Benefits of specialised infrastructure: chances of consensus?

tomasrojo

I had to think about that one overnight!

tomasrojo

Although the Amsterdam story she tells includes periods of conflict between trams and the demolitions required for subway construction on the one hand and cycling on the other, Oldenziel would prefer the interests of pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users to be allied and complementary. It’s about having the right priorities for making a city a place to live in rather than one for racing through. “The story of Amsterdam is actually that automobility was so expensive that car space is now taken over by cyclists by default,” Odenziel said. “There are speed bumps everywhere too. But it is mostly about making the decision that cars do not belong.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/davehillblog/2016/nov/26/london-cycling-and-the-by-chance-success-of-amsterdam

tomasrojo

tomasrojo wrote: »

http://road.cc/content/news/186152-cycle-infrastructure-responsible-85-cycling-increase#st_refDomain=t.co&st_refQuery=/7PgYbn7Jlt

(The flatness of Hull is mentioned in the comments. Coventry-born genius poet Philip Larkin was once asked what he liked most about his adopted home town of Hull, and he replied that the flat terrain made it nice for cycling. Was a rather back-handed compliment, but he did enjoy cycling his roadster around.)

Hull and cycling (and Larkin) in the Guardian today. One third of the population cycled regularly in the 50s. Still at 8% even now.

Look at all the bikes at Boothferry Park:
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/dec/05/cycling-heaven-hull-city-recapture-1950s-pedal-power-heyday#img-2

tomasrojo

Interesting story about Silicon Valley and its resident corporations trying to link up disjointed bicycle networks that need to span several cities to be of good use.
https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/silicon-valley-bike-plan-report

I find two turns of phrase intriguing:

Where cities once ran on tax dollars, selective corporate philanthropy has emerged as a significant driving force of urban policy

(Pretty clear they can be very selective about what they choose to support.)

And:

a connected, stress-free network of bike lanes

It's interesting that they are using "stress-free" exactly where the word "safe" would usually appear. I would encourage this, actually.

buffalo

tomasrojo wrote: »

It's interesting that they are using "stress-free" exactly where the word "safe" would usually appear. I would encourage this, actually.

That's a much more pleasant term to describe good cycling facilities without needless scare-mongering about lack of them.

buffalo

I was out in the Phoenix Park tonight, got to trial the new contra-flow cycling lane. On first use I like it. The kerbstones mark the border are flush with the surface, so it's easy to ride over to enter/leave the lane at any point. Drivers can also easily move into the lane to overtake with-flow cyclists, but the kerbstones act as rumble strips.

I'll be interested to see if they leave the 'no parking' cones in place forever.

eeeee

Seen you out this eve! (Said a distracted hello once you'd gone by and said hi to my friend!)

Didn't test it either, my friend did though.
Is it definitely going to be a cycle lane?
Looks like one, but definitely not parking?

buffalo

nee wrote: »

Seen you out this eve! (Said a distracted hello once you'd gone by and said hi to my friend!)

heh, thought that might've been you, but only caught a sidewards glimpse. I was too busy trying to look like going that fast wasn't hurting. Belated hello!

nee wrote: »

Didn't test it either, my friend did though.
Is it definitely going to be a cycle lane?
Looks like one, but definitely not parking?

Cian Ginty actually says it's going to be two-way, which I wouldn't like:

http://irishcycle.com/2016/11/27/new-two-way-cycle-path-for-the-phoenix-park/
http://irishcycle.com/2016/12/13/new-phoenix-park-two-way-cycle-path-to-be-only-1-25-metres-each-way/

eeeee

buffalo wrote: »

heh, thought that might've been you, but only caught a sidewards glimpse. I was too busy trying to look like going that fast wasn't hurting. Belated hello!



Cian Ginty actually says it's going to be two-way, which I wouldn't like:

http://irishcycle.com/2016/11/27/new-two-way-cycle-path-for-the-phoenix-park/
http://irishcycle.com/2016/12/13/new-phoenix-park-two-way-cycle-path-to-be-only-1-25-metres-each-way/

Mission successful!
Lol we decided to catch you after 5 mins but missed you turning, cos we were paying all kinds of attention!

