Annals of Cycling – 27
An occasional update on items from the Velo-city.
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BIKES ON A TRAIN
From Transport Newsletter 213:
“Copenhagen is doubling the space for bikes on a number of its suburban trains to meet growth stimulated by the switch to free bike travel. … 
The Copenhagen S-train has also introduced one-way traffic in the new bike compartments to make it easier and faster to get on and off.
Ten S-Trains are being remodelled with the new compartments, which are in the middle of the train so that there is more space for bikes on the platform. … The railway is installing bicycle pumps at a number of stations, making bicycle ramps, more and building more bicycle parking. The remodelled trains have pronounced coloured stripes on the sides of the train indicating the bike compartments. Bikes must be stored only in the bike area, while prams can be taken in the passageways.
Research indicates that a third of all passengers have taken advantage of taking their bike on the S-train for free, and 91% are very positive about the idea, whether or not they take their bike on the S-train. Some 27% of the riders said they would not have taken the S-train if they had to pay extra for the bike.”
Ref: Bicycle Victoria 13/7/11
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BIKES IN A BUILDING
New Yorkers are demanding more space – for their bikes!
The developers of 80 Metropolitan, a condo building in Williamsburg that opened in 2009 and is being marketed by Halstead, originally set aside 24 spaces for bicycles, all free. When those filled, they added 42 more. When those were taken, in went a hanging system in the garage for 22 more bikes. Now, there is a plan to add enough storage to accommodate the 12 cyclists on the waiting list.
The New York Times explains how In N.Y. Apartment Buildings, Bicycles Muscle In.
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NOT JUST FOR HIPSTERS
An update on bike-sharing in the U.S.:
While many of the cities listed above are fairly progressive metro areas, bike sharing is becoming an increasingly important option for local governments, both to provide alternative transportation and as a way to combat obesity. B-Cycle programs have cropped up in city centers known for their dependence on the automobile – namely Omaha, Nebraska and Spartanburg, South Carolina. In these cities, officials have seen bike sharing as a gateway to help get their constituents onto bikes, in an effort to incorporating health consciousness with green transportation.
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LAYTON LEGACY
Jack Becker, once co-Chair of the Metro Toronto Cycling Committee, recalls here the legacy that Jack Layton left to the city in which he was once the only pro-bike councillor – including this:
Toronto’s Waterfront bike path extended more elegantly by ghostly aboveground pylons after removal of this part of the Gardiner Expressway. After persistent pleading to Toronto City Council, J. Layton’ motion was approved for a mere $25,000 to conduct a study to tear down this eastern part of Gardiner Expressway. Trail continues along Lake Ontario east to popular Beaches area.
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The S-Train thing is interesting, but of course for Vancouverites it will remain but a foreign curiosity, since the trains we bought and installed were really too narrow for people to move through. In SkyTrain’s early days we all had to crowd near the doors or we wouldn’t be able to disembark at our stations if the train was full. Reconfiguring the seats has improved this, but the cars are really still too narrow – and will remain so – for bikes and passengers to share practically.
The only realistic option here in Vancouver would be to assign one car with few or no seats (or one half-car, perhaps) on each train to bicycle use only. This would obviously be more practical if Translink would run (more) trains that make use of the full length of the platforms. Mind you, if we had a better funded non-LRT transit network, pedestrians might not feel the need to take bikes as often, and hence the demand for train space might be lower.
Nice videos showing dutch intersection design for bicycles:
brilliant. Something I would love to see tried here.
We have traffic calming circles on my street here in Georgia, but unlike this design ours push cars closer to and sometimes in the direct path of pedestrians and cyclists. Part of the problem here is a lack of desire on some motorists part to actually avoid non-cars….the animosity is a serious problem.
This is a great design!