BQ, Cycling Advocacy and B2GC

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winstonw
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Re: BQ, Cycling Advocacy and B2GC

Postby winstonw » Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:21 pm

Zynster wrote:I'm not a member of BQ. I don't care much about BQ. I do care about the community I live in, which you seem to think is wrong somehow. And if you think I've affirmed your point, then you are delusional. I cycle all over Brisbane.

You still haven't told me where all this extra cycling infrastructure West End gets over and above other suburbs?
Get the BCC bikeway and shared pathway maps out, and count up all the options you can ride a bike into the cbd on routes of continuous low volume brown and blue bits. You might even calculate the time it takes West Enders to walk or skate to the cbd.
Then do the same for us pleb cyclists from say any mid ring burb.

Maybe you'd like a few more bridges to connect West End and South Brisbane to the cbd.
Goodwill Bridge $33m, Kurilpa $63.3m, Go Between $338m.
And the latter costs $30m to operate annually and collects $9m in tolls.

And...ya know, West End rate payers don't have any more city cycle stations than any other Brisbane rate payers. :lol: :lol:

Image

It goes without saying, if other Brissy burbs had West End's cycling infrastructure, they might have spread those city cycle stations a little further.

Of course, BQ thinks all of this is wonderful. It says so in its annual report.

On second thoughts, why not just go live in Craigslea for a few months, and tell us how similar the cbd commute is to West End's.

Zynster wrote: Riverside drive? It's is used by a massive number of recreational cyclists, most of which don't live in West End. Locals don't use it for transport generally.
Yeah that massive number of recreational cyclists are us mid ring plebs riding your superior cycling infrastructure. :P
How come I never see funky West End cyclists out on my burb's West End equivalent cycling infrastructure? :lol:
Zynster wrote:You want to blame BQ and Anna Bligh for everything that's wrong with your bicycling experience. Instead maybe you should consider a right wing global media empire with an antipathy toward cycling, and a demonstrated ability to tilt the public to their way of thinking.
meowww....
Zynster wrote: Me? I'm just gonna ride my bike.
Are you sure now? there's no facts you'd like to retort with?
Last edited by winstonw on Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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The 2nd Womble
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Re: BQ, Cycling Advocacy and B2GC

Postby The 2nd Womble » Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:33 pm

Crittski wrote:perhaps you missed the ;)

relax, you'll live longer...
You are
The only good Cyclist is a Bicyclist

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Dai

Re: BQ, Cycling Advocacy and B2GC

Postby Dai » Tue Oct 11, 2011 11:25 pm

The 2nd Womble wrote:How's the OP's form? Bait and cast, bait and cast :lol:
Actually, I like to hear what other people think about these sorts of things, more than I like spouting my own opinion. I only thought about it after reading the BNA story about the new chap that had taken over one of the southern state's cycling bodies and what they were doing in that state differently.

I was however pretty disappointed that, on what was a fairly slow news day, the fact that a large proportion of the population turned out to participate in a pretty significant event didn't seem to rate much of a mention on any of the news outlets in Brisbane.

I would have thought that it was a great opportunity to raise awareness of the fact that cycling is a growing activity amongst a wide range of people, without getting bogged down in the usual motorists vs cyclists vs pedestrians arguments. Sure the media may not be that interested, but a canny PR person should have been able to overcome that.

It just seemed like a missed opportunity to do some real advocacy.

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Re: BQ, Cycling Advocacy and B2GC

Postby lethoso » Tue Oct 11, 2011 11:52 pm

winstonw wrote:You might even calculate the time it takes West Enders to walk or skate to the cbd.
Longer distance = more time!?! Crazy Revelation!
Maybe you'd like a few more bridges to connect West End and South Brisbane to the cbd.
Goodwill Bridge $33m, Kurilpa $63.3m, Go Between $338m.
And the latter costs $30m to operate annually and collects $9m in tolls.
Yah, the William Jolly, Victoria & Story Bridges offer more than adequate cross river capacity for all the pedestrians and cyclists in Brisbane. What kind of moron thought more cross river capacity was a good idea. Furthermore, they'd have to be complete imbeciles to put bridges in useful and accessible inner city locations! Just what were those crazy bureaucrats smoking. :lol:

