Wellington cyclists , a question for you

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geek4me

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#763107 15-Feb-2013 14:39

groynk:
geek4me: The Netherlands is a great example of how to organise cycle lanes. In NZ cost will always be a restraining factor with our small population.

What are they like there?

My favourite I have seen is: road lanes, parking/or no parking, raised curb, recessed bicycle way (same level as road), raised curb and footpath.
Melbourne had a bit of this from what I saw on a breif visit.

The Dutch have many segregated cycle lanes often well separated from traffic even with their own traffic lights. The latest innovation is the Dutch are considering heating cycle lanes so they are used more in winter. A Google search on dutch cycle lanes will show more details and pictures of what they are like.

MikeB4

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#763112 15-Feb-2013 14:50

There needs to be far greater Highway and town planning taking into account cyclists, there is much to be gained fron encouraging bike riding. Due to my disability there is no one on Gods green earth am I riding my bike on the roads at present.

An example of what they could easily do in Wellington is remove Motor vehicle, Busses and trucks etc from the Railway station along Lambton Quay, along Willis street to Manners St and along Manners to Taranaki St during the hours 7am to 7pm, in the evening goods and service vehicles could have access to that area. This would make those shopping precincts cleaner quieter and safer for cyclists and pedestrians with minimal disruption.

nicnzl

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#763122 15-Feb-2013 15:10

KiwiNZ: There needs to be far greater Highway and town planning taking into account cyclists, there is much to be gained fron encouraging bike riding. Due to my disability there is no one on Gods green earth am I riding my bike on the roads at present.

An example of what they could easily do in Wellington is remove Motor vehicle, Busses and trucks etc from the Railway station along Lambton Quay, along Willis street to Manners St and along Manners to Taranaki St during the hours 7am to 7pm, in the evening goods and service vehicles could have access to that area. This would make those shopping precincts cleaner quieter and safer for cyclists and pedestrians with minimal disruption.

It wouldn't be that easy. Motor vehicles perhaps, but realistically you couldn't get rid of the buses as it would be a very costly exercise moving the routes and would be rather inconvenient for people who use them to get to and from work. And service vehicles and couriers need access along the golden mile so they can perform their job.

mattwnz

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#763124 15-Feb-2013 15:13

I barely cycle on NZ roads these days, and it is mainly due to parked cars that in the cycle lanes, where the parking is are shared cycle lanes. People swing open their doors without consideration. A family acquaintance was killed a few years ago from this, when they hit the door, and was then run over by a truck. A terrible way to go. I have had a few very near misses, and this is one reason I think there are now so many people cycling on footpaths, which can be more dangerous with cars backing out, where there is hardly any visibility for them.

Bung

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#763128 15-Feb-2013 15:19

KiwiNZ: minimal disruption.

Unless your plan doesn't completely ruin what flow there is left in Featherston St you can forget "minimal disruption".

jeffnz

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#763129 15-Feb-2013 15:24

Unless there is designated cycle lane riding on footpaths isn't allowed. I stay off them even if they are there as you can't go at speed especially along Tamaki drive.

I think I know the accident you are refering to and very sad, if its the same road then doors are an issue so we cycle out from cars about a metre as we had a spate of accidents from car doors as well.

You can win though as then you get complaints because you are taking up too much of the lane and they can't pass, to me that means it isn't safe to pass but apparently I am told they can just squeeze through to avoid oncoming cars, go figure, if it was a truck they wouldn't "squeeze" past but somehow cyclists and pedestrians don't register as a hazard to the car so the distances needed to pass and significantly reduced.

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groynk

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#763136 15-Feb-2013 15:35

I did google dutch cycle lanes
This is my pick of the results: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuBdf9jYj7o
Some great before and after comparisons at the end!

It reinforces what I have slowly been coming to realise:
It is simply a matter of prioritising cycling in planning. The biggest benefit to this prioritisation is a greatly reduced dependency on oil.
The biggest underlying counter argument is inconvenience.

