November Critical Mass in Manchester

i think the whole thing needs a rethink. apart from the `feel good` factor what is it achieving? and what about the buses thatt get caught up in it too? i reckon running a free bus would be a much better idea

MR POTATO MAN, I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVEEEE YOOOOOUUUUUUUUUU

There are pro's and con's to both morning and evening critical masses, and both have been tried. People do show for morning masses but generally not so many as in the morning. Anyway the point is not so much to inconvenience traffic - and, of course, car and freight traffic is a massive inconvenience in terms of its effects up on our health and its dominance within urban areas - but to illustrate a perfectly sound alternative that poses no threat to our health and doesn't needlessly add to to the millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere. There are also different ways of doing a critical mass. Generally it's a go-slow, but some times I've been with a bunch of cyclists whizzing past rush hour traffic. In my experience, buses are always allowed through by the cyclists. It does help have some visual props that help to get across the point of the exercise. What I enjoy most are those moments where no traffic has passed the cm for a while, and it has created a temporary car free zone up ahead, people are able to cross the road nonchalantly, it's turned momentarily quiet and peaceful, as it could and should be were people to stop making all those needless car journeys (and yeah, I'm sure some are necessary, but a lot of them aren't, pure and simple) and tried using a bike or public transport, and if they think public transport is shit then perhaps they could try joining some pressure group that aimed at making it affordable and a pleasure to use. They manage it a lot better on the continebt than we do here in the UK, though I an sure there is room for improvement even there.