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M II A II R II K Jan 3, 2012 9:53 PM
Safer roadway designs: How Danes make right turns


December 28, 2011

By Steven Vance

Read More: http://gridchicago.com/2011/safer-ro...e-right-turns/

Quote:
I went to Copenhagen, Denmark, in January 2011, and I was there for about 48 hours. I met Mikael of Copenhagenize, who lent me his Velorbis bike. I biked as much as possible, at all hours of the day, and I encountered a lot of the cycling infrastructure that makes it easy to bike and encourages the hundreds of thousands of trips by bike a day – even in winter! This photo essay shows one of the ways you can design an intersection to facilitate safe right turns and through-maneuevers, for both people driving and cycling, as seen in Copenhagen.

- Why do this? Separating the different vehicles and especially their movements creates a safer transportation systsem. The injury rate in Denmark is several times lower than in Chicago (or any American city for that matter), and their cycling rate is several times higher. I look forward to the complete bike crash and safety report being written by the Urban Transportation Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago for the Chicago Department of Transportation. It will have more analysis than I could do on my own for Grid Chicago.

- If we are to meet our ambitious goal of cutting injuries in half by 2015, we should take road design more seriously. I’d love it if there was a “CSI” team that would investigate each bike crash and test changes to infrastructure design to reduce the likelihood of crashes there again. The essential factors that make cycling safe are increasing the number of people doing it, and building separated infrastructure. Cities around the world find that the latter, “building separated infrastructure”, has a major impact on the former. I don’t think Chicago experiments with different designs as often as many other cities.

- Providing an exclusive signal display recognizes the differences between motor vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians, and it separates bicycles from conflicting movements. I just confirmed that if Chicago wanted to do this, it, too, would have to receive a “Request to Experiment” from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) because the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) doesn’t list bicycle signals as an approved traffic control device.

.....



A centered bike lane and right-turn lane at Augusta Boulevard and Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago. It makes you feel trapped. There have been four crashes with five cyclists along the bike lane here over 4 years, starting at the beginning of the green bike lane, and ending at the intersection.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5292/...e3504a1cbe.jpg




I’m approaching the intersection of Amager Boulevard and Klaksvigsgade in Copenhagen.

http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7154/...eebd129376.jpg




I wait behind another person on their bike in the bike through lane while drivers turn right in front of us. Look in the top right corner of the photo and you’ll see a miniature green light indicating that cyclists can turn right.

http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7158/...27d01c4484.jpg

FREKI Jan 4, 2012 12:08 AM
Home sweet home :)

kw5150 Jan 13, 2012 5:17 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick. (Post 5398189)
its hell of easy dog, if you ride on the road you need a license
Hi, stop coming into the threads just to be an a-hole, thanks.

zilfondel Jan 13, 2012 9:55 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by M II A II R II K (Post 5536067)
I wait behind another person on their bike in the bike through lane while drivers turn right in front of us. Look in the top right corner of the photo and you’ll see a miniature green light indicating that cyclists can turn right.

http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7158/...27d01c4484.jpg
This seems like it would be a problem in the USA, when many drivers just blow through red lights.

I don't think I've seen a car stop at a red light before making a right turn (right-on-red) since 1986.

Strangely, I've heard that some places in the world don't allow right turns during red lights. And not just in the UK/Australia/Japan/HK, either. :shrug:

philvia Jan 14, 2012 8:22 PM
^^^right on red is illegal in NYC. I'm sure there are other cities in the US that have similar laws.

M II A II R II K Jan 16, 2012 8:21 PM
Cycles and cents: One city sets out to prove that bikes are good for business


11 Jan 2012

By Mark Hertsgaard

Read More: http://www.grist.org/biking/2012-01-...bikes-are-good

Quote:
Look out, Minneapolis and Portland. Long Beach is making its move, aiming to surpass you as America's Most Bike Friendly City. Does that sound odd for a city whose chief claim to environmental fame has been its massively polluting port and offshore oil facilities -- a city that, like the rest of Southern California, has long been in thrall of the car? Well, all that's changing, and the change is coming from the top. Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster, who says he tries to bike 100 miles a week, actually laughs about the car addiction of his mega neighbor to the north. "I love that scene in L.A. Story where Steve Martin gets behind the wheel, backs out of his driveway, and drives to his neighbor's driveway," Foster says. "He won't even walk as far as his neighbor's house!"

