AUSTIN – Share the road.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Police are cracking down on motorists who aren’t giving bicyclists enough room on the road.

The city passed the Safe Passage Ordinance last year, which requires motorists to be at least three feet from the cyclists when they pass. Commercial vehicles are required to give six feet of space.

San Antonio police Chief William McManus said on Wednesday that officers will be going undercover and on their bicycles to ensure motorists are following the rules of the road.

“We will have officers out there on bicycles with a police car paralleling. And in the event there is a violation, the bike officer will radio the car, the car will pull the motorist over and site them for violation of the Safe Passage Ordinance.”

Violators may be fined up to $200.

Helen Hunt, a local cyclist, said everyone needs to be more courteous while sharing the road — including cyclists.

“They need to stop at stop signs. They need to stop at lights. They need to signal when they turn. I see cyclers ignoring the road rules as well,” she said.

The ordinance only applies within city limits. Cyclist like Hunt said they hope other areas catch on and pass the same type of rules.

“We don’t expect motorist to stick a yard stick out the window,” McManus said. “The idea is: Give them a wide berth, give them a break.”

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All bicycle grants to local governments for each financial mapped on Google, with completion status where known. Quite a few unknowns…..

Click and enjoy!

2012/2013

2011/2012

2010/2011

2009/2010

2008/2009

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“If you ask people today what a street is for, they will say cars,” says Norton. “That’s practically the opposite of what they would have said 100 years ago.”

Norton explains that in the automobile’s earliest years, the principles of common law applied to crashes. In the case of a collision, the larger, heavier vehicle was deemed to be at fault. The responsibility for crashes always lay with the driver.

One key turning point, according to Norton, came in 1923 in Cincinnati. Citizens’ anger over pedestrian deaths gave rise to a referendum drive. It gathered some 7,000 signatures in support of a rule that would have required all vehicles in the city to be fitted with speed governors limiting them to 25 miles per hour.

Local auto clubs and dealers recognized that cars would be a lot harder to sell if there was a cap on their speed. So they went into overdrive in their campaign against the initiative.

The industry lobbied to change the law, promoting the adoption of traffic statutes to supplant common law. The statutes were designed to restrict pedestrian use of the street and give primacy to cars. The idea of “jaywalking” – a concept that had not really existed prior to 1920 – was enshrined in law.

Read the article by Sarah Goodyear here

The post How pedestrians got banned from the streets appeared first on Bicycle Transport Alliance.

The Shire of Murray is currently developing a Local Bicycle Plan which will guide the future allocation of funding to implement cycling improvements beneficial to the community.

The Shire is asking members of the community to complete the Local Bicycle Plan survey to obtain your views, issues and opinions, which will help shape your Local Bicycle Plan. We are seeking feedback from both cyclists and non-cyclists.

To complete the survey click on the below link:

Local Bicycle Plan survey

or obtain a hardcopy from either the Shire of Murray’s Administration Office, Murray Library, Murray Leisure Centre or the Pinjarra and Dwellingup Visitor Centres.

Local Bicycle Plan survey closes 5.00pm on Tuesday 30th April 2013.

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Interesting to me is the concentration of bike sharing schemes, and the realisation that this is not a wealth driven initiative, but a congestion driven one. It is worthwhile to explore the supporting information.

And then looking at the comments underneath the symbols, with some (to me obscure) places in China planning for 60,000 bikes and 200 stations by 2015 (Chenggong).

I found this on Shareable Cities

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Perth, 13^th of March 2013

Feedback to the Draft Bicycle Plan

Overall this is a comprehensive and authoritative bicycle plan that addresses a way forward for the Town of Bassendean to become a locality with a more people friendly feel.

The plan would be more accessible with an executive summary that expresses the growth potential for cycling in Bassendean, the benefits that would accrue to rate payers and the locality, and the main measures proposed.

The connection of the Principal Shared Path (PSP) to Ashfield is not addressed. The PSP in its current form is of no use to people living in Ashfield. At least there should be planning/lobbying to enable people on foot, gopher cars or bicycles to cross Guildford Road to access the PSP at Coulston and Chapman Roads. The minimum required is a mid-road refuge, but traffic lights would be safer. Considering that 3000 additional dwellings are planned for Ashfield in the medium term, it is important to create a safe environment for people to use active transport to reach local destinations, workplaces and transit hubs such as train stations.

