Designing for the Commute

simon_shing

Hi, I' am currently doing a research report on encouraging cycling to work by bike. I was hoping you guys could help me by telling me about problems that you encounter when cycling to work? It could be any problems at all, doesn't have to be big.
It could be problems packing for work because you are on a cycle, things that irritate u whilst u are dodging traffic or even when you get changed afterwards.
If you have time I have also attached a online questionnaire below, it will not take more than 5 minutes to do.

http://www.my3q.com/go.php?url=simon_shing/67828

Thanks

Belv

It is slightly irritating that you can take to the road by bicycle with no training whatsoever yet you have to 'drive' for the people around you if you want to do it safely. For example, whilst the highway code says you can stay in the left hand lane and go right round a roundabout (3rd exit), i wouldn't do it unless i had a death wish because the majority of 'trained' and 'qualified' drivers do not know or allow for that.

As i mentioned in the survey, cycle paths are available round where i live but have not been thought out. Most are dual-use paths, meaning that they are not wide enough for two bikes to pass, esp with peds to allow for. One was resurfaced by dumping a load of gravel on it then packing it down meaning that within a month it showed up all the cracks and holes that were there before and within a year the surface has started to come away making it worse than before. Many are now beyond reasonable comfort for a rigid bike. The hedges are trimmed once a year along the narrowest dual-use section making it barely wide enough for one bicycle by the end of summer. Cycle paths suddenly stop with no information on where to continue or are given such low priority at crossings that riders take to roads rather than the adjacent cycle path!

Whilst showers at work would be nice, i don't think it's reasonable to expect them to be fitted for my benefit and i am happy to accept those type of consequences because of my choice to cycle. It's the cycle path network that really annoys me as it appears to have been created to meet some target for 'x number of miles of cycle path provided' rather than to be of a benefit to cyclists, and is nowhere near being an encouragement to cycle.

If i can be of any further assistance...

misterben

For me (having just started commuting a short while ago) the main obstacles are as follows:

a) Carrying stuff - laptop, and clothes, etc, proves quite heavy
b) Cost - buying all the kit is hard if you're on a limited budget. I've already spent >£100 (not including a bike, which I borrowed) in about 6 weeks, although running costs will go down, but I do want to buy a new bike....
c) Because I travel by train too, and the train times are so tight to my shift times that I don't have time to shower/change at work, so I have to change in the train station, which is a PITA

Having said that, I do enjoy it mostly

secretsam

Staff need support from employers to cycle: racks, showers, etc

If they got tax breaks on all that sort of stuff...

woodford2barbican

Filled in your survey...... hope it helps your project.

IMHO the best way to encourage cycling to work is for companies to provide the bike to work scheme, secure parking, lockers and showers. Which at the end of the day is not a very expensive list for a big company.

<rant>

For example the company I work for has a turn over in excess of $1 billion but currently provides none of the above at its London HQ.

There are seven floors in my office, installing 7 showers would not cost that much. I would be surprised if it was in excess of £7K and that is being very generous to the plumber doing the fitting!

However, it will never happen as we are private equity owned and they are an utter bunch of twunts. The systems I look after make $7 a second in profit. That means in less than 34 minutes they could pay for showers to be installed on all floors. But the corporate w8nkers are more likely to lick their own ring pieces than do that.

Don't get me started on their refusal to implement the bike to work scheme.

</rant>

fossyant

Proper training is a must for new folk...really.... I've cycled all my life and seriously since I was 16 (roadie) - 21 years... it's second nature to me... but get on a course that will teach you.

Ears are as important as eyes.... no mp3's/headphones

Clothing...yep it costs, you can get it cheap, but you will be dry (ish) and it will make the commute more acceptable.... lots of people don't like the cold - very important on a bike at any speed - wind chill.... but expect some serious outlay in cash terms -

Lights and reflective clothing at night... and a backup be it batteries or other lights

Red lights stop
Pavements - for kids.....

snooks

My commute is a good one with out too many problems (would be nice if it was shorter tho ), traffic fine, all on the road, nothing too busy...though it can be a bit busy with other cyclist on the way back along the Chelsea embankment somtimes, but more of us means less of them the only "problems" I have is drying clothes and the incredible dissapearing cycle path here: http://www.google.co.uk/maps?ie=UTF8&ll ... &z=20&om=1

I think if there was "one" thing I could change, it would be to raise awareness of cyclists to other road users, especially buses, don't get me wrong there are a lot of good bus drivers out there, but the bad ones can be deadly (no exaggeration)..but just for drivers in general to give us more room, by not driving in the gutter and start looking in all their mirrors

My company have done really well...with the cycle2work scheme and we have a secure underground bike park with racks, showers, (not quite enough) lockers, and a good breakfast menu in our canteen.

The only thing I wish we had, but we don't, is heated lockers or somewhere to dry my clothes and towel. At the mo I dry my towel on a spare chair by my deck and put on moist clothes for the way home. Luckily my office is quite relaxed, so a towel hanging on a chair isn't the end of the world

Good luck with your project...you know where to find us
.

homercles

I sympathise with Woodford - we had similar issues in our old offices (and for a co. turning over $1bil + like yours) but we moved in summer and they have been brilliant about taking on board cyclists opinions despite the low numbers. And Bike2Work is up and running too, albeit in a slightly shambolic fashion. Keep chipping away!

