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#954 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Fri Apr 23, 2010 4:55 pm
Subject: The future for roads in 2050 - Australian perspectives on sustainable transportation
fekbritton
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The future for roads in 2050

- Australian perspectives on sustainable transportation -

 

Several days ago Peter Newman of Infrastructure Australia and Professor of Sustainability at the Curtin University Sustainability Policy (CUSP) Institute was asked by the Sydney Morning Herald what the future for roads was going to look like in Australia in 2050. He gave them this:


 

 

Article freely available in World Streets today at www.WorldStreets.org

 

Eric Britton | World Streets | The New Mobility Agenda  | Paris  | +331 7550 3788| Skype newmobility 

 


#955 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Sat Apr 24, 2010 5:07 pm
Subject: radio interview with Kaj Mook, director of a Dutch bike share program:
fekbritton
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Radio interview this morning with Kaj Mook, director of a Dutch bike share program::

http://www.cfra.com/interviews/default.asp

Jackie Chow

Thanks to Jackie Chow for the heads-up for this good interview.


#956 From: Jason Meinzer <jhsmeinzer@...>
Date: Sun Apr 25, 2010 2:08 am
Subject: Re: radio interview with Kaj Mook, director of a Dutch bike share program:
jhsmeinzer
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"About 10% of our customers say they now use the train/bike combo instead of the car they had used earlier." 

...music to CityRyde's ears.

Cheers,

Jason
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jason Meinzer
COO and Co-Founder
jason@...
CityRyde – “Bike Sharing Experts"
Free Appointment: http://cityryde.setster.com
Ryder Wire Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/e23p
Reports & Webinars: http://cityryde.com/reports
Services: http://cityryde.com/services
Spark: http://sparkmobility.com
Inspire: http://inspiremobility.com
3225 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
USA Phone: +1.215.475.5224 (x201)
USA Fax: +1.215.475.5011

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On Sat, Apr 24, 2010 at 1:07 PM, Eric Britton <eric.britton@...> wrote:
 

Radio interview this morning with Kaj Mook, director of a Dutch bike share program::

http://www.cfra.com/interviews/default.asp

Jackie Chow

Thanks to Jackie Chow for the heads-up for this good interview.



#957 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Mon May 3, 2010 2:02 pm
Subject: World Streets/Monthly Report - April 2010
fekbritton
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World Streets/Monthly Report - April 2010

 

We are aware that most of our busy readers do not have the time to check into World Streets on a daily basis. For that reason we make available to our subscribers and sponsors in addition to the daily edition, a monthly summary which brings together in one place all postings and comments in a manner in which the busy reader can scan the month's titles in a few lines and make a decision as to whether or not to call up and read the full article. Time-efficient communication in an overload world.

April 2010, the month that was:
Another busy month on World Streets: 26 original articles coming in from colleagues and collaborators from Australia (several this month), Britain Canada, China, France, India, Japan, South Korea, and the US -- all of which are summarized briefly and then with a single click our available to you in the following pages.

New project: World Streets on Facebook:
We are not Facebook experts, but nonetheless it seems that this is a communications tool that might be put to work in support of the sustainable transportation agenda. So with the help of our colleague Anzir Boodoo, we have set up a first stage site/interface which you can access today via http://tinyurl.com/ws-facebook1. We invite you to have a look, use as your interest and skill level permit, and, better yet, lend a hand and help us to do better.

Latest reader map:
And here you can see where the last eighty visitors came from. Generally representative of overall pattern, but from day to day with considerable variations. Our goal for 2010: bring in all those great white swaths.



 

How to obtain a copy of the April report:

The monthly editions are available through the World Streets Forum to registered subscribers, collaborators, sponsors and others whom they invite to share these findings. The Forum provides a handy way to sign in and to make sure that you are efficiently informed in a concise manner concerning all articles and postings that appear in the pages of the journal.

* Click here to check out the Forum. (Access to contents is available to members.) To sign up - a quick e-mail to subscribe@... identifying yourself by name, institutional affiliation 1f any, city, country, and preferred e-mail or other contact information will do the trick.

Freely available in May - thanks to the Swedish Transportation Administration
To celebrate the generous support of our program by the Swedish Transportation Administration, the full April report is being made available exceptionally to anyone who comes to the site asks for it. Don't be shy. Just say thanks to the Swedes.

| editor@... | +331 7550 3788 | Skype: newmobility


Article freely available in World Streets today at www.WorldStreets.org

Discussion in New Mobility Forum.  Post to NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com

 

Eric Britton | World Streets | The New Mobility Agenda  | Paris  | +331 7550 3788| Skype newmobility 

 

.


#958 From: irene quintans <irenecqp@...>
Date: Mon May 3, 2010 7:11 pm
Subject: 200 ways to move
irenecqp
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Dear colleagues,

I summarize the results of the demonstration that took place in Barcelona last Sunday. The Municipality has called for a referendum to consult the citizenship on what to do in Diagonal Avenue: Option 'A', boulevard; Option 'B', Rambla; and option 'C', to do nothing. The lobby, media and political parties pro-automobil try to discredit the City Council approach since it removes the majority of the current private car transit. PTP strongly supports the Mayor's approach and call to vote the option 'A' or 'B'.

This demonstration has carried out in the frame of such a referendum that will take place between 10th and 17th May in Barcelona.

On Sunday morning May 2nd  2010 the platform "Diagonal for All" has represented the space consumed by transporting 200 passengers, in the Diagonal Avenue, in different modes of transportation in a historical demonstration in Barcelona.

Sustainable mobility has been tested in the Diagonal Avenue with very successful results. Thanks to more than 260 volunteers he sustainable mobility have demonstrated its enormous capacity to deal with urban congestion and improve the quality of life in the city while also reducing greenhouse gases. Thus, for 200 passengers have been required:

175 cars at a rate of 1.2 occupants per vehicle. When the vehicles were stopped they have occupied almost an area of over 2,400 m2. The vehicle queue has filled six lanes of the Diagonal Avenue. If these vehicles had been circulating they had occupied over 7,800 m2.
2 articulated buses with 100 passengers each, had had a static occupation of 120 m2. If they had circulated they would have occupied 200 m2.
1 tram with 200 passengers and a static occupation of 100 m2. If it had been in circulation it would have occupied 140 m2.
When the tram in the Diagonal circulates in a double composition it reaches a capacity of 400 passenger, with a static consumption of 130 m2 and a dynamic consumption of 240 m2.
200 people without any engine, at a rate of 1m2 per person on foot or skates and 1.5 m2 by bike.

More information in www.transportpublic.org (PTP's site)
and www.bcn.cat/diagonal   (Municipality's site)

Pau Noy
International Relations
PTP
Barcelona
+34 657742635

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#959 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Tue May 4, 2010 7:46 am
Subject: Neighborhood Bike Works (NBW) Philadelphia
fekbritton
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From: Robert Moskowitz [mailto:Robert@...]

 

Neighborhood Bike Works (NBW)

Neighborhood Bike Works (NBW) is a nonprofit educational organization in West Philadelphia that seeks to increase opportunities for urban youth through bicycling and promotes cycling as an environmentally-friendly means of transportation.  NBW seeks a self-motivated, personable and organized individual to be their Bike Church Coordinator.  The intern will be responsible for recruiting, orienting, training and scheduling a dedicated crew of volunteers from all walks of life.  The intern will have the opportunity to positively impact this small agency.  Candidates for this internship should enjoy working closely with people and be extremely well organized.  As Bike Church Coordinator, the intern will be central to the success of a volunteer-run co-op.  The culture of this project revolves around bicycles and volunteerism, and anyone who is inspired by the future role of bicycling in our cities will gain a great deal from this internship.

Dates of Employment: May 24th through August 13th
30 hours a week with a stipend.
Applications are due May 3rd by 5:00pm.
Apply through PennLink job number 735659.

 


#960 From: On Behalf Of elizabeth press
Date: Tue May 4, 2010 9:07 am
Subject: Streetfilms: new video on Minneapolis is up!
fekbritton
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] On Behalf Of elizabeth press
Sent: Monday, 03 May, 2010 19:57

 

Major Bike Mojo in Minneapolis

http://www.streetfilms.org/major-bike-mojo-in-minneapolis/

In a surprising choice, the May edition of Bicycling Magazine named Minneapolis America’s best city for biking. The city still trails Portland, Oregon in the percentage of commuters who bike to work (4.3 percent to 5.9 percent, respectively, according to the most recent American Community Survey), but Minneapolis has been gaining momentum.

Next month, Minneapolis will launch the largest bike-share program in the country, building on a strong foundation of extensive bike trails and a thriving bicycling community.  They're also using federal funds to double the mileage of on-street bike lanes, build more road diets, introduce bicycle boulevards, and more. Have a look and see how Minneapolis has shot to the top of America's best bicycling cities.



--
Thanks,
Elizabeth Press


#961 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Tue May 4, 2010 2:43 pm
Subject: A concise cycle strategy relevant for Asian megacities
fekbritton
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Dear Simon,

 

While it is perhaps not quite as concise as you may be looking for, nonetheless think you may find some good value in the attached by Roelof Wittink of the I-CE which will shortly appear as a World Streets article. Here it is in advance. Hope it serves you well. Roelof's coordinates.

 

Roelof Wittink, Director

I-ce = Interface for Cycling Expertise

Trans 3, 3512 JJ Utrecht, The Netherlands

tel: +31 (0)30 2304521  fax: +31 (0)30 2312384

email (general): i-ce@...

email (personal): roelof.wittink@...

website: www.i-ce.info

NGO registration KvK41265203

 

Best/Eric

 

Eric Britton | WorldStreets.org | NewMobility.org  | Paris  | +331 7550 3788 | Skype: newmobility 

 

 

---

Cycling as the catalyst for more human and sustainable transport

 

Roelof Wittink, director I-CE, April 2010

 

 

 

Introduction

 

The interest for a human and sustainable transport is growing in the public and private sector, at local, national and global level.  Our cities and our planet cannot rely on cars for our transport needs, even if they become more energy efficient or even carbon neutral. We have to create accessibility for people. With current planning and design, roads are isolating people from important destinations.  The public domain should be designed with priority for people over motorised traffic.  Apart from emission reduction, mobility with zero emission should get value.

It is the combination of a human-rights-based orientation with eco-efficiency, that will direct us to a real sustainable transport system.

 

A people oriented transport system requires out-of-the-box thinking, away from paving more asphalt and building fly over’s to cater for more and more cars. The fact that cycling as a mode of transport has gained interest at all levels in the last years, is an expression of the will to make a fundamental change. It seems that cycling represents in the best way a vision for change. The promotion of cycling was mentioned by the mayors from New York, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, London, Copenhagen, Mexico at the mayoral conference during the climate summit COP15. Cycling was the positive reverse of the negative connotation of our current system dominated by cars.  Looking at these mayors, it was as if a choir was assembled, that shared:

1.         There is an urgent need to do something completely different

2.         We have a vision and we can make it concrete

3.         We are acting now

 

The recognition that cycling has a key role to play in the transformation of our transport system, is very new. E.g. in India until only 5 years ago, the governments did not want to take cycling on board of transport policies. Now the policy is to demand that transport interventions include cycling facilities. So cycling policies emerge in the context of new approaches for a human and sustainable transport system. As a consequence there is a huge demand for innovation, to showcase practices, to transfer expertise, for capacity building, for international exchange. At COP15, the mayor of Amsterdam announced to set up a global network of mayors for cycling and the climate. Amsterdam is still the cycling capital city of the world with more cyclists than cars, with people from 6 to 90 years riding in traffic.

