Bikes, bikes, bikes

[matt602]

The bikes are looking great at least. Really good design.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Awesome!!

[ScreamingViking]

May they be safe from vandalism, abuse, and stray taxi cabs.

[lucasmascotto]

Bike-share program adds Mountain sites
The Hamilton Spectator (Monday, August 18, 2014)
By: Lisa Marr

Hamilton's Bike Share program has tacked some Mountain stations onto its list.

Initially, the city had planned to launch stations in the lower city and then wait for more funding to set up stations on the Mountain, said Sean Burak, operations manager for the nonprofit program.

However, "we just got a lot of feedback from residents that they wanted this on the Mountain," he said.

Hamilton Bike Share (hamilton.socialbicycles.com/) is an initiative that came out of a Metrolinx project to offer "quick wins" for municipalities in 2008.

Hamilton received $1.6 million to start a bike-share program, eventually awarding the contract to Social Bicycles, a New York firm, to buy 750 trackable bikes and have them available on a subscription basis (about $84 a year) from about 108 stations around the city.

Burak said so far, the city has received about 500 of the bikes, and the process of selecting station sites is nearing completion.

"The most important element for a bike station is to have stations closer together.

"If you are spread out too far, it's not very useful," he said. "It's supposed to complement buses … a feeder system."

The organization is also looking for sponsors to pay for stations. McMaster University has just agreed to have three additional stations, bringing the number there to six, and the International Village and Downtown Hamilton BIA are also sponsoring.

Next week Burak plans to talk to the Concession Street BIA about a station there.

The four newly announced sites are at Fennell and West 5th, the top of the Wentworth staircase (on the Mountain), on or near Concession Street close to Juravinski Hospital, and at Mountain Drive Park.

For an interactive map of the proposed station sites, see https://a.tiles.mapbox.com /

The city had hoped to have the program ready for the summer, but Burak said staff didn't issue the purchase order until April, delaying the production of the bikes and the stations.

The bikes will be equipped with GPS and other software to track the bikes and to collect data on usage patterns. That way, the system can be tweaked by adding or subtracting bike racks and the data will bring a better understanding of how and where the public will use the bikes.

It's hoped the bike-share program will be running by the fall, pending a deal reached with a wireless phone carrier.

Burak said the program will be operated year-round, although likely on a reduced basis throughout the winter months, much like a similar program in Saint Paul, Minn.

"That model is very similar to ours with a nonprofit agency running an all-year program and they went from 750 bikes in four years to 1,500. It's an exciting time in Hamilton with all of these transportation choices."

[thistleclub]

Hamilton bike share to launch in March 2015
(CBC Hamilton, Jeff Green, Sept 20 2014)

Hamilton's Bike Share is touting the news as worth the wait, but after delays in the bike's electronics and certification with Canadian telecommunication carriers, the official bike share launch will be pushed back to March 20, 2015.

At least, that's when they'll start charging members.

SoBi Hamilton, the bike share's operator, announced the spring 2015 launch date with hopes that the bikes will still roll out in the fall. Members can ride for free when the bikes do hit the streets, and the annual membership clock won't begin to tick until the official launch in March.

"We are in the final stages of product certification and will be entering into full production in the coming weeks," said Social Bicycles' CEO and founder Ryan Rzepecki in a update Saturday. "This product update represents a significant upgrade to the user and operator experience and we are excited to begin rolling it out this fall."

Read it in full here.

[LikeHamilton]

??? Is Charlton Avenue West from James supposed to get bike lanes?

I drove down Charlton West on Monday night from St Joe’s and there where markings on the road as if they are putting in bike lanes. The road right now is 2 lanes west bound and 1 lane of parking (north side of the street). The new dots that they put on the road to guide the line painters show 1 lane driving, bike lane and then the parking.

I may have been asleep, but I can’t remember seeing this in the city budget or being discussed. I look back a year and could see nothing about this. Based on the cost of Cannon Street and Hunter Street, this would be costing a few hundred thousand to do. Does anyone have any more info on this?

[HillStreetBlues]

On Herkimer there have been signs announcing ‘Construction – Bike Lanes – Dundurn to McNab – October’ for a little while. Charlton would presumably be done at the same time.

Edit: Both are mentioned on the municipal government’s web site here. I don’t know why Charlton’s would be shorter- actually, that’s pretty silly for it to terminate at Locke. Why wouldn’t it be useful to have a westbound bike lane through Kirkendall to connect to the bike lanes at Dundurn? Charlton is too fast through there as it is.

[thistleclub]

The racks are here but where are the bikes?
(Hamilton Spectator, Molly Hayes, Oct 2 2014)

The racks are in place but the bikes are late — and without them, the metal structures have people across the city scratching their heads.

All of the 112 racks (or stations) for Hamilton's Social Bicycles (SoBi) bike share program have now been installed, but with the bikes and signage still in production, they've sat bare and empty.

They may look odd sitting empty in the middle of the road, but city transportation manager Peter Topalovic says bike corrals (designated on-street bike parking) are very common in many North American cities.

