Cycling Friendly Cities

http://tinyurl.com/2vvtqb

Roger Zoul wrote:
http://tinyurl.com/2vvtqb



I get kinda tired about when advocates go blathering on about
"democracy" and "human dignity". It's really got nothing to do with
bicycle use, as China and N. Korea can attest.

I much prefer the practical arguments for aspects of expanding bicycle
accommodations.

------

One aspect of getting around on a bike I have a lot of problems with is
traffic signals that have no provisions for pedestrians or bicyclists at
all.

One idea I like is a "two-tier" traffic signal. That is--traffic signals
with pedestrian buttons, and if a pedestrian (or a bicyclist) presses
one of the crosswalk buttons,,, then at the next phase of the signal,
*all* the car traffic gets a red signal for 30 seconds (or some useful
time limit), and pedestrians and bicycles are free to pass however they
want. Across either street, crossing diagonally or (bicyclists) turning
any way they want without risk of moving cars.

This is a "gentle" limit that has *immediate* benefits--it is useful to
existing pedestrian traffic and bicyclists, but doesn't restrict the use
of cars--just makes car use a bit less convenient.

This wouldn't seem to cost a lot to do--it would work with existing US
traffic lights, as long as they already had crosswalk buttons. The
lights stay the same physically, only the electronics gizmo that
controls them needs to be changed.
~

"Roger Zoul" wrote in message
...
http://tinyurl.com/2vvtqb

Why not come here to London UK, where cycling seems to be catching on
at the moment, and perhaps see one or two other places here as well.
The Tour de France starts from here in just a few weeks time.

An hour away from London by train - just jump on with your bike - is
Cambridge, a city with a higher modal split for cycling than
Amsterdam. On the way, the train goes through Stevenage, population
about 120 000, the town that taught the Dutch, and everybody else,
how to do cycling. Stevenage has a very good network of bike paths.
Mind you, that was achieved by choosing a "greenfield" site, and
building the bike paths first, before building the houses, offices,
factories etc. round them. It's easier to do it that way round,
rather than trying to retrofit things into an existing city.

The intersections in Stevenage are grade separated. The bike paths
go down by 4', the roadway up by 8'. Of course, if you prefer to use
the roadways, rather than the bike paths, you are perfectly at
liberty to do so. Britain is a free country, after all.

Here in London we have eight thousand five hundred miles of bike
routes. They are called streets. We have a few extras too, towpaths
alongside the rivers Thames and Lea, canal towpaths, paths where
railways used to run, paths through parks, pedestrianised shopping
areas, and so on.

What caused the increase in cycling? I've always said that the best
way to encourage cycling is to nobble the completion. That seems to
be what happened. The rise started at about the same time as the
congestion charge for cars was introduced, in 2001. The charge is
8GBP now, over $15 US, to bring a car into central London. Various
transit strikes have helped, so we must thank Bob Crow, leader of the
train drivers' union. There were the 7/7 tube bombings, and a few
mechanical problems which put sections of the tube out of action for
several weeks at a time.. Climate change, combined with a fleet of
new buses, is another factor. The windows on those buses don't open,
and they don't have air conditioning (painting the roofs white has
helped a little bit). Air conditioning is a problem on the tube as
well.

At about the same time as the congestion charge began, transport for
London issued a series of free bike maps. London being a big city,
it takes nineteen maps to cover everything out through the suburbs to
the countryside.

London is subsidising bike training, too, with national standards for
what should be taught, and certification of instructors. The
certification has caused a certain amount of tension as people have
tried to get qualified, and found their cherished beliefs questioned.
Training isn't widespread enough yet to have created a national bike
culture, but the ideas do seem to be filtering through the cycling
community, even the novice cyclists,of whom there are rather a lot at
the moment. John Forester was born in London, after all.

The world over, bikes seem to cause bike lanes, and regrettably that
seems to have happened to an extent here in London as well. To the
surprise, I think, of the politicians and bureaucrats who introduced
them, they are not universally popular. You hear talk of "ghettos in
the gutter", "margins for the marginalized", "bicycle bantustans"
being built "by idiots, for idiots". There is a theory that the
London Cycle Network is a plot to turn most streets into "not bike
routes", on which the needs of bikes do not need to be considered,
and on which perhaps bikes do not really belong at all.

When I have pointed out that every street in London is a bike route
nobody has ever told me I was wrong, but I have been told one or two
times that my view is "true but not helpful". With certain projects
being helpful is not my aim, actually.

Anyway, cycling is still a good way to explore London, and remember,
if you get tired you can always jump in a taxi. A London taxi has
room for a bike - no need for the driver to erect a special rack, as
required in Copenhagen. Carrying a bike is not free though. Is
costs the same as a suitcase.

Jeremy Parker

Jeremy Parker wrote:
:: Anyway, cycling is still a good way to explore London, and remember,

Thanks for the info, Jeremy. Cycling London sounds like something I want to
do.

Jeremy Parker wrote:

What caused the increase in cycling? I've always said that the best
way to encourage cycling is to nobble the completion. That seems to
be what happened. The rise started at about the same time as the
congestion charge for cars was introduced, in 2001. The charge is
8GBP now, over $15 US, to bring a car into central London.

I've also seen various articles rumbling about the possibility of doing
such a thing in the US. Usually they're talking about Manhattan or San
Francisco.

Of course here in Seattle, there are few areas I'd like to see cordoned
off with these:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...icle_id=411423
http://tinyurl.com/yfh3sw (Youtube link)

It would be nice to see Westlake center cordoned off to through traffic.
Then the bollards could be lowered for buses to get through and let
people on and off.

The world over, bikes seem to cause bike lanes, and regrettably that seems to
have happened to an extent here in London as well. To the surprise, I think,
of the politicians and bureaucrats who introduced them, they are not
universally popular. You hear talk of "ghettos in the gutter", "margins for
the marginalized", "bicycle bantustans" being built "by idiots, for idiots".
There is a theory that the London Cycle Network is a plot to turn most
streets into "not bike routes", on which the needs of bikes do not need to be
considered, and on which perhaps bikes do not really belong at all.

"What, we put down some white paint! What more do you want?!?"

When I have pointed out that every street in London is a bike route nobody
has ever told me I was wrong, but I have been told one or two times that my
view is "true but not helpful". With certain projects being helpful is not
my aim, actually.

Bah, it's true and helpful. Many people are very timid about cycling on
the road. They don't help people start cycling, they mainly seem to
help people rationalize why they shouldn't. "I couldn't possibly cycle
*there*, there's no bike lane!"

Anyway, cycling is still a good way to explore London, and remember, if you
get tired you can always jump in a taxi. A London taxi has room for a bike -
no need for the driver to erect a special rack, as required in Copenhagen.
Carrying a bike is not free though. Is costs the same as a suitcase.

One of these days I intend to see about getting about London by bike. I
probably have a better shot at Spain in the near term though. One of my
friends is trying to get us to come with her on her annual trip back to
the homeland. The lure of having a host family is strong.

--
Dane Buson -
"Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours of
repose in the boots of ascension."
-In an Austrian hotel catering to skiers