Crap Bike Paths - Melbourne facebook page https://www.facebook.com/crappathsmelb/
last update 2017
Crap cycle lanes of Melbourne The Warrington Cycle Campaign in the UK produced "Crap Cycle Lanes: 50 Worst Cycle Lanes in Britain" (Eye Books, 2007). It documents how bad transport infrastructure often lets down or endangers cyclists. This blog provides some similar cases of misplaced investment and neglect from around Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Let's actually get workmen on site rather than producing 'cycling strategies'. You have to laugh (otherwise you would cry)
Sunday, 26 April 2020
Saturday, 7 November 2015
Sunday, 16 August 2015
Infrastructure Australian Style
Infrastructure Australian Style. Home brewed in Melbourne (specifically, Moonee Ponds) by
The Canning Street crossing.
The Crossing:
This great video from The Bike Channel shows one of everybody's least favourite bike pinch points in Melbourne, the crossing of Princes St. in North Carlton (E-W) by the Canning Street cycle and pedestrian lanes (N-S). It takes an age to get across, and the traffic thunders and fumes. The proposed East-West link under here would not have removed road traffic; only sent those trucks and cars prepared to pay the tolls underneath this spot, and the cost of the entire State's transport budget for several years.
Simple video, powerful message. Aside from fixing up this crossing to make it a bit safer last year or so (except if you want to join the main road traffic on a bike - probably designed by non-cyclists who did not think anyone would do that..) nothing has been done to improve cycling here for years. They could at least shorten the wait times, but we are obviously not as important as cars. Thousands of cyclists wait here every day. It is an embarrassment.
It needs a tunnel....for the bikes
Saturday, 8 August 2015
Rushall Station underpass, Rushall Bridge, Koonda Lat Bridge
Local Council: City of Yarra, and Darebin Council on north side of Creek
However in Dec 2010, there was still no sign of any works commencing (but I did see someone who might have been an engineer there in August), and things actually got worse. In addition, a sign went up on the Rushall Bridge saying 'cyclists dismount, narrow bridge'. This is new - you could always cycle over this bridge in the past and it is a great crossing away from cars - there aren't other crossing points close by. We all ignore the sign - it appears to have no statutory authority, and anyway this bridge is not narrow - two bikes or prams can pass easily, there is zero history of accidents, and the bridge is the same width as all the older sections of the Capital City Trail, which has no such 'dismount' signs along its length!
Inaction on Rushall Station is already legendary. It is a classic case of Strategy Planning not resulting in anything for years at a time, because "complex partnerships" would be involved. Improvements have been mentioned in almost every transport plan and cycle strategy for years, in Yarra and sometimes in Merri Creek Management and City of Darebin documents. Bicycle Victoria have a whole web page on it. But nobody can actually get themselves to start work on the problem. If this was a road, it would have been fixed long ago. Let us see if the latest funding allocation mentioned in the Yarra Bicycle Strategy 2010-15 actually comes to anything, while I am still alive..... Watch this space. Update 20 Aug '10 - Darebin Sustainable Transport say they have no plans to do anything about the Bridge right now - and the sign stays up because the Bridge is 500mm too narrow to meet new codes. Strange how we (nearly 400 people a day) have been cycling over it all these years without problems then, and it still has a cyclist painted on it....
July 2015 - in the last 5 years we have had 'no cycling' painted under the station, warnings on the Bridge, prosecution and warnings issues to cyclists in the tunnel, and a campaign by dog walkers and users of the Reserve to stop a 2015 proposal to open it up with a bike path (also useful for pedestrians). But still, hundreds cross the bridge every day because it is a major commuter route. Finally in July 2015 Yarra Council voted to proceed with a path (voted 2016 too). Now we just need to insure they build it. Still no better tunnel under the station, but at least safer access to the Reserve for those heading west. See the official council sites http://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/hot-topics/rushall-reserve-shared-path-decision/ http://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/environment/Parks-and-reserves/rushall-reserve/
2020 - there was over a year of gut wrenching public hearings and delays in 2015 to 2016 where plans were drawn up for a cycle and pedestrian path leading into the Reserve. This included dealing with a substantial opposition group, who were made up of off-leach dog walkers and others. Yarra polled the public [who voted in favor of the path], took the plans, and then the revised plans to a vote of Council, who narrowly voted to approve funding and building. By late 2019 nothing had been built - again. The promised budget was not enough apparently following a new route demanded by dog walkers and others, and the path project was completely cancelled. A victory for NIMBYISM. People continue to cut the fence so they can access the Reserve from the station.
 |
| The Rushall Bridge and station. My image, no copyright |
Responsibility: VicTrack and Yarra Council. Possibly Vic Parks?
