Wayfinding while cycling

[atelier]

Hi all,

I’m student currently working on a project looking to explore and improve the way cyclists navigate around Perth and the surrounds.
After reviewing the Department of Transport’s Bikewest publications and maps and browsing through a good portion of the threads in this forum. I thought it would be good to gather some personal experiences and opinions on how you find your way around Perth.

I was wondering;
How do you plan your routes? (Google Maps, ridethecity.com, ask in forums)
How do you navigate while cycling? (Maps, GPS on iphone)
What infrastructure would you like to see in place to assist with navigation? (Better signage etc)

Any information or feedback would be greatly appreciate as it would help with my research.
Thanks

[bradwoodbr]

You may get a greater response by creating a poll.

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[wellington_street]

Signage on the PBN routes is terrible in many places. If you have time, ride on or two in your local area and see if you can follow the route just by using the signs. Note how many signs are missing at decision points etc.

As for your question about what would improve wayfinding, it depends on the purpose:

- for long distance PSP or PBN routes you really need signage. This signage needs to be facing the right way and be in advance of the intersection, or at least visible in advance of the intersection so that you can slow to read it.

- for local travel away from the PBN routes then using Council's street name signs is probably adequate. If you are trying to follow a 'cycle route' on a shared path though, then little things like the location of grab rails, path colouring and crossing/pram ramp orientation help make it obvious where the route goes.

[chuckchunder]

planning - paper maps, googlemaps, nearmap, bikely, ridewithgps, audax routes, prior area knowledge

navigate - paper maps, route sheets, asking locals, balls accurate reckoning.......sometimes not so accurate, but scenic anyway

infratstructure - i second all wellington_street said. there is obviously no ongoing checking of signage, and installation can be poor - for example when the freeway path was opened in the south st/leach hwy area at least one sign was installed in the wrong place. i'm pretty sure there is still a sign on the kwinana fwy path that points in completely the wrong direction, at safety bay rd i think.

i reckon it would be good to see signs being painted on the road surface adjacent to the kerb before turns, not at them. less likely to be defaced or removed, easy for bicyclists to see (not much help to me though ).

cheers

[Thoglette]

How do you plan your routes? (Google Maps, ridethecity.com, ask in forums)

Mix of DoT maps, UBD, Google and pot luck

How do you navigate while cycling? (Maps, GPS on iphone)

By memory and signage.

What infrastructure would you like to see in place to assist with navigation? (Better signage etc)

Signage, signage and up-to-date on-line/printed info. Even on-line photos

[atelier]

Thank you for your insights wellington_street, chuckchunder and Thoglette, it's great to get another perspective on the situation.

bradwoodbr thanks for the suggestion. I should make one now.

[McGoo]

New routes are usually checked with maps first, but once underway I just rely on guesstimation and general direction of travel. Crap signage at PSP intersections usually leads to backtracking the first time I travel a new route.

[rcmkII]

Google Earth before the ride. I draw the routes onto the maps and save them.

During the ride I use a list of streets with turns marked. E.g. R nicholson, L Willeri, etc. Works well until you go L Nicholson and can't find R Willeri and end up in Rockingham or Joondalup, depending.

I only use these the first time. E.g. first ride to Freo from Roe PSP trying to follow the mythical 'FP7' or whatever it's supposed to be. A handful of weathered little signs tacked to lamp posts at five or six km intervals.

I do have a portable GPS but it's overkill for the bike. I threw it in the panniers once but the only time I ever switched it on was to help another rider find their way home.