"The biggest number of calls (we've received) are for the racks on the street … people think 'Oh, you've made a mistake — it's on the street," he says.

"I think with having empty racks right now … it's not very clear as to what their purpose is — and I totally understand that."

When all is said and done, each of the on-street racks will have bollards installed around it as well as signage. They'll look a lot more like official infrastructure, he says.

Read it in full here.

[interr0bangr]

They still haven't installed a rack by me at Victoria/Cannon even though it was one of the highest voted locations when they had the voting map. I think they're having issues finding a spot.

[HillStreetBlues]

Originally Posted by LikeHamilton

??? Is Charlton Avenue West from James supposed to get bike lanes?

There is a post on Raise the Hammer right now about the specific design of the Charlton and Herkimer bike lanes. In a word, terrible. Entirely unprotected, on the traffic side of the existing street parking. And for whatever reason, the Charlton lane stops at Locke instead of extending to Dundurn (where there are bike lanes), and the Herkimer lane west of Locke will be sharrows- which are a waste of time and paint.

I have no idea why residents of these two streets take this. At least in the case of Herkimer, a lane will be removed east of Locke, which might slow down traffic a bit. But both Charlton and Herkimer are insanely fast, and entirely residential. This was a good opportunity to improve them significantly for the people who live there and others, and of course the municipal government wasted it.

[thistleclub]

Signs of a change in dialogue from City Hall?

Cannon bike lanes drawing up to 400 riders daily: city
(Hamilton Spectator, Oct 16 2014)

The new Cannon Street bike lanes are drawing more between 250 and 400 riders per day, new city figures show.

Daryl Bender, the city's project manager of alternative transportation, said Thursday the numbers are still preliminary, but he's satisfied with the early ridership.

He said the city has adopted a "build it and they will come" philosophy.

"It's a respectable start," said Bender, adding that a more formal system of tracking ridership will soon be installed.

Read it in full here.

[thistleclub]

Why cycling advocacy matters, and how you can help
(Spacing, Yvonne Bambrick, Oct 22 2014)

Most cities in North America are making some effort to fit bikes in, but given the huge interest in transportation cycling, and the mobility needs of increasingly large populations, they’re not doing it nearly fast enough. Which is why your trusty local cycling advocates and political champions are so important. Every inch of bicycle facilities has been won by fighting the good fight and activating the power of political will. So, if you care about riding safely in your city, you have a role to play by supporting local advocacy efforts and voting for those who understand the collective value of cycling infrastructure.

One of the greatest misconceptions still to be overcome about the various types of dedicated bicycle infrastructure, bike lanes and the like, is that these only serve a minority of the population — that they’re ‘pet projects for bicyclists.’ However, just like sidewalks, painted bike lanes and separated cycle tracks serve all road users by providing a clearly marked space for a specific user group, and in turn, adding to the safety and predictability of the roadway. That safety and predictability, in particular when reliably networked across a city via connected lanes, means more riders from all walks of life. Left or right leaning, suburban or urban, rich or poor, bikes are simply one of the most accessible and efficient forms of urban mobility available. While they mean much more than that to some people, at the heart of the matter is our fundamental right to choose how we move and make our way through daily life.

Given how little actual money is required, compared to the costs of public transit and highway projects, where there’s a political will, there’s always a way. An oft-quoted example comes from Portland’s Bicycle Coordinator Roger Geller who puts the costs into perspective: if Portland rebuilt its bike network from scratch today (over 300miles of bike lanes), it would cost $60 million – roughly equivalent to buying 1.6 km of urban freeway. Political champions know how to tap into, and build public and political support for projects that matter, and bike advocates know how to find, nurture, and support political champions.


Read it in full here.

[thistleclub]

Cyclists pedaling Minimum Grid in election
(Toronto Star, Tess Kalinowski, Oct 24 2014)

The removal of bike lanes on Jarvis St. will surely be among the many defining moments of Mayor Rob Ford’s administration.

Wiped off the road in 2012, only a year and a half after they appeared, the Jarvis lanes became a symbol of the tensions that stoked the divides between motorists and cyclists, downtown and the suburbs.

Monday’s civic election offers fresh hope for progress on cycling infrastructure, said Cycle Toronto executive director Jared Kolb.

Despite the anti-car/anti-bike rhetoric, Kolb said the Ford years actually helped consolidate support for a safe, citywide network of cycling infrastructure — the foundation for Cycle Toronto’s Minimum Grid campaign leading up to Monday’s election.

“There were a lot of people who rallied around the cause of cycling. For many people it was an egregious attack on a way they get around the city. It built consensus around the future of cycling in that we need to invest some political will, we need to invest some capital to make it happen,” he said.

Under Ford, Cycle Toronto tripled its paid memberships to about 3,000. The introduction of curb separations on the Sherbourne St. lanes nearly tripled bike traffic to 2,827 riders a day from only 955 in 2011.

The Minimum Grid campaign asks municipal candidates to commit to building 100 kilometres of physically protected bike lanes across Toronto, and 100 kilometres of bike boulevards — painted lanes on residential streets protected by lower traffic restrictions — by 2018.