That road has been made one way so I imagine it'll be a two way lane?

buffalo

nee wrote: »

That road has been made one way so I imagine it'll be a two way lane?

You could leave cyclists on the road with-flow, and just have a nice wide contra-flow lane. We'll see.

Chuchote

tomasrojo wrote: »

It's interesting that they are using "stress-free" exactly where the word "safe" would usually appear. I would encourage this, actually.

Deffo. The dangerisation is not only of cycling - the sense of danger infects the idea of cycling and cyclists.

tomasrojo

This looks like a pretty good study. Takes advantage of the unusual event of a large-ish protected network of cycle lanes being built all in one go in Seville to see what happened; in particular, whether safety rose and numbers cycling rose, and if so, whether numbers rose consequently and this led to greater safety, or whether the greater safety led to greater numbers.

http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/landmark-study-from-seville-shows-massive-power-of-a-bike-network

Seville gave scientists a chance to test an important question: How much does bike network connectedness matter?

Here's what they found: bike network connectedness seems to immediately pay off in the form of lower risk to people biking. The risk of a biking trip in Seville seems to have fallen dramatically in 2007 and stayed mostly flat afterward. No other single variable predicted bike safety as well as that single yes/no question: Has a network been built yet?

(HT @denisoregan on Twitter)

Moflojo

Seville gave scientists a chance to test an important question: How much does bike network connectedness matter?

Here's what they found: bike network connectedness seems to immediately pay off in the form of lower risk to people biking. The risk of a biking trip in Seville seems to have fallen dramatically in 2007 and stayed mostly flat afterward.

THREAD CLOSED. [Nothing left to discuss]

tomasrojo

Well, it looks like a solid piece of work anyway. Certainly, our infrastructure mostly and abysmally lacks connectedness.

Moflojo

tomasrojo wrote: »

Well, it looks like a solid piece of work anyway. Certainly, our infrastructure mostly and abysmally lacks connectedness.

It's a fantastic study - God bless the Commies, wha?

Weepsie

Finishing, extending and or starting the Canal cycleways, the dodder cycleway and the tolka cycleway would be a good start. Too much nimbyism from people though. Still the only stretch of of Royal Canal done is in then Minister for Transport (Leo Varadkar's) backyard

tomasrojo

Central Statistics Office officials have said that they believe the Canals Cycle Route, which runs mostly along Dublin’s Grand Canal, has helped boosted the number of people cycling around the route

http://irishcycle.com/2017/07/22/census-shows-segregated-cycle-path-helps-drive-switch-to-cycling-in-areas-around-route/

buffalo

I know this is an old thread, but I thought this was an interesting analysis of what should be done to make the UK an active travel utopia, and it applies to Ireland in equal measure. It's a manifesto I can get behind.

http://therantyhighwayman.blogspot.com/2018/06/when-you-are-right-it-is-easy-to-be.html

Build cycle tracks and pedestrian crossings on main roads. Filter through traffic from residential streets. Default urban speed limit of 20mph. Default rural speed limit of 40mph. Pursue a policy of motor traffic reduction. Stop building new roads and car-dependent developments.

tomasrojo

https://twitter.com/Chris_Boardman/status/1011848073725792256
https://twitter.com/mragilligan/status/1011919839823319042

tomasrojo

Old thread, but this is a general thing about infrastructure:

A study of cyclist casualties in London has found that painted advisory cycle lanes increase the risk of cyclist casualties, with the authors urging that highways authorities cease installing lanes of that type and convert existing ones into protected cycle lanes.

https://road.cc/content/news/advisory-bike-lines-increase-risk-cyclist-casualties-279553

I'm not surprised to find that advisory, non-segregated lanes increase the risk of collision. Or this:

The study also found evidence of a ‘safety in numbers’ effect, saying that injury odds decrease as cycle flow increases, and suggested that a doubling of the number of people commuting by bike in the morning leads to a 13 per cent reduction in odds of an injury.