The City of Sydney via a media release has once again confirmed that cycling in Sydney is increasing. This is inspit of the fact that no further segments of the planned network have opened in the last six months. It has to be said that this very encouraging and also not much of a surprise. It is quite common for peoples travel patterns to change slowly as they get use to a new service or facility. The same thing happens on any new road or Bus/rail service.
Some commentators point out that the counts have been paid for by the City of Sydney. There is no real difference between the City of Sydney paying for it or a State Government counting cars on a new road it has just built. Both have an interest in promoting what they have just built. It certainly has less self interest then a motoring body releasing figures on car usage.
The standout figure in my mind is these ones
Taylor Square, Oxford Street and Bourke Street intersection
(1,923 trips up from 1,728 in March); and
Liverpool Street, College Street and Oxford Street (1,876 trips
up from 1,795 in March).
Oxford street is one nasty street, for a lack of a better term, yet more people are crossing and riding down it. It is also where two of the cycleways hit, the Bourke St Cycleway & the Collage St Cycleway. Increasing numbers hitting this road show more people would like to be able to a ride a bike, there just needs to be the safe infrastructure.
In what was a welcome development the City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has been re-elected. I must say the people of Sydney that ride bikes or would like to ride bikes must be breathing a sigh of relief. Some Mayoral candidates were openly hostile to the concept of riding bikes and the cycleways. That said it was not much of a contest with Clover Moore getting back in on her primary vote alone. This is indeed a feat as most politicians in Australia rely on preferences. While it can be said Clover's vote was slightly down by 4.9% she still got in with a primary vote of 51.6%.
Congratulations Clover and keep up the great work with the cycleways. More than Just Sydney is watching.
The Free to air channel SBS has a show called Cycling Central. Normally I do not watch this program mainly due to it's airing time. However this week they interviewed the Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore regarding the cycleways. I have to say it is a welcome distraction that was the load of manure that ACA put out on last Thursday.
What I noticed first out was the number of bikes that road past in the 10 minute interview. With my limited knowledge of Sydney I can only assume that it was shot on the Bourke St cycleway. So much for that serial Youtuber pain posting false claims that no one uses it. Next was the type of bikes & people that road past. I only really saw one Lycra warrior in the footage.
Besides that there are some simple points that the interview brings up
Each path is part of a boarder network
Only 20% of the separated network has been built so far
Each path is signed off by the State Government Department
cycling is up 82% in the City of Sydney
All the path funding is from the Council itself
cycleways/bikeways are not the solution but part of the solution
People need the option of cycling by providing the infrastructure
Helmets need to be discussed
I have to say it was an interesting interview and I hope that Clover Moore gets back in this Saturday. Her plan and cycleways are something that Brisbane bicycle riders are watching very carefully. The better the results down south the more weight we have up here to get things improved.
I have always found it funny how some Politicians just cannot admit they are wrong. Following on from yesterdays article of how internal Government documents did say the cycleways were in the right locations, were doing what they were spose to be doing and were guided by the roads department (RTA) the Minister just can't admit he is wrong. In todays article he is still claiming that the then RTA had no imput but if the Sydney Morning Herald is to be believed the RTA's own documents state-
''The RTA is participating in the route selection, design, delivery, operation and performance of the cycleway network project
Um well yes sure the RTA had nothing to do with it. It should also be pointed out that the Lord Mayor of Sydney City has always claimed that the routes were always selected in consultation with the then RTA of New South Wales.
Just a quick post today. This article appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning and I have to say I am very pleased that it did. Basically the article is an investigation into internal Government documents regarding the cycleways as to whether they are doing what they are spose to do and to wheather they are placed in the correct corridors. In no great surprise to me or the people that ride bikes in Sydney the documents say on both counts they are a correct. There has been alot of misinformation around the Sydney Cycleways including a serial You Tuber pest that posts clip after clip. These deceives the average person into thinking the Cycleways are a waste and are not being used. There has also been the Minister for Roads making claims thet no one uses them.
One Cycleway that has been highlighted as a waste but was thankfully defended by the investigation documents was the Collage Street Cycleway. Now the above image was taken back in 2011 when during peak hour I wondered up from my hotel to see how it was going. This was the view I got every change of lights. Group of riders after, group of riders heading into work. Naturally now when I hear an individual say the College St Cycleway is not used and is incorrectly located, my ears pick up and question really what that person is saying because in 2012 when I chose to visit the cycleway again I saw similar scenes of groups of riders descending from Oxford St Intersection.
On that note I say trust the official Council figures of usage and footage that has clearly been taken during peak hour as otherwise you will be deceived. These paths are being used and will only increase as the network expands.
There is no doubt in my mind that the Sydney City Lord Mayor Clover Moore is one gutsy lady. She has been under sustained media attack for her determination with the installation of segregated on road bikeways. This is all about to begin again with the conclusion of consultation of the George St Cycleway.
The strange thing regarding the cycleways in Sydney is that the most controversial cycleway have not been one of the CBD cycleways but the first to run through Inner city suburbia, the Bourke St cycleway. To me this seams completely bizarre but it is the way it is. The main complaint seamed to stem around the fact that to make the Bourke St Cycleway work over it's 3.2 km length there was to be a lost of around 60 car spaces. To me this very little as it equals around a lose of around 6% of the street frontage to car parking.
The George St Cycleway is no different. Just like the Bourke St cycleway it runs in Inner City Suburbia in fact it is just 700m to the west of the Bourke St Cycleway & the main complaint regarding the cycleway again is around the removal of some parking to make it work. This has been outlined out in this article. This is currently being heavily debated on the Sydney cycling forum Sydney Cyclist. In the debate some very interesting facts are coming up regarding the people that are complaining about the removal of the car spaces so I strongly suggest you look at the links.
I would like to preface this next bit that I do not fully understand the area in question but have looked at it with the help of the Internet. My profession is as a drafter and as such I not only love looking at plans and maps but I can quickly and easily understand them. I have looked at the plans that the council have released and I love it. To me they make sense and I see no problem with them. Yes there is the lose of some car spaces but some things have to change to fit in a new transport corridor. The new cycleway is to be around 2kms long and will run along George Street between Cleveland St & Bourke St (not the Bourke street cycleway as that has not got that far yet). The street in this distance goes from units and terrace houses to light industrial. This means that there will be trip generators at both ends of the cycleway. A very important thing when making an active transport corridor. At the City end (Cleveland st) the cycleway links into and existing shared path through Prince Albert Park that will then link to the CBD cycleways such as Wentworth Av Cycleway that then links into the Collage St Cycleway. All in all this cycleway is not a stand alone cycleway but like other cycleways is forming and network that will allow most people to get where they want on a bike.
From looking at plans I think the new George St Cycleway will be a success just like the Bourke st cycleway. I know there is a serial Youtuber that continues to post footage saying the Bourke St is not being used (he uses the same footage over and over and over etc etc). He has in fact flooded you tube with his garbage. All I have to say is don't believe him. I have been to Bourke St Cycleway myself during peak hour and seen people using it. For that reason I submit these pictures I took during March and the councils own video data.
I have to say I look forward to seeing the commencement of the George St cycleway and all I can say is go Clover! Now if only Brisbane's Lord Mayor Graham Quirk would do the same to our George St. Hummm
Trying you find this clip was made very hard because there is so much junk that has been posted by that serial Youtuber. But I found it that is the main thing.
It should be noted that in all the pictures there is always more than just a few cyclists in each photo. These were taken within only about 2 minutes as I only went up to have a quick look. Don't believe everything you see on Youtube.
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.
