Bicentennial - Stage 3 begins

Image sourced from biking brisbane

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/plan-to-satisfy-hungry-thirsty-cyclists-20130121-2d23a.html

Construction on Stage 3 of the Bicentennial Bikeway upgrade has finally begun and it is to be welcomed. While it will mean 6 months of construction and slight inconvenience the results will be worth it.

Stage 3 is no doubt the trickiest part of the upgrade so far. At this point the bikeway runs between Coronation drive and the former Drift Restaurant on the river. This makes what is already a very narrow corridor to upgrade at the narrowest point into a contemporary Active Transport arterial even more challenging. To make it possible part of the bank supporting Coronation Drive is going to be partly dug into and the pedestrian path will go hard up against the former restaurant. As well as this the notorious bridge just before the restaurant is going to be duplicated so that each mode has it's own bridge. Then there is the ground which is terribly unstable, so much so that is to be stabilised with piling work so it doesn't fall into the river. All in all it is alot of very tricky work for a mear 520meters of upgrade but I can honestly see where the $8 million is going.

Stage 3 is sandwiched in between stage 1 & stage 2. This has currently resulted in the confusing situation of the path going from segregated to shared and back to segregated. At the moment it is the bottle neck on the corridor with the notorious bridge being the pinch point. After the works are completed Brisbane will finally have a Active Transport arterial that will extend from Land St Toowong into the CBD. While this will mean only 3 kms has been built to contemporary standards it is an important 3kms. It will mean the thousand plus bicycle movements coming from the Western Freeway Bikeway will be catered for with no need for mixing it up with pedestrian movements.

Since the upgrades to the Bicentennial Bikeway began back in 2009 use has jumped from over 4000 bicycle/pedestrian movements to now over 5500 movements a day. This is indeed an impressive figure as it shows that there has been a 30% jump in just 3 years. This has to be put down to the upgrades, as figures I have sighted showed before the upgrades begun Bicentennial had reached a plato where use had dropped in 2005 only to bounce back in 2006 with the opening of the Western Freeway path to Jindalee. Once Stage 3 is completed further increases in usage will surly occur due to the removal on the main pinch point. It will be interesting what the patronage of  Bicentennial will be this time Next Year.

Once Stage 3 is finished bring on the final Stage, Stage 4.

Sexism? Bicycle Infrastructure

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/sexism-behind-overinvestment-in-cycling-infrastructure-report-20130111-2cl7q.html
According to a article that was published on the weekend on Brisbane Times cycling infrastructure can be seen as sexist. The validation of this claim is due to the fact that the majority 75-80% of all cyclists are male just like the majority of elected officials. I have to say while I do not agree with the statement I can understand the premise of the argument.

There is no doubt that men out number women on bikes but I like many believe this is due to the type infrastructure that is being provided not cycling itself. Naturally this relies on some assumptions based on the behaviour of the different sexes. The (generalised) fact is men are more risk taking and have less of concern of personal safety. Then there is the (generalised) fact that men see many activities as a competition, women may not have this opinion. While this is a generalisation the two sexes behaviours do differ and as such women are more likely to ride flat bar bikes designed more for comfort on there commutes then drop bar bikes (see upcoming bikeways count post). This means what some male policy makers may see as good will be scene in more of a discerning image by a female.

A good example of good and moderate to bad on the same corridor (western) is the Bicentennial Bikeway and the Sylvan Rd Bike lanes. These two pieces of infrastraure link the Western Freeway Bikeway to the Brisbane CBD and form the Western Cycling Corridor.

The Bicentennial Bikeway is separated segregated Bicycle Arterial that allows anyone riding along it to ride at there own pace in complete safety without fear of a oncoming car or random car door carelessly slung open in front of you.

This is in contrast with Sylvan Rd (that is still part of the main corridor) which has bikelanes that sometimes are hard up against cars and have cars turning across the bikelanes at the lighted intersection. On this Bikelane you can not ride at your own pace you feel like you have to go flat out as there is not space for another bike rider to overtake you without them having it to mix it up with motor vehicle traffic. This need naturally leads people desiring to ride a faster type of bike, not the kind of bike (flat bar) that is favoured by females.