 

It is obvious that cycling on itself cannot deliver the accessibility people need, although all over the world between 40 and 60% of all trips people make are within a cycling distance. The combination of public transport with walking and cycling is the only strong alternative for car transport. This combination serves short and long trips in a easy way, from door to door. Both cycling as a stand-alone policy and public transport as a stand-alone policy cannot become an attractive alternative for cars. If cities accommodate a smooth and safe flow of walking, cycling and public transport and pay special attention to an efficient combined use of these moods, they will become most accessible,

 

Full text atached.

 


1 of 1 File(s)


#962 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Thu May 6, 2010 7:38 am
Subject: New tools and links for effective networking
fekbritton
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Dear Sustainable Friends and Colleagues,

 

We live in a time of not only ever greater problems and challenges but also one of fast evolving toolsets.  And in this context it has been a constant preoccupation at this end to see what we can do to make best use of the available tools for effective networking in each of the for a and discussion areas that make up the New Mobility Agenda, this forum included. We are obliged to work with the available free tools, but up until now I think we can say we have done a fair job in all this.

 

Here are three small recent steps to which I would like to draw your attention and invite your comments and suggestions.

 

1.      Direct World Streets link: First, we have just created on World Streets (www.WorldStreets.org), placed  in the upper left-hand column, a one click link which will take the interested reader right into the home page for this forum.

 

2.      Latest from this Forum: Second, under the rubric "Latest from the World's Streets" (a bit further down on the left hand column) our readers will see the title of the latest posting to our main working groups (unfortunately however for various technical reasons we do not have a link to the latest postings of the World Carshare Consortium. Oof.)

 

3.      World Streets on Facebook:  To some of you this may seem like a bit of a stretch, but after all it is 2010 and after all (again) we are losing and losing big the war of sustainable transport, sustainable cities and sustainable lives. We have some important messages to get out, and here is where we really have to make use of every tool out there which might be put to work for our good cause. Hence in this case -- and why not? -- Facebook. So just yesterday we set up our best first cut of a Facebook page for World Streets, which you can now see, join, comment and use at www.facebook.WorldStreets.org (Now let me be the first to indicate that I do not at all have a clear picture of how  this  Facebook page is going to work out. But I would be a poor friend of sustainable development and social justice if I did not at least give it my best shot.)

 

Anything we can work with here? Improve? Your views?

 

Team work!

 

Eric Britton

 

 

Eric Britton | WorldStreets.org | NewMobility.org  | Paris  | +331 7550 3788 | Skype: newmobility 

 


#963 From: Roelof Wittink
Date: Mon May 10, 2010 2:08 pm
Subject: Velo City Global Conference in Copenhagen
fekbritton
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Roelof Wittink [mailto:roelof.wittink@...]

In further reaction to Eric who referred to my article and to Carlos Pardo who referred to the handbook I-CE produced, which you may find at our web site,

I also like to promote participation at the coming Velo City Global Conference in Copenhagen.

 

see for the latest announcement, the attachment.

 

best regards

 

roelof wittink

 

 

Roelof Wittink, Director
I-ce = Interface for Cycling Expertise
Trans 3, 3512 JJ Utrecht, The Netherlands
tel: +31 (0)30 2304521  fax: +31 (0)30 2312384
email (general): i-ce@...
email (personal): roelof.wittink@...
website: www.i-ce.info
NGO registration KvK41265203



>>> "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...> 4-5-2010 17:34 >>>
Dear Simon,



While it is perhaps not quite as concise as you may be looking for,
nonetheless I am sure you may find some good value in the attached by Roelof
Wittink of the I-CE which will shortly appear as a World Streets article.
Here it is in advance (in simple text form). Hope it serves you well.
Roelof's coordinates.



Roelof Wittink, Director

I-ce = Interface for Cycling Expertise

Trans 3, 3512 JJ Utrecht, The Netherlands

tel: +31 (0)30 2304521  fax: +31 (0)30 2312384

email (general): i-ce@...

email (personal): roelof.wittink@...

website: www.i-ce.info

NGO registration KvK41265203



By the way, I am sure that he will appreciate comments and suggestions.



Best/Eric



Eric Britton | WorldStreets.org | NewMobility.org  | Paris  | +331 7550 3788
| Skype: newmobility 





---

Cycling as the catalyst for more human and sustainable transport



Roelof Wittink, director I-CE, April 2010







Introduction



The interest for a human and sustainable transport is growing in the public
and private sector, at local, national and global level.  Our cities and our
planet cannot rely on cars for our transport needs, even if they become more
energy efficient or even carbon neutral. We have to create accessibility for
people. With current planning and design, roads are isolating people from
important destinations.  The public domain should be designed with priority
for people over motorised traffic.  Apart from emission reduction, mobility
with zero emission should get value.

It is the combination of a human-rights-based orientation with
eco-efficiency, that will direct us to a real sustainable transport system.



A people oriented transport system requires out-of-the-box thinking, away
from paving more asphalt and building fly over’s to cater for more and more
cars. The fact that cycling as a mode of transport has gained interest at
all levels in the last years, is an expression of the will to make a
fundamental change. It seems that cycling represents in the best way a
vision for change. The promotion of cycling was mentioned by the mayors from
New York, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, London, Copenhagen, Mexico at the mayoral
conference during the climate summit COP15. Cycling was the positive reverse
of the negative connotation of our current system dominated by cars.
Looking at these mayors, it was as if a choir was assembled, that shared:

1.         There is an urgent need to do something completely different

2.         We have a vision and we can make it concrete

3.         We are acting now



The recognition that cycling has a key role to play in the transformation of
our transport system, is very new. E.g. in India until only 5 years ago, the
governments did not want to take cycling on board of transport policies. Now
the policy is to demand that transport interventions include cycling
facilities. So cycling policies emerge in the context of new approaches for
a human and sustainable transport system. As a consequence there is a huge
demand for innovation, to showcase practices, to transfer expertise, for
capacity building, for international exchange. At COP15, the mayor of
Amsterdam announced to set up a global network of mayors for cycling and the
climate. Amsterdam is still the cycling capital city of the world with more
cyclists than cars, with people from 6 to 90 years riding in traffic.



It is obvious that cycling on itself cannot deliver the accessibility people
need, although all over the world between 40 and 60% of all trips people
make are within a cycling distance. The combination of public transport with
walking and cycling is the only strong alternative for car transport. This
combination serves short and long trips in a easy way, from door to door.
Both cycling as a stand-alone policy and public transport as a stand-alone
policy cannot become an attractive alternative for cars. If cities
accommodate a smooth and safe flow of walking, cycling and public transport
and pay special attention to an efficient combined use of these moods, they
will become most accessible,



It is a long way to mainstream new planning and design



There is still a huge challenge to develop and implement cycling inclusive
policies.



The first need is to analyse the interest for cycling promotion. There are
different agenda’s to influence transport policies. Interesting to note that
cycling contributes to all agenda’s in a positive way.

The second thing to do is to analyse the bearer of current policies and
planning & design practices. We have to find the right match between
commitment and instruments for policy implementation. It turns out that
brave policies receive a lot of attention and rewards: the network of BRT,
cycling and walking facilities in Bogota, the Velib in Paris, the terraces
on Broadway Manhattan, the congestion pricing in London, the removal of a
fly over in Seoul. These enlightening examples have to be transferred into a
new structure of urban planning and design and this is the long term
approach that needs as much courage as the new examples. We cannot realise
sustainable transport without sustainable policies, new guidelines and
regulations, cycling inclusive investments, cycling inclusive planning and
design. 



This transformation process can be supported by impact assessments: what
does planning and designing for public transport, cycling and walking do for
accessibility, participation in society, road safety, social inclusion, the
local economy, air quality, health and well being? The current indicators
for impact of transport interventions have to be reviewed since they are
biased in favour of car transport.



Agenda’s

The interest for cycling comes from different directions, such as :

-          Disfunctioning of the current transport system, resulting in e.g.
congestion

-          The concern about road safety, which will become globally the
third cause of death if the current trend continues

-          The concern about health, which goes far beyond the road safety
problems and includes  air pollution and lack of physical exercise. 

-          Climate policies, which cannot do without a paradigm shift of
transport policies that should incorporate avoidance of the need to travel
and a shift to sustainable modes

-          The enormous costs for transport interventions if the bias for
cars continues

Interesting to note that all these directions are motivations arising from
problems.  When an interest is growing as much as is the case with cycling,
there must be other, positively stated reasons too and this is the case:

-          People want to ride a bicycle and enjoy independence, fresh air,
the ease way to go and the more direct social contact (read just as a case
the book by musician David Byrne (2010) about his trips in e.g. New York,
London, Istanbul, with references to the vision by Penalosa and others)

-          People experience e.g. through public bikes and the showcase of
city bicycles and of carry bicycles, that there is much more than cycling
for leisure and recreation; that cycling is a great way to get around
quickly and to use the bicycle for different motives, such as  social visits
and commuting

-          The interest to make cities attractive, liveable,  in which
people instead of traffic have priority and the public space is designed for
social activities: mayors are proud to present their cycling policies,
taking Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Bogota as good practices, highlighting the
change in appearance it makes to their city and the different social,
economic and ecological co benefits

-          The huge cost benefit ratio for investments in cycling facilities
(ranging from 1:3 till 1:12, ref. Promising, EU project coordinated by the
Dutch Road Safety Research Institute SWOV )



Moreover, the bicycle increases opportunities for people to participate, to
find or create jobs, to make use of services and follow education, to
recreate etc. If we take “Accessibility for all†serious, we need a
substantial share of cycling. 



What we need to do is combining the different agenda’s and make the
strongest case for cycling inclusive sustainable transport policies.



Planning principles

Most cities that start with planning for cycling tend to create only some
km’s of marginal tracks on roads where there is no obvious need to claim
more space for cars. There is still no coherence in facilities from origin
to destination and the citizens react according to the state of mind of the
institutions: “We have no idea if this will ever work, we do not want to do
any harm to the needs of cars, we hope you want to give it a tryâ€. Car
drivers and cyclists tend to do what they did and the new facilities are to
a large extent ignored. This is not very rewarding for the professionals
that introduce cycling facilities.

We have to notice that this approach is not yet professional. How different
has been the approach on the pilot corridor for Bus Rapid Transit in New
Delhi, supervised by TRIPP/IIT Delhi. The planning and design started in a
time when it was not allowed to explicitly facilitate cycling. Prof. Geetam
Tiwari decided to purse for an all inclusive planning and design for BRT,
cars, cyclists, pedestrians and even street vendors, convinced that this
would support the traffic flow in the best way. The corridor was a busy one
and very dangerous one, with on average 8 traffic fatalities per year over
about 10 km’s !! After the implementation an evaluation pointed at a number
of weak design details which were adapted. One year after, the number of
cyclists on this corridor has been doubled and there was no single fatal
accident with a cyclist.



In fact there are two approaches that work to promote cycling and the best
is to combine them:

·         Create a network of main cycling routes with safe crossings and
build additional facilities such as for parking

·         Make every (re)construction of roads cycling inclusive.