Contact: try MD at City of Yarra for update on progress, or
Contact: try MD at City of Yarra for update on progress, or
Northern suburbs residents will doubtless be familiar with the multi-decade old campaign to get decent cycle access under, and around, Rushall Station (see linked BV map). There is a lovely narrow bridge the crosses the Merri Creek from Westgarth to the north (postcode 3070) (see right), to Rushall Station, which is in North Fitzroy, after which you have multiple options to get the Melbourne City Centre - I tend to go straight on, on Falconer St. See Nearmap below for stunning images.
As hundreds of you will also be aware, this is a major commuter route with a bike passing every few seconds in the rush-hours (300 or so in the morning, BV says - in March 2010 the 2 hr morning peak had a count of 390).
The historic problems have been:- Convoluted narrow underpass under Rushall Station, shared with pedestrians. Lots of no-cycling signs, that are rightfully ignored because they are an excuse for planner inaction on cycle infrastructure. Occasional clashes with pedestrians, lots of 'excuse-me' in the underpass, and too much slowing down.
- No access (see right) to Thomas Kidney Reserve, to the north west side of the railway tracks, from the Station. People, their dogs, and children have to climb a steel fence to gain access from Rushall Station, and then walk along the top of a Creek-side cliff, to attain the grassland Reserve and the bike path through it (a path that looks old, and was never completed up to the Station-currently it ends in the Creek!).
3.2 Merri Creek Trail at Rushall Station. Construction of new path on the east of Rushall Station to ensure the Merri Creek Trail bypasses the station underpass. Project will link existing trail south of the station to Rushall Reserve and eventually, the new crossing identified in 3.1 above. Project is consistent with the Merri Creek Trail Review. Yarra City Council with funding support of Parks Victoria. 2010 $375k (split 50/50)
However in Dec 2010, there was still no sign of any works commencing (but I did see someone who might have been an engineer there in August), and things actually got worse. In addition, a sign went up on the Rushall Bridge saying 'cyclists dismount, narrow bridge'. This is new - you could always cycle over this bridge in the past and it is a great crossing away from cars - there aren't other crossing points close by. We all ignore the sign - it appears to have no statutory authority, and anyway this bridge is not narrow - two bikes or prams can pass easily, there is zero history of accidents, and the bridge is the same width as all the older sections of the Capital City Trail, which has no such 'dismount' signs along its length!
In addition, temporary alert signs have been added around the local area, reminding cyclists that they could use an alternative route. This is the Koonda Lat Bridge a few hundred meters to the west. The new bridge was announced by John Brumby in the early 2010s with a brief fanfare, and then built, with a combination of State and local funds, using an existing pipe bridge and in conjunction with Melbourne Water relaying the pipe.
The bridge is welcome, but if anybody thinks this new Bridge will get good cycle traffic they are dreaming:- The Koonda Lat Bridge is not easily accessed, and cyclists like to take a direct route, unless they are out for a weekend meander. If you live where I live, it takes you 500m out of your way, every day, day-in, day-out on the commute.
- The Koonda Lat Bridge does not head towards the city - it is strongly angled away from it - if you are heading southbound, it angles east.
- A major screwup is that if you approach the Koonda Lat Bridge from the east on Westgarth Street, you find yourself having to go cross-country to access it - there is no cycle path approaching it from the east! Bike planners in Darebin Council could have thought of this.From Darebin Council, Aug '10 - this is because of underground service cables etc.
- Also the Bridge could be useful for the many St George's Rd cycle commuters coming from the north west and heading south, but only if they exit the obvious route into the city that they are on, to go out of their way to get to the Bridge in a big loop they takes an extra 5 minutes.
Inaction on Rushall Station is already legendary. It is a classic case of Strategy Planning not resulting in anything for years at a time, because "complex partnerships" would be involved. Improvements have been mentioned in almost every transport plan and cycle strategy for years, in Yarra and sometimes in Merri Creek Management and City of Darebin documents. Bicycle Victoria have a whole web page on it. But nobody can actually get themselves to start work on the problem. If this was a road, it would have been fixed long ago. Let us see if the latest funding allocation mentioned in the Yarra Bicycle Strategy 2010-15 actually comes to anything, while I am still alive..... Watch this space. Update 20 Aug '10 - Darebin Sustainable Transport say they have no plans to do anything about the Bridge right now - and the sign stays up because the Bridge is 500mm too narrow to meet new codes. Strange how we (nearly 400 people a day) have been cycling over it all these years without problems then, and it still has a cyclist painted on it....
