Apologies for the misleading title, all I found is that if you bike to work at least 3 times a week for 14 months, you can keep that 700 euros worth bike, in the Dutch Harderwijk, during the local road works.

Free Bike for Commuters

Cycling might be considered a hippie thing, but not in Holland: the rationale behind the campaign is that a shuttle bus service would have been a lot more expensive.

The second MeetBike conference was held last week in Dresden on the integration of green transport modes, i.e. public transport and cycling. Although I haven’t been able to attend, the following is my interpretation of the slides available online.

In the past decades, the share of utility cycling in Germany dramatically increased, e.g. doubled in Berlin and tripled on Leipzig. Surveying commuters, it turned out that 1) public transport and cycling is used for very similar journey types (5-10 km long everyday commuting and week-end leisure trips), 2) in general, around half of passengers are “multimodal”, i.e. they use several transport methods on a daily basis.

City authorities aim to publicize both cycling and transit, therefore it is beneficial to handle these alternatives to the private car in an integrated way, to benefit from network effects.

Transporting bikes on transit vehicles

According to a research by the Dresden University of Technology, two thirds of German transit operators have no objections against transporting bicycles. The biggest problem is the capacity issue, only relevant in some of the cities. This can be cured by limiting bikes in rush hours, tariff adjustments and, finally, by increasing capacity.

e.g. in Stuttgart in rush hour, bikes are not allowed on the light rail (Stadtbahn) and a ticket is required on the commuter trains (S-Bahn), but they are free on both in other times. (The bike racks on the Stuttgart rack railway are on the photo.)

The cyclists’ club explains, that on some lines frequently used by cyclists, the so called “multi-functional areas” are not sufficient for daily bike transport, because the folding seats generate conflicts, and the positioning of the bikes needs to be defined by the installment.

Bike+Ride parking at the stations

It is a relief to vehicle capacity when cyclists choose to leave their bikes at the stations. For everyday commuting, though, riders expect covered parking areas; and on the successful S-Bahn lines, such as in Berlin, the current tens of thousands of parking spaces still need expansion. (Bike parking at Amsterdam Centraal station is pictured.)

Accessibility

The operator of the Oberelbe region notes that the ramps, lifts and low-floor vehicles required for wheelchair access are also beneficial for cyclists, the elderly and passengers with prams or heavy luggage; so by and large for the majority.

Bike sharing

The bike sharing systems very popular these days (publicized especially by the biggest and most successful Vélib system of Paris) are a big help for capacity planning, too, since passengers arriving on public bicycles need neither parking nor vehicle bike storage. Obviously, rental points need to be installed at the stations, and tariff planning needs to be integrated with public transport.
For example, in Paris, the electronic (RFID) transit pass is also used to take out a Vélib, and the Swiss train pass offers discounted Rent-a-bike prices. Simply we give a discount for a frequent buyer of green transport.

Designing bike lanes at sidewalk tram stops

The city of Leipzig was presenting the issue of conflicts between cyclists and riders in tram stops. In recent years, they explain, tram stops are built right next to the sidewalks (sometimes by widening the pavement), because this means a safer design and shorter journey times compared to tram stops in the middle of the road. On these configurations, bikers shouldn’t be guided on the tracks, as crossing rails in a low angle is dangerous; so they are directed either between the tracks and the pavement or, if possible, behind the stop, and they use the road category “pedestrian street with bike access” to ensure priority for pedestrians.

Marketing

Finally every presenter highlighted the importance a unified, strong messages for using cycling and transit together. We are currently working on such a campaign called Bike to Work [by train].

Pictures: Akbar Simonse, Andrew Ciscel and me.

This is a model from the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart to illustrate city life before the  “glorious” invention of the automobile 100+ years ago.

Please note the striking similarity of this picture with current plans and finished projects of reclaiming city centres from motor traffic, for example Graz:

As an engineer, I seriously believe in technical development, but when once in a while we do mistakes (i.e. donating 90+% of urban space to individual motorized transportation), there is a necessity to be bold and reclaim the streets and squares we once had, for example one PARK(ing) space at a time.

We strongly prefer bike lanes on the road to pavement bike paths shared with pedestrians for safety and ideological reasons. ’nuff said, but what happens if such a badly designed facility has already been built?

The answer is obvious and still pretty rare: it needs to be closed down. This is exactly what happened in Stuttgart.

At the beginning of the abandoned section, cyclists are diverted to the road, with proper signage for motorists to expect traffic from the right.

The closed path can be recognized from the different surface. There are bike racks now on some of the liberated space.

So now that cyclists are back on the road, we are finished. Or are we?

Well, as it turns out, no left turn is allowed in this intersection. This being an unnecessary limitation for bikes, two new areas are painted for bike left turns.

It is important to note that in order to actively encourage cycling, a city needs to provide more (extra left turn) and not less (no entry for bikes) possibilities for cyclists.

Finally a legal solution for those who are still afraid of cycling in motor traffic: this is a pedestrian area with bikes allowed. But it remains obvious that 1) pedestrians have priority, 2) cyclists have the full right to the road.

