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It's all about the bike

Veloise

By Veloise
in Grand Rapids Coffee House

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Ted Whistle-Stop

Ted

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Let me clarify ... in Vancouver the bike lanes are now separated by rather high cement dividers. This has made it virtually impossible for buses to take corners without first dangerously pulling into the middle of the street before making the turn. In other cases the turn is just impossible, forcing buses to take different routes to avoid these tight turns, no small feat considering many of the streets are one way plus some buses are powered by overhead power lines. The net effect is (a) more danger and (b) greater fuel consumption.

more danger for who? more fuel consumption? by what metrics? is this your opinion or did you interview a large cross section of Canadian bus drivers?

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arcturus Burg

arcturus

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more danger for who? more fuel consumption? by what metrics? is this your opinion or did you interview a large cross section of Canadian bus drivers?

Vancouver has the distinction of being the most densely populated city in North America. There's a heavy mix of pedestrian and mass transit throughout the day. Most of the residents fall in the iPhone-toting, earbud wearing, oblivious to danger under 30 demographic. I had the opportunity to take a number of buses, both city and private charter, and was on a city bus which hit a cyclist when it made a wide turn. No injuries fortunately, and in conversation with the regulars on the bus (while the driver was writing up a police report), they said it has become increasingly common. These comments were echoed by other bus drivers I spoke with.

The charter services have been notably affected ... their buses are typically longer than city transit. Quick Shuttle, for instance, operates a number of them. I enjoy talking with the drivers. These guys are a goldmine of information about transit, sightseeing, etc. I was their last drop off a few weeks ago with about 7 downtown stops beforehand. In all cases instead of a simple left they had to pull the old 'go up one block, swerve left and take 3 rights' dance. In a city as densely populated as Vancouver an extra 3 turn distance multiplied by the extra time multiplied by the number of buses affected turns out to be considerable. The driver was apologetic knowing I was the last off. He stated it has added a least an extra 30 minutes for those at the end, more during the busier times of the day. They have increased both their fares and estimated arrival times as a consequence.

I have no experience with what's happening with the rest of Canada. As stated from the outset my comments concern Vancouver.

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Ted Whistle-Stop

Ted

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Vancouver has the distinction of being the most densely populated city in North America. There's a heavy mix of pedestrian and mass transit throughout the day. Most of the residents fall in the iPhone-toting, earbud wearing, oblivious to danger under 30 demographic. I had the opportunity to take a number of buses, both city and private charter, and was on a city bus which hit a cyclist when it made a wide turn. No injuries fortunately, and in conversation with the regulars on the bus (while the driver was writing up a police report), they said it has become increasingly common. These comments were echoed by other bus drivers I spoke with.

The charter services have been notably affected ... their buses are typically longer than city transit. Quick Shuttle, for instance, operates a number of them. I enjoy talking with the drivers. These guys are a goldmine of information about transit, sightseeing, etc. I was their last drop off a few weeks ago with about 7 downtown stops beforehand. In all cases instead of a simple left they had to pull the old 'go up one block, swerve left and take 3 rights' dance. In a city as densely populated as Vancouver an extra 3 turn distance multiplied by the extra time multiplied by the number of buses affected turns out to be considerable. The driver was apologetic knowing I was the last off. He stated it has added a least an extra 30 minutes for those at the end, more during the busier times of the day. They have increased both their fares and estimated arrival times as a consequence.

I have no experience with what's happening with the rest of Canada. As stated from the outset my comments concern Vancouver.

Well then your brief experience, your handful of interviews and your extrapolation must make your hypothesis fact.

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trongrr Whistle-Stop

trongrr

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Well then your brief experience, your handful of interviews and your extrapolation must make your hypothesis fact.

Ted - it appears that we welcome all manner of opinion, anecdotes and observation here at Urban Planet. So what is yours regarding separated bike lanes?

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arcturus Burg

arcturus

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Could the tradeoff be that more cost to the charter buses is offset by increased bike usage due to the dedicated (and protected) bike lanes?

http://thesource.met...ted-bike-lanes/

Time will tell. I biked a lot when I was there. Vancouver, of any city, probably has the best combination of factors working to cycling's advantage including (a) growth, (b) limited streets, © young population, (d) size, (e) density, (f) small downtown, and (g) a culture which accepts mass transit. Weather is a bit of a factor but certainly less harsh than here. I suspect that even if it doesn't meet expectations it will be accepted. There's a strong green bias (as everywhere) which tends to overemphasize the benefits and diminish the disadvantages.

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Veloise City

Veloise

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Let me clarify ... in Vancouver the bike lanes are now separated by rather high cement dividers. This has made it virtually impossible for buses to take corners without first dangerously pulling into the middle of the street before making the turn. In other cases the turn is just impossible, forcing buses to take different routes to avoid these tight turns, no small feat considering many of the streets are one way plus some buses are powered by overhead power lines. The net effect is (a) more danger and (b) greater fuel consumption.

Arcturus, got any photos?

(ready with FHWA1 design standards and traffic studies and the canon of Effective Cycling)

1Yes, I realize that this is Canada

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fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

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I would guess they are similar to these protected cycle-tracks in the new NACTO (Nat'l Assn of City Transportation Officials) design guide.

http://nacto.org/cities-for-cycling/design-guide/cycle-tracks/protected-cycle-track/

onewaycycletrack_curb.jpg

I'm sure with some digging you could find photos of the specific applications in question.