July 2015 - in the last 5 years we have had 'no cycling' painted under the station, warnings on the Bridge, prosecution and warnings issues to cyclists in the tunnel, and a campaign by dog walkers and users of the Reserve to stop a 2015 proposal to open it up with a bike path (also useful for pedestrians). But still, hundreds cross the bridge every day because it is a major commuter route. Finally in July 2015 Yarra Council voted to proceed with a path (voted 2016 too). Now we just need to insure they build it. Still no better tunnel under the station, but at least safer access to the Reserve for those heading west. See the official council sites http://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/hot-topics/rushall-reserve-shared-path-decision/ http://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/environment/Parks-and-reserves/rushall-reserve/
2020 - there was over a year of gut wrenching public hearings and delays in 2015 to 2016 where plans were drawn up for a cycle and pedestrian path leading into the Reserve. This included dealing with a substantial opposition group, who were made up of off-leach dog walkers and others. Yarra polled the public [who voted in favor of the path], took the plans, and then the revised plans to a vote of Council, who narrowly voted to approve funding and building. By late 2019 nothing had been built - again. The promised budget was not enough apparently following a new route demanded by dog walkers and others, and the path project was completely cancelled. A victory for NIMBYISM. People continue to cut the fence so they can access the Reserve from the station.
Wednesday, 8 April 2015
Canning Street and Princes St, Carlton North
UPDATE Aug 2013 After riding the new crossing for a year, have you noticed: no provision for bikes to join Alexandra Parade. Especially if travelling north and wanting to turn east. And - cars can get trapped between the two sets of lights, blocking everything. This happens frequently. New video
UPDATE Feb 2012: After almost a year and a half after the last posting below, works have been completed on the Canning Street crossing by VicRoad's contractors in Feb 2012. No underpass. What a surprise, given how the state's own bike strategy was not pursued. Impressions are favourable nonetheless. However there is a silly 'pinch point' outside the pub, currently with a sign for you to hit, which leads to a queue of cyclists in rush hour. Pedestrians have been separated and are supposed to cross on their own path. Good. Difficulty are that is is hard to know whether you can legally cross on a bike and then turn onto Alexandra Parade/Princes St - as I do every day. Are you contravening anything? Also, there seems to be no speeding up of the crossing in rush hour - still a mind numbing wait to cross the road. SO - the crossing is no longer crap, but the wait still is.
UPDATE: TRAFFIC ENGINEERS SPOTTED 4 AUG 2010 ON SITE!!!!! WRITE TO COUNCILS AND VICROADS ASKING FOR AN UNDERPASS NOW! DECISIONS BEING MADE NOW
Location: Junction of Canning St and Princes St, North Carlton VIC 3053
Council: Yarra Council north side, City of Melbourne south side
Responsibility: Vic Roads, Yarra Council (N side), and City of Melbourne (S side). Try Anita.Curnow (Director of Network Improvements at VicRoads) "at" transport.vic.gov.au, for referral to correct person. Considerable interest from Yarra in the problem - see their Bike Advisory Committee minutes. Clr Jackie Fristacky lives on the street and cycles everywhere - watch the video which mentions the crossing!
The problem: This is probably one of the busiest cycling spots in the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne. The city centre is to the south, and lots of people live to the north. As any commuter from the area knows, there are no easy spots to cross Alexandra Parade/Princes St- it is a jammed, six lane inner city road that joins Melbourne from East to West. We desperately need north-south access that does not involve long waiting times and dangerous crossings. This means continuous cycling, i.e. underpasses and favourable through routes.
Canning Street runs north south and has long been a designated, pleasant cycle lane. In the morning you will see volumes of cyclists on it that are almost Copenhagen-like. An article in The Age in 2006 said "Many cyclists say that Canning Street provides optimum on-road conditions and VicRoads figures show that about 1600 cyclists use it every day. Yarra Council figures show that 527 cyclists rode through the Canning-Princes Street intersection in a two-hour morning peak period in 2006, compared with 289 in an equivalent period last year, an 82 per cent increase." By 2010 these figures were 2500 every day, 350 in the morning peak according to the new automatic monitor. A spot check in March 2010 revealed 923 cyclists passing in the 2 hr morning peak. It is designated an IMAP Priority Route because it "already has high bicycle usage". It is a beautiful ride.
