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    The Last Mile

    By Donal on Sat, 06/04/2011 - 10:42pm | Technology

    I like to promote cycling, but The Infrastructurist notes that in many cities it isn't even safe to walk next to the roads much less to bike in traffic: 

    Speaking of walking, Transportation for America recently released a frightening pedestrian safety report called Dangerous by Design 2011. The study states that more than 47,000 pedestrians died in the United States between 2000 and 2009. T4America writes that most of the deaths occurred on roads that, as the title suggests, are “dangerous by design, streets engineered for speeding traffic with little or no provision for people on foot, in wheelchairs or on bicycles.”

    While New Yorkers push back against bike lanes and bike sharing, Hangzhou, China realizes that giving everyone cars is not the answer. According to Cyclelicious: 

    Hangzhou’s bike share with 50,000 bicycles at 2,000 bike kiosks and an astonishing quarter million trips is operated by the city public transportation agency. Near the city center, bike share locations are spaced about a thousand feed apart, and Hangzhou bike share is so popular “I don’t think there is anywhere you can stand in Hangzhou for more than a minute or two where you wouldn’t have a Hangzhou Public Bike go past you,” says Bradley Schroeder of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy.

    Because Hangzhou’s bike share is integrated into public transit, bus fare also gets you 90 free minutes on the bike. It looks like they use a smart card system to rent the bikes. Maybe this is something SFMTA should consider for their proposed $7 million San Francisco Bay Area regional bike share?

    I'm happy with my folding bike, but if Baltimore had this sort of bike share everywhere, I almost wouldn't need to own a bike. In watching, The Biggest, Baddest Bike-Share in the World on Streetfilms, below, one notices that the commuters ride comfortably rather than risking safety for speed. I see bike commuters in traffic trying to go as fast as possible, cutting between cars and frankly pissing everyone else off. Do we need high speed everything?

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    Comments

    In Holland, which has to be the most bike-friendly country in the world, they have actually lanes separated by median strips for bikes. And the traffic lights have signals just for the bikers.

    Yes, bikers need to obey the rules of the road. The regular breaking of these rules may be a holdover from a time when very few people rode bikes to get somewhere and weren't really a factor in the composition of "the traffic."


    by Peter Schwartz on Sun, 06/05/2011 - 8:10am

    Washington DC started a bike share program a year or two back.  The first incarnation of the bikes were a huge a failure, though I am not sure why.  The new ones are everywhere and are being used by tourists and local alike. 

    As DC's experience is replicated in other cities across the country, Nashville has started a pilot program that is a "rental" situation like DC, I feel like this could be a real movement for both getting around as well as our every-increasing health problems.

    I love two bird, one stone solutions.


    by jasonmillerdc on Sun, 06/05/2011 - 10:14am

    I read that Smartbike only had ten stations and 120 bikes, and only managed one ride per bike per day. Capital BikeShare has 110 stations and  1100 bikes. I'm guessing there is a critical size to get people used to relying on the bikes.


    by Donal on Sun, 06/05/2011 - 11:29am

    Do we need high speed everything?

    New to America? Yes, yes we do. And chrome ... and racing stripes. I'm seeing multiple problems with these Chinese contraptions already.


    by kgb999 on Sun, 06/05/2011 - 1:44pm

    In Germany, many of the old train routes that have been disbanded are have been and are being converted into bike paths. And where the trians are still running, there are bike paths that run parallel. I use the one from Kyllberg to Gierolsten all the time. It's flat and scenic as well as a good workout...1 to 3 mile sprints between bergs with a +/- 1% to 2% grade. As for the open road, everyone gives you 3 or more feet of separation. That's because the Courts are a no nonsense type and read the letter of the law strictly. And penalities are severe so as to enforce the law will be obeyed regardless of the circumstance. By the same token, bicyclists follow the same rules as autos and can be fined for infractions as if they were an auto too.


    by Beetlejuice on Sun, 06/05/2011 - 3:15pm

    Here they have "Rails to Trails," but they are largely for recreational use.


    by Donal on Sun, 06/05/2011 - 3:23pm

    They have that too. I normally ride along side the Kyllburg route in case something happens and I need to catch a ride back to my car. In fact, I can ride the bike to Kyllburg, catch the train to Trier then take the bike paths along the Mosel down to Cochem and back. And if I decide to call it a day, I can just hop the nearest train back to Trier and then the one home.


    by Beetlejuice on Sun, 06/05/2011 - 3:33pm