Of course, there are still plenty of cars in Long Beach (though Foster himself drives an electric one), but bicycles are getting more respect, not to mention resources, than ever before. With help from state and federal grants and pressure from local cycling enthusiasts, the city government has installed 130 miles of bike trails, established protected bike lanes (that is, lanes separated from vehicular traffic by physical barriers) on major commuter thoroughfares, created bike boulevards that enable kids and parents to bike or walk safely to and from school, and installed 1,200 new bike racks. Perhaps most innovative has been the city's effort to establish bike-friendly shopping districts -- the first in the country, officials say -- engaging local merchants by showing them how, contrary to common belief, biking can actually bring more customers and vitality to shopping districts.

.....



http://www.grist.org/phpThumb/phpThu...altarrrr&w=315




http://www.grist.org/phpThumb/phpThu...altarrrr&w=315

M II A II R II K Jan 17, 2012 5:39 PM
A New Cycling Superhighway. Not in the U.S.A.


January 16, 2012

By A.K. Streeter

Read More: http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/new-...ay-not-us.html

Quote:
If you want to find an unassuming place where bicycling is a way of life and nobody makes a big deal about it, head south. The south of Sweden, that is, where the small university town of Lund has a big bicycle habit. They just don't advertise it. In Lund, 60% of the populace bikes or takes public transport to go about their daily tasks. And then there's Malmö, Sweden's third largest city - only 20 miles southwest of Lund. Malmö also doesn't have a reputation for fantastic biking. But some say it is the country's best biking city - ahead of both Stockholm, the capital; Gothenburg, the second largest Swedish metropolitan area, and a host of smaller bike-friendly burgs.

Just across the Øresund sound from Copenhagen, Malmö has always lived a bit in the shadow of the Danish capital. But in the last few years it has done a lot to take a place among the great biking cities of Northern Europe, mostly by its investment in infrastructure and pure commitment to get people on their bikes. That has paid off - cycling has increased 30% each year for the last four years, while car trips under five kilometers have dropped. Now Malmö is upping the stakes by putting up 30 million Swedish crowns (about US$4.1 million) toward the building of a four-lane super cycling highway between it and its bike-happy northern neighbor city Lund.

The Swedish Traffic Authority (Trafikverket) has already studied the feasibility of building the bicycle superhighway between the two cities. What remains is for the central government (and Lund and the smaller towns between the two areas) to put their money down. Trafikverket has planned a route for the superhighway running roughly parallel to railway tracks, which makes it easier and less expensive to build, as right of ways are already in place. The proposed bicycle superhighway would, in addition to four lanes (2 in each direction) have exits but no intersections, two types of wind protection (low bushes as well as solid fencing) periodic bicycle service stations, and would take eight years to complete.

.....



http://media.treehugger.com/assets/i...mo_to_Lund.jpg

Swede Jan 18, 2012 8:58 AM
I really like that plan, I can think of a couple more places in Sweden that could use such a bike-highway (Södertälje-Stockholm-Uppsala and Norrköping-Linköping). Here's another pic from one of the local papers (www.sydsvenskan.se)

http://www.sydsvenskan-img.se/archiv...l_1032778a.gif

"motorväg" means motorway. Not the best word-choice :P

M II A II R II K Jan 18, 2012 5:13 PM
What would a motorvag be, a plug-in fleshlight with a motor pump inside or something....

--------------------------------

Getting Around Near and Far — The Supercharged Bike-Sharing Card


January 18, 2012

By Angie Schmitt

Read More: http://streetsblog.net/2012/01/18/ge...-sharing-card/

Quote:
.....

According to Network blog The Bike-Sharing Blog, a bike sharing membership card could soon come in handy at a subway turnstile or even on a vacation in Florida. One of the hallmarks of the fourth generation of bike-sharing will be the single transportation card. A pass that is operative on the bus, metro, tram, light rail, taxis, car-sharing and car parking. We wrote about the experiment with the Mobilitätskarte (Mobility Card) of Berlin in our Bike-sharing World — June 2011 as a step in this direction. Another hallmark will be an inter-operative card between bike-sharing systems. A good example is Boulder B-cycle members can use Denver B-cycle and vice versa. In Germany, a registration, by card or telephone, with Metropolradruhr or nextbike will work in all their locations. Bicincittà is in the process of making all their bikes available to all their card holders.

