Jon Barron

Yesterday, Aberdeen City Council met to determine and hopefully decide upon, among other things, the next steps of the City Centre Masterplan Programme.

Full details of the meeting can be found here; https://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=122&MId=8190

The recording of the meeting can be found here; https://aberdeen.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/721270 (*go to 59 minutes in).

Jon Barron, as Chair of Grampian Cycle Partnership, sought to make a Deputation to Council in which he implored Council to:-

• finally, follow Scotland’s National Transport Strategy by truly embedding the
  Sustainable Travel Hierarchy in its decision making by promoting walking, wheeling
  and cycling first, then public transport before all other transport options
• finally, work towards the Scottish Government’s 2030 Vision for Active Travel by
  shaping Aberdeen’s communities around people so that walking or cycling can
  become the most popular choice for shorter everyday journeys
• finally, deliver high quality walking, cycling and wheeling networked infrastructure
  that is safe and available to everyone.
  It is a stark reality that our wonderful city has fallen far behind other places in
  Scotland in relation to what it provides for those travelling on foot or by bike. For
  example, Aberdeen’s streets still do not have any permanent on-road segregation for
  cycling, neither is there any road space reallocation for our most vulnerable modes.
  All the resulting benefits that active travel brings to our physical and psychological
  wellbeing, to our local and wider environment and to our economy are wellevidenced. Promoting, supporting and enabling active travel has always been
  important but, for a variety of reasons, the times we are in the midst of make it
  increasingly so. Let’s begin to lock in these benefits now.

**UPDATE – We are still digesting the formal decision and await formal posting of the decisions. We will post the link outlining these here once it has been published, however we think we can say that, for once, common sense prevailed in the Council Chamber and segregated cycle tracks for Union Street are back as part of the project moving forward. Clearly and obviously, they always should have been**.

Jon’s deputation (including a short section which he couldn’t deliver due to time limitations) was as follows;

“Good morning everyone. Thanks for the opportunity to address you. I wrote to you all recently with a plea for things to change.  I thank those who have met with me.

There’s much to like with what is being touted in the reports in front of you. There should be. It’s even more important for a host of reasons that we act now, this has all taken too long and cost far too much already.

I do, however, take issue with the suggestion that the reports truly ‘prioritise walking, wheeling and cycling’ though.

Allow me to focus the next few minutes on one aspect that you have for consideration – the recommended interaction between buses and bikes on Union Street and explain why it is so important to, at long last, get this right now.

Before going on, I’m not anti-bus and this is not an anti-bus message. Bus needs to have its rightful place in the sustainable travel hierarchy. For avoidance of doubt, that place is after walking, wheeling and cycling. Not before it. Bikes and buses should not be ‘forced together’ into the same road space. To do so, would be a recipe for disaster and inherently dangerous.

The revamped City Centre Masterplan has the vision to ‘create a world class city centre and beach that respects and enhances Aberdeen’s unique qualities and characteristics and puts people at its heart’.

I applaud the vision. I love Aberdeen. It means everything to me. I was born here. It’s my home.

However, the proposal to have bikes together in very close proximity with buses on our main thoroughfare can hardly be described as world class?

What if Union Street were in Paris? When Mayor Anne Hidalgo took office in 2014. The Mayor realised that it wasn’t the hills, the weather or the culture that was preventing Parisians from cycling, it was a lack of safe infrastructure. With that, she unleashed a cycling revolution. She challenged car dominance and was ridiculed, threatened, even sued for doing so. But, she prevailed, with the measures now working and proving incredibly popular. So much so that she was comfortably re-elected in 2020. Paris is investing 250M Euros adding another 130km of dedicated cycle lanes. Since 2020, 211 schools across Paris have piloted ‘school streets’ temporary closures to motor traffic during drop-off and pick-up times. Paris has the single biggest bike-share system in place outside China. Paris is implementing a world class plan.

What if Union Street were in Pontevedra, Northern Spain? In 1999, within a month of becoming Mayor, Miguel Lores had removed motor vehicle traffic from the central 300,000 square metres of the city. His manifesto was, still is, that motor vehicles don’t have any more right to public space than people – he’s been re-elected four times since then. Pontevedra has a population of around 80,000, yet this central section alone it now has12,000 more residents since the changes were brought in. The changes have not only improved the local environment, with C0₂ emissions having fallen by 70% and nearly three-quarters of all journeys being made on foot or by bicycle, but they’ve made it safer. Between 1996 and 2006 there were 30 road deaths in Pontevedra. Since 2009, there have been none. Pontevedra is implementing a world class plan.

