Bikes and buggies on public transport

meefa

This is a bit long i know but..........Im doing my final year project in product design on improving the existing public transport in ireland by hopefully designing a product to make it possible and easy to bring your bike with you or hopefully improving on the service of being able to rent a bike to promote ppl out of cars and onto the public transport infrastructur avalible to them. I also want to look at ways of making journeys easyer for parents with buggies as another option.

Only problem is im living in limerick so don't get to see how bad commuting in places like dublin is. or talk to ppl bout what they'd like to see change.

If anyone has any suggestions as to what would make life easyer in more heavily congested cities .....im all ears.

monument

In the US, in places such as LA County most buses are mounted with bicycle racks at the front which are able to hold two bikes. This applies on all LA Metro buses, including the Metro Liners on the Orange line bus way.

Here's a photo of one on a Liner (in the folded position)... http://www.flickr.com/photos/cianginty/481365590/ Talking about the Orange line busway, a 'bikeway' was installed along side it when the line was been built - did anybody even think of doing the same with our Luas lines?

Shock, shock, horror, horror!!!... bicycles are also allowed on the LA Metro rail services, with the reasonable exception of two hours in the morning and evening to allow for rush hours.

Can anybody here even imagine Dublin with a transport website like http://metro.net/ ? Here's more about the LA Metro system and bikes... http://metro.net/riding_metro/bikes/bikes.htm

I can't stand over the quality of their bike track network, but at least it's mapped out with three classes... Dublin could also learn from their long distance tracks...
http://metro.net/riding_metro/bikes/images/la_bike_map.pdf

Propellerhead

monument wrote: »

Talking about the Orange line busway, a 'bikeway' was installed along side it when the line was been built - did anybody even think of doing the same with our Luas lines?

Yes. If you look at the scheme drawings for Luas which I believe are still available to look at somewhere on the RPA website, then you will see that along the Green Line it was proposed to run a cycleway parallel to the tramway. On the maps ISTR it is indicated as "Proposed Cycleway (Indicative Only)"

During the public consultancy phase some residents kicked up a stink about the scheme and made submissions to the Line B Public Enquiry objecting on the basis of the cycleway - anti social, light pollution and the old perennial of strangers being able to look into their back gardens.

The public enquiry report states that any cycleway was a matter for the relevant local authorities rather than the Light Rail Project Office.

So, no cycleway, not for any lack of vision by Luas's planners.

strassenwolf

Meefa, good luck with the project. And the rest of your course.:)

But is it not possible just to wheel a bike or pram onto a bus, train or tram? I can't see how a product is going to make the process any easier.

monument

Propellerhead wrote: »

The public enquiry report states that any cycleway was a matter for the relevant local authorities rather than the Light Rail Project Office.

So, no cycleway, not for any lack of vision by Luas's planners.

And there's the problem, unlike LA we have a wholly disjointed transport system, and that stems directly from disjointed planning and no central command over the running of the system.

Del2005

strassenwolf wrote: »

Meefa, good luck with the project. And the rest of your course.:)

But is it not possible just to wheel a bike or pram onto a bus, train or tram? I can't see how a product is going to make the process any easier.

AFAIK you can't take a bike onto any of the public transport in Dublin, bar Intercity rail, unless it's a fold up and in a bag.

My sister spent 30 minutes at the back of the Jervis center trying to get onto a tram out of town at ~16:00 a couple of months ago, people where literally jumping over the buggy to get on ahead of her. In the end she had to get a tram to Connolly and then back out.

I think what the OP is talking about is bike hanging sections on trams/buses or bike carriages on trains like they have in LA and Portland, OR. I'm not too sure how you would design something for buggies though.

Victor

One useful thing would be something to secure the buggy too - all too many people just park the buggy in the buggy / wheelchair space, pointing the wrong direction (a buggy can easily fall over backwards, but not forwards) and without the brakes on.

Victor

monument wrote: »

I can't stand over the quality of their bike track network, but at least it's mapped out with three classes... Dublin could also learn from their long distance tracks...
http://metro.net/riding_metro/bikes/images/la_bike_map.pdf

I took a look at that map the other night. While some neighbourhoods seem to be well provided (Pasadena), in others any provision, whether local or long distance routes are miles apart.

munchkin_utd

The greens and the irish tourism authorities are getting all worked up about no bike provision on the new irish rail intercity fleet.

Although older trains could carry up to 15 bicycles, the new trains, which cost €400m, will only be able to carry a maximum of two bikes each.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/rail-chiefs-face-backlash-over-new-curbs-on-bikes-1207069.html

Has anyone an idea where these elusive 2 bike places are on the new trains? And how hard would it be to extend the capacity?

Victor

There will be a bicycle "cupboard".

Potentially, one removes some seats and fits some sort of holding brackets. Or one orders more intermediate carriages that can be slotted into the existing new trains.

Gandhi

New Jersey Transit uses these bike racks on the RiverLine light rail system.

http://sports.webshots.com/photo/1123504120043789464uLYFhX

This is the only rail system in the Philly area that allows bikes at all times. On most lines, it is non-rush-hour only.

trellheim

I did Heidelberg-Mannheim and back last year [ which is light rail ]

- just wheel your bikes off and on .. no racks just hold on to them.