Force Cyclists to Use Paths
- Aushiker
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Force Cyclists to Use Paths
Postby Aushiker » Fri Aug 29, 2008 11:32 am
This is the view of Town of Cambridge Councillor Rod Bradley as reported in the Cambridge Post, August 30, 2008 on page 9.
Councillor Bradley is quoted as saying "it is quite silly for us to be spending money on bicycle networks when cyclists don't use them." It is then reported that Mr Bradley was opposing paying half the $146,000 cost of new paths in Oban Road, Dunston Road, and Powis Street and reviewing Cambridge's five-year old bike plan.
The council has been offered government grants to cover the other half of the cost.
The article closes quoting Councillor Bradley as saying "it is up to the state government to insist cyclists use these paths."
According to the 2008-2009 Town of Cambridge Draft Budget the amount being proposed to be spent on shared paths within the town was $161,000 which is more than the figure quoted in the newspaper article. This proposed spend equates to 0.01% of the Council's 2008-2009 draft infrastructure budget. Does Councillor Bradley have his prorities set right? Is Councillor Bradley informed? Does he understand alternative transport? Does he have an understanding of the cost savings of alternative transport to the council? Frankly I don't think so and I think that Councillor Bradley needs to get informed.
If you wish to express your views to Councillor Bradley he can be contacted via the Town of Cambridge website or via email at cr.bradley@cambridge.wa.gov.au.
Andrew
Edited to update financials and contact details.
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Re: Force Cyclists to Use Paths
Postby barefoot » Fri Aug 29, 2008 3:40 pm
It's not up to the state government to insist cyclists use the paths - it is up to the council to provide paths that cyclists want to use.Aushiker wrote:Councillor Bradley is quoted as saying "it is quite silly for us to be spending money on bicycle networks when cyclists don't use them."
...
The article closes quoting Councillor Bradley as saying "it is up to the state government to insist cyclists use these paths."
I completely agree with him, that it's silly for council to piss money up against a wall, building dysfunctional "bicycle networks" that are of no use to cyclists.
I disagree with his motivation, but I agree with his stand against building worthless bikepaths.
tim
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Re: Force Cyclists to Use Paths
Postby Aushiker » Fri Aug 29, 2008 3:42 pm
Well at least two of the paths in the budget are NEEDED. Don't know the other two areas.barefoot wrote:It's not up to the state government to insist cyclists use the paths - it is up to the council to provide paths that cyclists want to use.Aushiker wrote:Councillor Bradley is quoted as saying "it is quite silly for us to be spending money on bicycle networks when cyclists don't use them."
...
The article closes quoting Councillor Bradley as saying "it is up to the state government to insist cyclists use these paths."
I completely agree with him, that it's silly for council to piss money up against a wall, building dysfunctional "bicycle networks" that are of no use to cyclists.
I disagree with his motivation, but I agree with his stand against building worthless bikepaths.
tim
Andrew
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Postby wintal » Fri Aug 29, 2008 4:52 pm
Too many politician positions seem to be based on anecdotal evidence. As soon as they enter office they should be forced to sit down and lectured on statistics until they understand the concept of statistical significance.
Moreover, his statement that "it is up to the state government to insist cyclists use these paths." makes it quite clear to me that he is in favor of legislating cycles off the roads. Why he believes this would be enforced when the police enforce barely any of the other road laws is quite frankly beyond me.
Hmm, actually, perhaps I should make that rant a bit more coherent and email it to him. Shame I don't live in Cambridge any more.
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Postby Aushiker » Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:04 pm
Send it to the paper instead. The paper is good for coherent discussion.wintal wrote:Hmm, actually, perhaps I should make that rant a bit more coherent and email it to him. Shame I don't live in Cambridge any more.
Andrew
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Postby sittingbison » Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:12 pm
However, my personal view is that multi use paths are a committee design (ie ill conceived to be polite). Putting peds and bicycle commuters/racers on the same track is ludicrous and ultimately inherently dangerous for both. Put in BIKE PATHS for goodness sake.