You may scoff at me contrasting Aberdeen to these cities but I’m not the one that came up with the vision to be world class. I’ve actually been kind to you and not given Danish, Dutch or Flemish comparison as to what world class means in terms of active travel provision. If Aberdeen wants to join them, let’s hope it genuinely does, and there is no reason why we can’t, then we have to aim much higher than we’ve done to date and are still doing now.

What about close to home? What have other Scottish towns and cities already done and what have they already committed to? Glasgow already has many examples of prioritised and segregated cycling infrastructure while also plenty success with providing safe, secure cycle storage to residents living in flats, tenements and multi-storeys. It has committed to adding another 270km of safe, segregated cycling routes as part of a comprehensive and connected active travel network. Edinburgh also has much segregation and road space reallocation and has committed to a walkable city centre with a pedestrian priority zone and a network of connected, high-quality, car-free streets and public spaces,. Dundee too has installed segregated infrastructure and has published plans to build more active travel freeways. These cities, and others, are implementing world class plans.

In recent years, Scotland has seen a massive increase in the level of funding for active travel projects. This is, of course, very welcome. Have we seen much of that money being put to good use for permanency in Aberdeen? An emphatic no — 1.03% of the £85M, that’s £873,000 has been awarded through the flagship infrastructure funding stream, Places for Everyone, to Aberdeen City Council, over the last three fiscal years.  Yes, you’ll tell me that there has been a pandemic, and all the other demands and pressures on local authority finances and resources. I don’t doubt these pressures, in fact, as a lifelong public servant, I entirely understand them. 

However, in the same period, other local authorities, operating under similar pressures, have applied for and been awarded much greater slices of the Places for Everyone cake – these include Dundee (over £5.1M – 6%), Highland (£4.7M – 5.5%), Clackmannanshire (£2.1M – 2.5%), Scottish Borders (£9.5M – 11.2%)  and not forgetting, of course, Glasgow (£12.3M – 14.5%) and Edinburgh (£33.9M – 39.97%).

However you want to dress this up, Aberdeen is clearly not getting anything like what any of us could describe as its fair share of the single biggest funding streams for active travel. 

When I see images on infrastructure projects in other cities, when I ride my bike on them, when I hear the impactive stories of how they have changed peoples lives and communities for the better, it makes me sad that I still can’t showcase anything locally. It is like we are stuck in our own alternate universe with its own deeply flawed travel hierarchy.

Induced Demand is a phrase that is often referred to around road-based projects. Many forget that it can work both ways: if you choose to build more car lanes, evidence shows that you will get more traffic. If you were to build more bike lanes, evidence shows that you will get more cycling. Cities are a collection of choices. We/You need to choose better.

In June 2015, Councillors in this very room voted unanimously to implement the city centre masterplan. What has happened since then to encourage, promote and support cycling in the city?

Has there been any permanent on-road segregation put in place for cycling? No.

Has there been any road space reallocation put in place for cycling? No.

Are there any safe, coherent, connected links for an active travel network across our city? No.

How many school streets have we had in Aberdeen?  None.

Have we built or even designed any active travel freeways? No.

Has Aberdeen applied to Cycling Scotland’s Local Authority Secure Cycle Storage and Parking Fund? No, but it desperately needs to.

While in Aberdeen we speak of aspirations of being a world class destination and to supposedly prioritising cycling, Aberdeen City Council isn’t present to launch the new venture from Big Issue ebikes, yet is happy to have its logo on the bikes.

What about the Scottish Government’s draftCycling Framework and Delivery Plan for Active Travel in Scotland, out for consultation now, which in support of the Government’s vision that – ‘Scotland’s communities are shaped around people, with walking and cycling the most popular choice for everyday short journeys’ states that the top priority for the achievement of that vision is for the delivery of more dedicated, high quality, safe cycling infrastructure’.

The actions in this plan are aimed to, ‘drive forward work across National and Local Government, Business and the Third Sector, which will support the building and maintenance of a dense network of connected cycling infrastructure in every village, town and city, segregated from motor traffic’.