- Last week, the bike-sharing service in Wuhan, China (currently the largest in the world with 5,000 more bikes than Hangzhou) announced an intent with the bike-sharing service in Haikou, China to give reciprocity to each other’s card holders. Wuhan is in central China on the Yangtze River and has harsh winters. Haikou is on a large island in the South China Sea with warm winters. According to reports by the Chinese Bicycle Association, the intent is to allow leisure and business travelers to enjoy bike riding in the tropical climate of this ocean city! What a complementary pair of services. This conjures up whole new avenues for bike-sharing. The systems of Scandanavia, such Stockholm City Bikes, could have reciprocity with Barcelona’s Bicing with less harsh winters. The Polish system in Rzeszow, RowRes, could exchange with Batumivelo on the Black Sea. B-cycle in Madison, Wisconsin could let its University of Wisconsin members enjoy spring break with B-cycle in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in the USA.

.....



Haikou Public Bicycles in Haikou, China recently formed a reciprocity agreement with bike-sharing users in Wuhan, China. Some of those types of agreements are already at work with bike-sharing systems in the U.S. More cooperation could change bike-sharing for the better. Photo: The Bike-Sharing Blog

http://streetsblog.net/wp-content/up...ic+Bicycle.jpg

fflint Jan 19, 2012 3:34 AM
Largest Used Bicycle Markets in America by Raw Volume
 
http://blog.priceonomics.com/post/16...xie-bike-index

"[W]e look at raw volume of bicycles offered for sale by city to determine which are the largest markets."

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3387895/Bike%20Market%20NEW.png

M II A II R II K Jan 19, 2012 4:29 PM
Bike Sharing: It's Global City Cycling's Gateway Drug


January 19, 2012

By A.K. Streeter

Read More: http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/bike...eway-drug.html

Quote:
Washington D.C.'s Capitol Bikeshare started small in 2010, and with little fanfare. It wasn't as large as Paris' Vélib bike share system, or as immediately popular as Barcelona's Bici. It didn't have especially bells-and-whistles bikes like Denver's B-cycle program, nor was it as comprehensive as the Chinese city of Hangzhou's bike sharing scheme.

Never mind. Capital Bikeshare has become copy editor Bill Walsh's (and a lot of other DC commuters') gateway cycling drug of choice anyway. Walsh, who lives and works in the nation's capitol, has over the last eight months become a dedicated cycle commuter, using Capitol Bikeshare for more than 90% of his commutes - causing him to christen the service a "gateway" transportation drug. In other words, once you use it, you are hooked on city cycling.

And that's good for cities. Bike sharing systems are an investment, and frequently one that is hard to find the money for in cash-strapped cities (such as Portland, Oregon), but bike sharing is far cheaper than building subways, paving new freeways, or adding bus services, and it pays off not only in reducing car traffic but also in making citizens just a bit more conditioned.

The next wave in bike sharing is to make systems friendlier - making it easier for users (tourists and city dwellers) to get on other forms of public transport when they are done cycling. In Berlin and Paris, passes can be used for different transport, and in the case of Berlin, for car parking and taxis, too. In another experiment in Munich, Mo! combines car sharing and bike sharing in a single system.

.....



http://media.treehugger.com/assets/i..._World_Map.jpg

Swede Jan 20, 2012 9:08 AM
I wonder what a combo of the München and Berlin consepts would result in after a few years in terms of peoples habits. An integrated car pool, bike share, parking, taxi & transit payment system. I like the idea.


Quote:
Originally Posted by M II A II R II K (Post 5554540)
What would a motorvag be, a plug-in fleshlight with a motor pump inside or something....
:sly: Some people are linguistically challenged (admittedly, not the average SSP:er). :)

M II A II R II K Jan 20, 2012 8:05 PM
Hippest bike cities as ranked by Craigslist


January 19, 2012

By Richard Masoner

Read More: http://www.cyclelicio.us/2012/bicycle-sales-top-cities/

Quote:
Bike riding Priceonomics researcher Rohin Dhar dug into six months of Craigslist posts to find the top cities for cycling in the United States. Rohin counted the number of used bicycle “for sale” Craigslist postings nationwide and found that San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Orange County had the most bike listings. Given the populations of these areas, this isn’t too surprising, so Rohin normalized the data for population and came up with these rankings.

