SLEADD AvatarOne and EcoFlyer Promo

Cool I wish it was as fast as Shweeb. There is a huge logic to run a system on a wire (so called mono-wire systems ) the visual intrusion is at an absolute minimum. This is obviously designed for tourism, but  there is no reason in principle not to run it down a city street (with an enclosed pod).

A working elevated cycleway.

Okay I admit it it's  not the full truth.  This is the peace Bridge in Calgary in Canada.   It does show you what an elevated cycle path could look like.  it looks lovely and is very popular.



Peace Bridge (Calgary) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



 Technically it's also far too wide  (   heavy and expensive )  for a street by cycle system  but it does give you a good flavour of what the system could be like.

EcoFlyerVideo

I can see the appeal for natural settings

Florida EcoSafaris at Forever Florida Cypress Canopy Cycle

I have generally been very interested in the wire monorail systems. They seem to offer the most in terms of minimal visual intrusion for maximum road carrying capacity. If you look at some of the other YouTube videos we highlight you can see that you can even turn corners.

Naturally the kinds of utility cycling experiences we would like to see would need an enclosure to protect from the wind and rain. But the position and the fact that the vehicle runs at height are very good examples of how viable such a system could be.

 Still it is interesting to see how quiet and unobtrusive the wire cycle monorail systems can be.

STUDENT PROJECT | Genoa Green Infrastructure | Alessandro Vino World Landscape Architecture – landscape architecture webzine

STUDENT PROJECT | Genoa Green Infrastructure | Alessandro Vino � World Landscape Architecture – landscape architecture webzine

Elevated cycleway network mooted for London | TXNews | Transport News

Elevated cycleway network mooted for London | TXNews | Transport News

London Mayor Boris Johnson has announced that he is looking at plans to construct a network of elevated cycle paths alongside the capital’s network of railway lines. “There is a proposal, which is very interesting, to hook up mainline stations in London along the side of the raised railway tracks, with a new cycle path,” Johnson told The Times. 


Nice to see the transportation press getting wind of elevated cycle networks. 

Are elevated bicycle highways the future of transportation?

Are elevated bicycle highways the future of transportation?

Nice over view of elevated cycle ways by an eco-magazine.

Plans for 'Cycle Utopia' Above London Railways

More reporting on the skycycle scheme.

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.

Bangkok’s skyride and skypark | World Infrastructure News

Bangkok’s skyride and skypark | World Infrastructure News

I do find the notion of cantilevering out from the existing elevated train track to be incredibly interesting. I don't know much about the weather in Bangkok, but I would imagine that it gets pretty hot. If it is anything like the weather in Atlanta you could find that people can cycle quite comfortably in the morning and evening which is the normal commute point.

Otherwise, I would have expected such a line to have some shade from the sun and protection from the rain. Not for enclosure perhaps just some sheltering like a bus stop.



Generally this is quite an interesting proposal.

Another system fom Richard Architecture

Nice looking system from Richard Moreta. Lovely design but at the high end cost wise ( nothing wrong with expensive in principle if you can get the money ). I like the up and down tubes - although Richard doesn't explain anything (shame) I suspect that this is about permitting a back draft system ( push air down the tubes in keep the wind to the cyclists back raising overall speeds). I if you look on the website you can see the stations have what look like flat escalators ( good idea) all driven my small wind turbines (cute).  Dates back to 2002 which isn't bad for such a cool looking system.


Intreasting to imagine that the helicopter in the image is likely to use up more energy than the whole system from people will in its life time( but not the savings in CO2 from cars which will be considerable ).

cool scheme video

This has just gone up on you tube very nice. 



quote
'This concept is a copy of the one presented by the Architect Richard Moreta with office in Berlin and Miami, Florida. He introduced the concept of a highway for bikes in the early 2002 and lately has been refined the concept and presented to a diversities of city to be implement in the states , Europe and South America. See the video'

very nice, we need more slick videos like this.

Rochester

This looks to be an interesting enclosed at grade system in Rochester ( Canada )



It's quite simple but is based on an abandoned rail route.

Fast Lane Cyclery And Cycle motorway interview.

Thanks to a kind reader leaving a comment 


Interview with Fast Lane Cyclery in the examiner. 
I think the motoway/freeway concept is a good metaphor. You don't have motorways everywhere and in cities the only way to introduce them is to elevate them ( at considerable expense ) . Motoways are smooth roads designed for high speed use and have intersections at different gradients (heights). You have on/off ramps at intervals and most of all you have very low gradient changes and cut through mountains and build up roads to do it. 