The first approach asks for substantial investments but with a high cost
benefit ratio. A long term plan for a metro pole city could demand 50-100
million dollar per year. Most cities depend heavily on funds from national
governments to invest in transport facilities. And many developing countries
ask for loans by banks to invest in transport. The donors start to get an
interest in projects when a substantial amount of money is involved. A
strategic long term program to make a city cycling friendly cannot do
without that. So cycling becomes a feasible subject for donor money if this
is needed. If cycling is valued as a zero emission mode of transport these
investments allow also for an appeal on carbon funding. UNEP has set up a
campaign in Africa to allocate 10% of road investments for safe mobility by
cycling and walking.



The second approach demands that investments for transport accommodate safe
cycling. The rule should be that all transport investments should take into
account the requirements for cycling and walking. A right approach for
integration is very cost beneficial:  the performance of mobility will
improve with the same volume of investments.

For metro pole cities, the combination of public transport and cycling is a
strong asset for donor and carbon funding for sustainable transport
policies. Safe feeder routes and easy and safe bicycle parking facilities at
bus and rail stations, make bus and rail systems much stronger. Bicycle rent
facilities are as important to facilitate an efficient door-to-door
transport. The Velib in Paris became famous worldwide. The Dutch public bike
system is oriented on chain mobility and organised by the Dutch railways.
40% of all train passengers arrive at railway stations on their bike and
they together make 1 million rides per year on a public bike from their next
train station to arrive at their final destination.   



Benefits

Cities in Western Europe that are cycling friendly show that congestion and
safety problems vanish.  TRIPP/IIT Delhi  found confirmation in India
through simulation studies. If car use is restricted in favour of other
modes, the whole traffic system is better off. The Netherlands faces a lot
of congestion on their roads but this is only the case outside urban areas.
When the Netherlands started to invest in cycling facilities, the downward
trend in cycling changed into an upward trend. The absolute number of
cycling fatalities reduced notwithstanding the growth of traffic. But on the
whole, road safety standards improved. A study in Denmark comparing cities
showed a perfect correlation between the share of cycling and road safety of
cycling. Better planning, higher use and more safety interact.



The social benefits of cycling have not been studied very well. There is a
paradox inherent in cycling promotion regarding the social benefits. Cycling
supports very significantly the livelihood of poor people. Just an example:
home care workers in Cape Town and housekeeping woman in Delhi doubled their
income when they could go by bike to deliver their services. But to make
cycling a full- fledged mode of transport, the bicycle should not be linked
only to the poor. On the contrary, it should get rid of the status as a
vehicle only for the poor as is the case in developing countries. When
middle and higher income people ride a bicycle too they create another
status of cycling. Still, the social and economic benefits can be
highlighted much more than nowadays. People are stuck, imprisoned, to their
neighbourhoods said minister of transport in the Western Cape Tasneem Essop
in 2003. Children are deprived from many development and growth
opportunities when they are not allowed to go somewhere independently and to
play in the public domain.  Social participation is so much easier with a
bicycle. And a critical mass of cycling make areas much more safe. Enrique
Penalosa, former mayor of Bogota said: “We have to make the public space
dangerous for criminals to operateâ€. 



Traffic related air pollution causes an equal volume of premature deaths as
road safety does and the lack of physical exercise due to the use of
motorized vehicles instead of walking and cycling has an impact on health
which is even greater than the impact of road safety or pollution. 



The global financial crises, energy crises and the protection of the
climate, all direct to an important role of cycling in our transport system.
Investing in sustainable modes of transport saves lots of investments and
enables spatial planning that avoids a substantial amount of mobility needs.
The climate agenda cannot do without a fundamental transformation in
transport policy and the partnership for Sustainable Low Carbon Transport
claims that AVOIDance of km’s travel and a SHIFT to sustainable transport
are as important as technical IMPROVEments.  



Indicator development for impact assessments

Traditionally the benefits of improving transport infrastructure has been
measured by performance criteria for vehicles, like improved connection,
travel time, speeds and fuel savings. The cost specifications are limited to
construction, ongoing operations and maintenance. This provides only a
limited picture on real impacts. The performance criteria are to a great
extent based on and applied to motorized traffic.

I-CE uses the travel, transport and traffic market model, to better
understand travel behaviour and analyze policy options to optimize the
benefits for people and society. The challenge for transport and spatial
planners is to affect travel behaviour to optimize social and economic well
being and control negative aspects like accidents, liveability, air quality
and emissions that induce climate change.

I-CE developed in two projects, for UNEP and the Global Road Safety Facility
at the World Bank, directions to find alternative indicators for
accessibility, safety and sustainability. For accessibility, the common
indicators are defined in terms of speed of motorised vehicles and vehicles
flow per hour resp. delays. We propose number of destinations within reach
for persons given the access to transport modes based on travel times. For
road safety, most common indicators regard fatalities and injuries per km.
We propose per 100.000 people. For the environment, common indicators are
pollutants per vehicle or passenger km whereas we propose pollutants by
100.000 people or percentage of trips for which people have the option to
choose for a sustainable mode of transport.



Interfacing cycling expertise

Road users, decision makers and professionals do have a different
perspective on traffic and mobility and a different framework to assess the
quality of provisions. Looking for the pioneers in cycling policies we find
advocates, politicians and experts as well. To know what quality is needed
for cycling, how to integrate this in planning and design and how to ensure
consistency in the implementation of planning and design principles, we have
to involve advocates, professionals, donors, politicians, experts and bring
their strengths together.



The I in I-CE stands for Interface and I-CE interfaces between cycling
expertise and policies and between cycling and development.   I-CE involves
the public and private sector with civil society,  to develop local cycling
policies and to bring the expertise and experiences gained with these local
actors to a global audience.

There is a huge eagerness to learn how to transport current planning and
design standards.  In our view, to fully exploit the potential of cycling
and cycling promotion, we need to strengthen the local, national and
international networks to learn from each other and cooperate with each
other. An important framework at global level is the partnership on
Sustainable Low Carbon Transport which demands a global coalition on cycling
to deliver inputs for programming. We need to built up expertise centres on
cycling policies and cycling inclusive planning and design.



The Dutch model for cycling and for road safety

We know that thinking in terms of the requirements by pedestrians and
cyclists, is the best way to learn about transformation of transport
policies and bring about a paradigm shift towards safe, clean and affordable
transport. This happened in the Netherlands with the design of a new road
safety policy, based on the prevention of the chance that serious accidents
can occur. The majority of urban roads have a speed limit of 30 km per hour,
cycling and walking with public transport have received lots of priority
over cars, and against 3200 traffic deaths in 1972, we suffered 720 traffic
deaths in 2009. The aim is to bring this down to less than 500 in the coming
years, which is again a challenge. The Netherlands keeps on investing and
learning, on road safety and on cycling in particular as well. On cycling it
is still investing 200 – 300 million euro per year in facilities on or
alongside the road, apart from the integrated measures which in fact have
more impact.  



Expertise still has to grow

Expertise on cycling inclusive planning and design has been built up
substantially in only a few countries. The Netherlands has not only the
highest share of cycling in transport (and at the same time the highest
density of cars per km2) and the highest level in road safety of cycling. It
has also the best record in developing cycling policies, in documenting
experiences and lessons learnt, in implementation of lessons into manuals,
in the share of cycling in transport and. I-CE built on this expertise to
deliver support and applications in a wide different context all over the
globe, in particular in developing countries.



Institutional settings

I-CE has not only expertise in cycling policies and cycling inclusive
planning and design, it also has built up expertise and experiences for
institutional settings to promote cycling. I-CE took notice of the important
role by civil society organisations and set up networks of these
organisations in India and  in Brasil, and supports Sustran LAC and
Locomotives Africa as networks for a whole continent.  On advise of I-CE,
Cape Town, Pune and Delhi set up structures for consultation with civil
society and other stakeholders. 





Structure for capacity building

For capacity building, I-CE developed a structure for capacity building and
assessments for both civil society organisations and local governments. To
learn more about the significance of cycling and it’s potential in a
different context, I-CE initiated a network for academic research, the
Cycling Academic Network which started with universities from the
Netherlands, Brasil, India and South Africa.

Since planning and designing for cycling is new for professionals, support
by capacity building can make the difference in policy development.
Sometimes we are surprised what people notice: “One of the important points
which has struck the traffic planners and city planners is that the
development of the road should be done on the basis of the purpose it
serves†said Pravinshi Pardeshi, municipal commissioner of Pune, India.



I-CE has 9 resident representatives in 6 countries who assess with local
authorities the needs for inputs. Two of them summarised the results of the
Bicycle Partnership Program as follows: 



“If I-CE was not involved in planning, things would have went on as usual.
The infra would have been built without anyone using it. We gained
confidence in our decisions to reintroduce the concept of cycle-inclusive
planning for the city. The capacity building helped in clarifying many
doubts about cycling-inclusive planning and its benefits. This also helped
in convincing stakeholders about the use of bicycling in the city and in
reducing the resistance of those who were not in favor of promoting cycling.
In Delhi it is an obligation now that all new transport policies include
cycling and pedestrian facilitiesâ€, according to Anvita Arora, Resident
Representative I-CE, Delhi.



“Cycling has become stronger, strategic and fundamental. It is for Rio de
Janeiro one of 38 strategic plans for 2012. Moreover, all new roads and
parks we have to build to prepare for the World Cup Soccer will have cycling
facilities. Cycling is now in the mind of decision makers and they are
looking at it as one of the important contributions to provide for
accessibility during both the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in
2016â€, says Ze Lobo, director of the CSO Transporte Ativo and Resident
Representative of I-CE. “I think we are strong enough now to survive any
political changes because we always rely on technicians who have become like
partners. In the next years I think we are going to develop in the same way,
improving our knowledge to exchange with the municipality and also with
companies. I-CE is responsible for this in many ways. The financial support
has allowed us to move forward and focus on our priorities. The technical
support has made us more respected by official departments and gave us the
opportunity to learn from cycling cities and other CSOs from all over the
world. This provided us an excellent knowledge base. Without that, TA would
not be what it is now.â€

The Approach

The mid-term evaluation of our Bicycle Partnership program has clearly shown
that a 3 pronged approach is necessary to comprehensively bring change on
ground with regard to inclusion of cycling:

*The users and civil society need to be empowered so that they can
create a critical mass for demand for inclusion of cycling according to
quality standards
*The critical mass and awareness raising needs to lead to a political
momentum on the cycling policies. The policy-makers, both political and
administrative need to have a buy-in on the need for cycling inclusion and
its social, economic and environmental benefits
*The planners and engineers need to have capacity to implement
cycle-inclusive infrastructure in the cities.

The I-CE network in India, Latin America and Africa has the capacity and the
partnerships to make this comprehensive intervention approach with these
three categories of stakeholders and create the process that would lead to
change on ground.

It is feasible

A main result of our programs so far has been that decision makers,
professionals and experts learnt that cycling in a high motorised context is
feasible. “A Dutch solution that amazed me in particular was to reduce a
lane for motorised traffic on an avenue with congestion. The result is that
this avenue has a better traffic flow now. Learning from cycling in the
Netherlands gave me a lot of positive energy: If developed countries are
doing it, it is even more important that a developing country does it. And
we cán do it. Dutch cities are a living laboratory for us. I learned also a
lot about campaigning to create a favourable political environment. This
gave me the reason to always work in partnership with CSO’s.†Vera Lucia
Goncalves da Silva, City of Florianopolis, Brasil.

