Bikes, bikes, bikes

[Pearlstreet]

What better place to put it? Great views while riding throught their city! A shame... Spend some time in Vancouver and figure out how positive this change can be. Everyone owns a bike!

[SteelTown]

Public Bike Share Transit System Implementation Plan

http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/..._2_PW13015.pdf

[thistleclub]

As well, inflating tires makes rims last longer.

Lower vehicle speeds, separated bike lanes lower risk of cyclist injuries; study
(Canadian Press, Feb 20 2013)

Some simple changes to the infrastructure of Canadian cities could go a long way towards keeping the country's biking enthusiasts safe from harm, a team of researchers suggested Wednesday.

Erecting physical barriers between traffic and bicycle lanes, ensuring relatively flat commuting surfaces and regulating vehicle speeds all have the potential to curtail cycling injuries on city streets, they said.

The findings came from a cross-country team of researchers and was published in the journal Injury Prevention.

Anne Harris, assistant professor with Ryerson University's school of Occupational and Public Health, said several previous studies have established that North American cyclists are eight to 30 times more likely to be injured on the road than their counterparts in European countries such as Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands.

The figures could not simply be chalked up to cycling volumes, she added.

"In the cycling countries of northern Europe, you see a much larger proportion of trips taken by bicycle and much lower injury rates," Harris said in a telephone interview. "We thought one of the reasons that there might be differences is because of the availability of bicycling infrastructure."

Harris and her team interviewed 690 cyclists who were injured badly enough to require a trip to a hospital emergency room between May 2008 and November 2009. The injuries came on either the streets of Vancouver or Toronto.

Researchers compared the point at which the interview subject got hurt with earlier intersections along the route that were passed without incident. The findings, Harris said, allowed the team to draw some conclusions about potential safety innovations for Canadian city streets.

One comparatively simple measure would be the introduction of bike lanes that are physically separated from the street, she said.

"Just as we know that separating pedestrians from motor vehicle traffic is a really important thing to do with sidewalks, we're seeing evidence that we need to separate bicyclists from motor vehicles with the use of segregated facilities."

Those facilities need not be elaborate or expensive, she said, adding rows of planters are often enough to provide a protective barrier between cars and bikes. Such lanes are the norm in Europe, she said, adding designated bike paths marked out only by a painted line do not offer the same degree of protection.

Regulating traffic speeds could also prevent injuries, Harris said, adding accidents were 50 per cent less likely to take place at intersections where traffic moved at 30 kilometres an hour or less.

[thistleclub]

Along similar lines...

An Explanation for the Gender Gap in Biking
(The Atlantic Cities, Eric Jaffe, Feb 19 2013)

It's no secret that American women are less likely than American men to ride bikes in cities. Some reports put one woman on a bike for every two men in the United States, and some have the ratio at a lady for every three guys. This isn't a universal condition by any stretch of the imagination; in European countries like Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands, the split is right around fifty-fifty.

In other words, American cities are doing something wrong here. Just what that something is has been the subject of debate before at Cities. Genevieve Walker has argued that making bike stores friendlier to women would be a good step toward reducing the gender gap. Alex Baca, writing in response, concluded that the task requires stronger infrastructure, convenience, and community — in short, a stronger biking environment.

New research on the subject emphasizes the importance of safety, above all, on a woman's decision to ride. Writing in the International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, a study group led by Gulsah Akar of Ohio State University conclude that "women are less likely to feel safe" on a bike than men — particularly in an area with lots of car traffic.

[thistleclub]

No budget money for new buses in 2013, so bikes it is.


Bike share coming to Hamilton?
(Hamilton Spectator, Molly Hayes, Feb 24 2013)

Hamilton is one step closer to joining 200 cities around the world with a bike share program.

On Monday at a special meeting focusing on transit issues, the general issues committee will decide whether to move ahead with the project and begin the process of finding a third-party supplier.

“I can’t see any downside really but we’ll see how the debate goes,” said downtown councillor Jason Farr.