The fact is cycling is not sexist but the infrastructure does needs to be more designed around people being able to ride at the speed they wish to travel at. This means on major corridors segregation is the key to getting more females in the saddle. The former Floating walkway was an excellent example of separated (from cars), encouraging females on to bikes. Basic observations would guess that women made up far more than 20% of people riding along it. This is because it allowed anyone to ride at a speed that they felt was comfortable. It also meant that the bike shop serving the area has next to no drop bar bikes in the store but is populated by flat bar and city bikes.

So why is the existing separated infrastructure not performing better. For this just look to the example I gave, an arterial is as only as good as the feeder/link. Without this link/feed relationship it stands out and the potential effect is limited. This does not mean each feeder route needs to be to the same standard as the arterial but it does mean treatments such as traffic calming that make the feeders safer and more comfortable to on ride be installed. Arterial and feeder system is how motor vehicle artierals work and so it should be for bicycle infrastructure.

Bikeway Counts - July - What Tour de France effect?

The bikeway counts for July are in and in the most part they are not in all that surprising.

The counts were again conducted during a 40 minute bracket of peak hour on the

• Kurilpa Bridge - Monday
• Goodwill Bridge - Tuesday
• Bicentennial Bikeway - Wednesday
• South East Bikeway - Thursday
• Normanby Ped/Cycle Link - Friday

The thing that was of no great surprise was that apart from Kurilpa Bridge most other count locations showed not real difference in count numbers. Now this begs the question where is the Tour de France affect that the tabloid media always goes on about after the race. There is the usual complaints of Lycra clad middle age men swamping roads and getting in the way of everyone. If this is indeed true it certainly ain't happening on Brisbane's Bikeway's and it certainly ain't happening during peak hour. If there was indeed this affect it should of spilled over into the counts but it hasn't. Most count category's stayed mostly the same except for women overall. Overall women/men share of the count dropped from a ratio of 1/4 to 1/5 on the whole. Not a good sign but this may be put down to the winter weather.

The surprise result was Kurilpa Bridge jumping from 97 bikes in May to 114 in July. While this may have something to do with the count being conducted 10 minutes later to bring it in line with the rest of the counts (excluding Bicentennial) it does represent a jump of around 20%. It will only mean something substantial if the next count is also of a similar number next time but it is encouraging when all the other counts were almost stagnant.

Oh well it will be good to see what August will net as that will be the final month of Winter in Brisbane!If Brisbane is truly to hot to ride in, the Winter months should see numbers swelling but so far that is not the case.

Kurilpa Bridge Count 20120723

Time = 7:25-8:05am

Total = 114

Sex

Male = 94 (82%)

Female = 20 (18%)

Bike Type

Road = 48 (42%)

Other* = 66 (58%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 44 (46%)

Male Other* = 50 (54%)

                        5 citycycle included

Female Road = 4 (20%)

Female Other* = 16 (80%)

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bikes passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrians

-                      This count includes cyclists going both North and South

-                      Due this count occurring 10minutes later than the original figures are not directly comparable.

-                      This count was conducted at the peak of the bridge

-                      The weather was clear skies and cool temperature.

Goodwill Bridge Count 20120724

Time = 7:25-8:05am

Total = 374

Sex

Male = 310 (82%)

Female = 64 (18%)

Bike Type

Road = 162 (43%)

Other* = 221 (57%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 143 (46%)

Male Other* = 167 (54%)

                        2 citycycle included

Female Road = 19 (30%)

Female Other* = 45 (70%)

                        2 citycycle included

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bikes passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrians

-                      This count includes cyclists going both North and South

-                      Due to this count beginning 10minutes later then the Bicentennial count the figures cannot be directly compared.

-                      This count was conducted at the peak of the bridge

      -             The weather was clear skies and cool temperature.

