Cycle Atlanta: Interactive map

Cycle Atlanta: Interactive map

wow this is a veritable feast of information. This contains vector data showing the rides of many hundreds of cyclists in Atlanta. It's a fantastic insight into cycling in a very hot city.

no computer models for cycling.

Review of Basic Research in Bicycle
Traffic Science, Traffic Operations, and
Facility Design





DEAN TAYLOR AND W. JEFFREY DAVIS





TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1674

COMPUTER MODELS 

"No computer simulation or optimization programs developed for
bicycles were found.  " 

Driving to save time or saving time to drive? The enduring appeal of the private car

Driving to save time or saving time to drive? The enduring appeal of the private car

"Transport is more than getting from A to B

This qualitative research, recently published in the Journal of Transportation Research A, suggests people are not as interested in saving time as they are in being comfortable, cocooned in privacy and able to keep up with the requirements of their flexible and busy lives.

But transport planners continue to prioritise rational motives over more emotional reasons for driving. Perhaps this is because it is easier to explain our aversion to other forms of transport as due to time.

The findings of this study suggest that commuters are unlikely to sacrifice the comfort of the private car for a minor time saving. To stand for 35 minutes on a crowded train or bus twice daily, or to ride a bike in the wind and rain, is, for some people at least, physically unpleasant."

If this argument is correct then some kind of suspended monorail (like Shweeb) would also be effective. 

Strangely car's are responsible for lowering the density of the modern city, but they feel more crowded... 

http://theconversation.com/to-get-people-out-of-cars-we-need-to-know-why-they-drive-27279

To get people out of cars we need to know why they drive

To get people out of cars we need to know why they drive:

In this interesting article on why people drive in Syndey. I think the core argument for ECL from it. emerges.

"They used the car for many purposes. Many of these can be conceptualised as traditionally utilitarian: ferrying children and carting groceries, as well as micromanaging multiple time commitments to family, sport, study and secondary employment. Drivers found the car comfortable and cited the air-conditioning, aural concealment and protection from rain, wind, heat and darkness as the key motivators for using cars."


Unlike taking public transit (bus,tram,train) carrying quantities of groceries or children on your bike isn't a considerable problem ( if the ground is flat). I think what makes this article key is the knowlege that you are never going to get car drivers to switch to cycling without protection from rain,wind,heat and darkness. This is why elevated cycle systems ( or principally covered ones ) are so necessary.

Sustrans design guides.

I think what gets my attention about this guide is that while it has a great deal of information about tactics it has very little about strategy. By strategy I mean tools to help predict which cycle routes would be popular.



I think the other part I object to is the width of the road. Personally, I think if you provide a 3 m wide cycle path then the temptation is to attract traffic on to it. You are certainly also less tempted to include the cycle track through some natural area if it is really that large. A cycle path only has to be about 30cm to 40 cm. This would encourage pedestrians to stay off it.



Naturally SUSTRANS have the job of supporting cyclists and pedestrians.  I still think they need to get serious and think about cycling as more than a recreational activity.

Promoting transportation cycling for women: The role of bicycle infrastructure

More evidence why we need better seperated cycle lane provision

Promoting transportation cycling for women: The role of bicycle infrastructure

• Jan Garrard^a, , , 
• Geoffrey Rose^b, 
• Sing Kai Lo^c

Preventive Medicine

Volume 46, Issue 1, January 2008, Pages 55–59

Promoting transportation cycling for women: The role of bicycle infrastructure: Objective.
Females are substantially less likely than males to cycle for transport in countries with low bicycle transport mode share. We investigated whether female commuter cyclists were more likely to use bicycle routes that provide separation from motor vehicle traffic.

Methods.
Census of cyclists observed at 15 locations (including off-road bicycle paths, on-road lanes and roads with no bicycle facilities) within a 7.4�km radius of the central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Australia, during peak commuting times in February 2004.

Results.
6589 cyclists were observed, comprising 5229 males (79.4%) and 1360 females (20.6%). After adjustment for distance of the bicycle facility from the CBD, females showed a preference for using off-road paths rather than roads with no bicycle facilities (odds ratio [OR]�=�1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.12, 1.83), or roads with on-road bicycle lanes (OR�=�1.34, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.75).

Conclusions.
Consistent with gender differences in risk aversion, female commuter cyclists preferred to use routes with maximum separation from motorized traffic. Improved cycling infrastructure in the form of bicycle paths and lanes that provide a high degree of separation from motor traffic is likely to be important for increasing transportation cycling amongst under-represented population groups such as women.