In a period when there was more hesitation about cycling, we heard people
saying that the Netherlands is different. Nowadays the eagerness to learn is
dominant. As long as solutions are not being copied but principles are being
learnt for application in a local context, and good examples are taken from
the whole world, we can offer partners what they ask for. One of our
partners sais, he does not fee like a lonesome crusade anymore. Another said
she appreciated how I-CE led her by the hand to integrate cycling in urban
transport policies. Most common evaluation by our partners was that they
gained trust to involve their colleagues in cycling planning. And Donald
Cupido and Elias Tukushe of Cape Town were telling us: “If it took the Dutch
30 years to develop their system, we can avoid lots of their mistakes and do
it in 15 yearsâ€. An important consequence would be that the development of
road safety problems,   does not necessarily have to follow the same path as
in highly motorised countries. If the prevention policy for serious
accidents will be implemented in developing countries, the curve will be
flattened and road safety will not become globally the third cause of death.




Cycling coalition within the Partnership for Sustainable Low Carbon
Transport



The Partnership for sustainable low carbon transport has a multi-stakeholder
membership representing development organizations, intergovernmental
organizations, governmental organizations, NGOs, private sector, and
academic organizations, hosted by UN-DESA. I-CE has been asked and offered
to establish s cycling coalition to provide inputs for the programming.



The workplan of the SLOCAT partnership consists of four components:

-          Transport and ghg data and indicators

-          Climate instruments

-          Financing

-          Outreach

The partnership notices an absence of comprehensive and reliable datasets on
the composition or the transport sector and activity patterns. When we
analyze the potential contribution of cycling to mobility and accessibility,
we notice a great unfulfilled need of mobility in developing countries. Poor
people are not able to reach important destinations, since motorized
transport is expensive and cycling is not safe. When we exchange activity
patterns in cities, we notice a strong bias by planners for corridors, as if
cycling facilities are only of importance alongside corridors. Further we
notice that zero emission transport does not count in policies to bring down
ghg emissions. Above we presented comments on the current indicators which
measure the performance of the transport system and directions for an
alternative approach which will measure progress in terms of people
orientation.



As a result of COP15 in Copenhagen,  NAMA’s have gained further importance
as an instrument for carbon funding of transport interventions.  Cycling
programs and cycling inclusive projects and programs are feasible. A big
step forward would be if Brasil or India would adopt a cycling NAMA, which
enables a substantial program for cycling with assessments of the emission
reduction and co-benefits. The Netherlands, Denmark and the USA should
provide funds for the program development, transfer of expertise and co-fund
the implementation of the interventions.



A broad coalition on cycling within the partnership can be composed of:

*International non-profit bodies such as  I-CE, EMBARQ, the Danish
Embassy and ITDP, to organize international exchange and cooperation
*City networks, e.g. the network of mayors headed by Amsterdam, to
support urban strategies
*Regional networks of civil society organizations, such as ECF, the
American League of Bicyclists, Sustran LAC, Locomotives Africa, Locomotives
India, to promote the interests of citizens/road users
*Research institutions, such as the Cycling Academic Network and
consultancies, to collect data, study conditions for cycling, assess impacts
etc.   





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1 of 1 File(s)


#964 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Mon May 10, 2010 6:53 pm
Subject: Lessons in Leadership / Profiles in Courage <br/> "Bogotá Cha...
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Lessons in Leadership / Profiles in Courage : "Bogotá Change

The Colombian presidential elections will be held in less than three weeks on May 30. The campaign is all about ideas, leadership, and courage. And what could be more critical for a country or a city event to have these lined up together with a proven capacity to innovate, administrate, and to ensure that good policies and measures are continuously being scrutinized for performance and adapted to ensure that they are making the fullest possible contribution, year after year after year? Grab a cup of coffee and check out "Bogotá Change"


Article freely available in World Streets today at www.WorldStreets.org

Discussion in New Mobility Forum.  Post to NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com

 


#965 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Wed May 12, 2010 7:04 pm
Subject: When English is not enough. Well then let's do it in Italian,...
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World Streets

When English is not enough. Well then let's do it in Italian. (Or Swedish, Finnish, Portuguese, Chinese, French or . . .)

 

Start here: Italy, Italian and New Mobility. In June 2009, after four months of successful publication and an enthusiastic public reception in many parts of the world, the World Streets team found ourselves talking with an Italian colleague, the environmental activist Enrico Bonfatti who had been scanning the readership maps of World Streets and in the process noted that there were only one or two regular readers of the publication in Italy. Why? Good question.

 

 

Article freely available in World Streets today at www.WorldStreets.org

Discussion in New Mobility Forum.  Post to NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com

 


#966 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Fri May 14, 2010 8:09 am
Subject: The Hundred Faces behind World Streets
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The Hundred Faces behind World Streets

We firmly believe that the move to sustainable lives is a very personal matter. For that reason, every article that appears in World Streets is accompanied by a short bio note and photo identifying the author. We want you to know who they are and what they look like.. These are not autonomous or institutional pieces; every thing that appears here has a name and face behind it. Today we have assembled for your viewing pleasure small photos of 160 of our authors and collaborators. There are more and of course we really do need to have each identified by name and country. In time.


 

Article freely available in World Streets today at www.WorldStreets.org

Discussion in New Mobility Forum.  Post to NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com

 

Eric Britton | World Streets | The New Mobility Agenda  | Paris  | +331 7550 3788| Skype newmobility 

 


#967 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Fri May 14, 2010 5:18 pm
Subject: No Accident: Traffic and Pedestrians in the Modern City
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No Accident: Traffic and Pedestrians in the Modern City

As most of our regular readers are well aware World Streets is no friend of speed in cities. To the contrary, it is our firm position that a considerable number of the basic objectives associated with sustainable mobility and sustainable cities can be achieved if we do no more than to reduce top speeds in and around our cities in a strategic and carefully thought-out way. The great technological virtuosity of traffic engineers and technical planners permit us to do this while at the same time retaining a well working transportation system, a healthier city, and a viable local economy. Listen to what John Rennie Short and Luis Mauricio Pinet-Peralta have to tell us on the subject.



 

Article freely available in World Streets today at www.WorldStreets.org

Discussion in New Mobility Forum.  Post to NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com

 

Eric Britton | World Streets | The New Mobility Agenda  | Paris  | +331 7550 3788| Skype newmobility 

 


#968 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Mon May 17, 2010 7:20 pm
Subject: New Mobility Partnernships - What's going on this summer?
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New Mobility Partnerships - What's going on this summer?

 

 

Two or three times a year your editor sits down and does his best to compile a readable synopsis of some of the more important things going on in World Streets, then to be communicated in one magical shot to the close to four thousand friends and colleagues around the world who have been involved in some way in these dialogues and projects over the last several decades. Here you have today's best seasonal effort, to which as always, comments, criticism and suggestions are warmly welcome.

Judged from a planetary or Kyoto perspective, or from an individual or public health perspective, or an economic perspective, or ... or ... our present arrangements for transport in cities are seriously damaged. As things stand today in city after city around the world, they threaten health in the city and on the planet. They are dangerous. They are costly. They are disruptive. They are thoroughly dysfunctional. And they are howlingly unfair. It does not have to be like that. We can do something about it, and we should. But we need to join forces to get the job done.


 

Article freely available in World Streets today at www.WorldStreets.org

Discussion in New Mobility Forum.  Post to NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com

 

Eric Britton | World Streets | The New Mobility Agenda  | Paris  | +331 7550 3788| Skype newmobility 

 


#969 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Tue May 18, 2010 9:12 am
Subject: Avoiding World Streets email overload - A strategy
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There has been too much mail coming in here concerning World Streets 5/7 daily articles, and for that I must apologize since I am, the guilty party. 

 

Here's a proposed strategy to do way with this inconvenience:

 

1.     We will no longer post any notices about articles from W/S to this forum, except under exceptional of circumstances.

a.     The only regular exception to this will be notice of the monthly summary report.

2.     If you wish to follow the daily postings, here are three possible options:

a.     Sign into the World Streets Forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldStreetsForum. To do that a blank email to WorldStreetsForum-subscribe@yahoogroups.com will do quite nicely.

·   Now if once there, you still do not wish to receive the daily articles, but prefer just to receive the monthly summary report (you can see an example of the latest at http://newmobilityagenda.blogspot.com/2010/05/world-streetsmonthly-report-april-2010.html) – all you need to do is to go into your Edit Membership section, and switch your membership Message Delivery to " Special Notices - Receive only important email notices from the group moderator".

b.    Sign into the Facebook World Streets program site at www.facebook.worldstreets.org

c.     Or whatever RSS setup you prefer.

 

In the event, not to fear, World Streets is not about to go away. You will find the daily postings at www.WorldStreets.org  as always. But perhaps in this way we can be a better neighbor.

 

Finally, if you have any further thoughts on this, it would be good to have them, perhaps in private via eric.britton@... so as to hold down the noise level.

 

Eric Britton

 

Join in World Streets: It's a collaborative enterprise.

 

 

 

 

 


#970 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Thu May 20, 2010 8:04 am
Subject: Posting your comments to World Streets - and to discussion fora
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Dear Colleagues,

 

Simon Norton has done well to bring this point to my attention in our never-ending struggle for efficient communications (see his note below).

 

1.     To post a comment to World Streets on any given item, the procedure is straight-forward. Go to the article, click the COMMENTS link that appears at the end of the piece, and off you go. Please do sign your messages with your name, city, and country if you will.  

2.     To post to any of the New Mobility discussion fora (see www.talking.newmobility.org  to see how they are organized by main topic, etc.) all you need is to pop in the respective address:

 

a.     African Streets –                                                    - AfricanStreets@yahoogroups.com

b.    China Streets –                                                       - China-Streets@yahoogroups.com

c.     Gatnet: Gender/transport Forum  (www.gatnet.net)      gatnet@...

d.    Global South/Sustran Forum                                     sustran-discuss@...  

e.     Land Café/ Value Capture/Tax reform                        LandCafe@yahoogroups.com

f.     Lots Less Cars in Cities (www.lotslesscars.org)         LotsLessCars@yahoogroups.com   

g.    New Mobility Café (www.newmobility.org)                  NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com  

h.     Share/Transport (sharetransport@yahoogroups.com) – sharetransport@yahoogroups.com  

i.      World Car Free Days (www.worldcarfreedays.com)     www.lotslesscars.org

j.      World Carshare Consortium (www.worldcarshare.com)  WorldCarShare@yahoogroups.com

k.     World City Bike (www.worldcitybike.org)                      WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com  

l.      World Streets Forum (www.WorldStreets.org)              -  WorldStreetsForum@yahoogroups.com   

m.   World Transport (www.worldtransportjournal.org)         WorldTransport@yahoogroups.com

n.     xTransit (Third way transport – to merge with Share/Transport) --  xTransit@yahoogroups.com

 

 

If that looks like a lot, well it is – sustainable transport and sustainable cities is a puzzle of many disparate parts. Hard work, eh?

 

What we would ask you to do, however is to make sure that when you address something to the group(s) you try to stay within the spirit of the forum's focus, and that out of respect to the others you do not address mails to the group which are better channeled toone person or some sub-group. 

 

It's that simple, Simon.

 

Best/Eric

 

Eric Britton | WorldStreets.org | NewMobility.org  | Paris  | +331 7550 3788 | Skype: newmobility 

 

 

-

-----Original Message-----
From: Simon Norton [mailto:S.Norton@...]
Sent: Wednesday, 19 May, 2010 20:29
To: eric.britton@...
Subject: World Streets Forum

 

Thanks for at last taking the step we need to avoid duplicate postings for World Streets items.

 

But perhaps you can tell me and others what the recommended procedure is when we

want to comment on a World Streets Forum item in such a way that both

subscribers to the group and people who visit the website will see the comment.