Cycling by Design says that – ‘we must plan and design for mass cycling by all kinds of people on different types of bike. Cycling infrastructure should no longer be something that we provide to be used by those already cycling, instead it needs to be something that can be used by everyone’.

These are the Scottish Government’s words, not mine.  I haven’t yet mentioned the Climate Change Plan, the assortment of Public Health reports and the stated commitment to reduce car kilometres by 20% by 2030.

Would everyone be happy to ride a bike, without any segregation, and share a street with around 50 buses every hour, in addition to all the others that will still perfectly legitimately be using much of Union Street?

There has been lots of consultation – why do it if you are effectively going to ignore much of the findings?

Look at Sustrans’ fabulous Walking and Cycling Index, launched after much delay, which stated, following a survey of local residents, that every year, walking, wheeling, and cycling in Aberdeen prevented 603 serious long-term health conditions, created £162.9 million in economic benefit for individuals and the area and takes up to 59,000 cars off the road.

Cities that truly invest in walking and cycling can rightly describe themselves as world class. Ask yourself this, what’s world class on about what’s in front of you in relation to the traffic management proposals – what’s world class about forcing cyclists, particularly those less experienced or confident, into a space that is not segregated, not separated from other modes? If this isn’t done on our main street, what chance is there for this to happen on the routes to take pedestrians and cyclists to and from the city centre and all across the city? It’s just as important on all these roads too. So, while we’re here specifically to talk about our city centre and beach areas, the decision you take today could send out a very clear message about what you intend to do for the rest of our city. How can families, kids, those less confident or experienced get to the city centre or beach safely by bike and home again? As things stand, what’s there for them? Some poorly painted advisory cycle lanes …….

A work colleague shared a YouTube video of Union Street the other day. It had been filmed in 1992. While it showed some radically different shop fronts, some very different car models and very different fashion sense among the pedestrians on view – the main thing that struck me was that the road space hadn’t really changed much from what it is still like today. But, as the reports in front of you attest to, it desperately needs to.  

So, in closing, although we’re clearly starting from the lowest possible platform, that must not allow us to settle for half-measures. Let’s begin to create that walking and cycling city in earnest from now, firmly supported by bus (and ART when it comes along). If, there are to be losers, it must not be the pedestrian or cyclist – as is currently the case. We’re in various crises; our climate and environment, our economy, the cost of living, our physical activity levels, our psychological wellbeing – cycling has been proven across the globe to play a part in helping all these factors. It’s not for everyone, but it needs to be for far more than it currently is. Segregation from traffic is crucial to that.

Please aim high, be bold, be creative, be imaginative, be decisive so that our city centre and our city can begin to reclaim its rightful place and status. Let’s aim for world class.

Thank you for listening”.

Footnote: Jon wishes to publicly applaud the tremendous deputations confidently and eloquently presented by Lily and Lara, pupils from Bridge of Don Academy and Oldmachar Academy and by Tibeche, a pupil at Dyce Academy and by Rachel Martin, of Aberdeen Cycle Forum. These all made a very convincing case for the Councillors. Please go to around 28 minutes on the link for the first presentation from Lily and Laura, Tibeche follows on from them. Rachel follows Jon’s deputation.

27th July 2022 – We can all dream right? On seeing the rapturous welcome that Jonas Vingegaard has just received on his return home to Denmark after his victory in the thoroughly captivating and tremendously exciting Le Tour de France, with thousands and thousands taking to the streets of Copenhagen to celebrate, we were reminded of the inspiring and thought-provoking vision one of our founders previously gave of what could happen here in the near future.

What if the MANY long overdue, desperately needed, repeatedly promised (by successive Administrations) infrastructure connections and improvements FINALLY made it safer, easier, more connected, more comfortable, more direct and more attractive to get around our wonderful City and Shire by bike?

What if these played a part in helping lead to a local loon or quine embarking on a journey that could lead to them to receiving a similar welcome to Jonas outside the Town House in Aberdeen or outside Inverurie Town Hall or in Saltoun Square, Fraserburgh?

