Comments on: City West PSP

By: CycleSnail

CycleSnail — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:00:02 +0000

As the camera only observed the eastern end of the City West station, I guess the number of pedestrians is correct, but there would be a lot more cyclists (on the North/South axis)

By: CycleSnail

CycleSnail — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:03:33 +0000

The discussion on the City West PSP crossing is also held on the Australian Cycling Forum:
http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=21131

On the same forum there is a general discussion dealing with speed limits on WA shared paths:
http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=14544

By: velogrrl

velogrrl — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:58:33 +0000

I have to agree with Lone Wolfe about the PSP near City West Station, particularly during peak times. While Objectman has a point about strollers heading towards Harbourtown, the area immediately around the station is the high risk zone, and one where cyclists consistently behave badly. They come hurtling down the slope from the Loftus Street side of the station, straight through the two zebra crossings at either end of the station. When the BTA has set up “interception” events – for example the breakfast table for Ride to Work Day – cyclists have not only flown by at such speed that we can’t give them a muffin or two (and that’s not a euphemism) but they have also caused near misses with anyone who has dared to stop for refreshments and info.
The other problem is that their bad behaviour forces other cyclists to err too. For example, I have had a couple of experiences of stopping at the zebra crossing to let the peds from the train cross, only to find that some clown has come along behind me and rather than stopping too, has overtaken me and almost cleaned up the ped who leapt for their life. I feel bad because I have lured the ped into the situation by stopping and making them think it was safe to cross, so now I slow down, but tend not to give way in fear of sending a walker into the path of a cyclist. Maybe that’s the wrong approach – is there any point in trying to apply peer pressure to get cyclists to ride courteously through there or can it only be done or is restrictive infrastructure the only solution? In other cities (eg Copenhagen, Amsterdam) cyclists don’t seem to have a problem stopping at lights for pedestrians, and I think the peer pressure there is such that you would feel like a total wally if you did jump the light and ride through peds.

By: objectman

objectman — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:16:42 +0000

PB = “Personal Best,” right? ;) I think I disagree with this. As a cyclist, I go through that route at least 3 times per week on my Leederville latte run and there are a number of issues NOT to do with cyclists here. 1. Young people and headphones is one 2. Young people ambling in groups walking on both the right and left hand side of the path is another 3. Cultural issue where in some countries they walk on the right hand side, not the left and the cycleway is not clearly marked 4. Angry old people who’ve had a hard life and are now using the entire width of the path as a way of making up for life’s losses (usually men interestingly) before they die 5. Old people who are actually hard of hearing. IMHO Dual use paths are probably NOT the right answer as bikes (and losing weight) becomes more and more popular. The path around McCallum Park seems to work well. It is clearly split into cycleway and walk path, so doing 30kmh there isn’t quite as hazardous. As soon as the path turns “dual use” again the same issues arise.

By: lone wolfe

lone wolfe — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:53:23 +0000

Or cyclists like us could simply accept that it is not a bike freeway / free for all and adjust our speed accordingly. I ride through there regularly. My observation is not that the ped behaviour causes a problem i.e. they don’t leap in front of bikes. The problem appears to be the age old pursuit of the single second PB for the commute.

It might also help if we observed the crosswalks.

Ultimately the cyclist have more choices of routes to take through that area than peds who are exiting the station.

By: CycleSnail

CycleSnail — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:45:37 +0000

City West PSP will sooner or later require some treatment to facilitate safer interaction between cyclists travelling on the PSP and pedestrians crossing it to get into West Perth or walking along the path to get to the Harbour Town shopping area. Possibilities are flashing lights when the train arrives to alert cyclists to the impending appearance of pedestrians on the footpath, the removal of the zebra crossing to make pedestrians stop, changed surface treatment (i.e. brick paving), structural measures that create a slow point (as is being trialed near Trigg), or some type of a small mixed use plaza. Currently the relevant authorities have no design or deadline to tackle this.

We know that there is some footage of the problems at that crossing, and we are trying to get it so we can put it on our site.

Anybody who has relevant photos/video of that stretch and is happy for it to go on our site can send it to us, preferably as an .avi file on a DVD for video, or .jpg for photos.

By: CycleSnail

CycleSnail — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:30:58 +0000

PSP = Public Shared Path

i.e. in Perth there are no dedicated cycle ways, instead we have a network of paths that are not to be used by cars, but are shared between pedestrians and cyclists. This creates all kind of problems on the paths that carry a lot of traffic.

PBN = Perth Bike Network

That is the overall plan of the shared paths

By: objectman

objectman — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:05:23 +0000

Okay. I give up. What’s a PSP?