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A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

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Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#91

Post by dmd »

CalRobert wrote: post #81
wil421 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve since moved houses and jobs. Both are impossible by train or bus. They are putting bike lanes on about 40% of my commute but 12 miles each way is a bit of a stretch.

With the right infrastructure, 12 miles is about a 45-50 minute ride, for what it's worth. When I commuted from Santa Monica to El Segundo it was 13 miles and the bike averaged ~5 minutes slower than car (I was in the best shape of my life and loved starting the day that way, to boot.)

12 miles through freezing rain or snow is a bit harder, and that's the majority of the year for most in the US.

Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#92

Post by criddell »

CalRobert wrote: post #81
wil421 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve since moved houses and jobs. Both are impossible by train or bus. They are putting bike lanes on about 40% of my commute but 12 miles each way is a bit of a stretch.

With the right infrastructure, 12 miles is about a 45-50 minute ride, for what it's worth. When I commuted from Santa Monica to El Segundo it was 13 miles and the bike averaged ~5 minutes slower than car (I was in the best shape of my life and loved starting the day that way, to boot.)

At lot of that depends on where you live. Southern California has a pretty ideal climate. I'm in Austin and I can manage my 7 mile commute in the summer until the temperature gets above about 102. I'm fortunate that my workplace has a shower.

A 12 mile winter commute in some of the northern states could be pretty dangerous.

Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#93

Post by hirsin »

cortesoft wrote: post #59
frankus wrote: post #35

Local governments (at least in the US) seem to systematically underinvest in experiments like this. Things like traffic congestion have a ton of weird, largely unpredictable positive and negative feedback loops. Seattle removed its waterfront viaduct from service for a couple of weeks before changing over to the new $3.3B tunnel and traffic was mostly fine, despite apocalyptic predictions of gridlock. It's not entire…

> Seattle removed its waterfront viaduct from service for a couple of weeks before changing over to the new $3.3B tunnel and traffic was mostly fine, despite apocalyptic predictions of gridlock. I think this is not really capturing the full impact. This could have been caused by people choosing not to travel as much, and we would have to measure the economic impact of the reduced travel. Are people not visiting local…

The opposite likely occurred re: local businesses. People stayed home in Renton and spent money locally instead of spending it in Seattle.

Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#94

Post by Steltek »

adrianpike wrote: post #48
dsfyu404ed wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Local governments are generally paralyzed by a fear of being liable if it somehow goes sideways. Of course they cling to the status quo for dear life.

Exactly! In my day job, a lot of our customers are small to medium governments, and their primary decision points are around risk exposure. We've managed to set up our government to optimize for avoiding possible downsides instead of innovating and making the status quo better.

Defaulting to caution and conservatism in local government doesn't sound entirely bad. It's too easy to bring the power and authority of government down with unintended consequences on disadvantaged people. Think abuse of eminent domain or similar.

However, I don't think this argument applies to cars, which are not people.

Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#95

Post by zbrozek »

wil421 wrote: post #77
nightfly wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For years I commuted by train/bus to school/work until I could afford (the extra $200ish per month) to switch to driving to claw-back an hour of time I spent commuting each day. If traffic devolved to the point that I wouldn't be able to drive to work anymore I /would/ adjust, but I'd be generally less happy for it.

I’ve since moved houses and jobs. Both are impossible by train or bus. They are putting bike lanes on about 40% of my commute but 12 miles each way is a bit of a stretch.

12 miles is totally doable. An e-bike can help make it more doable if it's not already doable for you.

Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#96

Post by nybble41 »

g_sch wrote: post #86

This concept would make a fun (thought) experiment for a street in the US. Imagine a car parked curbside in a city street somewhere in the US. No one complains, because this is how everyone expects street space to be used - as storage for private cars. Maybe there's a flatbed trailer attached to this car. Now add bike racks to the flatbed trailer. Next, add a stairway or a ramp. Then, gradually lower the trailer a li…

In my area you'd be in violation of local parking ordinances after the second step. Trailers, or vehicles with trailers, are only allowed to park alongside the road for a few hours at a time.

Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#97

Post by dancek »

Johnny555 wrote: post #84
frankus wrote: post #35

Local governments (at least in the US) seem to systematically underinvest in experiments like this. Things like traffic congestion have a ton of weird, largely unpredictable positive and negative feedback loops. Seattle removed its waterfront viaduct from service for a couple of weeks before changing over to the new $3.3B tunnel and traffic was mostly fine, despite apocalyptic predictions of gridlock. It's not entire…

I don't think something like this would be that successful in the USA - it's not lack of parking that keeps most people from riding, it's lack of protected bike lanes (or other "safe" routes), and lack of cultural acceptance of biking. Plus, open, street parking isn't that safe in a lot of cities, if I could ask for some specific parking infrastructure, I'd ask for lockable bike lockers... though I'd rather see bike…

Is the problem with open parking stealing bikes, stealing parts or breaking bikes?

The obvious safety strategy is to have a bike of lesser value with better locks than what's available nearby. But I also ponder what it would be like to own a really valuable bike. Do people steal handlebars or something, because that would make sense to me? Or is vandalism the bigger issue?

Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#98

Post by Steltek »

filoleg wrote: post #63
alkonaut wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why they need to be pushed into having lofty goals like reducing traffic/emissions, improving public health and so on. And then they should be held to those goals, forcing them to take risks and spend. What I hear all the time with programs like this (where politicians almost have the opposite problem) is basically this type of (slightly made up) media dialog: “won’t it be dangerous to force children to ride…

>What I hear all the time with programs like this (where politicians almost have the opposite problem) is basically this type of (slightly made up) media dialog: “won’t it be dangerous to force children to ride bikes from age one?” >“Yes, but if we are to meet the emission goals by 2025 we have no choice”. Yeah, I don't think that you will succeed in convincing any parent with this kind of argument. Getting their kid…

As a parent in this exact situation, my reason is not primarily climate change (although it's high up on the list); it's about fostering independence and confidence. I'm pissed off that it's families and cyclists that somehow bear the enormous responsibility for improving driver behavior and justifying road infrastructure.

We admit that our streets are by default "never safe" and then shrug and walk away.

Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#99

Post by lazyasciiart »

dancek wrote: post #97
Johnny555 wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think something like this would be that successful in the USA - it's not lack of parking that keeps most people from riding, it's lack of protected bike lanes (or other "safe" routes), and lack of cultural acceptance of biking. Plus, open, street parking isn't that safe in a lot of cities, if I could ask for some specific parking infrastructure, I'd ask for lockable bike lockers... though I'd rather see bike…

Is the problem with open parking stealing bikes, stealing parts or breaking bikes? The obvious safety strategy is to have a bike of lesser value with better locks than what's available nearby. But I also ponder what it would be like to own a really valuable bike. Do people steal handlebars or something, because that would make sense to me? Or is vandalism the bigger issue?

People steal wheels, handlebars, bells, lights, bike racks and seats.

Re: A “bike platform” that temporarily swaps one car parking space for ten bicycles

#100

Post by saikit »

vonmoltke wrote: post #87
saikit wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The locals in the US are militant against anything that reduces street parking in their neighborhoods. See 14th street bus lanes in NYC. https://www.amny.com/transit/14th-street-busway-lawsuit-1.33...

I don't see any evidence of that in the article you posted, other than the opinion of one of the plan's supporters.

You can read all about the group that's against the plan. https://www.14thstreetcoalition.org/
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