The vision ‘Dreams’ was prepared and delivered by Colin Allanach at our inaugural event ‘Cycling in the North East – Moving Forward Together’ on Wednesday 26th September 2018 at the Sir Ian Wood Building, Robert Gordon University, Garthdee Road, Aberdeen. He said,

“Bear with me please and let me show you into my future. Close your eyes for a minute and I’ll take you there.

It’s a balmy sunny Sunday evening in late July 2040…

• We are all in Paris, on the Champs-Élysées watching local North East Cyclist Dr Angus Milne on the podium to pick up his third Tour de France win (He’s a got a PHD as well as cycling because he listened to his mum and dad and stuck in a school as well as his cycling).

• In his acceptance speech Angus thanks his coaches at Deeside Thistle that got him started, he thanks his Pro team members from “Pedal Power Cycle Centre Inverurie”.  He thanks the vision of Aberdeen City for building the Neil Fachie Velodrome at The Aberdeen Sports Village where he spent hours honing his sprint skills.  He thanks Aberdeenshire Council for building the cycle race centre at Thainstone where he spent evenings and weekends with teammates learning road racing skills.

• While we listen to the speeches, we can’t believe that only three short weeks ago we watched ‘Le Tour’ start its Prologue Time Trial on the AWPR route.  An event described by the international cycling press as “the best cycling event ever” 

A lot has happened in recent years.

• The announcement that Durris Hill is to be extended upwards to make the biggest mountain to sea off-road downhill track in Europe.
• The five arterial routes from the shire main towns of Ellon, Inverurie, Westhill, Banchory and Stonehaven linking to and from Aberdeen city have been a huge success. The City centre closure of roads at weekends has opened up the city to throngs of cyclists each weekend guzzling cake and coffee in huge amounts.  For the first time in many a year, the city centre is alive.
• Robert Gordon University and Aberdeen University have been awarded a 100milion pound grant to continue their research into the beneficial effects on depression and mental health issues by “going for a ride on your bike”.
• The region has just won the Eco-Tourism Awards again for the Cycle Castle Tours, the Cycle Distillery Tours and Cycle Beach Tours. 
• The 40-mph speed limit restrictions of the Shire’s unclassified roads introduced way back in 2022 has dramatically reduced the number of car/ lorry related incidents on our back roads.
• Who could have believed that the school attainment figures just broadcast have rocketed since the one-mile car school exclusion zones have been put in place and the “safe route to school” paths have been extended throughout the City and Shire?
• And just today was the announcement in the Press & Journal that the Respiratory Unit at ARI is closing down: not because of lack of Doctor’s but because of lack of patients.  And this is likely to be followed closely by closure of the Obesity Clinics.
• And finally, Colin Allanach came out of retirement and finally nailed that sub 1 hour, 25-mile Time trial.

Ok, you can open your eyes now.

It may be fantasy (especially the last bit) but we have to do something to move forward and it’s clear the current setup isn’t working.  How do we get from where we are now to a point where at least we have clear communication of planned developments throughout the region?”

Editor’s Note 1: The photo of Angus (back then) is reproduced here with kind permission of his Mummy and Daddy. Angus is a lot bigger and noisier now and, unsurprisingly, loves riding his bike!

Editor’s Note 2: for those of you who know him well, I can confirm that this is the first time Colin, inspiring and thought-provoking have been uttered in the same sentence!

Had the absolute pleasure yesterday evening of listening to the Guinness Book of World Records holder Josh Quigley deliver a captivating and remarkable address, during which, in addition to speaking about the detail behind his attempts on the record itself, he so honestly and openly shared some of the life events that have helped shape him.

Josh – hats off to you.

Not just for the Herculean physical achievement of cycling the world record distance of 2179 miles in those seven days.

Not just for the tremendous willpower and astounding mental fortitude and prowess in succeeding in that goal having had so little sleep throughout and so few hours actually ‘off the bike’.

Not just for pushing yourself to achieve so much in your younger years and consistently still wanting to better yourself, learn and develop.

Not just for recovering, in astonishingly quick time, from catastrophic crashes and some terrible injuries in the USA and subsequently in Dubai.

Not just for having the ambition, drive and target of making a name for yourself in professional cycle racing, getting a contract with a world tour team and of being the first Scottish winner of Le Maillot Jaune.