The delight ceases when, travelling south or north, you get to the intersection with Princes Street. The Canning/Princes junction is a crap cycle lane. You are faced with a pelican crossing for bikes and peds - across three eastbound lanes, with a narrow central reserve just wide enough to take a bike, and then three more lanes. This can clearly be seen on the
map below.
View Larger Map
The problem is that the timing of the crossing in rush hour is completely biased toward the E-W highway traffic. Tens, sometimes up to a hundred, n-s bound cyclists sit there like morons waiting for the lights to change, breathing in fumes. It feels like a two minute wait. In the evening, the flow is reversed. You could almost dismount and down a beer at the Dan O'Connell pub, in the time it takes for the lights to change. In addition, prmary school students and parents crossing north clash with cyclists going south, prior to 9am. Let me stress again that this is affecting thousands of people every day, and being stranded on the tiny central island is pretty unsafe if that happens to you. The only action taken by Vic Roads has been to synchronise the traffic lights with Elgin Street to the south, but not to increase the timings of north-south priority.
View Larger Map
Solutions: My correspondence with Vic Transport about this one in Jan. '10 suggests there is no chance of the obvious solution being constructed - an underpass- anytime soon. I think it is viable - others do not. But this is clearly what is needed, as any bike planner from Denmark or the Netherlands would make clear. Some minor works are planned. The video above actually shows them being debated at the Bike Advisory Committee, Yarra. The Yarra Bicycle Strategy 2010-2015 mentions $20k allocated to "upgrade" the crossing, do linemarkings, etc. on the north side, but no action by Melbourne City Council or VicRoads, despite Councillor agitation from Yarra since 2000. This is not enough. If we don't get an underpass, then we at least need the timing of the crossing to be more favourable to n-s traffic and more space on the S side to beat the clash of peds/bikes in the morning. Making the e-w traffic wait a bit more, which means changing priories on all the close-by traffic lights, will send a message to motorists and avoid jaywalking (or jay-cycling) which is almost unavoidable at this immensely frustrating location. Again, if cycle priorities are the norm in Netherlands and Denmark, why not here?
UPDATE Feb 2012: After almost a year and a half after the last posting below, works have been completed on the Canning Street crossing by VicRoad's contractors in Feb 2012. No underpass. What a surprise, given how the state's own bike strategy was not pursued. Impressions are favourable nonetheless. However there is a silly 'pinch point' outside the pub, currently with a sign for you to hit, which leads to a queue of cyclists in rush hour. Pedestrians have been separated and are supposed to cross on their own path. Good. Difficulty are that is is hard to know whether you can legally cross on a bike and then turn onto Alexandra Parade/Princes St - as I do every day. Are you contravening anything? Also, there seems to be no speeding up of the crossing in rush hour - still a mind numbing wait to cross the road. SO - the crossing is no longer crap, but the wait still is.
UPDATE: TRAFFIC ENGINEERS SPOTTED 4 AUG 2010 ON SITE!!!!! WRITE TO COUNCILS AND VICROADS ASKING FOR AN UNDERPASS NOW! DECISIONS BEING MADE NOW
Location: Junction of Canning St and Princes St, North Carlton VIC 3053
Council: Yarra Council north side, City of Melbourne south side
Responsibility: Vic Roads, Yarra Council (N side), and City of Melbourne (S side). Try Anita.Curnow (Director of Network Improvements at VicRoads) "at" transport.vic.gov.au, for referral to correct person. Considerable interest from Yarra in the problem - see their Bike Advisory Committee minutes. Clr Jackie Fristacky lives on the street and cycles everywhere - watch the video which mentions the crossing!
The problem: This is probably one of the busiest cycling spots in the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne. The city centre is to the south, and lots of people live to the north. As any commuter from the area knows, there are no easy spots to cross Alexandra Parade/Princes St- it is a jammed, six lane inner city road that joins Melbourne from East to West. We desperately need north-south access that does not involve long waiting times and dangerous crossings. This means continuous cycling, i.e. underpasses and favourable through routes.