A bike share plan for Hamilton has been in the works since 2009. The city received verbal approval from Metrolinx last year for up to $1.6 million, as part of “Quick Wins” money allotted to Hamilton for transit vehicles and infrastructure.

Bike share systems – such as Bixi Bikes in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal – give residents and tourists the option between a 24-hour pass or annual membership, allowing them to grab a bike from one of several docking stations across the city, and then drop it off at another station at the end of their trip.

According to the report, Hamilton would get up to 40 stations and 350 bikes to start, with stations along Main and King bordered by McMaster University and John Street, the harbourfront and Aberdeen Avenue.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

It goes without saying that this is a great idea. However, Hamilton doesn't have the infrastructure - i.e. bike lanes - to accomodate this initiative, does it? I'm not saying a bike share shouldn't be pursued but let's get a continuous network of bike lanes together first and then the rest will fall into place.

I'm being crusty again...sorry.

[coalminecanary]

I am all for the bike share - I think it will be a success. Our geography is perfect for it, and we'd have to royally screw it up in order for it to not attract riders. I think it will introduce new riders to the idea of using a bike as transportation instead of just recreation. It will also make us look a little more progressive and less backward. It might entice some mac and mohawk grads to stick around. It might convince some of their friends to move here. It's a perfect example of a relatively low cost investment that could pay off very big in the long run.

The presence of new riders on the streets will put pressure on the city to speed up the infrastructure improvements. We can't treat this stuff as chicken/egg. Do we wait to implement a bike share until after all the bike lanes are done? Doing as much as we can in parallel is the way to create a positive feedback loop.

The key here will be the placement of the stations. If the city doesn't screw it up, it will take the usage pattern data from the bikeshare system and use it to guide its bike route plan.

Cyclists have a way of finding the path of least resistance. The city's mandate should be to improve the routes that the cyclists already prefer, not to dictate routes from the perspective of a desk jockey. A bike share is the perfect tool to gather this data as the start and end point of every ride is logged.

A great example is the bike lane on lawrence road. It's a busy road (and crappy bike lane), but it runs parallel to gage park and a quiet residential street network. If the city put a straight paved lane through gage park for bikes, and removed a few stop signs in the neighbourhood to the east, a natural bike route would be created instead of trying to force traffic and bikes to "get along" on a car-centric street. Anyways, I digress

[coalminecanary]

One thing I must add - we need to get on with converting the non-arterial streets to two way as soon as possible. They are a huge roadblock for cyclists and this change would do far more to improve the cycling routes than bike lanes would.

The streets that don't have stoplights or yellow lines could all be done within a span of months and there's no reason not to do it other than a few whiners who might be worried about losing some street parking. My answer to them is: welcome to a real city.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

I'm sure you're right on all counts.

I don't ride my bike much anymore because I'm not interested in mixing with traffic - I'm defintely not one those extreme urban cyclists, nor am I young enough to not consider the consequences. In contrast, when I go to Vancouver, the first thing I do is rent a bike. The reason is obvious and I don't need to get into that.

I just hope the City gets this right. The populous is ready for change. Hamilton could be the Vancouver (lite) of the east; council just needs to say the word.

[durandy]

I don't know about the affordability of it. You pay $100 per year for bixi plus fees for trips over 1/2 hour; you can get yourself a decent enough bike on kijiji for the same. It seems to me like a tourist thing or for condo dwellers with lots of disposable income.

[coalminecanary]

Have you used bixi? Once you have, you'll get it.

For $100 you get unlimited bike trips and no maintenance worries. You don't have to store the bike. You don't have to lock it up when you go somewhere. The point of the 30 minute limit is to prevent people from hoarding bikes. The idea is to ride from one station to your destination, return the bike, do your business, then get a new bike and ride to your next stop. Unless a single leg of your journey is more than 30 minutes then you will never pay the extra fees. And our bixi coverage will certainly be a diameter of under 30 pedalling minutes so you'd have to go way out of your way to keep a bike for over 30 minutes.

