Berlin's Plan to Become a City for Cyclists • Hacker News Board

Re: Berlin's Plan to Become a City for Cyclists

#121

Post by Cynddl » Thu, Dec 21, 2017, 10:57 AM UTC

masklinn wrote: post #113

Improvotter wrote: post #96

I'm from around Ghent in Belgium and study in Ghent and last year the city introduced a plan where no cars except for taxis and some public transport is allowed inside of the city centre. It's absolutely awesome because Ghent is a student city and you can get anywhere in Ghent using the bike but you can also get anywhere by car by parking nearby in an underground parking lot and walking the rest of the way. But it ha…

Louvain-la-Neuve also has an interesting take on this. Like Ghent it's a student city but it's also a planned city, and was built as a "two-levels" city, buildings sit on top of a huge concrete "slab" and topside is completely car-free, with roads & parkings downside. Not having to "burn" any surface on carspace makes the city pretty inherently walkable. One issue is I don't remember the public parkings providing ele…

I still find that Louvain-la-Neuve have failed to build a city for cyclists, but I can't pinpoint exactly why. There are very few people who bike there, almost zero bike parkings despite being a car-free city. The city is small but still, some places are quite far by foot (>30 minutes walking from one side to the other).

Re: Berlin's Plan to Become a City for Cyclists

#122

Post by _Codemonkeyism » Thu, Dec 21, 2017, 11:06 AM UTC

rorykoehler wrote: post #93

_Codemonkeyism wrote: post #72

Berlin is a very bad place for cyclists right now. The governing SPD is a car maker party, always was and always will be. Working in Wedding near my work where the SPD governed since forever there is a bicycle lane on the pavement but unmarked for a decade with countless run ins with pedestrians. After doing nothing for 50 years there was a referendum and the SPD did a 180 and painted themselves as a cyclist party. S…

Half the drivers in wedding think they're acting in Tokyo drift. You can quite safely take back roads however to get anywhere in Berlin.

A lot of streets in the old-east are cobblestone :-(

Re: Berlin's Plan to Become a City for Cyclists

#123

Post by mpweiher » Thu, Dec 21, 2017, 11:09 AM UTC

hawski wrote: post #117

paride5745 wrote: post #97

Cyclists need to be trained as well. I live in Berlin and too many times cyclists almost run me over and didn't even acknowledged the fact, just flipped the bird at me. I have never been in a dangerous situation with cars, just with cyclists.

I hate when cyclists don't yield to people going in or out of a tram or a bus. They mostly ring at you when you cross the bike lane from bus stop to the bus. Cars would stop in the same situation as this is sanctified. It happens from all the places next to Hauptbahnhof and it infuriates me, because there are far more passengers than cyclists. I know that is because cyclists want to maintain inertia, but it's just ru…

Hmm...would you simply walk across the busy street in front of the Haubptbahnhof and expect the cars to stop for you?

Or would you take the overpass, or wait at the traffic light?

Definitely someone is being rude in the scenario, I don't think it is the cyclists. (And no, you are not allowed to cross a street just because a bus stopped).

Re: Berlin's Plan to Become a City for Cyclists

#124

Post by icebraining » Thu, Dec 21, 2017, 11:16 AM UTC

jdietrich wrote: post #34

SirLJ wrote: post #6

I hope they install a lot of showers...

Cycling doesn't need to be any more strenuous than walking. It keeps you much cooler than walking, because the higher speed creates a windchill effect if you're lightly dressed. People from non-cycling cultures tend to think that cycling is inherently hot and sweaty, but that's completely inaccurate. It's perfectly comfortable if you ride at your own pace rather than busting a gut in an effort to keep up with traffic…

Maybe if you're a good cyclist, but I can't cycle uphill as slowly as I can walk and still maintain good balance.

Re: Berlin's Plan to Become a City for Cyclists

#125

Post by lovemenot » Thu, Dec 21, 2017, 11:33 AM UTC

nihonde wrote: post #77

ekianjo wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Poor example though. There is plenty of car traffic in Japan about everywhere, and parking yout bike is not free at all. And cyclists are super dangerous here, not respecting any rule on the road. I was almost hit by bikes going in the wrong direction several times. And mamachari riders are no exception. they speed up on the sidewalks without any regard for pedestrians.