Hats off to you Josh for picking yourself up from some really tough times, for picking yourself up and making it through some very dark days during which you were at your lowest of lows.

Hats off to you for making your way through adversity, through heartbreak, despair and depression and for so ferociously exploding out onto the positive side of life.

Hats off to you for striving to achieve goals that very, very few people would even contemplate. 

Hats off to you for showing to any and all of us that, if we apply ourselves and put our mind to something, then there’s no reason whatsoever why we can’t try whatever we want to.  Whether we succeed with our goal or not is, in the grand scheme of things, not all that important.   The much more important thing to bear in mind is, as you said, that we tried.

Hats off to you for being able to speak about all of your experiences so candidly.  I have little doubt that your attitude, your example and your experience can and will help others going through their own tough times and dark days. It very probably already is.

Hats off to you for making your friends and family, and us as complete strangers, so incredibly proud of you. I’m sure your Dad is still watching over you and would undoubtedly be bursting with pride.

Speaking as a Dad and a Grandad, I expect that, while he’d congratulate you on your GWR and your incredible efforts on the bike, he’d tell you that what makes him most proud is that you’ve got yourself safely through those dark days and how you have become the determined young man that you are.

I look forward to the next instalment of ‘The Josh Story’ and wish you all the very, very best with whatever it is that you do. Whether or not you get that Pro racing contract, whether or not you even enter Le Tour, let alone whether or not you become the first Scot to win the blooming thing! Even whether or not you finally get that bike around the world!

Hats off to you Josh ‘cos you’ll be more than willing to have a damn good go at whatever you can and try!

JB

GCP Committee

Well, Tour of Britain you most definitely didn’t disappoint.  What a simply fantastic day!  

Wonderful to see, at such close quarters, the world class peloton snaking through OUR roads and OUR communities.  So great to see so many people out by the roadside cheering on the riders as they passed.  A carnival atmosphere that all of us GCP HQ had been looking forward to for such a long time.

Thank you to the riders and support teams.  We hope you enjoyed the challenge and riding some of the best roads that the UK has to offer (note: we’re unashamedly biased but the preceding comment is a fact*).

Thank you to all those marshals, volunteers, events teams and emergency services for ensuring the spectacle passed safely without adverse incident. And a big thanks to all those who staffed the stalls and the events at Stonehaven, Aberdeen Beach. Great to see so many smiling faces!

Thank you to all those who cheered them all along the route at the roadside. We appreciate many of you had travelled some distance. Please do come back and visit us, make sure to take your bikes and enjoy #aberdeenshire for yourselves (ps #moray is fab too!).

We simply cannot wait until the Grand Depart for Tour of Britain 2022.  Let’s make sure we give the riders a spectacular send-off then.

Special mention to @Team Jumbo Visma who made young Xander Graham the true star of the day (sorry Wout!).  A tremendous gesture which he, his family and friends will never forget.

In the interim, we have a simple message to the decision makers within @aberdeencc and @aberdeenshirecouncil who collectively secured the agreement with Sweetspot to bring the ToB to the north east for two years… please can we build on this success story and, at long last, begin to create a legacy from it, where young boys and girls just like Xander, can go enjoy riding their bikes without their parents worrying about their safety while on the roads.

The sad reality is that Aberdeen, in particular, remains a hostile place in which to cycle around in.  Most regular riders become hardened or are confident riders.  They need to be to continue to use the city’s roads.  However, they still worry about their vulnerability and can often be scared by a near-miss or a careless or dangerous man oeuvre by a motorist.  Unfortunately, we struggle to persuade many we know to join us on a bike in the city because they do not feel safe. Quite how, in this environment, we can get more people to consider cycling regularly remains to be seen.

This needs to change for so many reasons;

How we travel across and around our city has never been so important – other cities and towns in Scotland/UK are (long before the pandemic) making bold, creative and significant change to their roads so that (walking and) cycling can rightly become the most important forms of travel for so many. Meanwhile, in Aberdeen, the car/motor vehicle continues to be ‘King’.

Our physical and psychological well-being can drastically be improved by a bike ride.  Going for a ride regularly is not only very good for you and can quickly improve your basic level of fitness, it can make you far less susceptible to many serious illnesses and health conditions.  All these points are well-evidenced worldwide.