 

 Simon

 


#971 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Sat May 22, 2010 4:05 pm
Subject: US bike sharing scheme moves to a more sustainable funding regime?
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From: Dave Holladay [mailto:tramsol@...]
Sent: Saturday, 22 May, 2010 10:19
To: edelman@...; eric.britton; Dave Holladay (CTC)

 

At last  a city bike system with a realistic annual subscription now all they need is to make it part of the WMATA  transit operation  a) so WMATA sell a complete journey product , and  b) so any journeys which convert users of  a short and usually over-subscribed  section of DC Metro  to cycling are retained as WMATA customers.

In 1996 I was working with Portsmouth on the first UK system to use automated dispensing of bikes to an audience of registered users, although in Japan there were already systems - reported in outline by Michael Replogle in his report Bicycles with Public Transport (the basis of FHwA Case Study No 9 (1994).

One thing that this scheme seems to be missing is the link between this system and other provision for Public Transport.  In Germany, and Netherlands, and with major French conglomerates the bike share systems, and car share systems are part of the product portfolio of a Public Transport operation.  Thus the PT operator can sell a product that genuinely delivers an equivalent - or even a better deal - than the private car

In the UK a commuter driving to the metro station and going onward on foot or by bus/second metro can save around 30 minutes on their total journey time in each direction. As a result, when a clear gain such as this has become apparent we have seen increases in cycle use of over 1000% in a couple of months. The closure of one short section of Metro line for 6 months of renovation has delivered the equivalent of 2 train loads of passengers converting to cycling, and continuing to ride this part of their journey when the line reopened.

It is interesting to see that an annual subscription is now considered appropriate - OV Fiets (NS), Veolia (operating in Chicago) Clear Channel's operation in Barcelona and the UK Group Stagecoach all offer their cycles as Transit for an annual fee and you either keep the bike all the time or collect from an automated hire point.

Thus the hole in this at present is that it is not integrated with the WMATA Transit product - aside from where the station is actually part of the destination, every passenger using transit buys an incomplete product - ("batteries not included") as no transit service can viably offer everyone a door to door journey.  Transit plus bike can deliver this.

The other buy-in for the system has to be from big institutions who are committed to TDM - compare the cost of some automated bike lockers (the solution for OV-Fiets) and a Bixi station to the construction (and land) costs for a multi-storey parking garage for 7 cars - basically delivery of cycle sharing (and car sharing) as public transit is a no=brainer.

The established US deal to take bikes on buses (over 70% of US bus fleet) may also mitigate the cost of bike redistribution as credits or payments can be offered for those who are willing to reposition bikes.       


#972 From: Thanks to Todd Edelman for the heads-up.
Date: Sat May 22, 2010 4:05 pm
Subject: Arlington, DC announce 1,100-bike regional bike sharing
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Arlington, DC announce 1,100-bike regional bike sharing

A new bike sharing system based on Montreal's Bixi will have 1,100 bikes spanning 100 stations in DC and 14 in Arlington, replacing DC's existing SmartBike system, leaders announced this morning,

http://images.greatergreaterwashington.org/images/201005/210815.jpg
Bixi in Montreal. Flickr photo by solylunafamilia.

This expansion has been widely rumored for months, since Cyberpresse reported a deal was in the works. U.S. company Alta Bicycle Share will actually operate the system and employ the staff. The system should launch in the fall.

Clear Channel created the original SmartBike system as part of a contract to run advertising on DC bus shelters, but that relationship ran into trouble because Clear Channel was not interested in an arrangement where local governments would pay directly for system expansions. They were only running it to grow their core business of outdoor advertising.

The new system will allow a wider range of membership opportunities. Annual memberships will cost $80, double the current SmartBike rate of $40, though for a much better service. People can also purchase monthly memberships for $30 or daily ones for $5. All memberships allow unlimited bike rentals, free for the first 30 minutes with usage fees (levels not yet specified) after 30 minutes.

The exact locations haven't been released yet, but Arlington is concentrating theirs in the Pentagon City/Crystal City/Potomac Yard area (the Blue and Yellow Line corridor). The Crystal City BID helped pay for this portion.

Focusing on one area will also allow for a sufficient density of stations to maximize ridership. Bike sharing is best for short trips rather than very long ones, especially since the bikes are designed for comfortable shorter rides rather than longer, higher-speed ones. Arlington hopes to next add the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.

Hopefully the Park Service will allow a number of bike stations on the Mall. With poor transportation around much of the Mall, bike sharing could be a perfect way to help many people bridge the gaps if there could be stations at most major attractions (so they can return the bikes quickly upon reaching a desired memorial).

Mall stations are also close to Arlington, and a connected bike share system could let someone ride, for example, from Crystal City to Arlington Cemetery, drop off the bike, see the cemetery, pick up another bike to go to the FDR memorial, drop the bike off, get another to go to downtown DC, and so on.

Last year, we made a map together of potential locations for the new bike sharing.

The system won't be called SmartBike, which is a Clear Channel brand name. DC and Arlington have created a survey to help select among names including WeCycle, UCycle, Capital Bixi, ZoomBike, Velo2Go, Bike Around, Bikington, and more.

The stations cost about $35,000 for a small station (7 bikes and 11 docking spaces), up to $52,000 for a large 13-bike, 19-dock station. The operating cost will be $155 per bike not counting memberships; the membership revenue DC and Arlington get will go to offset each jurisdiction's contribution to operating costs.

It's great that jurisdictions were able to cooperate to create this regional system. Arlington has always been a national leader in Smart Growth and sustainable practices, and County Board members Jay Fisette and Chris Zimmerman provided strong leadership for this project. DDOT under Gabe Klein is quickly implementing some of the most cutting-edge transportation ideas. Together, the system can be better than either's alone.

When Arlington was first exploring bike sharing over a year ago, I worried about the proliferation of incompatible bike sharing systems. In the case of bike sharing, the whole is definitely greater than the parts. With this system, run by companies interested in expanding it rather than just getting ad revenue, it should be able to grow to more jurisdictions in the region, and perhaps local universities or other organizations (USDOT?) can sponsor their own stations.

BeyondDC tweeted from Wednesday's TPB meeting that they're likely to re-submit the regional bike sharing system in the original TIGER grant application for the second round of TIGER funding.

A TIGER grant could boost this system from a nice start to a real showcase of what bike sharing can do for a metropolitan area. 114 stations is fantastic, but if we wanted to match Paris's Vélib's density of bike sharing, DC and Arlington should have 5,400 bikes. The original TIGER application asked for 2,250 bikes at 225 stations in DC, Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax City, Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park, Hyattsville, and National Harbor, in addition to the 1,000 the District is already funding and announced today.

Source: http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post.cgi?id=5913

 

Thanks to Todd Edelman for the heads-up.


#973 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Mon May 24, 2010 4:15 pm
Subject: The world's shortest bike lane - For comment
fekbritton
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Britain's most pointless cycle 'lane' unveiled - and it's just 8ft long!

By Daily Mail Reporter – Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1263069/Britains-shortest-cycle-lane-opened-Cardiff--just-8ft-long.html

Baffled cyclists have ridiculed a council after it opened Britain's shortest cycle lane in a busy city centre - at just 8ft long.

It takes a cyclist less than a second to ride down the special stretch before they rejoin the main road.

Council officials spent an estimated £2,000 in painting the red and white markings on the tiny stretch.

Cardiff cycle lane

Tiny: The 8ft stretch of cycle lane in Cardiff city centre cost an estimated £2,000 to complete

And it has confused cyclists after officials came up with a 'gobbledygook' explanation for the miniature lane.

Officials said it was to 'highlight the interface between the eastbound carriageway and the beginning of a new contraflow facility' in Cardiff city centre and to encourage green transport.

Cyclist Kevin Hughes, 47, said: 'It's just hilarious. I saw it as I was cycling pst and couldn't believe my eyes.

'Obviously nobody could cycle in it because it is so so small. You just hav time to get int he saddle before getting off again.'

Mr Hughes, a member of Cardiff Ajax Cycling Club, added: 'I posted a picture of it on the club forum and it's started a bit of a laugh.

Cardiff cycle lane

Ridiculous: Cyclist Kevin Hughes, 47, stop next to the new lane. It takes less than a second to negotiate it

'I've got no idea why it would be there. The only thing I can think of is the council need a certain number of cycle lanes in the city centre, but there's nothing around there to require a cycle lane.

'You couldn't ride a bike down there even, cars are going flying past.'

A council spokesman said the prupose of the lane is to alert cyclists to the left-hand turn into a new facility.

 

Thanks to Ian Perry for the heads-up


#974 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Tue May 25, 2010 12:26 pm
Subject: OYBike in Cardiff
fekbritton
Send Email Send Email
 

Eric

We now are on the I-phone bike share app mycycle, also we have a Flikr page for picture resources at http://www.flickr.com/photos/oybike/page2/.

Kind regards
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bernie Hanning
OYBike Systems Limited
 
7 bernie@...
) +44 (0) 7973 222 719
8 http://www.oybike.com
+ No.1 Olympic Way , Wembley , Middlesex, HA9 0NP
( +44 (0) 208 434 0462
( +44 (0) 845 226 5751
 


#975 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Thu May 27, 2010 3:22 pm
Subject: Paris Unveils Four-Year Cycling Plan
fekbritton
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From our friends at the Transport Politic - http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2010/05/26/paris-unveils-four-year-cycling-plan-with-aim-to-reinforce-velib-bike-share/

Paris Unveils Four-Year Cycling Plan With Aim to Reinforce Velib' Bike Share

May 26th, 2010 | http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/wp-content/themes/atahualpa/images/icons/comments-gray.gif15 Comments

http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Paris-Bike-Plan.png

» Two major axes will service 65 “biking neighborhoods” throughout the city. Dedicated bike lanes will increase from 273 miles today to 435 miles by 2014.

If Velib’ has changed the face of Paris by providing it the largest bike sharing system in the world with 1,800 stations and more than 20,000 bikes, there’s still plenty of work to be done in the French capital. After nine years of slow but steady improvements originating from an environmentally minded city hall, Paris is about to hit the accelerator pedal.

The new plan, to be presented in early June to the city council, where it is virtually guaranteed passage, will increase the number of bike lanes within this 40.7 square mile city from 273 miles today (most built since 2001) to 435 miles in 2014. Two major axes — one running east-west from the Bois de Vincennes to the Bois de Boulogne and the other north-south, will be designed for heavy traffic. One thousand new bike parking spaces will be added to the city’s streets every year, and bike boxes, allowing cyclists to get priority treatment at intersections, will be painted in across the city. Connections to the suburbs will be reinforced through the reconstruction of ten city “gates.” And starting this July, 65 neighborhoods, making up about half the city’s land area, will be converted to prioritize biking, with two-way travel allowed even on streets reserved for one-way car traffic.

By 2020, most of the city’s major streets will have dedicated bike lanes and the network will begin to extend out into the near suburbs.

Paris’ project, led by Mayor Bertrand Delanöe, is not revolutionary in concept — most of what is being done has been done in parts of the city before — but rather in scale. The sheer size of the city’s investments, which will bring bike infrastructure within feet of all of the city’s residents, is likely to continue the increase in the mode share of alternative transportation.

