Boris to build bike lanes in London, to " de-Lycrafy the bicycle" : TreeHugger

Transport or London is talking about Quitelanes. The acual link is here but the idea is to build something really non-pro cyclist friendly. They are spending £54 million on this.

Boris to build bike lanes in London, to " de-Lycrafy the bicycle" : TreeHugger

Cycle lane wars but what about the results?

How one New York bike lane could affect the future of cycling worldwide - is an interesting article in the guardian about the cycle lane wars in Manhattan by Matt Seaton.

Check it out 

Causing an incredibly biased article in the New York Times ( apparently). 

The bit that caught my attention was the quote 

"there was no attempt to report the facts – the booming commerce in the newly pedestrianised Times and Herald Squares, the improvements in road safety, particularly pedestrian casualty numbers, from the traffic-calming effect of installing bike lanes, and the increase in cycle use itself." 

I've personally believed that well designed cycle lanes in the right places would lead to a boom in shopping and cafe existence. (the relatively ) Low speeds mean you can see information as you go. If you see or smell something you like you can stop easily enough*.  The compact nature of a bike means that you can have very generous parking in front of the smallest shop. Unlike cars you can say hello to an acquaintance as you pass in the street, or if you pass some friends you can pull up quickly enough. 

As scientist and engineer I would like some hard figures to back up these reports. Assuming they were true I think it would be another economic reason to add to the outcomes of a well funded cycle lane scheme ( including overhead lanes naturally ). 

* on elevated systems you would have regular stations so stopping and coming off would be simple enough. 

The Affordances of Bike Lanes | Serendipity

The Affordances of Bike Lanes | Serendipity

Nice list of what's wrong with paint only cycle lanes.
Nice one. 

New Yorkers show why bike lanes should be be elevated

According to Gothamist  54 percent of New Yorkers actually said the bike lane expansion "is a good thing because it's greener and healthier for people to ride their bicycle, while 39 percent said it's "a bad thing because it leaves less room for cars which increases traffic." 

And who can blame them ? Its does sound like a zero sum game fixed amount of road so more bike lanes = less road space and so more congestion.  

What these figures don't say is that it only takes one irate or plain lazy, parked car to block a cycle lane so knocking out of action**. By elevating some cycle lanes* we can break the deadlock. 

Once more people shift positivity to cycling on streets flatter than a dutch pancake then the streets will be come clearer for those who really must drive - everyone wins. 

*  believe me elevating car lanes or worse still burying them, is far more expensive 

** assuming by out of action I mean not cycling segregated from traffic.

A vision of cycle Utopia

I fond this video of a Dutch cycle Rush hour

After enjoying seeing a glimpse of Utopia I I thought a number things

1. The traffic density was terrific - if everyone had been in cars then it would have been a jam.
2. See how many people will use a bike if you have a flat city
3. I noticed the bikes had to stop for the buses. A necessity for an at grade system - Imagine what would it would be like  if the bikes didn't have to stop. 

NY 9th Ave Separated Bike Lane Experiment

This is quite cool cycle lane. Basically put the bikes at a different gradient next to the pedestrian pavement/sidewalk then put a separator and then do the parking.


Notice you still get the same old problem - drivers can cut in and cross the lane.