For bike sales per capita, Boulder, Colorado comes out on top, followed by Bend OR, Portland OR, Eugene OR, Reno NV, and San Francisco CA.

Which is all kind of boring, so for fun Rohin filtered just for “fixies” and “fixed gear” in his dataset as a proxy for a city’s hipster quotient and discovers California is the epicenter of today’s fixed gear bike sales. The top cities for fixed gear bike listings? In order, they are:

Orange County
Los Angeles
San Jose
San Francisco
Santa Barbara
Chico
Modesto

California cities get the top seven spots in Rohin’s hipster rankings. Sacramento is at number nine, San Diego and San Luis Obispo come in at 11th and 12th. New York City places 36th on Rohin’s list. Allentown and Worcester tied for last place with zero fixed gear bike listings.

.....



http://www.cyclelicio.us/wp-content/...a-710x1024.png

202_Cyclist Jan 20, 2012 9:43 PM
M A II A II R K:
Quote:
Bike riding Priceonomics researcher Rohin Dhar dug into six months of Craigslist posts to find the top cities for cycling in the United States. Rohin counted the number of used bicycle “for sale” Craigslist postings nationwide and found that San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Orange County had the most bike listings. Given the populations of these areas, this isn’t too surprising, so Rohin normalized the data for population and came up with these rankings.
Orange County? This seems a bit surprising but you have excellent weather and limited transit, making biking a better travel option if you don't want to drive.

M II A II R II K Jan 21, 2012 12:36 AM
Making Streets Safer With On-Street Bike Parking




Video Link

Illithid Dude Jan 21, 2012 1:49 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist (Post 5557842)
M A II A II R K:


Orange County? This seems a bit surprising but you have excellent weather and limited transit, making biking a better travel option if you don't want to drive.
Orange County has been one of the most progressive biking areas in Southern California.

natiboy Jan 21, 2012 5:32 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by M II A II R II K (Post 5558066)
Making Streets Safer With On-Street Bike Parking
Cool video!

Here's a picture of an on-street bicycle coral in Cincinnati:

http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/...BikeCorral.jpg
By: UncleRando on UrbanOhio

M II A II R II K Jan 21, 2012 11:42 PM
Cold Climate Can’t Stop Minneapolis’s Surging Bike Rates


January 20, 2012

By Ben Goldman

Read More: http://dc.streetsblog.org/2012/01/20...ng-bike-rates/

Quote:
.....

The compilation of cycling-related data shows a marked increase in the number of cyclists and a steadily decreasing injury rate to go along with substantial investments in bicycle infrastructure on city streets. According to the report, some 7,000 Minneapolis residents used a bicycle as their primary mode of transportation to and from work in 2010. That’s nearly twice as many as in 1990 or 2000, when the number of cyclists stayed relatively flat. And, as a share of all commuters, it’s good enough to rank Minneapolis the number two city for bike commuting in the U.S.

- The news is yet more evidence that cold weather cities can make cycling an attractive option. In fact, according to the rankings compiled by Copenhagenize, many of the cities with the highest cycling rates are in Northern Europe and Japan. While bicyclists in Minneapolis account for four percent of commute trips, compared to 55 percent in Copenhagen, the number is growing. “I anticipate that we will see this report as a regular register of our collective bicycle accomplishments throughout the city,” Mayor R. T. Rybak writes in the report. “Minneapolis is going to keep at it, and we can all look forward to the benefits as we become a truly welcoming and world-class bicycle city.”

- The mayor is serious about cycling in Minneapolis, and he has plenty to brag about already, including the launch of the Nice Ride Minnesota bike-share system and the growth of the city’s bike network to 167 miles of on-street bikeways, a 75 percent increase from 2010 to 2011 alone. The report comes on the heels of Minneapolis’s first ever Bicycle Master Plan, adopted in July, which set ambitious goals for the growth of the city’s bicycle network over the next 30 years. Additionally, in December, the city hired its first full-time bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, Shaun Murphy. The report also highlighted the city’s steadily improving record of bicyclist safety.

