Sydney Bike Lanes

[goneriding]

It appears that the bike lights on King St have changed. I've only been commuting back into the City for the last 3 weeks and it seems that I can get a run all the way to the top of the bike lane getting greens all the way. It does require a bit of effort but is definitely different to how it was in the early days.

[CommuRider]

It appears that the bike lights on King St have changed. I've only been commuting back into the City for the last 3 weeks and it seems that I can get a run all the way to the top of the bike lane getting greens all the way. It does require a bit of effort but is definitely different to how it was in the early days.

How do you do that? I still get stopped at Sussex, Kent and Clarence. Do I need to pedal faster or do those lights just hate me?

[Nate]

If thats the case i'll start using that & king st!

Will give it a go this week

[goneriding]

Faster it is I'm afraid! Big chain ring, out of the saddle, HTFU and go.

[Nate]

Faster it is I'm afraid! Big chain ring, out of the saddle, HTFU and go.

sorry, negligent cycling - pedestrians around.

did kent this morning, not too bad, a few places it was average & i had to wait for lights, i think you have to cycle at a casual dawdle pace - which is pretty nice & bearable, & the lights will link up a bit better.
it drops me 1/2 way up king & the lights definitely werent phased there.

In traffic from the bridge to George/King - its probably quicker, due to the large number of buses along york st stopped, but if its before 8:30ish probably quicker on the road down york

[goneriding]

I had a good run up the hill again this morning with the Clarence St light just going orange as I went through.

[zero]

I had a good run up the hill again this morning with the Clarence St light just going orange as I went through.

I got stopped twice last night, for entire cycle. I climbed at the same speed as the cars, but the lights ahead never changed. Probably 3 minutes wait each time. Lights went green for non existent kent st bicycles before it gave me my greens. I got 39 red lights and 1 green light on the entire system (ignoring the ped crossing on kent which is usually green).

Only reason I think that people get good runs, is because they are riding behind red light runners - you can be 2 minutes behind them and pick up a couple of their triggers.
They aren't riding flat out either, they just go after a minute of waiting aimlessly, so the light sits in a state where it will give out a green in a couple of minutes after they go.

[Chanboy]

I'm finding Kent Street traffic lights not so bad during peak periods - ie 8-9am and 5-7pm. Only because there is enough cyclists on the path to have regular triggers of the lights. I can usually get at least 2 rolling greens.

Of peak it's a nightmare... nearly always have to stop at every light.

[CommuRider]

We got mentioned - a wee bit - in today's SMH: The Joys of Living in Sydney

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/signs-that-yo ... 19mrn.html

Cycling is tough

You know you're a Sydneysider if cycling to work strikes fear in your heart. This city was not built with commuter cycling in mind. The roads, twisty and full of hills, are suited to cars. Even four-wheel-drives find them squeezy. Riding a bicycle to work means taking the back roads, eyes steeled for parked-car doors opening menacingly in your path. It means riding on main thoroughfares, bearing the honks of drivers furious at your presence. More bicycle lanes have helped but most cyclists ride with a strength of will disproportionate to the threat of their machine.

[Chanboy]

Is riding in Sydney really that tough? I reckon it's a bit tough, but not that tough...

[Boognoss]

Is riding in Sydney really that tough? I reckon it's a bit tough, but not that tough...

Nope it's not that tough IMO. More sensationalist garbage.

[itsaghostcar]

More sensationalist garbage.

That whole article was written tongue-in-cheek. Need to stop assuming everyone is out to get us.

"This is why most Sydneysiders spend winter shivering around dust-covered heaters dragged from hall cupboards and garages. No central heating for us. We sit in houses with wooden floorboards and large windows and wonder why the nights are freezing. We sweat under thick doonas and turn our skin red in too-hot morning showers while shuddering at the thought of obscuring bright morning light with anything such as heavy curtains."

"They were more than a decade ago but Sydneysiders will never stop talking about the greatest Olympic Games ever.
...
We'll also deny any suggestion that we were cynical, disinterested and disparaging about the event before it forever changed the city and its residents."

[Boognoss]

More sensationalist garbage.

That whole article was written tongue-in-cheek. Need to stop assuming everyone is out to get us.

"This is why most Sydneysiders spend winter shivering around dust-covered heaters dragged from hall cupboards and garages. No central heating for us. We sit in houses with wooden floorboards and large windows and wonder why the nights are freezing. We sweat under thick doonas and turn our skin red in too-hot morning showers while shuddering at the thought of obscuring bright morning light with anything such as heavy curtains."

"They were more than a decade ago but Sydneysiders will never stop talking about the greatest Olympic Games ever.
...
We'll also deny any suggestion that we were cynical, disinterested and disparaging about the event before it forever changed the city and its residents."

It's hard to get out of the habit because 99% of the time they are

Not particularly well written IMHO anyway...