 

Bicentennial Bikeway Count 20120725

Time = 7:20-8:00am

Total = 445

Sex

Male = 376 (83%)

Female = 69 (17%)

Bike Type

Road = 211 (47%)

Other* = 234 (53%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 198 (53%)

Male Other* = 178 (47%)

                        5 citycycles included

Female Road = 13 (39%)

Female Other* = 56 (61%)

                        4 citycycles included

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bike passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrian

-                      This count includes cyclists going both east and west

-                      This count was conducted just west of the Hale Street Bridge with counter sitting in the shade under the Overpass

-                      Between 30-50% of road cyclists were in groups or seamed to be out riding for exercise and not commuting

-                      Due to the count was conducted 5 mins earlier than previous counts and is not directly comparable

-                      The weather was clear skies and cool to brisk temperature

South East Bikeway Count 20120726

Time = 7:25-8:05am

Total = 210

Sex

Male = 169 (80%)

Female = 41 (20%)

Bike Type

Road = 69 (33%)

Other* = 141 (67%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 56 (33%)

Male Other* = 113 (67%)

Female Road = 13 (32%)

Female Other* = 28 (68%)

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bikes passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrians as they are not permitted on the bikeway

-                      This count includes cyclists going both North and South

-                      Due to this count beginning 10minutes later then the Bicentennial count the figures can not be directly compared.

-                      This count was conducted under the Vulture St overpass

-                      The weather was clear skies and cool to brisk temperature.

 

Normanby Ped/Cycle Link Count 20120727

Time = 7:25-8:05am

Total = 104

Sex

Male = 85 (82%)

Female = 19 (18%)

Bike Type

Road = 33 (32%)

Other* = 71 (68%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 30 (35%)

Male Other* = 55 (65%)

Female Road = 3 (16%)

Female Other* = 16 (84%)

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bikes passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrians

-                      This count includes cyclists going both North and South

-                      Due to this count beginning 10minutes later then the Bicentennial count the figures can not be directly compared.

-                      This count was conducted at the southern end of link were it joins Parkland boulevard

-                      The weather was clear skies and cool temperature.

Brisbane City Council Budget 2012 - Bicentennial Bikeway

Due to the Brisbane City Council Budget being lite on detail like most Government budgets it is often hard know what governments (this case councils) are doing. For this reason it is hard to look at the entire budget so it is easier to look at parts of the Budget that can be defined.

In the Budget Papers on page 196 within the Appendix of schedules there is funding for the completion of the Bicentennial Bikeway Upgraded from a shared path to a segregated path. This is an important project that began back in 2009. This is highlighted by the fact that there is currently over 650 cycle movements along the bikeway between 7am - 8 am peak weekday mornings alone. Within the papers 3 projects are listed as for the Bicentennial Bikeway, stage 3, Stage 4 & stage 5. All stages can be seen at this link.

Stage 3 is the current bottle neck. Located between stage 1 & 2  it has meant the reconvergence of pedestrians and cyclists limiting the usefulness of the existing upgrades. It has been a source of problems since the other upgrades occured as large numbers had to mix it up with some pedestrian and cyclists not understanding the concept of a shared path. There is also the fact that it is sandwiched between Coronation Drive and the former Oxleys restaurant & straight after the restaurant there is a small creek to cross. Funding for this section is listed at $6.7 million. Considering how much the other sections have costed to upgrade this figure sounds about right but it should be noted like previous funding towards the Bicentennial it is more than likely half the funds are also coming from the state.

Stage 4 will mean a continuous segregated path between the CBD and Towong. Like stage 3 currently cyclists and pedestrian have to reconvergence. While this has been limiting to corridors capacity it has less of an effect as many users have already exited at the Land St Tunnel. That said it will still be welcome as it should resolve the current problems of people being confused by the change from segregated to shared then back to segregated.  With Funding of stage 4 at only $850 000 it would be safe to say this may only include commencement of works and not the whole section. It may be a project that will run into 2013 financial year.

Stage 5 is quite intriguing. I have never heard of it. It has been given $100 000 and has been placed under the investigation section.

I have to say I am glad for this funding. Once stage 3 & 4 are complete there should be very little complaint in the media of the Bicentennial Bikeway anymore. Most conflict on the bikeway should be removed with capacity for around 2000 cycle movements in each direction per hour. This will mean that a single lane of the Bicentennial Bikeway will have more capacity then a single lane of the Coronations Drive at far less of a cost.