—- ?Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

Posted via email from Daniel’s posterous

[In Slovakia, bike] helmets were made compulsory for kids below 15 and outside urban areas. In the later, reflective jackets are also required.

from: Index.hu (Hungarian)

I can only hope this does not lead to dramatic decrease in cycling. As it did in Spain, for example (and Australia, for that matter):

[The] 2004 a reform of the General Regulation of Traffic [...] had some points in that regulation breaking that positive tendency. The compulsory helmet regulation in interurban routes created a serious sensation on which bicycle was a risk sport, ignoring its function like means of transport, means of healthful leisure and tool for cyclotouring.

from ECF

from cyclehelmets.org

further explanation on why despite the minimal* positive effect of helmets, helmet laws are so descructive on cyclist numbers and hence safety itself:
What effect has mandatory helmet legislation had?

my complete delicious links for bike helmets including The Great Bike Helmet Histeria from Copenhagen.

* I am now talking about utility cycling (as in Highway Code of Slovakia), not cycling the sport (as in a MTB marathon requiring helmet wear).

Full disclosure: I do wear a helmet a lot because it irrationally makes me more comfortable riding. But I have stopped bitching about you wearing one. (I stopped doing that in 2006 autumn. I did do that before, a lot. I am sorry, education takes time.)

Cyclists breathe less toxic materials than motorists

(from kerekparosklub.hu)

Nutcracker on bike parts (from Specialized).

—- ?Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

Posted via email from Daniel’s posterous

- But.. your bike does not use diesel!

- I know. But seeing the rising prices, I have the feeling of saving more and more money!

[ bikeinthecity.com | via velibobsession.blogspot.com ]

Last friday, streetsblog posted a second video on stupid bike lanes.

But. Have you seen the one which is a tiny but actually very clever bike facility? Solution after the jump.

The one at 0:56 is a British (ride on the left) one-way-except-cycling street, where only a couple of meters/feet of bike lane is needed to protect cyclists entering the street. Without it, those turning right from this street might block cyclists, as it is a one way street. (Well, it is not one anymore.)

Further into the street, motorists and cyclists can already see each other and negotiate traffic, so no bike lane is necessary. But of course some bike signs would be useful to remind motorists of possible oncoming bikes, and that they do it legal.

A bike facility does not have to be long or huge and expensive to be useful, 3 meters of bike lane is great if it saves you from 3 km of detour and/or an accident.

For other tiny facilities with huge effects, think of pedestrian-and-cyclist-only shortcuts saving you from detours, or very short bus lanes which keep car traffic on main roads but lets buses and friends take a shortcut again (Nagymező utca # Andrássy út for a Budapest example).

[ slatev.com | via streetblog.org ]

(image from time.com)

Vasárnap (április 20-án) ismét Critical Mass Budapest kerékpáros felvonulás a környezetkímélő városi közlekedési módok népszerűsítéséért, egy egészségesebb levegőért és egy kellemesebb városért.
Minden információt megtalálsz itt: http://criticalmass.hu

Hogyan tudok részt venni? A felvonulás 16.30-kor indul a Deák térről, de érdemes már előbb 15 órára kilátogatni, akár gyalog is, mert a Brit Nagykövetség látványos gyalogos demonstrációt szervez. Ha messze laksz, csatlakozz valamelyik csillagtúrához, hogy kényelmesen és vidáman juthass el a felvonulásra! Ugyanakkor a zuglói Millenáris kerékpáros versenypályán már reggel 8 órától programok lesznek, többek között Hajós Andrással és Bodrogi Lászlóval. Részletek és további programok itt.

Hogyan kerülhetem el a kellemetlenségeket? Reméljük, a Critical Mass felvonulások hosszú távon éppen hogy kellemesebbé tehetik a várost. Ugyanakkor ha aznap a belvárosban akad dolgod, javasoljuk, hogy kerékpárral, gyalog vagy metróval közlekedj, így kerülheted el a torlódásokat. A felvonulás útvonalát rendőrök biztosítják, és várhatóan 18.30 körül ér véget a Városligetben.

Hogyan segíthetek a felvonulás sikerében? Akár el tudsz jönni vasárnap, akár más dolgod van, más módon is segíthetsz, ha egyetértesz a céljainkkal. A következÅ‘ pár napban felhívhatod ismerÅ‘seid figyelmét a felvonulásra, ehhez a fentieken kívül minden információt online és offline szóróanyagot megtalálsz a http://criticalmass.hu weboldalon. Itt a felvonulásokon túl egész évben lehetÅ‘séged van kis és nagy dolgokban segíteni, hogy Budapest – nyugati testvéreihez hasonlóan – a kerékpározás és a közösségi közlekedés támogatásán keresztül egy jobb város lehessen.

A legfontosabb viszont, hogy kerékpározz Te is minél több hétköznap! Az elinduláshoz rengeteg segítséget találhatsz az interneten, legyen szó térképről, lakatolásról, biztonságos közlekedésről vagy karban-tartásról.

találkozzunk vasárnap!

update: pénteken minden bizonnyal BKV sztrájk lesz, a város jövőjét veszélyeztető járatritkítások ellen. Ha úgy döntesz, hogy nem szeretnéd a dugót és a légszennyezést tovább növelni autózással vagy taxizással és/vagy nem szeretnél elkésni, és a dugókra immunis kerékpárt választod, itt találhatsz magadnak társaságot.