February 2012
5 posts
The Problem With Urban Cross Road Junctions in...
So as 2000 cyclists ride to parliament last night and our MP’s spend 3 hours today discussing cycle safety (or the lack of) in the UK, I still believe strongly that it’s the road junctions that are the major problem with bicycle transport in this country. Get the junctions right, and everything else falls into place.
If you look at a typical through route or “main road” in...
How To Build Your Way Out Of A Death Trap
The members of the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain believe that high quality cycling infrastructure that is separated from motorised traffic by a curb or verge is the way to fix the dangers of our road network for vulnerable road users.
The reasons for this are many fold, but the most obvious is that if a 120 lbs of human on a bicycle is put in a place where 4800 lbs truck can’t get to...
Traffic flow in a new Parliament Square
So to continue on from Thursday’s look at the LCC’s new look Parliament Square, I wanted to look at how traffic would flow through the intersection.
Now this has nothing to do with the LCC’s design vs a purely Dutch design, as both would require a major resequencing of the traffic control lights so as to make the junction safe for cyclists and pedestrians.
In the UK, signal...
Going Dutch in Parliament Square
Today sees the launch of the LCC’s Go Dutch campaign, something which I whole heartedly support and is a long time overdue. Along with a place to pledge your support, they have two more great visualisations of how parts of London could be, one being of parliament square.
These visualisations are brilliant. They show in simple terms that anyone can understand how great our streetscape could...
Drain/curb/cycleway idea
So I was riding home in the bitter evening coldness from this months excellent Street Talks yesterday and as I was cruising (stop/starting at every sideroad) along the A316 bi-directional bikeway this idea lept into my head.
The UK hierarchy of provision for cycle infrastructure is well known within cycle advocacy circles, it outlines the type of provision that should be put in place based on a...
January 2012
5 posts
Watch
“People are saying that it’s moving from the idea of the dream home, it’s the dream neighbourhood.”
Bow Roundabout
So you’ll of course know that this week TFL have released a video of how they plan to make Bow roundabout safe for cyclists.
The problem is, as you can see in the video but which isn’t mentioned in the accompanying text, all that’s changed is that cyclists now have a red light to stop them entering the ASL when the motor traffic has a green light. And when cyclists do have a...
MSP Jim Hume on sustainable transport →
Making walking, cycling and low carbon transport a priority will reduce emissions in Scotland, helping us to achieve our internationally renowned climate change targets. This kind of travel is not only good the environment but is good for communities.
Let’s Visit a Car-Free Village, Built from Scratch →
In the 1980s two brothers, Jan Berggren and Krister Berggren, founded a company to build a new community next to the town of Hjärup. With the help of two architects, they created a plan for a village based on the medieval villages of the Lund plains and the Hanseatic towns on the coast of the Baltic and North Sea.
Campaign for Sustainable Safety →
David Hembrow and Marc Wagenbuur have a great final piece on why Sustainable Safety should be the goal of road safety campaigners in the UK and I’d recommend everyone read it.
Marc then goes on to explain the Dutch approach to road design, known as Sustainable Safety, doing a much better job than I tried to do back in September.
The main objectives of this vision are preventing severe...
December 2011
8 posts
Outrage at 0% fare rise for cyclists →
Rail passengers and car drivers were today outraged by the unfairness of the transport system, as it was annouced that cycling fares would rise by a paltry 0% in 2012, remaining at £0.00. Rail fares are to rise by 5.9% in January, while petrol prices remain as high as drivers’ stress levels.
Personal Rapid Transit
I’ve always been a fan of the idea of Personal Rapid Transit. For those who don’t know, PRT is a kind of driver-less taxi system on rails, somewhere halfway between a metro system and a private minicab.
People don’t like public transport, they don’t want to sit or stand in a confined space with a bunch of strangers, they like cars, the convenience, the personal space, and...
Boston's strange "pedestrian" zone →
A great comparison of pedestrianisation done in the UK and in the Netherlands by David Hembrow.
Why Cycleways Are Safer Than No Cycleways
When it comes to the idea of separate cycleways (or cycle paths if you prefer) that run along a road but are separated from the motor traffic by a verge or line of parked cars, it has been said that they place cyclists in a more dangerous position than if they were on the road mixing with other traffic.
