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO).<\/p>\n

The only time cycling on Sheep Street is not allowed is during market hours, which take place on Fridays from 9am to 4pm.<\/p>\n

Oxfordshire County Council<\/a> has decided to change the ETRO so disabled people who use their mobility aids can cycle through Sheep Street during market hours as well.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Reversal of bus lane on major Oxford road made permanent<\/a><\/p>\n

Councillor Andrew Gant, approved the change at the delegated decisions meeting on Thursday, (January 22).<\/p>\n

At the meeting, Paul Troop, chair of Bicester Bike Users Group, said disabled residents who need a bike as a mobility aid \u201chave suffered harassment by uniformed vigilante residents who have subjected them to unwarranted abuse\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cGiven that physically disabled residents may not be able to walk or push a bike, it is wrong to force them to choose to not access the market, or to risk harassment and abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bicester resident Kevin Hickman said: \u201cFrom my experience people don’t have a problem with a disabled person cycling when it’s made obvious, like when I’m riding my hand-cycle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat would really help is a general understanding that many disabled people make the best of their constraints by using other cycles as mobility aids too, and that if someone is cycling slowly and carefully in a place where most people wouldn’t, they likely have a good reason for doing so.<\/p>\n

\u201cA person’s impairment isn’t always obvious, especially when cycling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis proposal recognises that, and it’s heartening to see a transport authority thinking beyond blue badge parking when it comes to disabled people’s mobility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Gant said: \u201cThis is a small, targeted intervention which clearly supports our policy of supporting cycling and walking and prioritising the needs of disabled people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The director of highways will be responsible for setting up a permit or exemption scheme to allow access for disabled individuals.<\/p>\n

But some concerns were raised about how the policy would be enforced.<\/p>\n

Robin Tucker, co-chair of Coalition for Healthy Streets and Active Travel, said: \u201cLooking at the disabled persons aspect of the scheme, we support the intent, but we are concerned about the practicalities.<\/p>\n

\u201cDisabled people face enough barriers without having to prove their disabilities and have an extra form of ID for a vehicle of such low impact as a cycle.<\/p>\n

\u201cSignage may be sufficient.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ETRO on cycling in Sheep Street will end in September 2026, at which time the council will decide whether it will become permanent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Disabled people will be able to cycle through Sheep Street in Bicester during market hours after a change…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431825,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[225997,64,63,225998,226001,784,225993,225995,226000,225996,225999,225994,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-431824","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-andrew-gant","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-bicester","12":"tag-bicester-bike-users-group","13":"tag-cycling","14":"tag-disabled-people","15":"tag-etro","16":"tag-market-hours","17":"tag-mobility-aids","18":"tag-physically-disabled","19":"tag-sheep-street","20":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}