We suggest that the design guidelines are changed to stipulate a maximum 30 km/h speed in environments where people in cars and on bicycles mix. On roundabouts there should be by-pass options for people on bicycles, and all new roadwork should have mountable kerbs to allow people on bicycles to travel closer to the kerb line.

Green paint has been used by MainRoadsWA to highlight conflict zones between vulnerable road users. This should become the standard treatment for crossings where substantial bicycle traffic is planned for.

The maps of the proposed new paths should be enhanced to show schools, trains stations and shops, as connection to these places increases the chance of participating government funding.

The Greenway concept suggested as a trial has been successful in other locations, and there is evidence that property values on Greenways are higher than on similar non-calmed roads in the same locality. The Greenways concept is more than just traffic calming, often it encompasses other “green” measures such as in situ storm water usage to create a road that feels different and invites lower traffic speeds.

The innovative nature of the suggested Greenways opens the possibility that funding for a pilot project could be obtained in part from the State Government beyond the standard grants issued for cycling infrastructure. This prospect is enhanced by the route selection (Whitfield Street) that connects parks, schools and major shopping areas and ends close to a train station. Consideration should be given to raise the street level where the Whitfield street Greenway crosses Bridson and Palmerston streets.

The promotion of Bassendean as a people and cycle friendly locality could be promoted by showing cycling themed material as part of the “Movies by Burswood” initiative.

When riding a bicycle few things are more annoying than a puncture. A caltrop spotting and eradication initiative would remove the most common source of puncture for urban cyclists.

Identified projects (page 37): In our view the projects on page 37 are broadly in the correct sequence, but for financial reasons consideration could be given to have project 4 done after project 5. Projects 8 and 12 are likely to be undertaken by MainRoadsWA in the next three years, and would cease to be of concern to the Town of Bassendean.

Overall we commend the Town of Bassendean for commissioning a Bike Plan, and hope to see its staged implementation starting soon.

The post Bassendean Bicycle Plan Feedback appeared first on Bicycle Transport Alliance.

Of course here we are preaching to the converted, but it is still worthwhile repeating some of the obvious comments from a report released today “Moving Australia 2030: A Transport Plan for a Productive and Active Australia.

“One of the easiest ways for people to get their recommended 30 minutes of physical activity is to build it into daily routines such as commuting between home and work or home and school.

Around one in five adult Australians travels less than five kilometres to work or study, while in Australian cities more than 50% of total car trips travel less than five kilometres.

We’ve become addicted to our cars and forgotten how to use our legs,” said Dr Robert Grenfell, Director of Cardiovascular Health at the Heart Foundation.

One of the key active travel recommendations is to require all federally funded state/territory transport infrastructure projects to incorporate or enhance active travel where feasible.

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The BTA is committed to a safer environment for people who choose to ride a bicycle to work, school, shops and trains stations. We work towards a complete and connected network of principal shared paths (PSP), the freeways of cycling. Where people on bicycles have to share the road with people in cars, we work towards a safer road environment through a safe passing distance, lower speeds and suburban bicycle routes. We feel that if more people feel safe on our roads, more will cycle. We promote cycling as a healthy, sustainable and environmentally responsible form of transport.

Infrastructure improvements

Funding

Since 2006, direct funding towards cycling infrastructure has languished at around $2.6mio per year. The BTA has lobbied at all levels of government to increase funding, and in 2012 funding for cycling infrastructure  was increased to $12.66mio per year for two years. In December 2012 the RAC released a report on the economic benefits of cycling for Perth, and we used the information contained in the report as well as our own research to lobby the government to increase spending on cycling. As part of the 2013 election campaign the current government promised a further $30mio towards cycling infrastructure.

Bicycle Plans

The West Australian Bike Network Plan (WABN). The BTA was present at all official presentations and discussions of this plan. The BTA initiated a full day public information workshop which was hosted by the RAC and attracted representatives from State and Local Government Departments, representatives of cycling organizations and members of the public. The WABN attracted over 550 submissions, well above the 200 expected by the authors of the plan. The BTA was directly involved in organizational submissions, including Fremantle and WALGA. We personally discussed our feedback with the Director General of Transport and the Minister of Transport.