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Postby Kalgrm » Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:40 pm
I agree about non-dedicated bike paths. Maybe he should spend $161,000 on a study to find out why cyclists don't use bike paths? Or maybe he could just ask us and give us some cash ...
Sorry for the flippancy. I can't be bothered taking this on. If he doesn't want the income cyclists bring to his community, stuff him.
Cheers,
Graeme
---------------------
Music was better when ugly people were allowed to make it ....
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Postby Chops » Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:46 pm
There is more feedback than they know what to do with apparently.Kalgrm wrote:
I agree about non-dedicated bike paths. Maybe he should spend $161,000 on a study to find out why cyclists don't use bike paths? Or maybe he could just ask us and give us some cash ...
One of the biggest complaints from cyclists, and one of the biggest problems is that a lot of the paths and lanes just don't link up properly.
Bike paths mysteriously turn into footpaths often without warning, nor an outlet onto a bike lane or even just the road at the appropriate places.
So cyclists are left to their own devices anyway.
/rant.
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Postby wintal » Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:03 pm
Is this feedback available in a report somewhere?Chops wrote: There is more feedback than they know what to do with apparently.
What this always boils down to is a value calculation. Every cyclist makes a valuation of the impact of their path on their safety, time taken, inconvenience etc. Everyone's value calculation is slightly different - if he's not seeing a path used as much as he likes, it means he's misjudged the value calculation - obviously he doesn't understand his constituents as well as he thinks.
I also don't like the fact that it's controlled by local governments. All of my local commute problem areas are actually in City of Perth, but I reside in City of Stirling - this reduces my leverage to actually get things done, because local councils care most about the people that elect them... and I have no control over that. I do agree with the Councillor in that respect - it should be the state government in control.
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Re: Force Cyclists to Use Paths
Postby Crankitup » Mon Sep 01, 2008 11:01 am
How has he determined this?Aushiker wrote:G'day
Councillor Bradley is quoted as saying "it is quite silly for us to be spending money on bicycle networks when cyclists don't use them."
As to his logic about cycling infrastructure being a waste of money maybe he should read this article in yesterday's Washington Post;
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... tml?sub=AR
While Northern Europe and Japan have figured out how to make bicycle commuting a safe, cheap alternative to driving, the United States, Canada, Australia and Britain have not.
Still, among the world's most developed countries, a reliable recipe has emerged for making cycling a mainstream means of getting to work. Commuters in Northern Europe have been lured out of their cars by bike lanes, secure bike parking and easy access to mass transportation. At the same time, steep automobile taxes, congestion-zone fees and go-slow rules have made inner-city driving a costly pain in the neck. In the Netherlands, where such carrot-and-stick policies have been in place for decades, 27 percent of all trips are by bike.
"It is very clear how to do this," said John Pucher, a professor of urban planning at Rutgers University and lead author of a global study of strategies that promote cycling. "It is not rocket science."
Germans are 10 times more likely than Americans to ride a bike and three times less likely to get hurt while doing so. On any given workday, more commuters park their bikes at train and subway stations in Tokyo (704,000) than cycle to work in the entire United States (535,000), according to the Tokyo government and the U.S. Census.
And so on & so forth for 2 &1/2 more pages.Britain Makes a Start
When cities do fit the pieces together, they often see an almost instantaneous surge in cycling. In Britain, a country whose nationwide transportation system is nearly as inhospitable to cycling as that of the United States, London has emerged as Exhibit A for the quick infrastructure fix that gets commuters out of cars.
In 2003, the city imposed a steep "congestion charge" of about $16 for cars driving into the city center. Within a year, inner-city cycling had increased by about 25 percent. In the past eight years, there has been a 10-fold increase in city spending on bike lanes, bike parking and education programs. The effort has nearly doubled cycling throughout London.
There also seems to have been a fundamental change in the way Londoners think about cycling. It's become cool.