The argument goes something like, at a junction, a cyclist on a cycleway will be forced into a...
Walk on the wild side →
The Independent have a good piece on walkable cities, including the great following quote:
Walkability is the measure of how easy and pleasant it is to get around a place on foot, whether that’s quick road crossings; lots of routes; cut-throughs and meeting areas; housing in central areas and transport links. If a city is walkable then more people will walk. Simple. And what does a...
Watch
Cities in the modern era have been overrun by cars and trucks. Streets have been stolen from human uses by invasive street users. Not only is this method unlikely to be sustained into the future, it also robs society of some of its most important public spaces. Carfree cities are a delightful solution to many different problems at once.
The Yellow Flashing Arrow
Back in the 1980’s, the Greater London Council (which would become London Regional Transport in 1984 and then Transport for London in 2000) had it’s own plan for “smoothing traffic flow”, the introduction of a flashing amber arrow to light controller intersections.
In mainland Europe, many countries traffic rules allow for a combined vehicle turn and pedestrian crossing...
German Autobahn to be Covered with Giant Public... →
November 2011
6 posts
Watch
Air pollution in cities is a major environmental problem. Yet many car journeys in cities could easily be made by bicycle - IF the cycling infrastructure was good enough. In Copenhagen 36 per cent of the population commute to school or work by bicycle.
Top 10 Indicators of Good Urban Design →
For too many years, planners and designers focused on the highway and the car, placing it in importance above the individual person. Wide sidewalks, vegetated medians, street trees, and bulb-outs are all ways of making the pedestrian feel comfortable and slow cars down. If you want your design to have decent street life, be financially stable, and connect to people of all kinds, you need to...
The Pedestrian Loses the Way →
For centuries, pedestrians had undifferentiated dominion over both the sidewalks and the roadbed — sidewalks were not pedestrian cattle pens, but off-limits zones for vehicles. “The street” meant the entire open area, from building line to building line.
Over time, without express agreement or even acknowledgment, the streets gradually became off-limits to the unwheeled. The pecking order was...
How To Fix Our Streets: Traffic signal reform
In this series of posts I will look at quick and easy things local councils can do today to make their streets nicer places for people rather than machines.
This is the third post in the series, catch up on the previous posts on parking reform and rat-runs.
Traffic signal reform
In the next few paragraphs I’m going to try to convince you that traffic signals are the big mistake of urban...
October 2011
7 posts
Campaigners vent anger at TfL over cyclist deaths →
BBC London have this evening picked up on the next battleground for safer streets in London, in the wake of the death of 24 year old cyclist Min Joo Lee at Kings Cross gyratory, William Perrin of Kings Cross Environment has been raising awareness of the mess that is the junction and surrounding area for pedestrians and cyclists alike.
It’s great to see that the BBC have picked this up, just...
How To Fix Our Streets: Remove rat-runs
In this series of posts I will look at quick and easy things local councils can do today to make their streets nicer places for people rather than machines.
This is the second post in the series, if you missed it, read the previous post about parking reform.
Remove rat-runs
Permeability in traffic jargon is how easy it is for a mode of transport to move through an area.
When you have little...
Design For Permanent Times Square Plazas Released →
West End stores call for all-year Sunday traffic... →
“Wouldn’t it be nice if the West End was traffic free every Sunday. Why not? It works in New York, where they have lots of community events on their streets in the summer and Christmas.”
How To Fix Our Streets: Parking reform
The UK has built its way into a corner with regards to urban street infrastructure, as the motor car has become more and more affordable, our streets have been increasingly engineered to move vehicles rather than places for people.
However, it’s never too late to turn things around, in this series of posts I will look at quick and easy things local councils can do today to make their...
September 2011
5 posts
3 tags
Sustainable Safety
With the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain members off for a week in the Netherlands experiencing the great and good of Drente and Groningen, and the launch of the Dutch Cycling Embassy, here’s a little about the Dutch approach to road transport design.
The Dutch are well known for their relationship with the bicycle, but their attitude to public spaces and transportation goes much further...