Do the Health Benefits of Cycling Outweigh the Risks?

Do the Health Benefits of Cycling Outweigh the Risks?: Although from a societal point of view a modal shift from car to bicycle may have beneficial health effects due to decreased air pollution emissions, decreased greenhouse gas emissions, and increased levels of physical activity, shifts in individual adverse health effects such as higher exposure to air pollution and risk of a traffic accident may prevail.

Objective
We describe whether the health benefits from the increased physical activity of a modal shift for urban commutes outweigh the health risks.

Data sources and extraction
We have summarized the literature for air pollution, traffic accidents, and physical activity using systematic reviews supplemented with recent key studies.

Data synthesis
We quantified the impact on all-cause mortality when 500,000 people would make a transition from car to bicycle for short trips on a daily basis in the Netherlands. We have expressed mortality impacts in life-years gained or lost, using life table calculations. For individuals who shift from car to bicycle, we estimated that beneficial effects of increased physical activity are substantially larger (3–14 months gained) than the potential mortality effect of increased inhaled air pollution doses (0.8–40 days lost) and the increase in traffic accidents (5–9 days lost). Societal benefits are even larger because of a modest reduction in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and traffic accidents.

Conclusions
On average, the estimated health benefits of cycling were substantially larger than the risks relative to car driving for individuals shifting their mode of transport.

short answer  YES . 

A New Bike Lane That Could Save Lives and Make Cycling More Popular

The Elevated cycle concept is centrally based on the notion that junctions are complex danger and momentum kill zones.  So its very pleasing to see this small scale approach to re-thinking intersections.

To be honest, no elevated cycle scheme system is going to be 'complete' (100% coverage of all destinations) so it will always have to work in conjuntion with some shared-at-grade system. This looks like an excellent tactical way of doing that. I hope someone tries it out.

http://www.protectedintersection.com

Lovely video and rendering by the way.

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice

Volume 45, Issue 6, July 2011, Pages 451–475

Bicycling renaissance in North America? An update and re-appraisal of cycling trends and policies

• John Pucher^a, , , , 
• Ralph Buehler^b, 1, , , 
• Mark Seinen^a, 

Bicycling renaissance in North America? An update and re-appraisal of cycling trends and policies: bstract
This paper reviews trends in cycling levels, safety, and policies in Canada and the USA over the past two decades. We analyze aggregate data for the two countries as well as city-specific case study data for nine large cities (Chicago, Minneapolis, Montr�al, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington). Cycling levels have increased in both the USA and Canada, while cyclist fatalities have fallen. There is much spatial variation and socioeconomic inequality in cycling rates. The bike share of work commuters is more than twice as high in Canada as in the USA, and is higher in the western parts of both countries. Cycling is concentrated in central cities, especially near universities and in gentrified neighborhoods near the city center. Almost all the growth in cycling in the USA has been among men between 25–64�years old, while cycling rates have remained steady among women and fallen sharply for children. Cycling rates have risen much faster in the nine case study cities than in their countries as a whole, at least doubling in all the cities since 1990. They have implemented a wide range of infrastructure and programs to promote cycling and increase cycling safety: expanded and improved bike lanes and paths, traffic calming, parking, bike-transit integration, bike sharing, training programs, and promotional events. We describe the specific accomplishments of the nine case study cities, focusing on each city’s innovations and lessons for other cities trying to increase cycling. Portland’s comprehensive package of cycling policies has succeeded in raising cycling levels 6-fold and provides an example that other North American cities can follow.



 Highlights

► Since 2000 cycling has increased and safety has improved in both the USA and Canada.

 ► There is much spatial variation and socioeconomic inequality in cycling rates.

► Cycling rates are more than twice as high in Canada as in the USA.

 ► Cities have greatly expanded their bike infrastructure and programs since 1990.

► Portland is a model of integrated, comprehensive cycling policies in North America.

Cycle lane network analysis tool continues

Work on cycle lane network analysis continues - now including donated cycle observation data ( this should be the acid test to see if the predictions are correct).  This is the data around Euston Station London. Have both week day and week end observations.

Cyan lines with numbers represent the cycle observations. Red lines connect observations to the the street they were observed on, as you can see the shame guessing isn't too bad. Black lines represent errors in Open Street map data ( which may have been fixed by the time you look at this).