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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

#221

Post by adrianN »

wozniacki wrote: post #188
lacampbell wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My pet armchair theory is because driving a car is the one time a lot of human beings feel powerful. Where I live (provincial New Zealand) car traffic is slowed down just as much by tractors moving from farm to farm as it is by cyclists. Yet I never hear people tell me their elaborate fantasies about murdering tractor drivers. Why? Because it's not a realistic fantasy - the tractors are bigger than them. If you work…

I beg to differ. The problem-cyclists everyone has at one time or the other, encountered have this air of entitlement - not dissimilar to Prius drivers who are known to be some of the worst drivers on the road [1][2] - that their chosen mode of conveyance is morally superior to other modes and so they're owed certain privileges like being not held to the same degree of responsibility for flouting traffic rules. [1] T…

Cycling is morally superior to driving a car alone as an able bodied person. Cars pollute a lot and they and their infrastructure take up a lot of valuable space in cities.

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

#222

Post by PeterStuer »

mrmanner wrote: post #135
Johnny555 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not as helpful as bike lanes that let you bike there safely. To get to my previous employer, I had to bike across a freeway overpass with exits/entrances and high speed traffic, and then ride along a two lane road (35mph posted speed, 45-55mph actual speed) with no shoulder. Despite being an avid biker and living only 4 or 5 miles away, I only biked there a handful of times, dealing with traffic was too scary. There…

The basic idea of “experimentation is good” holds for bike lanes as well — before making a permanent strategy decision for an entire city they could try painting bike lanes in a neighborhood or for one commute where people are willing to try biking. When it works out, it’s easier to convince car people that they’re better off when there are fewer cars on the road even if the road is smaller.

Wrong. A painted bike lane provides no sense of security, and is for the most part completely ignored by car drivers. You can use temporary solid barriers, concrete or those water fillable plastic ones, or bolted posts instead. Anything that atleast damages a car on impact really. However, a switch to cycling needs to be systemic and can take a fairly long time, so I'm not sure how a limited and 'one street' experiment would fit unless you are just incrementing on an already well established cycle lane network.

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

#223

Post by tomcam »

steelframe wrote: post #216
lacampbell wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My pet armchair theory is because driving a car is the one time a lot of human beings feel powerful. Where I live (provincial New Zealand) car traffic is slowed down just as much by tractors moving from farm to farm as it is by cyclists. Yet I never hear people tell me their elaborate fantasies about murdering tractor drivers. Why? Because it's not a realistic fantasy - the tractors are bigger than them. If you work…

> I'm a long time cycle commuter relucantly turned auto-commuter. I just made that transition last month after getting hit by someone driving a truck while I was on my way to the bike trail. In the report the police lied and said I changed lanes by crossing a broken white line. The motorist and I were in the same lane, and there isn't even a broken white line on the road. If I can't safely make it just half mile to t…

I ask this out of genuine curiosity, and with respect. I am a guy who has had several unpleasant dealings with police. But what could they gain by lying in their report?

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

#224

Post by egil »

CapricornNoble wrote: post #207
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…

In Japan the cyclists ride on the sidewalk, and use little bells that the entire pedestrian population is conditioned to understand means "move over please, I'm coming through". I've found bike usage surprisingly high in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto compared to my experience living in/near numerous US cities (Philadelphia, Miami, St. Louis, to name a few). Why the emphasis on bike lanes in US cities? Putting unarmored peo…

The vietnamese way aligns nicely with nature. It might not matter much if you are legally right if you get maimed in a traffic accident.

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

#225

Post by Doctor_Fegg »

vonmoltke wrote: post #167
runarberg wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are buses, trains, etc. That can take you most of the way. It is super handy to be able to bike to a well served direct bus route, take the bike on the bus, and bike to the destination without having to have to change from/to an underserved indirect lane.

> take the bike on the bus You make that sound so simple. There's no way I could bring a bike on the bus or train I use to get to work.

Buy a Brompton.