I will leave you with some You Tube footage showing Stage 2 after it was complete
footage is not my own

Bikeway Counts

Once again I have got some figures from peak hour bikeway counts. Like always these figures are quite interesting as they are broken into groups compared with the figures that come from the government which are just raw bulk numbers. While these numbers by no means show how many people overall are using the Bikeways like the government figures do they give a feeling of who is using in what proportions.

This time the counts have included 5 links into the CBD

• Bicentennial Bikeway
• South East Bikeway
• Normanby Ped/cycle Link
• Kurilpa Bridge
• Goodwill Bridge

The first thing that stands out with these figures is that Bicentennial Bikeway is the busiest corridor out of them all. The figure given equals to 11 bikes every minute passing the counter. It is also the only bikeway where road bikes near making up half the traffic. This easily brakes the stereotype that commuters have to ride road bikes.

Another thing that stands out from these counts is the low number of women riding bikes. In the Queensland Government own document "Queensland Cycling Strategy 2011-2021" it clearly states that men out number women 4 to 1. What is depressing about these counts is that these figures are reinforced. It would be expected that on separated infrastructure as where the counts occurred the proportion of female cyclists may be a fraction higher but unfortunately no. It has to be said just like in the document, Brisbane is lacking safe cycling infrastructure as women cyclists are the clearest indicator of that. In the Netherlands women account for 55% of people riding bikes because they are and feel safe.

The biggest surprise of the counts is the Kurilpa Bridge. While a heavily used bridge and the newest of the two Ped/cycle Bridges the bicycle numbers were quite low. These could of been due to the count occurring on a Monday or due to the count starting a little to early in the morning as apparently it got busier as the count went on.

It will be good to see what the next count may bring in figures are the chill of winter has finally reached Brissy and single figure night temperatures are once again beginning to set in.

Bicentennial Bikeway Count 20120516

Time = 7:20-8:00am

Total = 452

Sex

Male = 360 (80%)

Female = 92 (20%)

Bike Type

Road = 195 (43%)

Other* = 257 (57%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 175 (49%)

Male Other* = 185 (51%)

                        8 citycycles included

Female Road = 20 (22%)

Female Other* = 72 (78%)

                        6 citycycles included

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bike passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrian

-                      This count includes cyclists going both east and west

-                      This count was conducted just west of the Hale Street Bridge with counter sitting in the shade under the Overpass

-                      Between 30-50% of road cyclists were in groups or seamed to be out riding for exercise and not commuting

-                      Due to the count was conducted 5 mins later then previous counts and is not directly comparable

-                      The weather was clear skies and cool to brisk temperature

 

South East Bikeway Count 20120517

Time = 7:25-8:05am

Total = 223

Sex

Male = 180 (81%)

Female = 43 (19%)

Bike Type

Road = 73 (33%)

Other* = 150 (67%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 63 (35%)

Male Other* = 117 (65%)

Female Road = 10 (23%)

Female Other* = 33 (77%)

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bikes passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrians as they are not permitted on the bikeway

-                      This count includes cyclists going both North and South

-                      Due to this count beginning 10minutes later then the Bicentennial count the figures can not be directly compared.

-                      This count was conducted under the Vulture St overpass

-                      The weather was clear skies and cool to brisk temperature.

 

Normanby Ped/Cycle Link Count 20120518

Time = 7:25-8:05am

Total = 105

Sex

Male = 82 (78%)

Female = 23 (22%)

Bike Type

Road = 41 (39%)

Other* = 64 (61%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 34 (41%)

Male Other* = 48 (59%)

Female Road = 7 (30%)

Female Other* = 16 (70%)

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bikes passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrians

-                      This count includes cyclists going both North and South

-                      Due to this count beginning 10minutes later then the Bicentennial count the figures can not be directly compared.

-                      This count was conducted at the southern end of link were it joins Parkland boulevard

-                      The weather was clear skies and cool temperature.

