Cycle Facility of the Month - March Facility

kurako

LOL! Just had a quick peek at chapter 3. The photo illustrating the 20 speed limit is Wimbledon. That junction is a friggin mess!

OldSkoolKona

rjsterry wrote:

Just had a look at the TFL Design Guide for cycle facilities. Depressing that someone has clearly worked out in great detail how cycle lanes, etc. should be built, and then this information is so routinely ignored/subverted. I wonder how many local authority employees who should know about this document have read it. I bet a copy has never been seen in the hands of a contractor with a barrow of green tarmac either.

Email the transport guru in your local council (some even have cycling officers) and point them in the direction of the standard. Ask them if they apply similar standards in their work. (e.g. Richmond Council)

The irony is that if they followed the standard, they would actually save a lot of money spent on dangerous/ineffectual/unused cycle facilities.

il_principe

Porgy wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

Most cycle facilities have their hearts in the right place, but why are they not designed in collaberation with real cyclists?

The arrogance of local authority planners and engineers. They know best.

I raised this with TFL last year and was informed that 'several of those responsible for cycle facility planning' are 'regular' cyclists. Doesn't bloody look like it to me.

OldSkoolKona

Kurako wrote:

LOL! Just had a quick peek at chapter 3. The photo illustrating the 20 speed limit is Wimbledon. That junction is a friggin mess!

I know, they didn't pick great photos for their examples, kind of shows the need for a standard.

Couple of good quotes (from Chapter 4)
"Cyclists expect to have the same priority as general traffic moving in the same
direction. Cycle lanes or tracks should not be introduced where they result in
disbenefits to cyclists such as a loss of priority or time penalties. TfL research
confirms such facilities remain unused and the investment has been wasted"

and

‘End’ and ‘Cyclists Dismount’ signs should be designed out of new schemes.
‘Cyclists Dismount’ signs should be removed from existing cycle routes, with
appropriately re-designed facilities that enable cyclists to proceed without
dismounting.

Porgy

OldSkoolKona wrote:

Porgy wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

Most cycle facilities have their hearts in the right place, but why are they not designed in collaberation with real cyclists?

The arrogance of local authority planners and engineers. They know best.

The frustrating thing is there is a really good design standard, that if council engineers followed, most of these issues would be avoided!

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/businessandpartne ... /2766.aspx

(a bit of bed time reading to get through that lot!

I've got a hard copy of that lot from back in the 90s when I used to attend Bromley's cyclists' and pedestrians' forum. What a waste of time that was. :roll:

beverick

OldSkoolKona wrote:

Email the transport guru in your local council (some even have cycling officers) and point them in the direction of the standard. Ask them if they apply similar standards in their work. (e.g. Richmond Council)

They should all have a cycling officer it's just that some authorities choose to put (fund) their cycling officer in leisure services (or where they can't do any harm - ie can't meddle with highways issues.

Bob

Specialized Needs

OldSkoolKona wrote:

Kurako wrote:

LOL! Just had a quick peek at chapter 3. The photo illustrating the 20 speed limit is Wimbledon. That junction is a friggin mess!

I know, they didn't pick great photos for their examples, kind of shows the need for a standard.

Couple of good quotes (from Chapter 4)
"Cyclists expect to have the same priority as general traffic moving in the same
direction. Cycle lanes or tracks should not be introduced where they result in
disbenefits to cyclists such as a loss of priority or time penalties. TfL research
confirms such facilities remain unused and the investment has been wasted"<snip>

So, are these guidelines put together by the authority that recently put the 'facility' in at the north end of Blackfriars bridge? If so, :roll:

Porgy

Bromely appointed a cycling officer during my time there. He confided to me once that they never paid any attention to his recommendations and soon after he left for a job with a different LA.

beverick

Porgy wrote:

Bromely appointed a cycling officer during my time there. He confided to me once that they never paid any attention to his recommendations and soon after he left for a job with a different LA.

Where they too ignored him no doubt.......

Bob

Specialized Needs

Porgy wrote:

Bromely appointed a cycling officer during my time there. He confided to me once that they never paid any attention to his recommendations and soon after he left for a job with a different LA.

So, was he an eternal optimist, or did the other LA pay any more attention to him?

If so, where is this place

Porgy

Specialized Needs wrote:

Porgy wrote:

Bromely appointed a cycling officer during my time there. He confided to me once that they never paid any attention to his recommendations and soon after he left for a job with a different LA.

So, was he an eternal optimist, or did the other LA pay any more attention to him?

If so, where is this place

He was quite idealistic, and young, and I had reasonable hopes when he came along.