[ghettro]

One of my pet hates is how people have this idea that roads and city layouts are static, set in stone and never changing - statements like "Sydney roads aren't designed for bikes".

This is about as far from the truth as they get. If you study the history of Sydney's street layout and block division (or any city's) you can see it's something that is really quite malleable and dynamic. These kind of statements also ignore the fact that in the 50's many many more people cycled on the road because there were far fewer cars on the road and more people walked or caught public transport.

People also use the same statement except they swap bikes for trams - ignorant of the fact that Sydney used to have the largest tram network in the southern hemisphere, bigger than melbournes - in fact many of the old tram tracks are still underneath our roads and some have been accidentally uncovered during road works.

[CommuRider]

Bourke St.'s finally open. Looks very inviting. Those cafe-lined streets...oooh

http://media.smh.com.au/selections/sydn ... 75272.html

[Sydguy]

Just saw that clip comurider, did you notice people walking across it without looking, and that numpty ped strutting down the middle of the two cycle lanes? lol
Bottom line they are adding value to the city, and I hope tons of riders get onto them. I use them where possible on my commute but I am starting to grind at taking 15 to 20 mins to get from the corner of Hunter and Phillip to the Anzac Bridge in peak hour.
It makes me wonder how and why people try this in cars....
They really need to free up the roads but it will take a huge attitude adjustment across the board. People should not be waiting in buses for private cars. This is totally inefficient. Damn way OT.

Thankyou Clover Moore - Keep driving these cool changes!

[CommuRider]

Lol yeah i did saw the ped though they could have picked a better spot to interview Clover with that unfinished bit in the background. I will have to find a way to do a test run of it as it looks so inviting. Maybe a lunchtime ride to it.

I like the photos they had too - kids on the cycleway on their way to school.... What a nice change.

[ghettro]

Clover knows her stuff! I normally ride down crown st to and from work but now I've been going down bourke st. Less traffic, much less chance of getting doored and less traffic lights so it ends up being faster, particularly heading south where it's downhill. I quite like how they have made a tactile change to pavers at all the intersections and levelled it so the footpath blends in with the road - this naturally makes cars slow down when they approach the intersection.

There still could be some improvements but a job well done!

[sogood]

it drops me 1/2 way up king & the lights definitely werent phased there.

Don't make excuses, just ride harder and faster!

[sogood]

Thankyou Clover Moore - Keep driving these cool changes!

+1!

Will see what O'Farrell gets up to in the coming months. Hope he will not take us back 2 steps.

[CommuRider]

Finally managed to do Bourke St. For such a small piece of infrastructure in the city to cause such a fuss I wonder what the anti cyclists brigade get their rocks off really. It's a small bit and noticeably the street is becoming 'gentrified'....very noticeable when going thru the intersections at Cleveland and Oxford.

Managed to do lunch at Woolloomooloo Bay hotel instead of Deus ex Machina where it seems to be really cliquey, while Pain Quotidien just lacks basic customer service.

Lots of the emo and hipster crowd with chips on their shoulders and lack of helmets on their heads, a very naughty truck in the middle of the cycleway at one stage, and some silly peds wandering. Overall I am sure it makes a positive contribution to the area given the general vagrants, alcoholics and drug addicts/dealers that the area attracts even during the daytime. It was nice to see some really nice terraces but the barred windows is a reminder of its liveliness. If you are over 25, you are over the hill in the area's demographic.

So from my pov, what really is the fuss all about? The cars ain't going faster than the cyclists so surely this will give the users a way out of the congestion so prevalent in the area. So go Clover!

[JV911]

just came across this little gem http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Crap-Cy ... 1903070581

[CommuRider]

At least they can talk about 50 crap cycle lanes. We do not have enough cycle lanes to crap about!!!!!

[trailgumby]

Thankyou Clover Moore - Keep driving these cool changes!

+1!

Will see what O'Farrell gets up to in the coming months. Hope he will not take us back 2 steps.

Write letters, folks. Tell them these separated bike lanes not only need preserving, but expanding. Dispute the view that it's increasing congestion, and put the view that traffic flow is actually improved. Certainly that's my strong impression of what's going on in Kent St.

Main addressee Fatty O'Barrell and cc The Gay Reverend.

You'll get a pro-forma response but it will go into their analysis of issues. Every email or letter counts.

Which reminds me, I need to get back to the mayor in my Council area, who responded to an email regarding bike lanes and invited me to make input into a solution they are considering.

Not blowing my trumpet here... I have no special telent. Just saying that raising the issues, backing them with facts and being courteous gets you noticed. Anybody can do it.

[BigBadWOLF]

Having used mainly Bourke st Cycleway its frustrating pulling up at the lights and the cyclist in front is past the line and not on the sensors at the lights.

Does any one else have this issue as I know its frustrating as the lights take forever to change and if you miss the set cos of some fool trying to jump the lights its annoying.