Canning Street runs north south and has long been a designated, pleasant cycle lane. In the morning you will see volumes of cyclists on it that are almost Copenhagen-like. An article in The Age in 2006 said "Many cyclists say that Canning Street provides optimum on-road conditions and VicRoads figures show that about 1600 cyclists use it every day. Yarra Council figures show that 527 cyclists rode through the Canning-Princes Street intersection in a two-hour morning peak period in 2006, compared with 289 in an equivalent period last year, an 82 per cent increase." By 2010 these figures were 2500 every day, 350 in the morning peak according to the new automatic monitor. A spot check in March 2010 revealed 923 cyclists passing in the 2 hr morning peak. It is designated an IMAP Priority Route because it "already has high bicycle usage". It is a beautiful ride.
The delight ceases when, travelling south or north, you get to the intersection with Princes Street. The Canning/Princes junction is a crap cycle lane. You are faced with a pelican crossing for bikes and peds - across three eastbound lanes, with a narrow central reserve just wide enough to take a bike, and then three more lanes. This can clearly be seen on the
map below.
View Larger Map
The problem is that the timing of the crossing in rush hour is completely biased toward the E-W highway traffic. Tens, sometimes up to a hundred, n-s bound cyclists sit there like morons waiting for the lights to change, breathing in fumes. It feels like a two minute wait. In the evening, the flow is reversed. You could almost dismount and down a beer at the Dan O'Connell pub, in the time it takes for the lights to change. In addition, prmary school students and parents crossing north clash with cyclists going south, prior to 9am. Let me stress again that this is affecting thousands of people every day, and being stranded on the tiny central island is pretty unsafe if that happens to you. The only action taken by Vic Roads has been to synchronise the traffic lights with Elgin Street to the south, but not to increase the timings of north-south priority.
View Larger Map
Solutions: My correspondence with Vic Transport about this one in Jan. '10 suggests there is no chance of the obvious solution being constructed - an underpass- anytime soon. I think it is viable - others do not. But this is clearly what is needed, as any bike planner from Denmark or the Netherlands would make clear. Some minor works are planned. The video above actually shows them being debated at the Bike Advisory Committee, Yarra. The Yarra Bicycle Strategy 2010-2015 mentions $20k allocated to "upgrade" the crossing, do linemarkings, etc. on the north side, but no action by Melbourne City Council or VicRoads, despite Councillor agitation from Yarra since 2000. This is not enough. If we don't get an underpass, then we at least need the timing of the crossing to be more favourable to n-s traffic and more space on the S side to beat the clash of peds/bikes in the morning. Making the e-w traffic wait a bit more, which means changing priories on all the close-by traffic lights, will send a message to motorists and avoid jaywalking (or jay-cycling) which is almost unavoidable at this immensely frustrating location. Again, if cycle priorities are the norm in Netherlands and Denmark, why not here?
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
Mysterious Metal Pyramids of High St Northcote
(Bottom photo source: the Age)
Monday, 12 August 2013
National article on bad bike infrastructure
An article by Michael O'Reilley in The Age, August 12, 2013. "Epic bike lane failures"
A few good general lessons. I had forgotten that Sydneysiders are doing it tough carting their bikes up several flights of stairs to access the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Nonetheless, some of Michael's examples are from Melbourne.
http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/fitness/blogs/on-your-bike/epic-bike-lane-failures-20130811-2rqio.html
Suggestions for the article were taken here http://www.melbournecyclist.com/forum/topics/examples-of-bad-cycling-infrastructure-got-any?xg_source=activity
A few good general lessons. I had forgotten that Sydneysiders are doing it tough carting their bikes up several flights of stairs to access the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Nonetheless, some of Michael's examples are from Melbourne.
http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/fitness/blogs/on-your-bike/epic-bike-lane-failures-20130811-2rqio.html
Suggestions for the article were taken here http://www.melbournecyclist.com/forum/topics/examples-of-bad-cycling-infrastructure-got-any?xg_source=activity
Sunday, 26 August 2012
Fallout from the mysterious loss of VIC's bike budget
There has been a chorus of dissent and disappointment when the Ted Ballieu Liberal/National government of Victoria cut the bicycle infrastructure budget to zero dollars in June 2012, from its previous +$40m in 2011. Individual cyclists, groups, and Bike Victoria were incredulous. BV went as far as correcting the press release where the government falsely claims it was still spending some new money. While the government is spending millions on seeing if it can implement new road schemes (Alexandra Parade is being test drilled for a tunnel), it could not apparently find $41m to renew the funding for bike infrastructure improvements.