And the city is developing a social strategy to encourage cycling even more. A “maison du vélo” will welcome inhabitants who have questions specifically about getting around by bike; kids in elementary school will be exposed to cycling in tours and classes; the city’s employees will be encouraged to make their trips by bike, with 400 vehicles already dedicated for the purpose; and a new Villes Velib’ cooperative will encourage a dialogue between Paris and its suburban peers in an attempt to integrate the region by bike.

Paris’ Sunday street program, which has already resulted in the closing of several neighborhoods to motorized traffic on Sundays and holidays, is planned to be generalized throughout the “biking neighborhoods,” where maximum travel speeds of 19 mph will be enforced. Parks, some of which had been closed to cyclists, are now all open to bike travel.

There is no guaranteed way to increase the number of people using bicycles and other low-impact transportation modes in a city. But the wholehearted embrace of the mode through a dedicated plan for infrastructure that prioritizes bicycles, funded and guaranteed by a focused city council, is sure to encourage it. Now that American cities have begun to follow Paris with similar bike sharing programs, we need to see similar initiatives here.

 


#976 From: Ian Perry <ianenvironmental@...>
Date: Fri May 28, 2010 11:45 pm
Subject: Barclays to sponsor TfL bike-sharing and superhighways
ecomobilitian
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Barclays Bank was today unveiled as the sponsor of the new London Cycle Hire Scheme, which will now be known as the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme. Barclays is also to sponsor the Cycle Superhighway network – one of the first routes two routes appropriately enough links South London to Bank.

Ahead of the both launches the Mayor announced a series of 45 Barclays Cycle Superhighway roadshow to take place across central London. The shows are designed to give Londoners all the information they need to get on and go once the cycle hire scheme goes live on July 30, they be able to see all of the kit including the final bicycle, docking stations and terminals. Information on the new Barclays Cycle Superhighways will also feature on the roadshows closest to the chosen routes.

Each of the 45 Barclays Cycle Hire roadshows, which run from today until October, will provide practical demonstrations, hints and tips - including how to register for the scheme, how much it will cost to use, and how to pick up and drop off hire bicycles from the docking stations.Existing or potential cyclists will also be given safety tips, details of cycle routes and will be encouraged to sign up for TfL-funded cycle training through their local borough council. Visit tfl.gov.uk/cycling for information on how to set up your cycle training session.

Seventeen of the roadshows will be held at locations close to the Barclays Cycle Superhighways pilot routes so will include information on this scheme as well as Barclays Cycle Hire. A full schedule of the roadshow events is available at tfl.gov.uk/barclayscyclehire.

Barclays have agreed to pay £25m as part of the sponsorship deal which gives the bank naming rights for the first two cycle superhighways plus branding on the hire bikes, maintenance support vehicles and maintenance staff uniforms.

To get things rolling ahead of the scheme launch TfL today give 50 of the new Barclays Cycle Hire bicycles to the nine London boroughs that the scheme will operate in: Camden, City of London, Hackney, Islington, Lambeth, Kensington & Chelsea, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Westminster. The idea is that people who live, work or study in the Barclays Cycle Hire zone will be able to sign up for cycle training in advance of the scheme going live, and be among the first in London to ride one of the bicycles.


More at: http://road.cc/content/news/17967-london-cycle-hire-scheme-becomes-barclays-cycle-hire-scheme-£25m-deal


and: http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/4574





#977 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Mon May 31, 2010 7:24 am
Subject: Melbourne's first ever public bike hire scheme is underway
fekbritton
Send Email Send Email
 

Comment: Hmm. Well great good luck Melbourne. Now the real work starts. Time to light a candle for you.  Eric Britton

 

 

 

 

On your bike: public hire scheme hits CBD

Source: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/on-your-bike-public-hire-scheme-hits-cbd-20100531-wp4k.html?autostart=1

 

Melbourne's first ever public bike hire scheme is underway - with the early roll-out of the first 100 bicycles - although the government will not say how many people are expected to use the scheme.

The distinctive electric-blue bicycles will be available at 10 docking stations across the CBD. Subscribers will be able to join the scheme for $50 a year, $8 a week or $2.50 a day. Users will then be able to take the bicycles for 30 minutes without charge.

MAP: Melbourne Bike Share stations

Riders take part in the first day of the Melbourne Bike Share 
scheme at Melbourne University.

Riders take part in the first day of the Melbourne Bike Share scheme at Melbourne University. Photo: Wayne Taylor

But Roads Minister Tim Pallas, who launched the scheme at Melbourne University this morning, would not say how many people the government expects to use the scheme.

“The first ten stations and 100 bikes are now in place and available for public use. People can sign-up for yearly subscriptions on-line or simply purchase a daily or weekly subscription from kiosks located at the bike stations.”

“We now have ten stations operating along the Swanston Street/St Kilda Road corridor and over the coming weeks we will progressively add the additional 40 stations – with the full system to be in place by the middle of the year,” he said.

 

A rider at the Melbourne Bike Share scheme station at Melbourne University. Photo: Wayne Taylor

Melbourne is the only city in the world with compulsory helmet laws to have launched a bike share scheme.

Helmets are available as part of corporate memberships and individual annual subscriptions as well as at selected local CBD retail outlets located near the bike stations.

“We expect regular users of the system will prefer to provide their own helmet, however these other options do allow people to use the system spontaneously,” Mr Pallas said.

Louise Sheedy, a PhD student who cycles to Melbourne University every day, was parking her bicycle at a nearby stand as the media launch got underway.

Ms Sheedy said the bike share scheme was a great idea and that she might use the scheme herself.

“I am pretty full-on with my bike riding, and anything that gets more people cycling in Melbourne is fantastic,” she said.

The bicycles are a heavy-duty design, have three speeds, weigh 18 kilograms and have a small basket on the front.

http://www.melbournebikeshare.com.au/

 


#978 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Mon Jun 7, 2010 1:38 pm
Subject: A new platform for World Streets - your views
fekbritton
Send Email Send Email
 

I would like to invite you to have a look at a new platform that we are experimenting with eventually for World Streets/Open Edition at www.worldstreets.wordpress.com -- and if you have the time and taste for it to share with me your impressions.  For example, does it strike you as . . .

a.     A significant improvements over the original www.WorldStreets.org ?

b.    Worse

c.     More or less the same

 

Any other thoughts or tips you might have on not only this but any aspect of World Streets would be most welcome and warmly received.  We are working hard to get it right and your help will be much appreciated.

 

With kind thanks,

 

Regards

 

Eric Britton       

 

 

Eric Britton | WorldStreets.org | NewMobility.org  |  www.facebook.WorldStreets.org

8, rue Joseph Bara.  75006 Paris France  |  +331 7550 3788  |  Skype: newmobility 

 


#979 From: "inesalag" <inesalag@...>
Date: Fri Jun 4, 2010 6:42 pm
Subject: Text in spanish
inesalag
Send Email Send Email
 
Hi!  Something happened to me yesterday, and this is what I wrote. I hope you'll
understand, and if you don't, maybe I'll translate it on Monday.

Inés (Morelia, México).

Ayer te llamé pendeja.

Me pitaste el claxon cuando hice una maniobra por evitar a un ciclista que se
bajaba de la banqueta.  Luego me dijiste con voz,  manos y gestos faciales:
¡quítate!   Entonces te llamé pendeja.  Te pregunté si te sentías mejor que yo. 
Entonces decidiste aventarme el auto.  Intentaste cortarme el paso.  Pero
quisiera que me permitieras recapacitar.  Mi intención no es ofenderte.  Sé que
quizás te asustaste por el riesgo de haber chocado, y haberme lastimado. 
Incluso considero la posibilidad de que reaccionaras así por estrés, calor,
frustración, que sé yo...

Cada vez que algo parecido me sucede, sé que ni tú, ni yo tenemos la culpa.  La
sociedad del automóvil nos ha hecho creer que esas máquinas son dueñas de la
ciudad.  Además, ha iniciado la guerra de autos contra autos.   El auto más
grande o nuevo, "merece" más que el pequeño o viejo.  El problema es que estamos
matando a la ciudad... y a las personas.  Niños, ancianos, mujeres, ninguno se
salva en México.  Pero hay otras sociedades que se dieron cuenta de ello, y
modificaron sus leyes y costumbres a tiempo.  Países desarrollados económica,
democrática y culturalmente, le dan prioridad a las personas.  Y en los espacios
públicos, el fuerte debe tener cuidado con el débil.  Si un auto atropella a una
persona, aunque la persona haya tenido la CULPA, el automovilista debe pagar.  
Resultado: las calles son mucho más seguras para todos.  Y no es para menos.  Si
únicamente el 20% de la población tiene automóvil, ¿por qué los demás, debe
vivir con miedo al cruzar la calle, y llenos de smog?

Afortunadamente (para mí), esto no pasó a mayores.  Sin embargo, en el último
año han muerto un niño de 10 años, un adolescente de 14, un anciano de 74, una
estudiante de 23, un maestro de 54... Todos porque usando la bicicleta fueron
atropellados por un automóvil o camión que no los vio o no dejó suficiente
espacio entre ellos.

En el D.F. (y en muchas ciudades del mundo) se están colocando "bicicletas
fantasma" (bicicletas que ya no sirven, pintadas de blanco), por cada ciclista
que muere.  El número no se detiene y al contrario, sigue aumentando.  Imagino
que a nadie le gustaría cargar su vida con la imagen de haber matado a alguien. 
Ojalá la próxima vez que manejes tu automóvil, consideres lo vulnerables que
somos frente a tu carrocería y nos respetes porque todos somos iguales (al menos
ante la constitución).

#980 From: Todd Edelman <edelman@...>
Date: Mon Jun 7, 2010 4:22 pm
Subject: Re: [CarFreeCafe] Melbourne's first ever public bike hire scheme is underway
traintowards...
Send Email Send Email
 
Hi Chris,

Thanks for your message.

Questions:

+ How do you ensure that people use the pump (I am assuming this is for fitting the top part? Has this method ever been used for any type of helmet?)

+ How do you ensure that people adjust the straps properly?

+ Regarding the security thing, it may be possible but creates another complication. Furthermore there are are at least three or four basic helmet sizes for adults.

The State of Victoria is wasting our time. I would love it if we could focus on more important things in bike sharing, such as reducing the number of motor vehicle trips used for distribution and integrating it fully within the public transport mix in cities.

- T

p.s. My hair gets nice blond highlights if it is in the sun all summer, so for me this helmet thing is all about vanity.



On 06/05/2010 06:07 PM, Chris Bradshaw wrote:
 

Todd,
 
Good to see you continue to put pressure on this issue.  I am a firm advocates of bike helmets.  Surely, a message limiting the liability of the provide can cover the excuses given for not providing them.
 
Just as bikes themselves need different design to accommodate sharing by people of different body dimensions, so do helmets. 
 
For bike sharing, the helmet could have:
 
- an interior padding that is inflatable with air, using a pump installed on the outer shell or the nylon strap.
 
- for keeping the helmet with the bike and not get stolen, the shell could be locked with the bike itself, and to keep the user from taking it, design the electronics with the lock to _require_ the helmet to be included in its 'nest' before the bike return at the next station is complete.
 
Riders wanting some sanitation from the multi-user inflatable liner could carry a monk's hat that are common in cold climates for winter riding.  These take up less space in the pocket than a single glove.
 
Chris Bradshaw, Ottawa
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2010 06:48
Subject: Re: [CarFreeCafe] Melbourne's first ever public bike hire scheme is underway

Hi,

Well, those bikes are a smooth shade of blue, probably the nicest looking Bixi/Public Bike System bikes.