On a slightly serious note, I do think the go-between bridge was a poor investment. Look on the bright side though, at least it's not another bloody tunnel. It should also be noted (at least I'm fairly sure) that the $30m operating cost is mostly the cost of servicing the debt incurred building it.
And...ya know, West End rate payers don't have any more city cycle stations than any other Brisbane rate payers. :lol: :lol:
Rip em out and take them, you're more than welcome to them. They're a pointless eyesore that nobody really wants or uses. The money would have been much better spent on some useful cycling infrastructure (wasn't it something like $10 million of council money that went in?).
How come I never see funky West End cyclists out on my burb's West End equivalent cycling infrastructure? :lol:
Why would I voluntarily visit the desolate wasteland that is the suburbs? :D
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winstonw
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Re: BQ, Cycling Advocacy and B2GC

Postby winstonw » Wed Oct 12, 2011 11:20 am

lethoso wrote:Longer distance = more time!?! Crazy Revelation!
Where's the gloat factor for nice egalitarians in prioritizing cycle infrastructure spend to get a few young inringers into the city even quicker, when walking and a confluence of bus routes already provide more options then the midring masses can dream of?

It's not very community inspired of innies to demand another walkie/ridie bridge and expect middies to walk 2k breathing in thick CO fumes to catch an overcrowded bus or train, or cycle the high volume broken brown lines on the BCC bike and shared pathway maps.

If community hugging West End innies such as my buddies at West End Community Association, and BQ's Flower Pot men Bill and Ben, are genuinely intent on reducing Australia's carbon emissions, they'd realize there's more bob brownie points in better middie cycling infrastructure - a 10k bike commute is going to reduce carbon emissions more than a 2k. Though let me know if I've got it back to front.
lethoso wrote:Yah, the William Jolly, Victoria & Story Bridges offer more than adequate cross river capacity for all the pedestrians and cyclists in Brisbane. What kind of moron thought more cross river capacity was a good idea. Furthermore, they'd have to be complete imbeciles to put bridges in useful and accessible inner city locations! Just what were those crazy bureaucrats smoking. :lol:
which of the three bridges was running at 100% pedestrian and cyclist capacity before the next three were built? And how many commuter cyclists were hospitalized riding across the original three versus middies riding the BCC's broken high volume brown lines?
lethoso wrote:On a slightly serious note, I do think the go-between bridge was a poor investment. Look on the bright side though, at least it's not another bloody tunnel. It should also be noted (at least I'm fairly sure) that the $30m operating cost is mostly the cost of servicing the debt incurred building it.
Which means the operating/opportunity cost of Kurilpa is ~$6m a year, because its revenues are $0m.
That could have paid to join a lot of broken brown lines out to the middies.
lethoso wrote:Rip em out and take them, you're more than welcome to them. They're a pointless eyesore that nobody really wants or uses. The money would have been much better spent on some useful cycling infrastructure (wasn't it something like $10 million of council money that went in?).
We'd gladly take them if we had West End's continuous brown and blue lines.
Chalk up another fail for the BCC in stereotyping West Enders, let lone New Farmers, as so down and out they need 24/7 bicycle charity. The monied have been taking over WE since last century. "Hmmmm I want to go to the opera...Shall I take the BCC bicycle, or my black BMW X5?" :lol: These days, West End owner occupiers are more interested in their property's SV and rezoning potential than milking their goat after an hour of Zen meditation. Wannabe New Farmers most of them.
lethoso wrote:Why would I voluntarily visit the desolate wasteland that is the suburbs? :D
You're right. The BCC should stop spending money on Southbank and West End and put it back into middie parks and joining broken brown and blue lines. Then it wouldn't be a wasteland. Not all of us aspire to take a dip in Southbank's cesspit of Escherichia coli, nor step in fresh vomit on Boundary St on a sunny Sunday morning while trying to avoid being hit on for a few bucks (for a coffee brudda) by a smelly rough head with flammable breath. Anyways, the whole West End alt thing is so last century. The money is entrenched...there's nothing grunge about the price of the coffee or beer, despite the quality...The clothes and furniture oppys are run by the larvae of the upper middle class, who mark up crap 5000% and arrange it 'interestingly', it's called the 'curio value add' darlink..kiss kiss....The burbs have cheaper nuts than Mick's and cheaper Asian groceries than Vulture St, same for the West End markets. And Sol Bread is stale compared to my local baker...