The great thing is that Bike Victoria (now Bicycle Network Victoria, which is a silly name), which is usually not exactly critical of government policy given the range of links they have with government agencies, came out in strong protest, particularly organising a large rally in the CBD of Melbourne on June 21st 2012. They organised several protests (yes - protests organised by BV!!!). The result has been some weakening of the government's position, possibly with a rethink on actually meeting their commitment to fund the troublesome Gipps St crossing of the Yarra River in Abbotsford, which received a special protest all of its own on July 29 2012.
Monday, 10 October 2011
Articles from National Ride to Work Day in Melbourne
Articles that are coming out around the National Ride to Work Day in Melbourne (Oct 11) illustrate the extent of our problems in this city. Journalists at The Age newspaper have written a few pieces that really question the International Cyclist's Union designation Melbourne as a world cycling city. Part of the problem is the infrastructure, creating safety risks. A second is the "driving culture".
Video, The Age, 5 Oct 2011.
http://media.theage.com.au/news/national-news/tessa-rides-to-work-why-2671490.html
Tessa decides it is worth cycling. to work. Mind you if she is going from St.Kilda to The Age offices way out on the way to the airport...
There are a series of articles and videos in the Age this week and last week. Some of them are a bit strange - eg focussing on how many accidents bike riders have in Melbourne, which will put people off (no car accident victims mentioned).
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/injuries-take-a-big-toll-on-cyclists-20111007-1ld54.html
A focus on driver education is welcome:
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/push-for-peace-as-rage-rises-between-drivers-cyclists-20111007-1lcpo.html
Video, The Age, 5 Oct 2011.
http://media.theage.com.au/news/national-news/tessa-rides-to-work-why-2671490.html
Tessa decides it is worth cycling. to work. Mind you if she is going from St.Kilda to The Age offices way out on the way to the airport...
There are a series of articles and videos in the Age this week and last week. Some of them are a bit strange - eg focussing on how many accidents bike riders have in Melbourne, which will put people off (no car accident victims mentioned).
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/injuries-take-a-big-toll-on-cyclists-20111007-1ld54.html
A focus on driver education is welcome:
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/push-for-peace-as-rage-rises-between-drivers-cyclists-20111007-1lcpo.html
“Cycling safety campaigns usually focus on changing cyclists' behaviour, where the emphasis should be on changing driver behaviour,” Ms Johnson said. “If a driver cuts you off or opens their door in front of you, there's nothing you can do to change your behaviour in that situation. Those two examples and so many I see are about changing driver behaviour.”And this is not encouraging
John Gould, a passionate safety advocate and bike shop owner, said Melbourne road users could learn tolerance from their overseas counterparts.“I've ridden in probably 20 countries and I find Melbourne the second-worst place I've ridden in [after Istanbul],” he said.“A lot of those countries don't have many cyclists but they're still a lot more considerate … I was probably on the only bike in Slovenia and holding up traffic going up hills. But no one tooted, everyone knew it was only 10 seconds of their lives. “Here there's lots of carry-on: 'Get out of my way'. The utes love to play chicken with you, I see lots of incidents. The road is a shared carriageway and we've got to share it.”
Sunday, 9 October 2011
Migrants and refugees - scared to ride in Melbourne
New study of migrants and refugees - scared to ride in Melbourne
http://www.vu.edu.au/news/migrants-refugees-scared-to-ride
http://www.vu.edu.au/news/migrants-refugees-scared-to-ride
Minneapolis
An interesting article (The Age, 9 Oct.) on bike facilities and levels of cycling (at 4% of journeys, high for the US) in Minneapolis.
I have actually been there, but not cycled, in the depths of winter. At that time, cycling is possible with practice, but not accident-free. The cycle lanes help. Interesting that the modal share of cycling is over twice that of Melbourne.
The Melbourne bike hire scheme and helmets
Melbourne introduced a bicycle hire scheme around the city centre in 2010, without repealing the compulsory helmet laws that make the scheme unworkable. Arriving in Melbourne as a tourist or visitor, or just needing to get somewhere, you can't just jump on a bike - you have to get hold of a helmet, or risk a $146 fine for not wearing one. Australia's helmet laws are some of the most restrictive in the world. Many, myself included, think that compulsory helmet laws make any bike hire scheme unworkable. One of the world's top experts on risk, Prof John Adams, agrees. See Article in the Age and listen to ABC radio broadcast on helmet laws on 21 Sept '10.