I also prefer their sponsorship/branding to Bixi Montreal (Rio Tinto Alcan -  uranium mining) or Bixi London (Barclays and Serco - arms financing, UK nuclear arsenal management) : Melbourne and the state of Victoria... though their operator, RACV http://www.racv.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/Internet/Primary/home is kind of an interesting mix. A automobile insurance and services provider + bike share...  A good angle to reach many drivers, perhaps?

ON the other hand:

>From http://www.melbournebikeshare.com.au/faq (bold italics mine):

"11. Will helmets be supplied with the bikes?
Helmets are not supplied with the bikes. The main reason for this is due to safety. We cannot compromise on the safety of our users; if we were to provide helmets with the bikes we would need to check every helmet after each ride to ensure they are not damaged - and are clean.
Those using the scheme will need to bring their own helmet or purchase one from a handy location near the bike station.
In addition, subscribers to Melbourne Bike Share will have the option of purchasing a low cost helmet with their annual membership."

As several have asked before on this list for the past year or more - and just to be sporting we will agree that helmets can help in some situations - how is helmet fit guaranteed - helmets HAVE to fit, or they make things worse than if one falls without one on - if one gets their helmet from this "handy location"? Seems pretty compromised. Not every helmet is being checked for fit. To put it another way, are lawyers Down Under salivating about this, waiting for the first time someone falls and hits their head with a HLH (handy location helmet)? ("My client was not made sufficiently aware of the dangers...." etc.)

Furthermore, my understanding is that if helmets are carried around without a head inside they are fragile (a helmet plus a head has strength in aggregate).

Finally, more of a practical issue, when someone wants to ride but has no helmet with them (and they already have one or more) won't they simply get frustrated, especially as this will happen repeatedly? Won't it "kill the moment" for two people having a nice time out, when they want a spontaneous cycling experience but only one has a helmet with them and the other already has more than one, just not with them?

Now, I am not sure what RACV nor officials think about helmets, but I will assume that the talented folks at Alta Bike Share are pro-choice on helmets, so... Dear State of Victoria! Say it ain't so! Follow the lead of Mexico City and Israel (?) and change this silly bicycle helmet law! Trust citizens to choose for themselves what is overwhelmingly a personal issue. Let police focus their limited resources on motorized vehicles and their drivers.

Good luck,
Todd Edelman



'
On 05/31/2010 09:24 AM, Eric Britton wrote:
 

Comment: Hmm. Well great good luck Melbourne. Now the real work starts. Time to light a candle for you.  Eric Britton

On your bike: public hire scheme hits CBD

Source: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/on-your-bike-public-hire-scheme-hits-cbd-20100531-wp4k.html?autostart=1

Melbourne's first ever public bike hire scheme is underway - with the early roll-out of the first 100 bicycles - although the government will not say how many people are expected to use the scheme.

The distinctive electric-blue bicycles will be available at 10 docking stations across the CBD. Subscribers will be able to join the scheme for $50 a year, $8 a week or $2.50 a day. Users will then be able to take the bicycles for 30 minutes without charge.

MAP: Melbourne Bike Share stations

Riders take part in the first day of the Melbourne Bike Share scheme at Melbourne University.

Riders take part in the first day of the Melbourne Bike Share scheme at Melbourne University. Photo: Wayne Taylor

But Roads Minister Tim Pallas, who launched the scheme at Melbourne University this morning, would not say how many people the government expects to use the scheme.

“The first ten stations and 100 bikes are now in place and available for public use. People can sign-up for yearly subscriptions on-line or simply purchase a daily or weekly subscription from kiosks located at the bike stations.”

“We now have ten stations operating along the Swanston Street/St Kilda Road corridor and over the coming weeks we will progressively add the additional 40 stations – with the full system to be in place by the middle of the year,” he said.

A rider at the Melbourne Bike Share scheme station at Melbourne University. Photo: Wayne Taylor

Melbourne is the only city in the world with compulsory helmet laws to have launched a bike share scheme.

Helmets are available as part of corporate memberships and individual annual subscriptions as well as at selected local CBD retail outlets located near the bike stations.

“We expect regular users of the system will prefer to provide their own helmet, however these other options do allow people to use the system spontaneously,” Mr Pallas said.

Louise Sheedy, a PhD student who cycles to Melbourne University every day, was parking her bicycle at a nearby stand as the media launch got underway.

Ms Sheedy said the bike share scheme was a great idea and that she might use the scheme herself.

“I am pretty full-on with my bike riding, and anything that gets more people cycling in Melbourne is fantastic,” she said.

The bicycles are a heavy-duty design, have three speeds, weigh 18 kilograms and have a small basket on the front.

http://www.melbournebikeshare.com.au/



-- Todd Edelman
Green Idea Factory, a member of the OPENbike team
Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081
Immobile: ++49(0)30 7554 0001
edelman@greenidea.eu
www.greenidea.eu
todd@openbike.se
www.openbike.se
Skype: toddedelman
Urbanstr. 45
10967 Berlin
Germany
***
OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit!


-- Todd Edelman
Green Idea Factory, a member of the OPENbike team
Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081
Immobile: ++49(0)30 7554 0001
edelman@...
www.greenidea.eu
todd@...
www.openbike.se
Skype: toddedelman
Urbanstr. 45
10967 Berlin
Germany
***
OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit!

#981 From: "Eric Britton" <eric.britton@...>
Date: Tue Jun 8, 2010 9:43 am
Subject: Melbourne's first ever public bike hire scheme is underway
fekbritton
Send Email Send Email
 

 

On Behalf Of Michael Yeates

 

 

Thanks for these contributions.

However there is devil in the detail ... at least here in Australia.

My understanding is that it is illegal to wear anything at all under the approved helmet because the helmet is designed and "tested" worn with direct contact to the head.

I suspect too that for the CityBikes (as with cycling in general) there is NOTHING to be gained from a benefit perspective by making helmets compulsory ... a point many advocates of helmet wearing too often don't mention.

I class helmets as an injury prevention device, and in a similar class to wearing sun protection (against skin cancer risk), drinking more water (against kidney and other damage risk), and other obviously beneficial practices including the promotion of safe sex and safe roads ... good practice ... but not compulsory.

So yes it is a good opportunity to contrast the success of the CityBikes where helmets are compulsory and where not so .. but don't forget there are so many other variables as to make such a comparison problematic ... one being our urban speed limits.

Apart from not addressing the need and causes of that need, I quite like the concept of inventing a new helmet ... so surely we should also invent a new car where the aim is similar, eg so that if a cyclist is wearing a helmet, a motor vehicle cannot kill or severely injure the cyclist?

Of course that is an illustration ... but why emphasise the helmet and the cyclist rather than also equally emphasise the other causes of the danger/risk in particular those most prevalent and/or most feared, motor vehicles and their drivers?

Reduce the danger ... or allow the danger to continue to threaten cyclists, with or without a helmet?

Surely prevention and reduction of the danger/risk is preferable to allowing those dangers to continue and trying to somehow better protect just the cyclists head?

It would be interesting too if the introduction of the CityBikes serves to show that we too should have 30km/h with 50km/h on a few main roads, not as at present, 40km/h in a very few areas, 50km/h on most urban streets and 60km/h (or 70km/h) on main roads ... in urban areas.

Michael Yeates
Brisbane Australia ..........

At 02:07 AM 6/06/2010, Chris Bradshaw wrote:

Todd,
 
Good to see you continue to put pressure on this issue.  I am a firm advocates of bike helmets.  Surely, a message limiting the liability of the provide can cover the excuses given for not providing them.
 
Just as bikes themselves need different design to accommodate sharing by people of different body dimensions, so do helmets. 
 
For bike sharing, the helmet could have:
 
- an interior padding that is inflatable with air, using a pump installed on the outer shell or the nylon strap.
 
- for keeping the helmet with the bike and not get stolen, the shell could be locked with the bike itself, and to keep the user from taking it, design the electronics with the lock to _require_ the helmet to be included in its 'nest' before the bike return at the next station is complete.
 
Riders wanting some sanitation from the multi-user inflatable liner could carry a monk's hat that are common in cold climates for winter riding.  These take up less space in the pocket than a single glove.
 
Chris Bradshaw, Ottawa

----- Original Message -----

From: Todd Edelman

To: CarFreeCafe@yahoogroups.com

Cc: Alison Cohen ; WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com ; Mikael // Copenhagenize.com

Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2010 06:48

Subject: Re: [CarFreeCafe] Melbourne's first ever public bike hire scheme is underway

Hi,

Well, those bikes are a smooth shade of blue, probably the nicest looking Bixi/Public Bike System bikes.

I also prefer their sponsorship/branding to Bixi Montreal (Rio Tinto Alcan -  uranium mining) or Bixi London (Barclays and Serco - arms financing, UK nuclear arsenal management) : Melbourne and the state of Victoria... though their operator, RACV http://www.racv.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/Internet/Primary/home is kind of an interesting mix. A automobile insurance and services provider + bike share...  A good angle to reach many drivers, perhaps?

ON the other hand:

>From http://www.melbournebikeshare.com.au/faq (bold italics mine):

"11. Will helmets be supplied with the bikes?

Helmets are not supplied with the bikes. The main reason for this is due to safety. We cannot compromise on the safety of our users; if we were to provide helmets with the bikes we would need to check every helmet after each ride to ensure they are not damaged - and are clean.

Those using the scheme will need to bring their own helmet or purchase one from a handy location near the bike station.

In addition, subscribers to Melbourne Bike Share will have the option of purchasing a low cost helmet with their annual membership."

As several have asked before on this list for the past year or more - and just to be sporting we will agree that helmets can help in some situations - how is helmet fit guaranteed - helmets HAVE to fit, or they make things worse than if one falls without one on - if one gets their helmet from this "handy location"? Seems pretty compromised. Not every helmet is being checked for fit. To put it another way, are lawyers Down Under salivating about this, waiting for the first time someone falls and hits their head with a HLH (handy location helmet)? ("My client was not made sufficiently aware of the dangers...." etc.)

Furthermore, my understanding is that if helmets are carried around without a head inside they are fragile (a helmet plus a head has strength in aggregate).

Finally, more of a practical issue, when someone wants to ride but has no helmet with them (and they already have one or more) won't they simply get frustrated, especially as this will happen repeatedly? Won't it "kill the moment" for two people having a nice time out, when they want a spontaneous cycling experience but only one has a helmet with them and the other already has more than one, just not with them?

Now, I am not sure what RACV nor officials think about helmets, but I will assume that the talented folks at Alta Bike Share are pro-choice on helmets, so... Dear State of Victoria! Say it ain't so! Follow the lead of Mexico City and Israel (?) and change this silly bicycle helmet law! Trust citizens to choose for themselves what is overwhelmingly a personal issue. Let police focus their limited resources on motorized vehicles and their drivers.

Good luck,

Todd Edelman


'

On 05/31/2010 09:24 AM, Eric Britton wrote:

 

Comment: Hmm. Well great good luck Melbourne. Now the real work starts. Time to light a candle for you.  Eric Britton

On your bike: public hire scheme hits CBD

Source: http://www.theage .com.au/victoria/on-your-bike-public-hire-scheme-hits-cbd-20100531-wp4k.html?autostart=1

Melbourne's first ever public bike hire scheme is underway - with the early roll-out of the first 100 bicycles - although the government will not say how many people are expected to use the scheme.

The distinctive electric-blue bicycles will be available at 10 docking stations across the CBD. Subscribers will be able to join the scheme for $50 a year, $8 a week or $2.50 a day. Users will then be able to take the bicycles for 30 minutes without charge.