I can't remember where he moved on to - it was 15 years ago now - but I think wherever it was probably just hoped he took his pay cheque and ticked all the right boxes. Something I am beginning to learn since i've been an environmental advisor. It's called paying lip service isn;t it?

Porgy

Some good news?

I just got this in my in-tray:

PN-013

13 January 2010

Mayor and TfL announce plans to bring the Capital’s cycling revolution to outer London

· London’s ‘Year of Cycling’ gets underway as 12 outer London boroughs are selected as Biking Boroughs

· 2.4 million ‘cycleable’ journeys are made in outer London every day

Twelve outer London boroughs are set to become havens for cycling. They will become Biking Boroughs, which means they will receive extra support and expertise from Transport for London (TfL) in a bid to encourage greater numbers of cyclists in their areas.

Research shows how more than half of the trips in the Capital that could be made by bicycle are in outer London – a total of 2.4 million journeys a day, most of which are currently made by car.

The twelve new Biking Boroughs have applied for financial support from TfL to fund a tailored, local study which will identify how cycling in each area can be developed. Boroughs will develop plans which could include measures such as working with schools, NHS PCTs and local businesses to promote cycling, installing more secure cycle parking spaces or improving junction layouts to make them safer for cyclists.

Kulveer Ranger, the Mayor of London’s Transport Advisor, said: “2010 is set to be the year of cycling in the Capital, with the launch of London’s Cycle Hire scheme and the first two Cycle Superhighways. However, it’s in outer London that the greatest scope exists to increase the number of people travelling by bicycle. It’s staggering that half of all car trips in outer London are less than two miles in length, a distance you can cover on a bike in around 10 minutes.

“The Biking Boroughs scheme aims to harness the huge appetite that already exists for cycling in outer London, making it even easier to replace unnecessary short car trips with pedal power and delivering health benefits, better air quality and encouraging the use of local shops and town centres.”

Ben Plowden, Director of Integrated Programme Delivery at TfL, said: “There is enormous potential for the many millions of short trips made in outer London every day to be cycled, which is why we will be working with 12 lead boroughs to pave the way in encouraging a shift to two wheels.

“Cycling has the potential to become a mainstream mode of transport in outer London, helping to reduce congestion and emissions, and create more active communities and safer streets.

“Fifty eight per cent of outer London residents say that they are considering cycling more over the coming year[1]. The Biking Boroughs initiative aims to harness this enthusiasm by introducing simple, locally focused solutions that encourage residents to consider, for each journey, whether bike could be best.”

In addition, the Mayor and TfL aim to deliver two outer London Skyrides in 2010, following the success of last year’s local Skyride in Hounslow which attracted 11,000 cyclists.

Notes to Editors

1. The following boroughs will each receive £25,000 from TfL to fund a local study examining how cycle journeys can be increased: Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Croydon, Ealing, Haringey, Havering, Hillingdon, Kingston, Merton and Redbridge.

2. Their cycling initiatives will be integrated into the borough’s Local Implementation Plan (the local plan setting out how each borough is supporting the Mayor’s transport priorities).

Ends

OldSkoolKona

March Cycle Facility of the month from the Warrington Cycle Campaign.

I see the blue theme has been extended from the London Superhighways - imagine one of these in your bike lane! :shock:

rolf_f

OldSkoolKona wrote:

March Cycle Facility of the month from the Warrington Cycle Campaign.

I see the blue theme has been extended from the London Superhighways - imagine one of these in your bike lane! :shock:

If that's still there surely it just needs someone to get off and heave it over. I'm sure that would be perfectly legal.

OldSkoolKona

Rolf F wrote:

If that's still there surely it just needs someone to get off and heave it over. I'm sure that would be perfectly legal.

Might leave a, err, mess on your cycle lane though :shock:

Mr_Cellophane

So much for continental cycle lanes being better :?

Eau Rouge

I don't see what's wrong with that. Think about it, you've been cycling along and some bus/lorry/car has just left hooked you, or come far too close and you are now terrified and in serious need to ahm deal with a bodily function. It's perfect.

deptfordmarmoset

So that's why they're called crâp cycle lanes!

In passing, the guy who Warrington Cycling Campaign got the photo from, Bernard Frippiat, has an excellent website here. Sure, it's mostly in French but the photos aren't.

http://www.pbase.com/bernardfrippiat/velo_vive_le_velo

Wallace1492

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

So that's why they're called crâp cycle lanes!

In passing, the guy who Warrington Cycling Campaign got the photo from, Bernard Frippiat, has an excellent website here. Sure, it's mostly in French but the photos aren't.

http://www.pbase.com/bernardfrippiat/velo_vive_le_velo

Turns out, the Photo's are in German!!