So, lucky me, a helpful employer.

Annoyances...

Motorcyclists and Scooter riders passing too close - I have higher expectations of them as they are also vulnerable but it seems like half of them just like to 'beat up' on cyclists. Plus they're often at deafening revs which can be disconcerting. I think this is like the taxis/ buses things: because they're often in the same lane space run ins seem more frequent.

Counter-intuitive cycle lanes: Vauxhall Cross is a good example of one where to use them half the time you have to go against the flow of traffic or annoy pedestrians/ dismount.

Potholes. The state of some of the roads on my commute is laughable and even recent 'repairs' frequently leave drains etc raised/ lowered. Some of these things are wheelbreakers and in heavy traffic you can't always take evasive action.

I could go on I'm sure but I'll leave things for others to talk about. Off to fill in your q now.

BentMikey

fossyant wrote:

Ears are as important as eyes.... no mp3's/headphones

Not according to http://www.cycletraining.co.uk/. Their stance and that of National Standards is that if you're relying on your ears, you're not looking and observing properly. You need to look more, not just to see what's happening, but also to communicate with the driver behind you.

homercles wrote:

Counter-intuitive cycle lanes: Vauxhall Cross is a good example of one where to use them half the time you have to go against the flow of traffic or annoy pedestrians/ dismount.

Of course the correct solution here is not to use these cycle lanes. I think it's much better to use the roads, and much faster too. This gyratory happens to be on my commute, btw.

Belv

BentMikey wrote:

fossyant wrote:

Ears are as important as eyes.... no mp3's/headphones

Not according to http://www.cycletraining.co.uk/. Their stance and that of National Standards is that if you're relying on your ears, you're not looking and observing properly. You need to look more, not just to see what's happening, but also to communicate with the driver behind you.

I am going to (hypocritically as i sometimes wear an MP3 player) partially disagree with this. Ears give you loads of information that it would not be necessary, and might even be dangerous, to gather visually: the size of the vehicle about to overtake it useful to know and is obvious from the engine sound, the sirens of emergency vehicles not in view prepare you for drivers doing sometimes strange things to get out of the way, etc. In heavy traffic i find it much more important to keep your eyes on the road and what's in front than to keep looking behind.

It is important to look behind to communicate with drivers though - if you are about to turn right, for example, a slightly exagerated look over your shoulder will make most drivers realise that you are about to do something. Of course, there's no telling what they will do with that information such as trying to speed past you first before you do!

homercles

BentMikey wrote:

homercles wrote:

Counter-intuitive cycle lanes: Vauxhall Cross is a good example of one where to use them half the time you have to go against the flow of traffic or annoy pedestrians/ dismount.

Of course the correct solution here is not to use these cycle lanes. I think it's much better to use the roads, and much faster too. This gyratory happens to be on my commute, btw.

Of course you're absolutely right but that doesn't detract from the fact that it's a shame they put in these useless or badly thought out green landing strips.

As for the ears issue, I think the more information you have at your disposal, be it visual or aural, the safer you are - that means I don't cycle with an MP3 but am not bothered by those who choose to do so (especially as I'm fairly quiet as road traffic goes!).

Sea_Green_Incorruptible

Belv wrote:

BentMikey wrote:

fossyant wrote:

Ears are as important as eyes.... no mp3's/headphones

Not according to http://www.cycletraining.co.uk/. Their stance and that of National Standards is that if you're relying on your ears, you're not looking and observing properly. You need to look more, not just to see what's happening, but also to communicate with the driver behind you.

Have to say I’m with BentMikey on this one. I always find that listening to music gives me a kind of zen-like calm and helps me to focus better on the traffic around me.

I also remember a policeman coming into our school to talk about road safety about the time ‘Walkmen’ first came out. He told us it was fine to listen to headphones on a bike as it was only the same as the engine noise/helmet effect on a scooter or motorbike.

Looking back now, I wonder whether this was especially sensible advice to give to a bunch of witless 12 year olds but it’s stuck with me to this day. Having said that, this was rural mid-Devon in the early 80s where people were a bit well… different… from the rest of the country.

BentMikey

Belv wrote:

I am going to (hypocritically as i sometimes wear an MP3 player) partially disagree with this. Ears give you loads of information that it would not be necessary, and might even be dangerous, to gather visually: the size of the vehicle about to overtake it useful to know and is obvious from the engine sound, the sirens of emergency vehicles not in view prepare you for drivers doing sometimes strange things to get out of the way, etc. In heavy traffic i find it much more important to keep your eyes on the road and what's in front than to keep looking behind.

This makes me think that perhaps you don't spend enough time looking around yourself and observing? Hearing certainly can help, but any information gathered comes a long way below the priority of that gained from looking. Your heavy traffic example is one time when hearing isn't likely to be of much use due to all the engine noise around. If you find yourself unable to look backwards in heavy traffic, then is it possible you're going just slightly too fast for the situation?

More generally, I see far too many cyclists head down and hardly ever looking back, particularly when approaching potential conflict points such as side roads, road narrowings, junctions, etc. Quite often these cyclists are also a little too far over in the gutter, and are most likely the ones that get left hooked or squeezed on a regular basis.

Belv

Interesting discussion.
Warrants its own thread.