Bacchetta Corsa '05
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Postby grantos » Wed Sep 03, 2008 6:43 pm
the same gets me going when I hear people say condescendingly to joggers and runners the words ....'why bother?' with that tone in their voice like they are better than them for not exercising.
save us all the hassle you immobile jerks and just drop dead early so we can get on with our training
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Postby DaveW » Thu Sep 04, 2008 10:59 am
Anger management not working for you huh?grantos wrote:ever noticed how its always the fat lazy people who complain about cyclists?
the same gets me going when I hear people say condescendingly to joggers and runners the words ....'why bother?' with that tone in their voice like they are better than them for not exercising.
save us all the hassle you immobile jerks and just drop dead early so we can get on with our training
I know some people who are not "fat and lazy" but have the same attitude.
I don't think it is about them thinking they are "better" but pure jealousy - most people I feel would like to exercise but can't motivate themselves to do it.
As to the paths - if they bothered to clean them occasionally people would be more likely to use them.
I don't like to ride on glass!
And if they took out some of the lumps and bumps that would help too.
And the odd blind corner makes it all a bit - um well - you know.
yep - cleaning, maintenance, and decent design.
I can ride around people, but some education to not take the whole lane would be good. You can't stop people from walking on them.
I'm not a complete idiot - parts of me are missing!
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Postby wintal » Thu Sep 04, 2008 11:12 am
For fast commuter style riders, bike lanes on the roads are a far better solution than shared paths.
I don't know if the planners 'don't get' this or if they just feel that the paths are being put in primarily for the less capable (and slower) riders. I suspect the latter, to be honest. There's obviously a pretty big disconnect to what Joe Public thinks the paths are for though. The councillor in question obviously thinks it's to get bikes off the road
Cheers,
Leighton...
ps: there's a form on the dpi website for reporting hazards like broken glass on paths. They work out who should deal with it and forward it appropriately.
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Postby Aushiker » Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:01 pm
Agree, so please do, if you don't currently, report hazards such as glass via the DPI reporting service. The sooner hazards such as glass are reported the sooner they get cleared up.DaveW wrote: As to the paths - if they bothered to clean them occasionally people would be more likely to use them.
I don't like to ride on glass!
BTW I have reported about six lots of glass this week ... all on roads
I agree with you there and again the opportunity is there to report the hazards. May not be instance response, but feedback does help.And if they took out some of the lumps and bumps that would help too.
And the odd blind corner makes it all a bit - um well - you know.
Andrew
Who is happily putting up with tree loppers obstructing the northern PSP as they are pruning all the overgrown bushes. A matter recently reported via the Hazard Report service.
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Postby Aushiker » Thu Sep 04, 2008 3:38 pm
Good on you .... The more often folks report hazards the more often they get cleaned up and hopefully sometimes at least someone gets to the glass before usDaveW wrote:Well, being a relative newbie I wasn't aware of that site, but I was close to sending letter to the council.
Will log on there soon!
Andrew
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Postby ajh_ausnzcf » Sun Oct 12, 2008 8:49 pm
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Re: Force Cyclists to Use Paths
Postby rolandp » Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:30 pm
Souce Community NewsCr Ron Bradley said he believed the State Government was “blackmailing” the Town into building its own cycle ways.
“I love cyclists but they don’t obey the road rules,” he said.
“The State Government gets us to spend our money doing what the State Government should do (promote safety).
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Re: Force Cyclists to Use Paths
Postby hiflange » Mon Jun 05, 2017 12:11 am
Really?? Is she somehow supposed to be ashamed?Mayor Keri Shannon, a self-confessed cyclist,
Otherwise an entertaining council meeting;
Cr MacRae said Cr Bradley was “rabbitting on” which prompted the latter to slam his agenda on his desk several times.
Cr Bradley stood up and while slamming his agenda on the council chambers desk, called for a point of order.
Cr Jane Powell covered her ears and turned away.
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