City of Perth Infrastructure and Bicycle Plan. We discussed their Bike Plan prior to the official draft release, and subsequently, together with the RAC, organised a feedback session for the cycle plan, in addition to our own formal feedback. We discussed cycling infrastructure in the CBD with the Office of the Minister for Planning and with the MRA. We were involved in discussions with the Elizabeth Key planners, and provided formal feedback on the design guidelines for this project.

Other cycle plans. We engaged with the bike plans of the EMRC, Mosman Park, South Perth, Melville, Vincent, Bassendean, Joondalup and Fremantle as well as the Scarborough Beach Road Activity Corridor Framework. This included saddle surveys, discussion with the consultants writing the report, attending public workshops and formal feedback.

We supported the local office of the Greens to produce a comprehensive and costed plan to increase cycling participation to 29% by 2029, and participated in a round table discussion with the Greens and other stakeholders discussing the future of cycling in Perth.

Other infrastructure related activities

For five years we worked towards making the cycling/pedestrian interaction safer at the City West train station, finally resulting in structural modifications to the path this year.

In Bassendean our efforts and discussions with Minister for Transport, the Heritage council, the Town of Bassendean and MainRoadsWA resulted in the resurfacing of the Guildford bridge footpath with a cycle friendly material.

We regularly attend, and contribute, to the Cyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Group meetings with MainRoadsWA and the West Australian Bike Network Implementation Group meetings at the Department of Transport, as well as the Traffic Management on Local Roads meetings at MainRoadsWA.

We attended the Bike Futures Conference.

Cycling infrastructre maintenance and mapping. We tracked all 2011/2012 Metro Local Government Grants and their status, and made the results publicly available via Google Maps. We developed a publicly available Google Map to show interruption to cycle routes in the CBD. We developed a prototype application to record ‘potholes’ on the shared path. We corresponded with local councils in regards to shared paths and PSPs in their areas, in particular on northern routes, north of Karrinyup Rd. We supported the elected members in Joondalup in their efforts to eradicate caltrop in their area

A safer road environment

We discussed lower speeds on selected suburban roads and the legalised one metre passing distance with the RAC board and the Road Safety Council. We had discussions with Curtin University to explore joint projects on cycling safety and infrastructure. We corresponded with advocacy groups and researchers in Australia and overseas to understand how a safe legalised passing distance of affects the subjective and objective feeling of being safe for people on bicycles. We conducted a poll amongst cyclists that resulted in 100% support for the concept.

We were involved and presented at all three RAC OLA cycling safety forums, and also participated in the RAC pedestrian safety forum.

We regularly attended, and contribute to the Vulnerable Road User Action Group meetings at the RAC

Our board members have direct discussion with WA police on cycling road safety matters.

Promotion of cycling

Y-cycle? and BikeWeek. The BTA sourced, organized, compiled and rendered  about eight hours of cycling themed video material and screened it at Northbridge Piazza during Bikeweek. Over 200 people were served coffee and muffins (sponsored by the RAC), with many more stopping to watch some of the material. We also organised a raffle on the day.

We explored the possibility to screen cycling related material on both big screens in Perth on a regular schedule (at Northbridge Piazza and in front of the Alexander Library), but failed to attract funding support.

We were part of TV and radio programs, were mentioned in the press at state and local level, and produced own material based on bike mounted cameras, for instance the “2012 Shared Path Bike Hike” Video, which showed what a cyclist experiences when he is using shared paths instead of the freeway to mimic the Freeway Bike Hike.

We attend many of the “Cycle in Spring” and BikeWeek events, canvassing the opinion of cyclists and using their feedback to inform our communications with government departments and politicians, and participated in Tim’s ride. We attended the Sustainable Transport Forum.

Website and Facebook

We made over 1000 posts on our Facebook page, and over 250 posts on our website, and we produce regular newsletters that are sent to both to BTA members and politicians

Organisational activities

We engaged with the new CEO of Westcycle in January, and had numerous meetings and discussion with them to support the creation and effectiveness of WestCycle, moving towards co-location in 2013.

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