As a West End and middie rate payer, I know WE has had more than its fair share of cycling infrastructure.
But tell the younger generation that, and they just don't believe you. Nope. No Sirree. :lol:

molly
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Re: BQ, Cycling Advocacy and B2GC

Postby molly » Wed Oct 12, 2011 12:23 pm

the above post is gold, give this man a column in a newspaper (hang on, of course no actual newspaper would want to report on cutting truths) :D

dont get me started on the unbelievable decisions made by council/government in building more useless bridges and tunnels (oh yeah so many people are going to pay a toll for the go-between bridge - any idiot could have told you that). But lets build more tunnels for cars, cause thats really going to solve the issues. While we are at it, lets put up the price for public transport and offer no day/week/month saver tickets. Sorry for my cynicism and for digressing from the actual topic.

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The 2nd Womble
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Re: BQ, Cycling Advocacy and B2GC

Postby The 2nd Womble » Wed Oct 12, 2011 12:48 pm

Molly, you're meant to save your anger and frustration for BQ :mrgreen:
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Re: BQ, Cycling Advocacy and B2GC

Postby Undertow » Wed Oct 12, 2011 3:34 pm

lethoso wrote:
And...ya know, West End rate payers don't have any more city cycle stations than any other Brisbane rate payers. :lol: :lol:
Rip em out and take them, you're more than welcome to them. They're a pointless eyesore that nobody really wants or uses. The money would have been much better spent on some useful cycling infrastructure (wasn't it something like $10 million of council money that went in?).
Hell no, they need more city cycle stations, not less.

The only reason I don't use it more than 2-3 times a week is that there aren't enough stations in places where I want to go, or the stations are too far apart.

Just because you don't like them doesn't mean that "nobody really wants or uses" them.
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Zynster
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Re: BQ, Cycling Advocacy and B2GC

Postby Zynster » Wed Oct 12, 2011 5:44 pm

winstonw wrote:
Zynster wrote:You still haven't told me where all this extra cycling infrastructure West End gets over and above other suburbs?
Get the BCC bikeway and shared pathway maps out, and count up all the options you can ride a bike into the cbd on routes of continuous low volume brown and blue bits. You might even calculate the time it takes West Enders to walk or skate to the cbd.
Then do the same for us pleb cyclists from say any mid ring burb.
I've already made the point that West End has lower traffic due to it being a cul-de-sac. And journey times to the city are very fast thanks to proximity. Neither of these things can be credited to BQ. Apart from the bike lanes on Melbourne St, which have been there several years, the rest is the usual shared car door zone that has been there of ages. There has been no new cycling facilities that help commuting cyclists.
winstonw wrote:Maybe you'd like a few more bridges to connect West End and South Brisbane to the cbd.
Goodwill Bridge $33m, Kurilpa $63.3m, Go Between $338m.
And the latter costs $30m to operate annually and collects $9m in tolls.
The only bridge I use for commuting is Victoria Bridge. The others are for tourists.
winstonw wrote:And...ya know, West End rate payers don't have any more city cycle stations than any other Brisbane rate payers. :lol: :lol:
City Cycle is IMO a complete waste of money. Cyclists have their own bikes. City cycle is for tourists.
winstonw wrote:On second thoughts, why not just go live in Craigslea for a few months, and tell us how similar the cbd commute is to West End's.
It's a fundamental fact of physics that the further out in the suburbs you live, the longer your commute will be. And the longer your commute, the more likely you'll be hitting those black spots where the council hasn't bothered providing for cyclists. Yes I agree there are lots of them, and it sucks.
winstonw wrote:
Zynster wrote:Riverside drive? It's is used by a massive number of recreational cyclists, most of which don't live in West End. Locals don't use it for transport generally.
Yeah that massive number of recreational cyclists are us mid ring plebs riding your superior cycling infrastructure. :P
It's not mine. It belongs to everyone. But hey, you're welcome. It also has been there for some time, and can't really be described as new infrastructure.
winstonw wrote:How come I never see funky West End cyclists out on my burb's West End equivalent cycling infrastructure? :lol:
If I'm in lycra on my roady, how would you know?
winstonw wrote:
Zynster wrote:You want to blame BQ and Anna Bligh for everything that's wrong with your bicycling experience. Instead maybe you should consider a right wing global media empire with an antipathy toward cycling, and a demonstrated ability to tilt the public to their way of thinking.
meowww....
Why is that when I make one observation relevant to the topic, you respond with cat noises?
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schurms
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Re: BQ, Cycling Advocacy and B2GC

Postby schurms » Wed Oct 12, 2011 7:53 pm

winstonw wrote:The burbs have cheaper nuts than Mick's
Gees cheaper than Mick's - now im sad :( . I work at West End and love nothing better than carting home a kilo of home made muesli and a kilo of other nuts...and I always thought I had a bargain. (Some would say there are actually quite a few nuts around that area.)

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