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khull

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#763155 15-Feb-2013 16:33

My observation is that cyclists tend to treat themselves as both 'pedestrians' and 'motorists' on the road and often alternate between them especially at intersections with crossing lights. They blaze down at speed towards pedestrians who are crossing at the green light and then behave like motorists with other vehicles at other times.

mattwnz

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#763161 15-Feb-2013 16:45

khull: My observation is that cyclists tend to treat themselves as both 'pedestrians' and 'motorists' on the road and often alternate between them especially at intersections with crossing lights. They blaze down at speed towards pedestrians who are crossing at the green light and then behave like motorists with other vehicles at other times.

Yes you get bad cyclists who don't obey the road rules. But you also get bad car drivers. The difference though is that bad car drivers put others at risk. Why bad cyclists usually only put their own life at risk. The other thing to consider is that our intersections in general are not made for cyclists, and being a cyclist at some intersections can be dangerous due to visibility. There are some new intersections that do now cater to cyclists. I had heard that they were looking at making visibility vests mandatory for cyclists. Perhaps a good idea.

jeffnz

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#763181 15-Feb-2013 17:54

khull: My observation is that cyclists tend to treat themselves as both 'pedestrians' and 'motorists' on the road and often alternate between them especially at intersections with crossing lights. They blaze down at speed towards pedestrians who are crossing at the green light and then behave like motorists with other vehicles at other times.

bit of an over generalisation I'm sure you only notice those cyclists that do that not the ones that don't but I suppose comments like that are meant to exaggerate to make a point

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davidcole

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#763215 15-Feb-2013 19:25

As others have said its dirty, full of stones, glass (from accidents etc).

Also I've ran it from Wellington to the hutt lately, and if this doesn't put you off http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcole66/8360399822/in/set-72157623328147147

Aout 500-1km from the Petone overbridge the "cycle lane" ends and you're on the road, you have teh lanes, the barrier then about 1m to the train - nowhere to go if some idiot in a car is not paying attention to the road (yes I'm a licensed driver)

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DarthKermit

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#763664 17-Feb-2013 09:11

kiwitrc:
DarthKermit: I'd be good to see a couple of pics of examples of how bad this cycle lane is (eg, broken glass, poor surface). Can anyone oblige?

Here you go

OMG, it's like a third world country down there!!!!!

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jeffnz

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#763670 17-Feb-2013 09:36

one cyclist did all that?, shocking

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stocksp

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#763805 17-Feb-2013 15:26

dickytim:
KiwiNZ:
sbiddle: The cycle lane is a joke, and is also unsuitable when heading northbound - if you do use it you have to then ride on the shoulder in the wrong direction for the 600m or so where the cycle land doesn't exist South of Petone.

I wonder who designed that?

I believe it needs to be given high priority not only for safety but to encourage more use of alternative transport.

But cyclists don't contribute to roading thru fuel taxes like motorists do.

I'd sooner see the roads improved or cyclists forced to pay a road users charge to use the roads, then they can complain about the state of the roads etc.

I own two cars, and only ever drive in the weekends - the rest of the time I cycle to work. So I pay more than my fair share, and dont do any damage to the roads,

Your tagline says it all - you really do know nothing. Its people like you who say its OK to knock cyclists off their bikes, because they dont pay for the roads. People like you make me so mad!

stocksp

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#763808 17-Feb-2013 15:28

netspanner: If you pass 10 cycles going to work that means that you would be BEHIND 10 more cars if they were driving. The roads would be more clogged, the travel times would be slower.

Maybe car drivers should pay cyclists out of gratitude for leaving their cars at home? As it is the wear on the roads of a bike, with the contact of about the size of a 50c piece is nothing, at all.

dickytim:
Not while you are cycling you don't.

When you drive your car you are paying for your use of the road thru your petrol tax in a user pays scenario, when you ride a push bike you are not paying anything to the upkeep of the roads at all.

Petrol tax is not hypothecated, it goes into the consolidated fund

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