MAP: Melbourne Bike Share stations

Riders take part in the first day of the Melbourne Bike Share &

Riders take part in the first day of the Melbourne Bike Share scheme at Melbourne University. Photo: Wayne Taylor

But Roads Minister Tim Pallas, who launched the scheme at Melbourne University this morning, would not say how many people the government expects to use the scheme.

“The first ten stations and 100 bikes are now in place and available for public use. People can sign-up for yearly subscriptions on-line or simply purchase a daily or weekly subscription from kiosks located at the bike stations.”

“We now have ten stations operating along the Swanston Street/St Kilda Road corridor and over the coming weeks we will progressively add the additional 40 stations – with the full system to be in place by the middle of the year,” he said.

A rider at the Melbourne Bike Share scheme station at Melbourne University. Photo: Wayne Taylor

Melbourne is the only city in the world with compulsory helmet laws to have launched a bike share scheme.

Helmets are available as part of corporate memberships and individual annual subscriptions as well as at selected local CBD retail outlets located near the bike stations.

“We expect regular users of the system will prefer to provide their own helmet, however these other options do allow people to use the system spontaneously,” Mr Pallas said.

Louise Sheedy, a PhD student who cycles to Melbourne University every day, was parking her bicycle at a nearby stand as the media launch got underway.

Ms Sheedy said the bike share scheme was a great idea and that she might use the scheme herself.

“I am pretty full-on with my bike riding, and anything that gets more people cycling in Melbourne is fantastic,” she said.

The bicycles are a heavy-duty design, have three speeds, weigh 18 kilograms and have a small basket on the front.

http://www.melbournebikeshare.com.au/



.


#982 From: Utkin Marek <mutkin@...>
Date: Tue Jun 8, 2010 8:58 pm
Subject: ODP: Re: [CarFreeCafe] Melbourne's first ever public bike hire scheme is underway
mutkin@...
Send Email Send Email
 
The citizens of Australia should change the law and/or authorities, instead of
inventing helmets for use on Public Share Bikes.

Marek Utkin
________________________________________
Od: WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com [WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com] w imieniu Todd
Edelman [edelman@...]
Wys³ano: 7 czerwca 2010 18:22
Do: CarFreeCafe@yahoogroups.com
DW: Chris Bradshaw; WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com; Alison Cohen; Mikael //
Copenhagenize.com
Temat: [WorldCityBike] Re: [CarFreeCafe] Melbourne's first ever public bike hire
scheme is underway

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your message.

Questions:

+ How do you ensure that people use the pump (I am assuming this is for fitting
the top part? Has this method ever been used for any type of helmet?)

+ How do you ensure that people adjust the straps properly?

+ Regarding the security thing, it may be possible but creates another
complication. Furthermore there are are at least three or four basic helmet
sizes for adults.

The State of Victoria is wasting our time. I would love it if we could focus on
more important things in bike sharing, such as reducing the number of motor
vehicle trips used for distribution and integrating it fully within the public
transport mix in cities.

- T

p.s. My hair gets nice blond highlights if it is in the sun all summer, so for
me this helmet thing is all about vanity.



On 06/05/2010 06:07 PM, Chris Bradshaw wrote:


Todd,

Good to see you continue to put pressure on this issue.  I am a firm advocates
of bike helmets.  Surely, a message limiting the liability of the provide can
cover the excuses given for not providing them.

Just as bikes themselves need different design to accommodate sharing by people
of different body dimensions, so do helmets.

For bike sharing, the helmet could have:

- an interior padding that is inflatable with air, using a pump installed on the
outer shell or the nylon strap.

- for keeping the helmet with the bike and not get stolen, the shell could be
locked with the bike itself, and to keep the user from taking it, design the
electronics with the lock to _require_ the helmet to be included in its 'nest'
before the bike return at the next station is complete.

Riders wanting some sanitation from the multi-user inflatable liner could carry
a monk's hat that are common in cold climates for winter riding.  These take up
less space in the pocket than a single glove.

Chris Bradshaw, Ottawa
----- Original Message -----
From: Todd Edelman<mailto:edelman@...>
To: CarFreeCafe@yahoogroups.com<mailto:CarFreeCafe@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: Alison Cohen<mailto:alisoncohen@...> ;
WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com<mailto:WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com> ; Mikael //
Copenhagenize.com<mailto:copenhagenize@...>
Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2010 06:48
Subject: Re: [CarFreeCafe] Melbourne's first ever public bike hire scheme is
underway

Hi,

Well, those bikes are a smooth shade of blue, probably the nicest looking
Bixi/Public Bike System bikes.

I also prefer their sponsorship/branding to Bixi Montreal (Rio Tinto Alcan - 
uranium mining) or Bixi London (Barclays and Serco - arms financing, UK nuclear
arsenal management) : Melbourne and the state of Victoria... though their
operator, RACV http://www.racv.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/Internet/Primary/home is
kind of an interesting mix. A automobile insurance and services provider + bike
share...  A good angle to reach many drivers, perhaps?

ON the other hand:

>From http://www.melbournebikeshare.com.au/faq (bold italics mine):

"11. Will helmets be supplied with the bikes?
Helmets are not supplied with the bikes. The main reason for this is due to
safety. We cannot compromise on the safety of our users; if we were to provide
helmets with the bikes we would need to check every helmet after each ride to
ensure they are not damaged - and are clean.
Those using the scheme will need to bring their own helmet or purchase one from
a handy location near the bike station.
In addition, subscribers to Melbourne Bike Share will have the option of
purchasing a low cost helmet with their annual membership."

As several have asked before on this list for the past year or more - and just
to be sporting we will agree that helmets can help in some situations - how is
helmet fit guaranteed - helmets HAVE to fit, or they make things worse than if
one falls without one on - if one gets their helmet from this "handy location"?
Seems pretty compromised. Not every helmet is being checked for fit. To put it
another way, are lawyers Down Under salivating about this, waiting for the first
time someone falls and hits their head with a HLH (handy location helmet)? ("My
client was not made sufficiently aware of the dangers...." etc.)

Furthermore, my understanding is that if helmets are carried around without a
head inside they are fragile (a helmet plus a head has strength in aggregate).

Finally, more of a practical issue, when someone wants to ride but has no helmet
with them (and they already have one or more) won't they simply get frustrated,
especially as this will happen repeatedly? Won't it "kill the moment" for two
people having a nice time out, when they want a spontaneous cycling experience
but only one has a helmet with them and the other already has more than one,
just not with them?

Now, I am not sure what RACV nor officials think about helmets, but I will
assume that the talented folks at Alta Bike Share are pro-choice on helmets,
so... Dear State of Victoria! Say it ain't so! Follow the lead of Mexico City
and Israel (?) and change this silly bicycle helmet law! Trust citizens to
choose for themselves what is overwhelmingly a personal issue. Let police focus
their limited resources on motorized vehicles and their drivers.

Good luck,
Todd Edelman



'
On 05/31/2010 09:24 AM, Eric Britton wrote:

Comment: Hmm. Well great good luck Melbourne. Now the real work starts. Time to
light a candle for you.  Eric Britton
On your bike: public hire scheme hits CBD
Source:
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/on-your-bike-public-hire-scheme-hits-cbd-20100\
531-wp4k.html?autostart=1
Melbourne's first ever public bike hire scheme is underway - with the early
roll-out of the first 100 bicycles - although the government will not say how
many people are expected to use the scheme.
The distinctive electric-blue bicycles will be available at 10 docking stations
across the CBD. Subscribers will be able to join the scheme for $50 a year, $8 a
week or $2.50 a day. Users will then be able to take the bicycles for 30 minutes
without charge.
MAP: Melbourne Bike Share
stations<http://images.theage.com.au/file/2010/05/17/1457704/Map-Bike_Share_Sche\
me.pdf>
[cid:part1.03040802.00070209@...]
Riders take part in the first day of the Melbourne Bike Share scheme at
Melbourne University. Photo: Wayne Taylor
But Roads Minister Tim Pallas, who launched the scheme at Melbourne University
this morning, would not say how many people the government expects to use the
scheme.
“The first ten stations and 100 bikes are now in place and available for public
use. People can sign-up for yearly subscriptions on-line or simply purchase a
daily or weekly subscription from kiosks located at the bike stations.”
“We now have ten stations operating along the Swanston Street/St Kilda Road
corridor and over the coming weeks we will progressively add the additional 40
stations – with the full system to be in place by the middle of the year,” he
said.
A rider at the Melbourne Bike Share scheme station at Melbourne University.
Photo: Wayne Taylor
Melbourne is the only city in the world with compulsory helmet laws to have
launched a bike share scheme.
Helmets are available as part of corporate memberships and individual annual
subscriptions as well as at selected local CBD retail outlets located near the
bike stations.
“We expect regular users of the system will prefer to provide their own helmet,
however these other options do allow people to use the system spontaneously,” Mr
Pallas said.
Louise Sheedy, a PhD student who cycles to Melbourne University every day, was
parking her bicycle at a nearby stand as the media launch got underway.
Ms Sheedy said the bike share scheme was a great idea and that she might use the
scheme herself.
“I am pretty full-on with my bike riding, and anything that gets more people
cycling in Melbourne is fantastic,” she said.
The bicycles are a heavy-duty design, have three speeds, weigh 18 kilograms and
have a small basket on the front.
http://www.melbournebikeshare.com.au/



--

Todd Edelman
Green Idea Factory,
a member of the OPENbike team

Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081
Immobile: ++49(0)30 7554 0001

edelman@...<mailto:edelman@...>
www.greenidea.eu<http://www.greenidea.eu>
todd@...<mailto:todd@...>
www.openbike.se<http://www.openbike.se>

Skype: toddedelman

Urbanstr. 45
10967 Berlin
Germany

***

OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit!



--

Todd Edelman
Green Idea Factory,
a member of the OPENbike team

Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081
Immobile: ++49(0)30 7554 0001

edelman@...<mailto:edelman@...>
www.greenidea.eu<http://www.greenidea.eu>
todd@...<mailto:todd@...>
www.openbike.se<http://www.openbike.se>

Skype: toddedelman

Urbanstr. 45
10967 Berlin
Germany

***

OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit!

#983 From: Todd Edelman <edelman@...>
Date: Wed Jun 9, 2010 2:51 pm
Subject: Netherlands: "Volvo introduces helmet to protect against Volvos"
traintowards...
Send Email Send Email
 
The latest from the Green Idea Factory Blog...

Netherlands: Volvo introduces helmet to protect against Volvos

I took the title for this entry from the latest at Bakfiets-n-Meer, from Henry Cutler of Workcycles in Amsterdam.

Very sad, the Cult of Dangerization which has its object and lead symbol the styrosafetycap, is infecting one of the best practice national examples of both urban and rural cycling, ever, in the entire universe: the Netherlands. That the Ford Motor Company-owned Volvo Cars is behind it is not surprising, but also sickening. It is perhaps also ironic this campaign will very likely continue after the completion of the sale of Volvo Cars to Geely Automobile, based in China.

See full Blog entry here.
-- Todd Edelman
Green Idea Factory, a member of the OPENbike team
Mobile: ++49(0)162 814 4081
Immobile: ++49(0)30 7554 0001
edelman@...
www.greenidea.eu
todd@...
www.openbike.se
Skype: toddedelman
Urbanstr. 45
10967 Berlin
Germany
***
OPENbike - Share the Perfect Fit!

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