Shared Paths - Pyrmont Bridge Sydney

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/peak-hour-in-pyrmont-bike-lanes-for-the-bridge-20120530-1zi1j.html

I would like to say right at the start Shared Paths do work but they have there limitations. There are many shared paths in Brisbane that work completely fine but they have some defining features that make them work.

Features That make a shared Path work in my opinion

• a daily usage somewhere below 4000 movements a day
• a path where it is not generally wider then 4 meters
• low tourist numbers
• clear understanding of keep left rule
• equal split between bicycles and pedestrians

While I will in the future talk about Brisbane shared paths a Shared Path that does not work in my mind is in Sydney. This Path is the Pyrmont Bridge. This bridge was a turned over to pedestrian and bicycle usage many years ago. The main problem I see with it is that it breaks all 5 points I list above.

• there is well over 4000 movements a day
• the bridge is well over 12 metres wide
• there are tourists wondering everywhere not really aware of there surroundings
• NO ONE keeps left
• the is not a equal split

This results in chaos with everyone ducking about. Every time I go down to Sydney I am amazed at how crazy it is across that bridge. I have turned to my other half over and over and said "this bridge needs a bike lane".

Now I am no friend of the Pedestrian Council of Australia, and like many Australians that ride bikes have no time for them or there head. That said I have to agree with them calling for a bike lane across the Pyrmont Bridge. A bike lane makes scene because it will allocate space to each group just like it does on the Bicentennial Bikeway is Brisbane. Personally I don't think the ped council is calling for this to make life easier for cyclists and pedestrians, I think they have admitted partial defeat with there calls to have shared spaces removed. Lets face it they did not have much chance on the Pyrmont Bridge with over 2000 bicycle movements a day.

See video below

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.

how cycling should be

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/about-town/blogs/plus-one/choose-style-over-speed-20120521-1yzq2.html

There is this event coming up this Friday. At the moment I am trying to get to this event but I have to move some things around. There is a very valid point regarding this event, you do not need to wear Lycra to ride a bike. You look back into the past at old photos and people did not changed what they wore just to because they were about to hop on a bike. see link below

http://www.flickr.com/photos/statelibraryqueensland/4461930298/
http://bishop.slq.qld.gov.au/view/action/singleViewer.do?dvs=1337752057215~607&locale=en_AU&metadata_object_ratio=7&show_metadata=true&VIEWER_URL=/view/action/singleViewer.do?&DELIVERY_RULE_ID=10&frameId=1&usePid1=true&usePid2=true

I have certainly never changed what I was going to wear just cos I hoped on a bike. I may have removed my shirt but never changed what I was going to wear.

State Gov - Worries me

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/cyclists-fear-offtrack-government-20120514-1ymsa.html

I have to say this article in Brisbane Times last week worries me.

During the State election the LNP made no public policy on what they would be doing with regard to cycling and cycling infrastructure. This is of concern as it means they can not be held to acount on what they may or may not do with regard to cycling. Now the LNP is the Government of Queensland and we still do not know what they think of cycling.

During the last term of Labor as Government an important policy was enacted. This policy is the "Cycling Infrastructure Policy". This policy calls for cycling infrastructure to be called for when ever a transport infrastructure project is to built. This is very important as many times in the past cycling has been left out creating a major barrier to people being able to cycle. Many times these projects have blocked the retro-fitting of cycling infrastructure due the massive extra cost of coming back and making good of what should of been done in the first place.

A key project where retro fitting is going to cost a furtune is the South East Transit Bikeway now know as the Veloway 1 Cycleway. The South East Transit bikeway was to be built in conjuction with the South East Transit Busway (South East Busway). Now to the project team credit key parts of the project were built but all bridge sections were left out. Now this resulted in a mass of concrete path that runs besides the busway but is unable to be used. Anyone that uses the SE Busway would see this and have no idea what it is or what it is meant for as all bridge sections of the project were not built. The then Labor government said that it would be built in a later stage as the Busway was running over cost at the time. Well the final cost of the busway came in at $452 million. to complete the bikeway would of cost $20 million from what people had told me. Less than 5 years latter the cost of completing the bikeway had balloned to $60 million. The South East Transit Bikeway was to be a true arterial bikeway fast at busway level for the most part. Assuming a fast rider (30kmph) was to use it it would of meant they would be able to reach the edge of the Brisbane CBD within 30 minutes. A time that would of been very competitive with the Bus services themselves which take around 20mins.

Another Project were this policy would of been a great help is Airport Link. Under this policy it would of meant that the Northern Bikeway with which I have posted about would of been built. If it had not of been built the corridor would of been reserved meaning faster installation when it was built.

So what is at risk if this policy is removed. The first bikeway that may be at risk is the Moretan Bay Bikeway which is due to run beside the new Redcliffe Railway. Another Bikeway that is at risk is the new sections of Centenary Bikeway which is due to run along the new Springfeild Railway which is currently under constuction. Both projects run along corridors that are identified in the SE Qld cycling plan. If this policy is reversed it will not only result in missing links in the bikeway network but substandard bikeways when the links are filled as they will cost far more then they would of in the first place.

A cyclist died Yesterday

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/cyclist-dies-after-being-hit-by-truck-20120514-1ylkt.html

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/cyclist-82-hit-by-truck-in-new-farm-dies-after-having-legs-amputated-at-the-scene/story-e6freon6-1226354474752

Normally I would not want to post about an accident where a cyclist is injured but this one is to important. On a roundabout I know well an elderly man was killed yesterday. Currently the details of how it happened are not publicly available.

