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Google Wants to Make Silicon Valley as Bike-Friendly as Copenhagen

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Re: Google Wants to Make Silicon Valley as Bike-Friendly as Copenhagen

#221

Post by sien »

buro9 wrote: post #82
TulliusCicero wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, you're never going to get people who live 15 or 20 miles out biking the whole way to work, but there's lots of people who live You also have to keep in mind biking as a first-mile/last-mile complement to rail transit. If there's good bike paths to get to a transit station, that effectively extends the usable radius of the station. Already, lots of people bike to Caltrain and then bike from their stop to work (I…

> Sure, you're never going to get people who live 15 or 20 miles out biking the whole way to work That's what I do every day in London. Why wouldn't you? Myself and a lot of my friends choose our housing approx' 45 minutes to an hour away from the centre of London just to ensure we've got a good ride every day. At a commuter average of 16mph, and an experienced cyclist average of 18/19mph means that 15 to 20 miles is…

It's what I've done in Melbourne AU and Canberra AU.

I've also ridden to work in Stockholm and Washington DC.

It's kind of remarkable that people say lots of these cities don't have cycling infrastructure. They all do.

The only place I've lived where I would have wanted to ride is Houston.

People just don't want to ride. I work in Canberra AU now that has great paths and many people don't have big differences to ride to work. I work with so many people who drive 5-10 minutes instead of riding. People who don't have kids to drop off.

Re: Google Wants to Make Silicon Valley as Bike-Friendly as Copenhagen

#222

Post by dragonwriter »

hyperion2010 wrote: post #62

Based on the photo at the bottom they are going to fail the same way that many other US cities have failed when trying install bike lanes. You MUST put the parked cars between moving traffic and bikes. If you do not bikers are going to get hit and doored and will obstruct turn lanes. Pretty much everywhere in Europe gets this right. Traffic -> parking -> bikes -> peds. How did the US get everything completely backwar…

> Pretty much everywhere in Europe gets this right. Traffic -> parking -> bikes -> peds.

Unless you also limit the length of the street that can be used for parking to keep it farther back from the corners, this would seem to substantially reduce the visibility of bikers to drivers (and vice versa), increasing the number of bike vs. moving car collisions.

This seems intuitively likely to outweigh any benefit from reducing the number of bike vs. car door collisions.

Re: Google Wants to Make Silicon Valley as Bike-Friendly as Copenhagen

#223

Post by sandworm101 »

jrock08 wrote: post #205
sandworm101 wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The infrastructure issue isn't so simple. In my local we are in a real estate boom. There are many groups claiming that cars will not be so prominent in the near future. That view is taken onboard by zoning people when deciding on new buildings. Rather than demand sufficient parking spots and upgrades to roads and mass transit, developers are allowed pretend that a large number of residents will bike to work. That me…

> The infrastructure issue isn't so simple. It's really not that complicated though > In my local we are in a real estate boom. Congrats. > There are many groups claiming that cars will not be so prominent in the near future. So say we all. > That view is taken onboard by zoning people when deciding on new buildings. Good > Rather than demand sufficient parking spots and upgrades to roads and mass transit, Define suf…

Upgrades to roads/transit are part of zoning decisions. Where a developer wants to go beyond the current zoning and increase density (most all situations) they are often forced to contribute to infrastructure improvements. Even where they aren't, well-run cities do not allow development ahead of the infrastructure to support those new residents.

One parking spot per unit is no longer a norm. I know of developments with perhaps one per five, with most not coming with any assigned spots. But it isn't really just the parking. It's the lack of buss stops and adequate foot crossing and the increased traffic of all forms on local bridges. Pretending that everyone will just use bikes, or that they are old and won't go out much, is a convenient excuse to bypass good city planning.

Re: Google Wants to Make Silicon Valley as Bike-Friendly as Copenhagen

#225

Post by mapt »

analog31 wrote: post #209
pbhjpbhj wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are the roads unusable? I'm guessing not; you can clear sidewalks too - central European countries seem to use a small snowplough for the pavements (ie sidewalks), the snow is ploughed on to the road, the road plough lifts the snow to a truck and it's trucked away.

