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London Deploys Cycle Superhighways Despite "Old Men In Limos"
dkatana writes: London's mayor Boris Johnson had to fight its way through stiff resistance to the new Cycle Superhighways to see his vision of a cycling capital become reality.
Detractors included the Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA), which threatened legal action, but ultimately backed away when it became apparent that a judicial review of TfL's plans would simply delay rather than stop the new routes. Property firm Canary Wharf Group had also been vocal, producing an anonymous briefing (which it later acknowledged) that called the planned route "extremely damaging for London." An unnamed borough was threatened with powers to seize control of their roads if cycle superhighways were blocked.
Now the two new segregated bike paths will crisscross the city and open up speedy, safe cycling that will ease pollution and traffic for everyone, non-cyclists, too, Boris Johnson says.
Detractors included the Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA), which threatened legal action, but ultimately backed away when it became apparent that a judicial review of TfL's plans would simply delay rather than stop the new routes. Property firm Canary Wharf Group had also been vocal, producing an anonymous briefing (which it later acknowledged) that called the planned route "extremely damaging for London." An unnamed borough was threatened with powers to seize control of their roads if cycle superhighways were blocked.
Now the two new segregated bike paths will crisscross the city and open up speedy, safe cycling that will ease pollution and traffic for everyone, non-cyclists, too, Boris Johnson says.
Poor you
Thank yourself lucky I'm not the Major, because I would close all the towns centres to all but the essential traffic and convert most to bikes and walking
Good for local business
good for the environment
good for the health of the people
and more pleasing
That depends upon how many people choose to cycle. Bikes take considerably less space both on the road and for parking. In the long term, it may also makes the length of trips for both cyclists and motorists since businesses will find it desirable to be closer to their workers and consumers. Of course, all of that depends upon uptake. Only time will tell.
It is also worth considering that "halve the size of a busy street" is also incredibly misleading. Considering that you can support bidirectional bike traffic in less space than a single lane for motor vehicles and that bike lanes tend to be along corridors (rather than on every street), you are dedicating significantly less than 50% of the infrastructure to bikes. Indeed, it would be surprising if the percentage of the infrastructure dedicated to cycling would be anywhere close to the percentage of the population that cycle.
München is planning exactly this, a citywide network of elevated cycle freeways:
http://www.wired.com/2015/07/m...
Of course the plan includes building locker rooms for all those people who will now get to the office covered in sweat, rain, snow and whatnot.
Otherwise it's the entire office that will smell like a locker room.
lucm, indeed.
If there was a bicycle highway that was uninterrupted for this distance, I could save stress by riding a bike rather than a car, with little cost in time.
Looking at google maps, I see there is a rail line running the length of the valley. That would be a the obvious place to build a cycleway - would that help?
There are already decent bike lines alongside sections of the line. Could the rail reserve be used?
Or could you combine bike & train, either folding bike on train, or keep a bike locked up at each end of your commute (unless you can park a car at your local station). Is that a good option in California?
Oh, FFS... I am an urban cyclist in Mexico City. Yes, non-bike-riders often tell me I'm crazy for risking my life daily in one of the world's largest cities, with all kinds of expeltives directed at my fellow countrymen... ...And they are all wrong.
Of course, I don't cycle in highways/motorways. Of course, I go out of my way to be sure I am seen. Of course, I know all of the driving rules (and many of the usual wrongs). Of course, I am very very careful. I am not the least interested in making my kids orphan.
But riding a bike in a city not thought for bikes is perfectly doable. And we will only achieve greater visibility and better city design by breaking the balance and becoming more visible. By becoming more cyclists. By being seen so often on the roads that motorists will *expect* us to be there.
I don't need (and often don't want, as they are usually not very well planned nor enough drivable) cyclist-only paths. We are a moving vehicle, and should coexist with traffic. After all, as GGP said, motorists average 22MPH (35.2Km/h). I average 20-25Km/h. It's not that much of a difference.
Lots of metro areas are becoming like this and so increasingly are suburbs. I live in Minneapolis and bike year round. We have a bike freeway that cuts through the middle of the city on an old railroad line. It's the quickest way across the city, especially during rush hour.
Lots and lots of people die in car accidents and it doesn't stop folks from driving.
You can reduce those risks by becoming familiar with your route and how motorists behave at different times of day, then adjusting your riding habits accordingly.
To give you an example of what I mean: there is a particular 3-way stop in my city where I always pull over to the left hand side of the lane. This is because the driver's view on one of the streets is obstructed by a large tree, so a cyclist on the right would go unseen. While my first couple of trips through that intersection were scary, because I was sticking to the right, becoming familiar with the intersection and modifying my riding habits accordingly made the trip much safer.
Small addendum - the bike lanes can [and are] used by senior citizens in those nice little cars that can only go 40km/hr or so. Old folks needs motorized transport sometimes. Would you prefer them to ride regular car and endanger themselves and the others [you know they are more dangerous than the young drivers]?
Oh, and the lanes are used by small motor bikes [again if you have some health issue that prevents you from cycling]. The pizza delivery guys use them too [those people are in fact the most dangerous participators of the traffic and their behavior should be sanctioned] Electrical motor assisted bikes are on the raise too...those are better since they don't make noise.
"Roundabouts are bad for cyclists. It is very difficult to devise a sensible solution."
I often pass over this elevated bike roundabout. Kind of expensive though...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...
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