All that can be said is this is very sad and my condolences to the family.

Steriotype - Skinny wearing lycra

Okay one of the things that drives me nut is stereotypes. Stereotypes is an easy way to simplify the world. While there is always some truth to them the truth is always the minority not the majority of what it is trying to describe.

While doing my morning reading over breakfast I stumbled upon THIS on the excellent blog "a view from the cyclepath". To most cyclists horror the new mayor of Toronto is viciously anti-cycling to the point where he is currently removing some bike lanes that the previous mayor had installed. Part way through the footage in the link the mayor complains about receiving emails from angry cyclists calling him fat. There is no doubt that the Mayor would be classified as morbidly obese (bmi greater then 35). But I wonder is the mayors hatred towards cyclists based around a stereotype he has of cyclists.

The stereotype of cyclists in Brisbane is this

• male
• 18 - 50
• wears lycra
• pencil thin.
• Rides a road bike

Well Lets break some of these with just me.

• Yes I am male but there is no way I am changing that fact
• Yes I am in my 20s but that is not my fault
• I do not wear Lycra. I find the idea of changing my dress just to ride somewhere ridiculous
• I am not pencil thin. My BMI sits at 24.5 currently. Healthy is 18 - 25. Only the fact I do weights is BMI altered.
• I do not ride a road bike

So with just me 3 out of the 5 do not apply

Now for general

According to counts that a friend has done on the Bicentennial & South East Bikeways it is true males still outnumber females 4 to 1. This figure also has alot to do with safety and a well accepted fact that routes must be safe and/or perceived safe for females to ride at the same rate as males.

Age well this one is also true but this is more based around the fact that this is the working age. The majority of people in cars getting to work is also between 18 - 50.

Wearing Lycra generally goes with the bike you ride but more and more people are riding in everyday clothes as they start to ride bike other than road bikes. Lycra I feel is more about a perception that if you ride a bike you must have that extra padding in the seat of your pants.

I have to say I see all shapes on bikes. There is a few really big blokes that pass me. Some have extra fat and some have extra muscle. Either way they are in no sense of the word stick insects.

According to the counts when combined it is pretty even between road and other bikes coming in during the morning peak hour.

As you can see that while there is some truth the stereotype, it does not hold true for the majority.

Sydney Cycleways - King Street extention

As it may be known the current Lord Mayor (Clover Moore) of Sydney is trying to make Sydney City a more pleasant location for one to ride in. Around five years ago a plan was put out and approved by the council which called for segregated on road bikeways. The first of these is the King Street Cycleway. This cycleway is currently wanting to be extended by council from it's present two block length to the full length of the street so that it links with the Collage St Cycleway. Before going into details on this proposal I will show a photo I took in March 2011

Going by the Sun this photo was taken during the Afternoon Peak hour at the corner of Sussex & King St. Eight bikes can clearly be seen in the photo waiting to cross, four west bound and 4 east bound. As I am not a stalker I was not going to sit there and take photo after photo but from what I saw as I passed through this area at the time it was constant. This has been backed up by further reading the footage I have seen.

It is no real surprise that the SCC (Sydney City Council) wants to extend the King Street Cycleway the full length of the street. It makes very good sense, it would link the Kent & Collage Street Cycleways as well as the Pyrmont Bridge to Collage Street cycleway. Currently only the Pyrmont Bridge and Kent Street Cycleway are linked by the King Street Cycleway. This is the importance of the above photo as it shows that even the existing short cycleway is getting decent numbers. King Street Cycleway extension is also important in the fact that it would allow a East-West Link throught the centre of Sydney City CBD. This would break down the distance anyone would have to ride on general streets to reach there workplace.

So what is the problem? Well the problem is that the new Premier of New South Wales by all accounts hates the Lord Mayor of Sydney City. Currently the Lord Mayor has duel roles as both Lord Mayor and a member of the lower house of the New South Wales Parliament. In both roles Clover Moore was elected by the people but such is the Premiers hatred of her is that he has had the law changed so that no person can hold more that one public office at once. This of course effects more than just Clover as there is some other members from the far west NSW that are also have to resign from one of there roles. The other problem is that the Premier is also changing the law so that SCC has to get approval from the state on what they do to there own roads (this is completely bizarre to me). By some reports the Premier is a typical blue blood not caring about cyclists once publicly stating that the cycleways needed to be torn up, sorry relocated. Some how this does not equal tearing them up?

Anyway Back to the (convenient) Technical Reason. Some how extending the Path would create traffic grid lock (it's unfeasible). If I knew how to insert a laughter button I would. Sydney City Traffic is so bad it is gridlock already. Buses travelling the 2.5kms from Circular Quey to central station during peak are given 25-30 minutes. This is slower then walking and I have easily out paced traffic before in Sydney when walking. But that is North South Traffic we are talking about East West Traffic. What is being proposed is a path that would have a total length of just over 500m on a street that is not even a free flowing street. It effectively finishes in what traffic wise is a T intersection where most traffic goes left or right not straight ahead. So far the council has been very clever and not had to reclaim any traffic lanes but this may be first and I think so what. If they did reclaim a single lane the street may keep a single configuration for it's entire length. Currently it jumps from 3 to 4 to 3 then back to 4 lanes. Then there is the grand scheme of things. Would this cycleway bring the rest of the CBD to a halt. Well the Fact is the CBD is already at a halt!

To me this blocking of this path has more to do with politics then it has to do sound transport policy.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/cyclists-left-with-an-eastwest-divide-20120507-1y94e.html