Here in the US it's typical for every house to be responsible for its own sidewalk. So everybody gets it done somehow, by hand, or with a gas powered snowblower, or they hire a service. The same people who mow lawns in the summer, clear snow in the winter. Where the land is public-owned, e.g., parks, the city brings a little machine that's the same width as the sidewalks. Its main attraction is a heated cabin for the…

No. 90% of people get it done somehow. The failure of the other 10%, and inability to ride your bike more than ten or twenty houses of sidewalk down the line, stands as testament to concept of professionalized public infrastructure.

We don't ask people to shovel the roads.

Re: Google Wants to Make Silicon Valley as Bike-Friendly as Copenhagen

#226

Post by Zhenya »

kaybe wrote: post #101
TulliusCicero wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, you're never going to get people who live 15 or 20 miles out biking the whole way to work, but there's lots of people who live You also have to keep in mind biking as a first-mile/last-mile complement to rail transit. If there's good bike paths to get to a transit station, that effectively extends the usable radius of the station. Already, lots of people bike to Caltrain and then bike from their stop to work (I…

The local solution is to own two old run-down bikes and lock them at either station. You still run a risk of theft or damage, but the investment is not that big.

the real solution is to have a CHEAP bike share for last mile commute.

Re: Google Wants to Make Silicon Valley as Bike-Friendly as Copenhagen

#227

Post by dasil003 »

gamblor956 wrote: post #183
nickbauman wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in Minnesota it's common that suburban "subdivision" neighborhoods don't even have pedestrian sidewalks. And the inhabitants think that's a good thing. I cannot even.

It snows quite heavily in Minnesota, so during much of the year those sidewalks would be unusable or hazardous.

In Minneapolis, sometimes the bike paths are plowed before the roads are.

Re: Google Wants to Make Silicon Valley as Bike-Friendly as Copenhagen

#228

Post by mc32 »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #185
ultimoo wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only problem to this otherwise ideal solution is how bursting at the seams the Caltrain is. No parking at the stations, no room to sit for the passengers, and no room for the bikes in the bike car. We really need a better rail system on the peninsula.

It's supposed to get somewhat better with electrification, since they'll be able to run more trains so we'll have more frequent service. I agree though that we need good transit on top of Caltrain, and it should be separated-grade.

I'd like to see Bart or similar all the way down the el camino and encourage high density housing and offices. Create a nice long urban canyon with good transit. People could bike a few blocks off the stations.

Re: Google Wants to Make Silicon Valley as Bike-Friendly as Copenhagen

#229

Post by Natsu »

tmalsburg2 wrote: post #167
sliverstorm wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many, many people: - do not have showers at work - do not have safe routes to ride - are not experienced cyclists - average more like 10mph The discussion is not "how do we get hardcore bike nuts to ride to work". That's not hard.

I find it hilarious that Americans made it to the moon but think that commuting to work by bike is practically impossible. Meanwhile millions of people all over the rest of the world, from school children to seniors, are doing just that every single day. I moved to southern California last year (from the UK) and of course I ride my bike to work. My colleagues think that this is a really strange thing to do and some r…

Maybe for you, but I have been run over and otherwise injured while biking. The accident wasn't my fault, but I really don't like anything where my legs (and clothing) will suffer if I miss a single pothole. I do not enjoy it, either, not one iota. It was the only realistic option when I was a kid and even into college so I've done quite a lot of biking, but I got rid of the damn thing as soon as I could.

I'd much rather take public transport.

Re: Google Wants to Make Silicon Valley as Bike-Friendly as Copenhagen

#230

Post by chrisseaton »

mc32 wrote: post #228
TulliusCicero wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's supposed to get somewhat better with electrification, since they'll be able to run more trains so we'll have more frequent service. I agree though that we need good transit on top of Caltrain, and it should be separated-grade.

I'd like to see Bart or similar all the way down the el camino and encourage high density housing and offices. Create a nice long urban canyon with good transit. People could bike a few blocks off the stations.

> I'd like to see Bart or similar all the way down the el camino

Isn't that about 1000 km long?

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