Read it in full here.

[thistleclub]

Cannon bike lanes confusion
(Hamilton Spectator, Matthew Van Dongen, Oct 31 2014)

If you're confused by the sight of moving vans parked in the Cannon Street bikes lanes this weekend, Wendy Lupton won't be surprised.

"It seems like it's confusing for everyone, even the city," said Lupton, who spent weeks trying to get permission to park a moving vehicle in the new two-way cycling lanes that pass her house, which doesn't have a driveway.

At first, Lupton was told she must park on the far side of the cycle track in the first available lane of car traffic — or face fines.

"I thought that was crazy. You want me to park in the middle of traffic on Cannon? And you want me crossing two lanes of bicycles with my furniture to get there?" she told The Spectator earlier in the week.

As it turns out, Lupton is allowed to park in the bike lane so long as she gets a permit, said Daryl Bender, the city's bike lane guru. But not all city departments are caught up on the rules surrounding the new two-way bike lanes.

"There has been a little bit of confusion. We're still finessing the formal details for everyone," he said. "But no, we don't expect you to lug your couch across two lanes of bicycle traffic — because that's what they are, lanes of traffic."

Read it in full here.

[Jon Dalton]

I hope we don't see trucks parked in the bike lane all the time soon. I'm afraid that's what will happen if we start making exceptions. Give them an inch, they'll take a mile.

The left lane of Cannon was an active lane before, and trucks had no problem stopping in it. What's wrong with stopping in the left vehicle lane now? They can't be serious about 'lugging your couch across bicycle traffic' as if that's as dangerous as pushing cycle traffic onto the sidewalk or into oncoming traffic.

[markbarbera]

There was an interesting comment that I noticed which I don't know the answer to. Perhaps someone who reads this does. Can a cyclist in the westbound lane of the cycling track safely conduct a right-turn lane off of Cannon, or is a right-turn lane from the westbound cycling track not permitted? Are right turns signalized at intersections with advanced turning lights?

I can see how the green boxes would work on a secondary road like Hunter, but I can't picture it being useful (or safe) when there are three lanes of westbound automobile traffic to cross as there is on Cannon.

[rousseau]

I posted this in the main forum a while ago. It just occurred to me that I should repost it here in the appropriate thread.

Originally Posted by SteelTown

The City has added the planter boxes today! The bike lane opens tomorrow, just in time for Supercrawl.

I did a ride in Dundas and decided I should head over to Hamilton to try out the new bike lanes on Cannon Street. If you saw a fat man in racing kit on a blue bike on Cannon, that was me. The asphalt is really rough, and the neighbourhood may not be the most refined one in Hamilton (to put it mildly), but I think they're a Montreal calibre success.

Later on I rode back to Dundas along King across the 403, and through Mac to Cootes Drive. The separated stretch across the highway is really nice. Hamilton's turning into a half-decent place to ride a bike.

[Pearlstreet]

Originally Posted by interr0bangr

They still haven't installed a rack by me at Victoria/Cannon even though it was one of the highest voted locations when they had the voting map. I think they're having issues finding a spot.

Check out by Jc Beemer park. there us one there

[interr0bangr]

Originally Posted by Pearlstreet

Check out by Jc Beemer park. there us one there

Apparently they're shifting the Victoria/Cannon location to Wellington/Cannon, probably somewhere on the Shopper's property.

[thistleclub]

Ancaster councillor questions Hamilton bike sharing operator’s delays
(Flamborough Review, Kevin Werner, Dec 15 2014)

Ancaster councillor Lloyd Ferguson wants to the city to investigate Hamilton Bike Share’s year-long delay in rolling out the $1.6-million, 750-bike program.

“It was approved a year ago,” said Ferguson. “If this was supposed to be a quick win, why is it taking so long?”

Hamilton councillors approved spending the money with Hamilton Bike Share in December 2013 with the expectation that the program would be operational in March 2014. The bike share organizers then said the program would be introduced in the summer. But again, problems with acquiring the bikes from China and approval delays from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission put the program behind schedule.

SoBi Hamilton, the bike share’s operator, stated the electronics that needed to be approved will be located on the bikes rather than on the docking stations, which is a different configuration than that of other bike share programs, such as the one in Toronto.

In September, SoBi Hamilton announced it would officially launch the program on March 20, 2015, the first day of spring. But there was some expectation that some of the bikes would be offered this fall when members would be able to ride free until March....

The contract approved in 2013 was a five-year agreement and included hiring Social Bicycles, a three-year-old company to install up to 65 docking stations and buy up to 750 bikes.

The province is providing $1.6 million in capital funding for the stations and bikes through Metrolinx. Social Bicycles won the tender with a $1.3-million bid. Under its model the operation will be funded through user fees and advertising. It would also assume all liabilities. Any profits earned during the first five years will be re-invested into the program, say city officials.

If the business is unable to fulfill its contract, the assets revert back to the city.


Read it in full here.