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Veloise City

Veloise

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Ted,

Cyclists fare best when they act like and are treated as drivers of vehicles...

except when they are riding in a segregated bike lane and ride like...a grandmother or a 10 year old.

...or exempt from the rules of the road. (I would not use that facility due to the threat of head-on collisions with texting headphone wearers who can't ride a straight line and won't use lights after dark.)

There's a perfectly suitable bicycle facility that leads from my front door and takes me anywhere I want to go. It's called a street.

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fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

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...or exempt from the rules of the road. (I would not use that facility due to the threat of head-on collisions with texting headphone wearers who can't ride a straight line and won't use lights after dark.)

There's a perfectly suitable bicycle facility that leads from my front door and takes me anywhere I want to go. It's called a street.

No one would/could force you to use a two-way, segregated bike lane.

A majority of Americans will not use your suitable facility because of their fear of danger from motor vehicles...

Now, when Grand Rapids implements more bicycle specific facilities, including someday (I hope) segregated bicycle lanes, more people can safely ride bikes without the the fear of whatever may be keeping them from currently riding a bicycle for short and medium trips. Whether that be texting headphone wearers or texting, inattentive drivers, I would guess the statistical danger from both is pretty small.

I know the danger to an experienced, attentive vehicular cyclist obeying the rules of the road is pretty comparable to driving in a motor vehicle per hour traveled, but I will admit I haven't seen any hard accident data from texting headphone wearers vs. oncoming bicyclists in segregated bicycle facilities. (And I presume you haven't either, although I'd welcome a link. :) )

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fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

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In other bike news, I recently went to DC for the National Bike Summit.

To close out the summit, they let us 780 attendees loose on the House and Senate buildings, proudly wearing our visible bicycle pins, for meetings with our elected representatives and/or their staffs. I got to meet with Peter Stehouwer in Rep. Bill Huizenga's office (Dist-2 along the Lakeshore), then I met with Matt Weibel and Kurt Couchman in Dist-3 Rep Justin Amash's office. Our main goal was to show the value of the programs in the Transportation Bill that fund non-motorized projects, primarily Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to Schools, and the Recreational Trails Program. These programs are only 1.5% of the current authorization bill, which expired long ago (18 months?) and has been "temporarily" extended numerous times. We requested that funding be maintained at or near current levels so the valuable projects these programs fund can continue to be implemented. Bicycle projects really stretch the dollars and are comparatively cheap next to interstate highways and other motor vehicle infrastructure.

5529436344_04bb1c6bef_b.jpg

Lots of other inspiring speakers to rally the gathered advocates, including USDOT Sec. Ray Lahood and NYCDOT head Janette Sadik-Khan, whose innovative use of pedestrian and bicycle facilities in NYC have lowered pedestrian fatalities to their lowest level in the city's history (or at least since pedestrian fatality records have been kept).

One of the other highlights was using the DC Capital Bikeshare on Tuesday before the Summit started. 1100 bikes at 114 stations around the city. It was super convenient, once I learned the ropes (you have to lift the seat up about 8 inches in order to "release" the bike, etc). There was even an app that I downloaded to my Blackberry to find the nearest station to return the bike to. The bikes are a bit heavy and only have 3 speeds (not fast), but they are great for people who need to get from point A to B. After you pay your $5 day pass (rates are as cheap as $75 for a year, if you live there or visit DC often), if you return the bike to a station within 30 minutes, you don't pay any additional fee. It's $1.50 for 30 extra minutes and $4.50 for 60 extra minutes.

5531304444_a3e4c724d7_b.jpg

It was particularly fun riding in the segregated bicycle lanes down the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue with the Capitol Bldg visible off in the distance, although you can see they were not heavily used during my mid-morning tour.

5531977520_bde2944ed4.jpg

5531394609_ccefd39c37.jpg

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fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

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Cool article in the Muskegon Chronicle about a pair of women from Spring Lake and Seattle, WA who use bicycling to significantly reduce the symptoms of their Parkinson's disease:

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2011/04/spring_lake_woman_finds_bicycl.html#cmpid=v2mode_be_smoref_face

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fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

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This week is National Bike to Work Week!

To celebrate Mayor Heartwell is riding to work on Wednesday morning, and also to a meeting downtown. http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/05/grand_rapids_mayor_will_take_s.html

Also, tomorrow night is the Mayor's Bike Ride! It will be a short, extremely family friendly group ride on trails from the Kent Trail trailhead on Butterworth (west of the Coca-Cola plant) to the new Oxford Street bridge for a ribbon cutting. Afterwards, you're encouraged to ride some more if you like.

228138_10150187386796964_60557776963_7040045_4147571_n.jpg

Please let me know if you're interested in riding to work this week and I would be happy to help you pick a route. You can email me at joshuajduggan ( AT ) gmail.com

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John E Burg

John E

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This week is National Bike to Work Week!

To celebrate Mayor Heartwell is riding to work on Wednesday morning, and also to a meeting downtown. http://www.mlive.com...ill_take_s.html

Also, tomorrow night is the Mayor's Bike Ride! It will be a short, extremely family friendly group ride on trails from the Kent Trail trailhead on Butterworth (west of the Coca-Cola plant) to the new Oxford Street bridge for a ribbon cutting. Afterwards, you're encouraged to ride some more if you like.

228138_10150187386796964_60557776963_7040045_4147571_n.jpg

Please let me know if you're interested in riding to work this week and I would be happy to help you pick a route. You can email me at joshuajduggan ( AT ) gmail.com

Thank you very much for the event info. My prayers are with you all.

~John

Prov. 3:5&6

.

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