Mikael Colville-Andersen of Copenhagenize Consulting, called "Four Goals for Promoting Urban Cycling". His four goals included
There was a Protest from Melbourne Uni, 18 July 2010 http://www.situp-cycle.com/2010/07/18/riding-for-bike-share/. This protest was followed by an interesting presentation at the State of Design festival by
Mikael Colville-Andersen of Copenhagenize Consulting, called "Four Goals for Promoting Urban Cycling". His four goals included - Get for A-B quickly - bikes down side roads don't work, provide facilities on well used main routes
- Market the bicycle effectively, not as a niche product for sport or recreation
- Don't avoid the elephant in the room - you can't plan for bikes without doing something about cars (through high vehicle tax and speed limits in Denmark).
- "the re-democratisation of the bicycle, re-humanising urban cycling, making it something for everyone, making it mainstream again".
In a subsequent panel discussion Daniel Paez, (Manager Active Transport Policy, Department of Transport) and Anita Curnow (Director of Network Improvements at VicRoads) took a fair amount of flak from the pro-cycling audience. Anita mentioning that she wasn't much of a cyclist, which probably didn't help audience confidence in what her unit is up to (her portfolio is too big, as well). Daniel, despite being from Colombia where freedom usually rules on the roads, is a supporter of the helmet law. Garry Brennan from Bicycle Victoria did not have much to say, but this large cycling organisation also supports the helmet law and refuses to support members who oppose it, or to poll their members. I refuse to join.
Only 15% of cyclists use helmets in Denmark, with relatively low accident rates (c.50 fatalities a year, 2008). In VIC, Vicroads crashstats reports about 11 bike accidents in the same year, with a smaller number of fatalities. VIC and Denmark are about the same size at 5.5m. However the effects of not cycling and driving instead, on health and wellbeing, favour cycling. Exercise reduces obesity and heart attacks. Bike helmets are partly responsible for its unpopularity, especially with women, so they reduce health while reducing your risk of head injury slightly. This is controversial stuff though.
Mike Rubbo has a ramble about the helmet issues and the bike hire, here
Update, Oct '10. In response to extremely low take up of the bike hire scheme, the organisers have installed a helmet dispenser at Melbourne Uni and at Southern Cross Station. You can also get one from 7-Eleven stores. The Uni one is particularly silly since there is a bike store on the other side of the Student Union from one of the hire racks. John the owner will not be pleased! At $5 they are a bargain - elsewhere $12 is the lowest you will pay (on special at KMart). And "People can also return the helmets to 7-Eleven stores for recycling and receive $3 cash back"says Roads Transport Minister Tim Pallas.
All this is incredibly silly in my view. Somebody is subsidising all this, and somebody else will be profiting nicely. Nobody is going to saved from head injuries. User rates for the hires remain very low. All of this was predicted by seasoned cyclists like Mike Rubbo and myself, when the scheme was introduced. The scheme is a laughing stock. A helmet waiver law should be a major priority for the new State government.
Update, Dec '10. Still little takeup of the scheme. The Age 29 Nov '10. We now have a new Liberal party state government for the first time in over a decade. I wonder what they will do?
Update Oct '11. Riders now over 300 per day, which is still embarrassingly few. The Age Article of Oct 9 cites excuses. I am not buying any of them. It's the helmets. Dr Chris Rissell writing in The Conversation.
Update Feb '12. Riders now up to 500 a day, still well below all other city schemes reviewed across Europe. Helments seem to remain an issue, alongside cost and numbers of racks. Much less than 4 years to go before they decide whether to ditch the scheme or continue with it. Age article, Feb 10 2012.
Sunday, 21 August 2011
The Scandal of the Victoria Bicycle Strategy (2009)
This article and this in The Age newspaper reveal that neither the present (Liberal) government in Victoria, Australia or the past (Labor) have acted on the state's Cycling Strategy, produced in 2009. The Strategy has now been evaluated by the Auditor General of Victoria, Dr Des Pearson, in Aug 2011 and he found little progress has been made on the key recommendations and actions over the last 2.5 years.