Kurilpa Bridge Count 20120521

Time = 7:15-7:55am

Total = 97

Sex

Male = 74 (76%)

Female = 23 (24%)

Bike Type

Road = 36 (37%)

Other* = 61 (63%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 27 (36%)

Male Other* = 47 (64%)

                        4 citycycle included

Female Road = 9 (39%)

Female Other* = 14 (61%)

                        1 citycycle included

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bikes passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrians

-                      This count includes cyclists going both North and South

-                      Due to numbers increasing latter during count, future counts will be conducted at a later time in the future (approx. 10min).

-                      This count was conducted at the peak of the bridge

-                      The weather was clear skies and cool temperature.

Goodwill Bridge Count 20120522

Time = 7:25-8:05am

Total = 388

Sex

Male = 316 (81%)

Female = 72 (19%)

Bike Type

Road = 146 (38%)

Other* = 242 (62%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 125 (40%)

Male Other* = 191 (60%)

                        4 citycycle included

Female Road = 21 (29%)

Female Other* = 51 (71%)

                        2 citycycle included

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                      Not all bikes passing were able to be counted

-                      This count did not include pedestrians

-                      This count includes cyclists going both North and South

-                      Due to this count beginning 10minutes later then the Bicentennial count the figures cannot be directly compared.

-                      This count was conducted at the peak of the bridge

-                      The weather was clear skies and cool temperature.

Citycycle - a quick trip

OK last night I had some jobs to do and one of them involved going out to Toowong. To save money and time instead of using the bus or my own bike I used Citycycle. Well on the ride home I surprised myself with how fast these bikes can move. The trip was Toowong to QUT  as can be seen on this map.

The distance as can be seen is a bit over 5ks. Now I was not going hard, think of walking at a steady pace sort of effort. Well I made the 5ks in 16mins. This equals 18.75kmph average. I have to say not bad for a bike that is not designed for speed. What make this more impressive is the fact that the citycat takes 14minutes between these to points. It effectively means it is faster to ride a heavy city bike between these two points then it is to use a high speed catamaran. Just more proof that cycling is a smart way to get around in my mind.

Oh I will be doing a proper post on Citycycle when I have time.

Bicentennial Bikeway

The Bicentennial Bikeway is one of only two Active Transport arterial that run into Brisbane. While there are some other bikeways that run into the CBD this one and the South East Bikeway are the only two Arterials so far.

Currently the Bicentennial is going through an upgrade process. This upgrade is much needed as the corridor has been running at capacity for close to ten years now. According to figures from when the upgrade process began around 3 years ago the corridor was carrying 4000 pedestrian and cyclists movements a day. While this might sound like not much for a road this pretty much all a shared facility can carry safely without there being negative media stories ( and there has been plenty over the years). Just before Christmas the latest section opened with very little fan fair to my disappointment. While Brisbane Times ran a story and the CBD BUG posted the news of the opening on it's website, the Courier Trash (Mail) and BQ have completely ignored it at least on the online versions.

As I am a Nosey Bugger I went out and Had a look. I have to say it is very nice. While I am not a fan of the all out painting of green on the bike part of the path it will fad overtime.
What is more interesting, I have been supplied with these figures from a count that was done this morning. They enforce the fact the bikeway is heavily used and if you break them down it equals 10 bike passing the counter every minute(this is a combined East West number)

Bicentennial Bikeway Count 20120104

Time = 7:15-7:55am

Total = 441

Sex

Male = 362 (82%)

Female = 79 (18%)

Bike Type

Road = 259 (59%)

Other* = 182 (41%)

Bike per Sex

Male Road = 222 (61%)

Male Other* = 140 (39%)

Female Road = 37 (47%)

Female Other* = 42 (53%)

* = any bike that is not fitted with drop bar Handle Bars

General Note

-                     Not all bike passing were able to be counted

-                     This count did not include pedestrian

-                     This count includes cyclists going both east and west

-                     This count was conducted just west of the Hale Street Bridge with me sitting in the shade under the Overpass

-                     Between 30-50% of road cyclists were in groups or seamed to be out riding for exercise and not commuting

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