Metro chair gets on his bike in an effort to go green

12.50.19pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 3rd Aug 2007

Cllr Ryk Downes on his bike

Cllr Ryk Downes, chair of Metro, has made a green pledge to not use his car for council or Metro related business.

In an effort to reduce his carbon footprint, Cllr Downes will use a bicycle or public transport to get to and from appointments.

Cllr Downes (Lib Dem, Otley & Yeadon) said "I cycled to the Civic Hall from my house in Pool for the first time on Wednesday morning. The journey took roughly fifty minutes but I have to admit I was overtaken a few times on my way in.

"Logistically speaking cycling into work can be difficult. To combat this, I have bought a non-creasing suit to pop in my bag and a waterproof briefcase that I can keep my laptop and papers in. Thankfully, the Civic Hall has a number of shower facilities that I can use when I get to work, so my colleagues can breathe a sigh of relief on that score.

"This change of lifestyle has been brought about because my new role as chair of Metro means my diary is pretty hectic. The prospect of my carbon footprint growing ten-fold worried me, and I looked at practical ways of reducing it. I decided it would be a good idea to sell my car and see if I could still go about my daily business without it. I guess time will tell just how good an idea it is."