We remain in the midst of some tough economic times.  Contrary to what some think, catering properly for walking and cycling can provide better support for our local businesses, many of whom are struggling, than the car/motor vehicle. Cycling in itself does not harm businesses. This is also well-evidenced repeatedly elsewhere.

Lastly, our local natural environment, let alone that further afield, simply cannot cope with our over-reliance on so many, often short, car journeys, some of which could be replaced with walking, cycling and/or public transport.  The positive impact on air and noise pollution that cycling makes, in stark contrast to the damage that motor vehicles do, cannot be overstated.

We accept and acknowledge cycling is not for everyone and is not the answer on its own.  However, we think it is perfectly clear that cycling could play a major part in the solution to many of the problems we face in respect of our transport and travel, our general physical activity and wellbeing and improve the natural environment.  

Councillors, please let’s give it a go… for all these reasons but also for our next generation.  For all the budding north east boys and girls, just like Xander. They deserve more than offered by the status quo, so much more.

GCP remain determined to proactively work with our councils, and anyone else interested in improving the case for change that so clearly exists here.  If anyone wants to help or have any queries, please drop us a line at info@grampiancyclepartnership.org.

GCP Committee

*Ok, so this bit is maybe not a fact, but we think it should be…

A new handbook, compiled by cyclists for cyclists, has been published to highlight best-practice cycling behaviours.

Grampian Cycle Partnership are pleased to launch ‘The Good Cycling Guide’. The group are a voluntary organisation that encourage, promote and support all forms of cycling across the North East. With an extraordinary uptake of cycling over the past year or so, it aims to remind cyclists of their responsibilities while riding.

While many guides for cycling exist, the GCP Good Cycling Guide gathers a wealth of information with a local approach. From guidance on road cycling, shared-use paths and zones, to mountain biking and overtaking horses; many of which are common situations across the diverse North East routes.

The guide allows current cyclists to refresh themselves of some of the fundamental advice that they should be following. There are also tips and encouragement for those looking to begin, or resume, pedalling. It’s also a worthwhile read for other non-cycling road users, giving a better understanding of cycling positioning and dispelling common misbeliefs.

Tom Collier, Chair of Grampian Cycle Partnership said, “Cycling is one of the most enjoyable and healthy activities that you can do. There is overwhelming evidence that cycling can improve both your physical and mental wellbeing while being so much better for our wider environment.  

“Too often we hear of negative cycling interactions; either driver versus cyclist arguments, or drivers/riders showing a lack of consideration for others and safety. This can be hugely off-putting to someone wanting to ride a bike. We need to change that. We hope this guide will encourage more people to consider cycling but importantly, to do so responsibly and safely.”

Councillor Sandra Macdonald, Chair of Nestrans, the North East Regional Transport Partnership, and Aberdeen City Council transport spokesperson added, “There has been a fantastic increase in the number of cyclists across the North East – with levels among the highest recorded. With more of us sharing the road, I hope that the guide will reinforce positive cycling behaviour and give cyclists confidence in their actions. By riding safely, looking out for others, and showing courtesy and consideration, cyclists can play their part in keeping our roads and paths safe and enjoyable places to ride.”

Police Scotland’s North Area Commander for Road Policing, Chief Inspector Neil Lumsden said, ““We are pleased to support the good cycling guide and encourage cyclists and other road users to take the time to read the guide along with the Highway Code. Cycling has clear health benefits and is an environmentally friendly way to explore our built up areas and countryside.  Improving your knowledge and understanding of how to safely use and share our roads and cycle paths will assist in making our roads safer for everyone.” 

Above all else, cyclists are being urged to follow the Highway Code and, if venturing off-road, to follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

The Good Cycling Guide can be found here; https://www.grampiancyclepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GCP_Good_Cycling_Guide_FINAL_09.08.2021.pdf

A print-friendly version, containing all the links referenced, can be found here; https://www.grampiancyclepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Extra_Links_GCP_Good_Cycling_Guide_FINAL_09.08.2021.pdf

GCP are grateful to the following organisations for their support in publishing the guide; Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Cycle Law Scotland, Home Energy Scotland North East, Nestrans, NHS Grampian, Pedal Power Cycle Centre Inverurie, Police Scotland (both North East Police Division and Road Policing), Robert Gordon University and Stagecoach Bluebird.