Cycling Friendly Cities

Roger Zoul said:

http://tinyurl.com/2vvtqb

I get kinda tired about when advocates go blathering on about
"democracy" and "human dignity". It's really got nothing to do with
bicycle use, as China and N. Korea can attest.

I much prefer the practical arguments for aspects of expanding bicycle
accommodations.

------

One aspect of getting around on a bike I have a lot of problems with is
traffic signals that have no provisions for pedestrians or bicyclists at
all.

One idea I like is a "two-tier" traffic signal. That is--traffic signals
with pedestrian buttons, and if a pedestrian (or a bicyclist) presses
one of the crosswalk buttons,,, then at the next phase of the signal,
*all* the car traffic gets a red signal for 30 seconds (or some useful
time limit), and pedestrians and bicycles are free to pass however they
want. Across either street, crossing diagonally or (bicyclists) turning
any way they want without risk of moving cars.

This is a "gentle" limit that has *immediate* benefits--it is useful to
existing pedestrian traffic and bicyclists, but doesn't restrict the use
of cars--just makes car use a bit less convenient.

This wouldn't seem to cost a lot to do--it would work with existing US
traffic lights, as long as they already had crosswalk buttons. The
lights stay the same physically, only the electronics gizmo that
controls them needs to be changed.
~

Jeremy Parker wrote:
:: Anyway, cycling is still a good way to explore London, and remember,

Thanks for the info, Jeremy. Cycling London sounds like something I want to
do.

Jeremy Parker said:

What caused the increase in cycling? I've always said that the best
way to encourage cycling is to nobble the completion. That seems to
be what happened. The rise started at about the same time as the
congestion charge for cars was introduced, in 2001. The charge is
8GBP now, over $15 US, to bring a car into central London.

I've also seen various articles rumbling about the possibility of doing
such a thing in the US. Usually they're talking about Manhattan or San
Francisco.

Of course here in Seattle, there are few areas I'd like to see cordoned
off with these:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=411423
http://tinyurl.com/yfh3sw (Youtube link)

It would be nice to see Westlake center cordoned off to through traffic.
Then the bollards could be lowered for buses to get through and let
people on and off.

Quoted message said:

The world over, bikes seem to cause bike lanes, and regrettably that seems to
have happened to an extent here in London as well. To the surprise, I think,
of the politicians and bureaucrats who introduced them, they are not
universally popular. You hear talk of "ghettos in the gutter", "margins for
the marginalized", "bicycle bantustans" being built "by idiots, for idiots".
There is a theory that the London Cycle Network is a plot to turn most
streets into "not bike routes", on which the needs of bikes do not need to be
considered, and on which perhaps bikes do not really belong at all.

"What, we put down some white paint! What more do you want?!?"

Quoted message said:

When I have pointed out that every street in London is a bike route nobody
has ever told me I was wrong, but I have been told one or two times that my
view is "true but not helpful". With certain projects being helpful is not
my aim, actually.

Bah, it's true and helpful. Many people are very timid about cycling on
the road. They don't help people start cycling, they mainly seem to
help people rationalize why they shouldn't. "I couldn't possibly cycle
*there*, there's no bike lane!"

Quoted message said:

Anyway, cycling is still a good way to explore London, and remember, if you
get tired you can always jump in a taxi. A London taxi has room for a bike -
no need for the driver to erect a special rack, as required in Copenhagen.
Carrying a bike is not free though. Is costs the same as a suitcase.

One of these days I intend to see about getting about London by bike. I
probably have a better shot at Spain in the near term though. One of my
friends is trying to get us to come with her on her annual trip back to
the homeland. The lure of having a host family is strong.

--
Dane Buson - [email hidden]
"Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours of
repose in the boots of ascension."
-In an Austrian hotel catering to skiers