Not my experience, but I don’t doubt yours in the slightest.

Me neither. I wonder where ekianjo has lived.

Re: Berlin's Plan to Become a City for Cyclists

#126

Post by lagadu » Thu, Dec 21, 2017, 11:33 AM UTC

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #14

The cities mentioned as being great for cyclists are Copenhagen and Amersterdam, and now Berlin is trying. What is interesting is that the countries these cities are in Denmark, Netherlands, and Germany have fertility rates of 1.7, 1.7, 1.5 births/female [0]. In other words, people aren't having that many children. When transporting children, cars become a whole lot more convenient than bicycles. You don't have to wo…

I take it you've never been any significant amount of time in Copenhagen. There a bicycles for transporting children that are made to transport up to two children, usually up to 3-4 years old, after that they can cycle themselves so I've never heard about it being an issue because the eldest will usually be old enough to cycle.

edit: I guess you could increase that to 3 children if you attach a bike trailer, but those aren't very popular here.

Re: Berlin's Plan to Become a City for Cyclists

#127

Post by rorykoehler » Thu, Dec 21, 2017, 11:40 AM UTC

_Codemonkeyism wrote: post #122

rorykoehler wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Half the drivers in wedding think they're acting in Tokyo drift. You can quite safely take back roads however to get anywhere in Berlin.

A lot of streets in the old-east are cobblestone :-(

That's why i ride mountain bike with slicks in Berlin. Not the most comfortable on the cobbles but it's workable.

Re: Berlin's Plan to Become a City for Cyclists

#128

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Dec 21, 2017, 11:41 AM UTC

SirLJ wrote: post #27

toomuchtodo wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is how I plan on transporting my two kids by bicycle when they're a bit older (electric cargo bike): https://yubabikes.com/ Disclaimer: no affiliation/promotion/etc

Try doing the same during the winter in the northeast or central US

[deleted]

Re: Berlin's Plan to Become a City for Cyclists

#129

Post by Fnoord » Thu, Dec 21, 2017, 11:42 AM UTC

smueller1234 wrote: post #109

laingc wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compared with other countries I’ve lived in, Germany is a dream for cyclists. Of course, I haven’t cycled in very many countries even within Europe, so it may well be that Germany is not so great in the grand scheme of things - I couldn’t tell you.

As a German having lived in the Netherlands for many years: the Dutch win in this discipline hands down. Bike lanes that seem like an Autobahn sometimes. Very aggressive policy to try to discourage cars at all in at least Amsterdam. Everyone knows cyclists kind of have the right of way (mostly because they seem to ignore the danger of playing chicken with a car). I've lived in two major cities in NL and seen a few ot…

And the Prime Minister of The Netherlands (Mark Rutte) goes to work in The Hague with..? A car? Nope, a bicycle.

Re: Berlin's Plan to Become a City for Cyclists

#130

Post by lagadu » Thu, Dec 21, 2017, 11:49 AM UTC

always_good wrote: post #40

woodpanel wrote: post #11

Well, hopefully by the time this plan is realized Berlin cyclists will have developed things like respect, manners and a basic concept of not being the most important thing on the road. While its true, that car priorization pushes pedestrian‘s quality of life down - the idea that pedestrians aren‘t as pushed by road rage cyclists is wierd. For pedestrians Cars at least are identifiable (via license plates), can be sl…

These kinds of posts are downright bizarre to me. The only explanation I can see is if you've never had to walk nor bike around, only drive, and only talk to other people who also grumble "fucking cyclists" when they realize they have to share the road with them. > German car owners fear nothing more than damages Well, cyclists and pedestrians have to fear bodily injury from all collisions. You yourself admit that au…

I hope you'll forgive me but your post shows a lot of ignorance. I live in Copenhagen, I cycle every day and drive nearly every week. Berlin is hell and I dread driving and cycling there every single time I visit. I swear half the cyclists there would lose their driver's licenses when cycling here, the sheet unpredictability and complete disregard for driving rules (the same that cars follow, I swear they behave like they don't apply to them) are incredibly dangerous.