The particular issue of interest to readers is that little effort has been made since 2009 to address the complexities of road infrastructure - eg where councils and VicRoads have to be consulted, or where significant spending would be needed across councils and state bodies. This would be the case with terrible Canning Street/Princes Hill crossing discussed in this blog, and with the ever-increasing waits that we have to endure at more and more traffic lights - as around Carlton. The relevant section is this one -
3.6 Addressing stakeholder issues. The Department and VicRoads have not:
addressed conflicts and delays where cyclists cross road intersections and where cyclists and pedestrians use shared paths
provided updated guidance on the construction, maintenance, auditing and retrofitting of shared bicycle paths
acted to improve policy and program coordination across government
adequately addressed the concerns of councils regarding how maintenance will be funded.
I am pleased that the truth is out - it was long suspected. The purpose of this blog was to show that cyclists in Melbourne have a very hard time on the roads, partly because of bad infrastructure, and that grand plans laid out in strategy documents result in very little concrete action. The current state government is worse than the last at fixing crap cycle lanes in Melbourne. The work has not been funded, there is very little data collected on cycling, and priorities for the major transport agencies clearly lie elsewhere. Here is a letter I sent to The Age, which was not printed.
Letter to The Age , sent Thursday, August 18, 2011
In “No way to spin it, the wheels are off” (18 Aug) we learn from an Auditor General’s report that the 2009 Victorian Cycling Strategy has been all but discarded by the present State government. This embarrassing news comes as Melbourne fêtes Cadel Evans, and Melbourne has been declared the world’s second “bicycle city” by the Union Cycliste Internationale.
If the Baillieu government was happy to embrace the award, then it actually needs to follow through on its own Cycling Strategy, as should our local governments who also produce such strategy documents. This means 1) spending real money on actually building missing links and addressing dangers in the cycle network 2) listening to regular cyclists when designing bike infrastructure, rather than relying on non-cycling transport planners 3) sorting out the complex governance of our roads - between Vic Roads, local councils, and private landowners such that facilities actually get built. Fourthly, as the article says, there has so far been no significant action to make “car travel less attractive” through congestion charging and similar measures in the inner city, as in London and other cities. Addressing these four points could result in creating a genuine ‘bicycle city’.
However several letters were published in response to the article, and an editorial was printed on Saturday 20 Aug 2011 blaming government failures. Also Alan Davies has an extended commentary on his blog. We will wait to see if there is any reaction from the government, but do not hold your breath. They are still basking in the glow of Cadel Evans winning the Tour, and the 'Bike City' designation for Melboune. The difficulty for me is that my letters and protests about crapness of bike infrastructure have probably been ignored, as have thousands of others I suspect.
The fact that cycling in inner Melbourne and the central business district has grown by about 50% during the last four years, as the Auditor's report says, and surely this must be worth something. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be worth actual investment, as opposed to lines in a Strategy document.
The struggle continues.
Monday, 8 August 2011
Sunday, 24 July 2011
Congratulations to Cadel Evans
Congratulations to Cadel Evans on winning the 2011 Tour de France. He attended school and has many years residence in the Melbourne suburbs, currently resides Barwon Heads down on the VIC coast.
I bet he wouldn't stand for any crap cycle lanes in Melbourne!
Sunday, 17 July 2011
New Mike Rubbo video takes aim
March 2011. He interviews Yarra City Councillor, Jackie Fristacky (Yarra) and Mike looks at the good and bad points of Yarra and City of Melbourne's bike infrastructure. Why you can't cycle through a park in the City has long puzzled visitors and commuters. And the good old Melbourne Bike Share scheme gets another serve - despite protestations by Bicycle Victoria and others, its the helmet laws that reduces usage, stupid..... (scroll to the second half)
Cycling thrives in Melbourne, Does Bike Share contribute? Video presentation to the Velo City Conference in Seville, Spain, March 25th. 2011. http://vimeo.com/21652428
Cycling thrives in Melbourne, Does Bike Share contribute? from mike rubbo on Vimeo.
Cycling thrives in Melbourne, Does Bike Share contribute? Video presentation to the Velo City Conference in Seville, Spain, March 25th. 2011. http://vimeo.com/21652428
Cycling thrives in Melbourne, Does Bike Share contribute? from mike rubbo on Vimeo.
Thursday, 9 June 2011
Crap cycle lane policy in New York
Crap cycle lane policy in New York. The lanes are fine but they are full of crap.
The YouTube video by Casey Neistat has gone viral - 418,340 views in three days.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/bike-blog/2011/jun/09/casey-neistat-bike-lane
The YouTube video by Casey Neistat has gone viral - 418,340 views in three days.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/bike-blog/2011/jun/09/casey-neistat-bike-lane
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