- The number of “regular commuters” comes from the U.S. Census and the American Community Survey, but in 2007 the City of Minneapolis inaugurated its own bicycle count in an attempt to measure casual and recreational riders, whom the Census doesn’t capture. Since then, the number of bicyclists in the city has grown some 47 percent, from about 22,000 to about 32,000 (the number is higher because it is not strictly limited to city residents). This puts the city on pace to meet its goal of having 35,000 cyclists using its streets by 2014, a 60 percent increase over 2007 levels.

.....



As more people bike in Minneapolis, the rate of cyclist-involved crashes has decreased. Image: Dept. of Public Works

http://dc.streetsblog.org/wp-content...s-1024x422.jpg

M II A II R II K Jan 23, 2012 11:29 PM
Alliance Benchmarking Report Ranks Cities and States on Bicycling and Walking


January 23, 2012

By Carolyn Szczepanski

Read More: http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org...ite/blog/3932/

Quote:
In a new report, Bicycling and Walking in the United States: 2012 Benchmarking Report, the Alliance ranks all 50 states and the 51 largest U.S. cities on bicycling and walking levels, safety, funding, and other factors. This report comes at a critical moment, as Congress takes up the imminent passage of the next federal transportation bill, which dictates how billions of tax dollars will be spent over coming years. The Benchmarking Report reveals that, in nearly every city and state, pedestrians and bicyclists are disproportionately at risk of being killed, and currently receive less than a fair share of transportation dollars. While 12 percent of trips in the U.S. are by bike or foot, 14 percent of traffic fatalities are bicyclists and pedestrians. Pedestrian and bicycle projects receive less than 2 percent of federal transportation dollars.

- The report compiles persuasive evidence that bicycle and pedestrian projects create more jobs than highway projects, and provide at least three dollars of benefit for every dollar invested. The report also highlights the health benefits of active transportation, showing that states with the highest rates of bicycling and walking are also among those with the lowest rates of obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure. “The data points to one conclusion: Investing in biking and walking projects creates jobs, leads to more people biking and walking, and improves safety and public health,” Miller says. John Pucher, a professor at Rutgers University, emphasizes: “The wide range of environmental, social, and economic benefits of walking and bicycling, so clearly documented in this report, justify greatly increased investment in facilities and programs to encourage more walking and cycling, and to improve the safety of these most sustainable of all transportation modes.”

Other highlights from the report include:

• In 2009, 40% of trips in the United States were shorter than 2 miles, yet 87% of these trips are by car. Twenty-seven percent of trips were shorter than 1 mile. Still, Americans use their cars for 62% of these trips.

• While bicycling and walking fell 66% between 1960 and 2009, obesity levels increased 156%.

• Seniors are the most vulnerable bicyclists and pedestrians. Adults over 65 make up 10% of walking trips, yet comprise 19% of pedestrian fatalities. This age group accounts for 6% of bicycling trips, yet 10% of bicyclist fatalities.

• Bicycling and walking projects create 11-14 jobs per $1 million spent, compared to just 7 jobs created per $1 million spent on highway projects. Cost benefit analysis show that up to $11.80 in benefits can be gained for every $1 invested in bicycling and walking.

• On average, the largest 51 U.S. cities show a 29% increase in bicycle facilities since the 2010 report. Cities report that 20,908 miles of bicycle facilities and 7,079 miles of pedestrian facilities are planned for the coming years (much of this contingent upon funding).

.....



http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org...l%29_thumb.jpg




http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org...copy_thumb.jpg




http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org...copy_thumb.jpg




http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org...copy_thumb.jpg




http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org...copy_thumb.jpg

hammersklavier Jan 24, 2012 12:15 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Swede (Post 5554242)
"motorväg" means motorway. Not the best word-choice :P
"Cykelväg" I could get behind. Or cycleway or bike highway to describe limited-access roadways built for bikes.

I wonder how it would translate into other languages...? Fahrradbahn? Véloroute? Via bicicleta?


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