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

#226

Post by adwww »

vortico wrote: post #145
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…

>it's lack of protected bike lanes (or other "safe" routes), and lack of cultural acceptance of biking. In my opinion, it's because most people live too far away from the places they need to go in order to bike there. I wouldn't want to ride a bike 20 miles a day, regardless of bike lanes or bike parking.

20 miles is very do-able on an electric bike. Decent models with 100 mile ranges are now around the $1,800 mark.

Also, people live far from where they want to go because they (and city officials) have planned their lives around easy access to a car.

You might think twice about accepting a future job 40 miles away if fuel prices doubled, or a new toll was constructed along that route.

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

#227

Post by freeone3000 »

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #153
mrmanner wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The basic idea of “experimentation is good” holds for bike lanes as well — before making a permanent strategy decision for an entire city they could try painting bike lanes in a neighborhood or for one commute where people are willing to try biking. When it works out, it’s easier to convince car people that they’re better off when there are fewer cars on the road even if the road is smaller.

Bike lanes in neighborhoods aren't as necessary as the traffic is slow and there isn't much in neighborhoods to bike to - grocery stores, jobs, and so on. This is pretty much a recipe for failure. Instead, we need major corridors to have safe bike lanes. The major route between residential and business areas is a good place to start since the scariest traffic is there.

If there's no shops or jobs in the places people live, maybe that needs to be fixed first? Putting the jobs close to the people sounds like it would solve a lot of these transit issues by needing less of it.

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

#228

Post by runarberg »

vonmoltke wrote: post #167
runarberg wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are buses, trains, etc. That can take you most of the way. It is super handy to be able to bike to a well served direct bus route, take the bike on the bus, and bike to the destination without having to have to change from/to an underserved indirect lane.

> take the bike on the bus You make that sound so simple. There's no way I could bring a bike on the bus or train I use to get to work.

That is a solved problem. The only reason you can’t bring your bike on the bus/train is because of a policy that prevents your local transit system from investing in the necessary equipment. Why are they enacting this policy I don’t know. But I think it has to do with the larger problem of city transportation policies that generally cater only to private car users at the expense of every other forms of transportation.

So perhaps you should be angry at your local policy makers from preventing you from being able to bike part of your commute.

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

#229

Post by AceyMan »

AceyMan wrote: post #206
rayiner wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The car bloc is 95% of the population and is completely rational. It makes no sense to take entire lanes out of service for the tiny minority of people who can integrate biking into their daily commute. And for most people in the US, public transit is not an option because you have a last mile problem at both the starting point and ending point. Consider, as an ironic example, the new development around DC’s New Carr…

>It makes no sense to take entire lanes out of service for the tiny minority of people who can integrate biking into their daily commute. Cart meet horse. I believe we have to "build it and they will come." It's a 'tiny minority' (well, minority) due largely to lack of infrastructure (bike lanes, sharrowed roads with modest speed limits, &c.). Then, you hit upon the other issue... >And for most people in the US, publ…

[errata] s/not just/only in ¶ starts "America needs ..." (I double-negatived myself after an edit .)

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

#230

Post by rags2riches »

lacampbell wrote: post #181
Johnny555 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Temporarily repurposing street parking is a great tactic to get people to realize how much public space is given to 1 person which could serve many I think all it would do is enrage drivers that their parking space is being taken up by cyclists. To think that they'd finally recognize how much space is taken up by cars assumes that drivers are looking at this rationally. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130212-why-yo…

My pet armchair theory is because driving a car is the one time a lot of human beings feel powerful. Where I live (provincial New Zealand) car traffic is slowed down just as much by tractors moving from farm to farm as it is by cyclists. Yet I never hear people tell me their elaborate fantasies about murdering tractor drivers. Why? Because it's not a realistic fantasy - the tractors are bigger than them. If you work…

I think it might be as simple as a driver will not generalize about drivers, because they are one. They might generalize about categories of drivers, but not all drivers. A driver that is also never a cyclist is free to generalize about all cyclists without including themselves.
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