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New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

mapzen.com

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Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#101

Post by icebraining »

rconti wrote: post #77

NB: "Hybrid" bike in this context (probably) means a city/commuter bike, not an electric/human hybrid. "Hybrid" bikes used to describe upright bicycles with flat handlebars like a mountain bike, but less aggressive and narrower tires more suited to commuting than to trails. These days the industry is calling them "fitness bikes"; one presumes to avoid confusing people who think of "hybrid" as meaning battery-powered,…

Decathlon (one of largest sports retailers in Europe) still calls them Hybrid bikes.

Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#102

Post by agumonkey »

protomyth wrote: post #87
agumonkey wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"mechanical sympathy"

It is amazing how folks have to plan when their vehicle is ‘non-optimal’. For the almost opposite effect, I had a Ford Ranger (passed unwillingly to me) that even with 700lbs of weight on the back axle and good winter (non-stud) tires sucked in winter. I was very careful about my route anywhere.

Allow me to extrapolate wildly: progress considered harmful ?

Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#103

Post by protomyth »

agumonkey wrote: post #102
protomyth wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is amazing how folks have to plan when their vehicle is ‘non-optimal’. For the almost opposite effect, I had a Ford Ranger (passed unwillingly to me) that even with 700lbs of weight on the back axle and good winter (non-stud) tires sucked in winter. I was very careful about my route anywhere.

Allow me to extrapolate wildly: progress considered harmful ?

Well, progress of time considered harmful. Also, poor design will accelerate that quite a bit.

Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#104

Post by boxcardavin »

celticninja wrote: post #94
boxcardavin wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I daily a Felt Nine E-20, it's a mountain bike with front suspension. I also have a Cube 400 and a Juiced u500 cargo bike. I recommend spending $3k on a bike with a Yamaha or Bosch motor, it's easy to justify that crazy price if you look at the money you'll save in gas/payments/gym expenses. Most importantly, I enjoy my commute now and I feel like a part of the city in a way that car commuting doesn't give you. Also,…

One of the benefits of cycling to me is the work out that I get twice a day commuting to work. Doesn't the e-bike take the work out of cycling?

No, I still expend enough power to keep my heart rate at ~160bpm during my ride, but now I cut my commute time in half and I ride more than twice as often.

Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#105

Post by abalone »

zten wrote: post #76
abalone wrote: post #68

I happen to know those intersections. They could have improved that wiggle route simply by rating the intersections. I'm not sure but it looks like they were not doing that. The old route crossed two stop signs and did a left turn at a traffic signal. Left turns at traffic signals really suck. The new, proper wiggle route is two left turns and a right turn, all at stop signs. Left turns at stop signs are not that muc…

Only tangentially related to your post, but, two new traffic lights are being installed on the Wiggle. Haight is getting nine new lights, two of which are at Scott and Pierce. Maybe people will wiggle slightly differently to avoid the left turns at the lights.

Yeah, the SFBC (SF Bike Coalition) is not super happy about those lights. Better for the bus, which is good, but "will also cause delay for pedestrians and bicycle riders."[1]

There's no good way to avoid them westbound, but we can be certain eastbound wiggle traffic will start taking Page to avoid the left turn at the Haight & Scott traffic light. And that's going to stress the notorious Scott & Page intersection even more. They're currently adding pedestrian safety improvements.[2] We'll see if it's enough.

Unless.. I wonder if timed bicycle signals would help make the traffic signal routes preferable. Not sure if it would work, but that would be a dream.. just flow through the wiggle unimpeded. I can't tell if they're considering it.

[1] https://www.sfmta.com/projects-planning/projects/wiggle-neig...

[2] https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/projects/2017/Wigg...

Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#106

Post by agumonkey »

protomyth wrote: post #103
agumonkey wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Allow me to extrapolate wildly: progress considered harmful ?

Well, progress of time considered harmful. Also, poor design will accelerate that quite a bit.

heh, don't get me started on this.

To go back to the first point there are issues with too much progress. It makes us lazy. Not enough and we might suffer. The balance is important.

I remember one anecdote about Northern African culture. They don't mass produce tech, instead they go with the flow and find solutions on the spot, by the means of a few tools. They say it's smarter to do it this way (maybe, maybe not), surely it keeps your mind creative.

Also, in dev circles, having too much compute power makes your solutions bad. Because you can just ignore the innefficiencies. Plus it's self feeding through the hardware market (more bloat, more sales)

Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#107

Post by celticninja »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #99
celticninja wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the benefits of cycling to me is the work out that I get twice a day commuting to work. Doesn't the e-bike take the work out of cycling?

An ebike is just a lowpass filter for hills. Does a flatter route take the work out of cycling?

My route to work is flat, so if I get an assist on the flat then I get less of a workout.

Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#108

Post by rconti »

icebraining wrote: post #101
rconti wrote: post #77

NB: "Hybrid" bike in this context (probably) means a city/commuter bike, not an electric/human hybrid. "Hybrid" bikes used to describe upright bicycles with flat handlebars like a mountain bike, but less aggressive and narrower tires more suited to commuting than to trails. These days the industry is calling them "fitness bikes"; one presumes to avoid confusing people who think of "hybrid" as meaning battery-powered,…

Decathlon (one of largest sports retailers in Europe) still calls them Hybrid bikes.

Sorry, I did not clarify, this has been my experience in bike shops in the US in the past few months (I had not previously looked at bicycles in some time).

Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#109

Post by rconti »

maxerickson wrote: post #83
rconti wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, first thing I noticed using MapZen is it sends me over a heavily trafficked freeway overpass to my office... when a detour of only a few hundred feet has me going over a very pleasant bike bridge DIRECTLY into my office parking lot. Will have to check out of the rest of the route vs what Google Maps has me doing now, though. I'm pretty happy with the current route but I'm new to this job so I've got a lot of rou…

Is the bridge mapped on OpenStreetMap? In the case that it is, there could be some data error that breaks routing across it.

I see it in the pretty pictures when I zoom in. I'm not sure what the colors mean. It's a dashed blue line. Openstreetmap seems to not be able to find ANYTHING when I search -- not address, not business name. Hell, if I type "google" it comes up with something in Germany. I guess I just don't know how to use openstreetmap.

Re: New and improved bike routing, with low stress options

#110

Post by dreamcompiler »

celticninja wrote: post #107
dreamcompiler wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An ebike is just a lowpass filter for hills. Does a flatter route take the work out of cycling?

My route to work is flat, so if I get an assist on the flat then I get less of a workout.

In that case you're right. I live in the mountains and my ebike makes it possible for me to bike at all.
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