16 tags
Cycle Track Lessons Learnt
I ran across this document commissioned by Portland City based upon learnings from other cities around the World when it comes to urban bicycle infrastructure. Here’s a quick summary just in case TFL are listening:
Introduction
A cycle track is an exclusive bicycle facility that combines the user experience of a separated path with the on-street infrastructure of a conventional bike lane.
...
20mph in London →
The London Transport Data blog have details on the rise and rise of 20mph zones across London over the last few years. It shows that some boroughs are really pushing 20mph zones in their residential streets (mostly in the east), while others (mostly in the west) have yet to realise the benefits for their residence.
August 2011
6 posts
Imperfect Oxford →
Cycling Mobility have a new piece briefly looking at the successes in Oxford of taming traffic and allowing pedestrians and cyclists to enter the city without being bullied off of the streets.
What is it that persuades cyclists to mix with the traffic in Oxford?
Partly, it’s the lack of car parking, especially in the city centre. Since the 1970s, businesses have not had permission to provide...
Wonderful Copenhagen →
This letter to the Taipei Times regarding an article from November last year from one of their readers would read just as well if you replace the word “Taiwan” with the word “London”.
In it, the reader makes astute comments on how Copenhagen has coaxed people out of their cars via a three pronged approach.
There have been efforts to increase the number of cyclists in...
Driveways →
On my recent trip to the Netherlands, one thing I couldn’t fail to notice is how access roads and driveways are treated. Rather than dropping curbs, the yielding traffic is always forced to travel up to the level of the cyclepath or pavement.
Mark Wagenbuur takes a look at this simple yet effective measure.
Cars are Making Us Obese →
The parallels with cigarette smoking are clear and powerful. It took many years to change attitudes, but once a tipping point was reached norms began to change very quickly. The same will be true of personal transport.
Mikael Colville Andersen
The excellent Mikael Colville Andersen of Copenhaganize was recently in Australia spreading the word of the citizen cyclist, here’s his entire presentation in four parts:
World through a windscreen? →
I want to explore one of the reasons why so many children are losing out on the opportunity to play outside in the first place: the car.
July 2011
8 posts
Cycling Lanes Create More Jobs Than Car-Only... →
The trend is similar to what we see at farmer’s markets, where people have many times the number of interactions than they do at the grocery store (all while supporting local businesses). When cyclists move through properly-designed infrastructure for bikes, they’re more likely to interact with their surroundings and spend more money.
London: The Price of Traffic
A somewhat optimistic view of transport in London in this series of documentaries.
Followed by an interesting look at Portland Oregon.
London Plan will increase traffic and pollution in... →
The Campaign for Better Transport warns that the London Plan, which sets out an integrated environmental, economic, transport and social framework for London for the next 20 to 25 years, will increase traffic and pollution levels and reduce the quality of life for Londoners.
A number of recommendations in the official inspectors’ report in May and put forward by Campaign for Better Transport,...
Close your street and let the children play! →
We Are Approaching Peak Car Use →
FastCompany have an article about Peak Car:
The growth of public transport and the reversal of urban sprawl have also played a role, as more people in concentrated areas leads to more central shopping locations. Cities have also seen the growth of a culture of urbanism, resulting in more people who enthusiastically take public transportation, walk, and ride bikes.
Shared Space in Exhibition Road →
As Easy As Riding A Bike takes a critical view of the shared space scheme being implemented in Exhibition Road.
Irking Drivers Is Urban Policy →
It’s nice to see an article on the New York Times website about urban traffic calming solutions from across Europe.
It’s a shame that the only thing they can say about London is that we have congestion charging while in Zurich:
To that end, the municipal Traffic Planning Department here in Zurich has been working overtime in recent years to torment drivers. Closely spaced red...
Pedal Powered Portland →
This interview with Portland’s bicycle coordinator, Roger Geller, has some excellent take away quotes on the provision of cycling infrastructure and the way Portland have built their way into a bicycle culture.
For cycling to have broad appeal, you have to do something different than expect cyclists to behave in a vehicular manner
I used to ride to work on a racing bike with my clothes in...