Worth a read. 

Christopher Rusay

Lovely elevated system I found as a competition entry by Chrstopher Rusay and Pariq Visop. 
Actually the best entry in my thinking ( have a look at some of the others see what you think ). Wonderfully modular and colourful and made from recycled materials. Does make you think about what you could achieve if you use plastic as a building materials. Inspired by the California Cycleway of 1900, a wooden elevated bike path (link elsewhere on the blog). 


I love the elegance of the system. I'd still put something over people's heads my self(OK I'm a pureist ) .  

top marks.

kolelinia Very very cool and just a little crazy.

I've finally tracked this system down. I'm a big fan of minimal systems - the narrower the lane the less weight you carry, the further between columns the cheap the whole system is.  Snd you can't get more minimal than a couple of wires.
I think my basic worry is that any system where you run high up and have to wear a security harness is a challenge to our health and safety culture. Still who am I to throw stones?  This kind of think would be cheap enough  to test out and see how it matches up to reality.

Check out the video for the kolelinio - they have a really nifty mechanism to keep things attached while going over wire attachment points.  Talk about elegance !




kolelinia core sysytem from kolelinia.com on Vimeo.

Naturally the thing I am most envious of is their marketing ability. This one got on to a stream of TED talks and in Wired. How did they manage that!

The mighty Biketrans or transglide 2000

The Transglide system goes all the way back to 1997 (possibly earlier I'm not sure). I love the drawings of the system wonderful, this is elevated cycle ways as they should be. I think Milnor has got all the right ideas, elevated (naturally), stations, bikes don't have to have as structurally over designed as pedestrian or car ways,  but the clever stuff to notice is

• Separate up/down sections so you can push the air to encourage faster flow by lowering air resistance(1).  
• this means you can travel much further much faster
• Optionally charge a toll per trip ( you have on/off stations so you can do this).
•  This could make the system financially self supporting. 

I remember someone once critiqued that pumping air down was a energetically too expensive and I wrote back defending the Transglide pointing out that this was putting as much energy in as running a bus ( i.e. its still better than a car). This made me realise that in strong winds cyclists are putting in as much energy as a bus - which seems a bit much to ask, why not protect them from strong winds?

Still I'm getting off the point, Check out the transglide system it's cool.

Health, Facts and a lovely talk. Building a non motorised city

If your like me then nothing can beat some good facts and this presentation has got them. Its nice to see all the threat to health information put together. Naturally I love the elevated 'skyway' section but some very excellent work on the costs of street reform, Any elevated cycle lane is about fitting in cyclc lanes into a city but they would always be part of a mixed approaches ( ground cycle lanes, storage facilities but also integration with trains and buses ). Great talk well worth a look. Sorry about the width - try opening it in another window if you have problems.



Non Motorized Transportation Mar -

Mojdeh Stoakley of Fast Lane Cyclery

I've linked to this article from the Chicago examiner  to show that the idea of an elevated cycle way is an obvious step which many independent people at thinking about. Eventually one of the people touched by the idea will have the access to capital to make it happen. The odd thing is the use of the term Motoway - Moto or Motorway. Motoway Nice word anyway. 

Can you tell me about the Motoway idea? 

MS: Motoway is an elevated cycling environment plan that Anthony has been developing with several local nonprofits and architects. It is a 25-year project designed to get cyclists off the road itself for huge chunks of their ride. The Motoway system would consist of tubes which would affix to existing structures such as the El, some buildings, etc. It would be a climate-controlled environment with multiple lanes -- structured by speed so people on motorized bikes as well as other fast-moving cyclists don't compete with weekend comfort bike riders, etc.

The majority of bad bicycle accidents happen because cyclists are forced to ride on roads without bike lanes, and because too many motorists don't pay attention to the cyclists around them. The Motoway plan wouldn't solve the problem of careless motorists, but it would create an environment in which cyclists no longer have to worry about careless drivers.

Elevated cycle way in Pasadena 1897

Wow check out this link amazing link. 

There is a wonderful link to the California cycleway company from 1897 ( yes that's  1897 right this is not a typo) set up Horace Dobbins. A cycle tollway from Pasadena to downtown Los Angeles.

This was found by the late  Dennis Crowley while proposing a similar modern ( but generally unelevated ) system [here]. Given the proposal a good look at its the first time I've seen such a detailed proposal ( including trip estimates). 

You must go a look at this it is so beyond cool.