The beauty of the system is that you can very easily do multi-mode nonlinear trips, and you don't have to plan every outing as a loop. You can start on a bixi, then take a bus, then get a ride from a friend, then take a bixi then take a cab home. If you ride a bixi to work and it starts raining, you can take transit home that day. If you take transit to work, and you want to zip out to the market at lunch, you can take a bixi. If a bunch of you are out for dinner and you want to head to a show a few blocks away, you can grab bixis. It's a great system for local utility cycling. And yes, it's also great for visitors and tourists.

The only thing bixi is not good for is longer trips. That's where bike ownership and/or regular rentals come in. I wonder if bixi Montreal has stats for how many bixi users own a bike and how many bike owners use bixi? The system is set up so that bixi versus owning your own bike they are mutually agreeable ideas.

I have friends in Montreal who own several bikes but still buy bixi for the convenience. I have also been to NYC several times before bixi and was DESPERATE for them to get a bikeshare program. Renting a bike there was cheap enough, but you had to start and stop every day at the rental shop, or else risk locking a bike up overnight and being liable for theft. Bixi there would have been bliss.

[thistleclub]

Via Emma Reilly:

Lloyd Ferguson and Maria Pearson move to refer bike-sharing report back to staff for more info about legal liability #HamOnt

Referral motion passes. Bike-sharing issue will come back to GIC in late March #HamOnt

[CaptainKirk]

Originally Posted by coalminecanary

Have you used bixi? Once you have, you'll get it.

For $100 you get ...

Great, informative post!

Thanks!

Sounds great!

[durandy]

hmm, interesting. If they put one near my house I might just be convinced.

[coalminecanary]

I can't believe they sent this back for fear of liability risks. Other cities are doing this RIGHT NOW. Would it be that hard for them to trust that it is entirely possible to do this without all of the nightmares they are worried about? Do they think there are no thieves, vandals or lawsuits in Montreal?

This council is utterly impotent. It's no wonder nothing has happened in this city for 30 years.

[mattgrande]

They could've called any of these cities to find out that information, but instead it's pushed back to staff and pushed back another month. This city is so frustrating sometimes.

[SteelTown]

They'll approve it just going to take 30 more days to wait. It's free anyways.

[coalminecanary]

Originally Posted by mattgrande

They could've called any of these cities to find out that information, but instead it's pushed back to staff and pushed back another month. This city is so frustrating sometimes.

how duz phonez werk?

[Jon Dalton]

I don't get the concerns over the 'optics' of this. Does it look bad because the system will only serve downtown and the west end? By that logic we should never put infrastructure anywhere. Or is just so offensive to see any money being spent by anyone on non-automotive infrastructure when our potholes are not being fixed?

[thistleclub]

Velodrome will now cost nearly $63 million
(Canadian Champion, Julia Le, Feb 26 2013)

The early construction of roads and rise in site work has increased the price tag of Milton’s velodrome.

According to a Town of Milton report presented to town council Monday night, the project is now estimated at costing nearly $63 million, which includes $56 million to construct the velodrome.

In a presentation, the Town’s Community Services Director Jennifer Reynolds described the scope of the project to councillors, explaining how the budget has been updated to reflect changes in the plan.

The original plan had the velodrome being built near Dymott Avenue and Tremaine Road, but has since been revised to erect the 154,000-square-foot facility at a better suited long-term location further west and slightly to the south of Dymott, she said.

“The new location did require the extension of Louis Saint Laurent (Avenue) and the construction of Pan Am Boulevard,” said Reynolds, adding that the road segments were built earlier than anticipated, but will be critical to the development of the Milton Education Village.

She said those roads are being funded through development charges. As the surround lands are developed the cost of the roads will also be recovered from future developers.

The amendments, which will be funded through development charges from recreation facilities, include sufficient change rooms for cycling and community users and an infield capable of holding three basketball, four volleyball or nine badminton courts. The facility will also include a bike repair shop, a bike retail shop, a café, multipurpose room, office space, fitness and conditioning facilities, a walking/jogging track and non-cycling related storage.