Showing posts with label article. Show all posts
Showing posts with label article. Show all posts
Friday, February 26, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
"When the lines are fuzzy and nobody has the right of way"
"Be a cyclist in Singapore? No chance at all." By Tan Hui Yee. The Straits Times, 04 Jan 2010.
IT IS a sight that would make the skin of any driver crawl: A weathered old lady hurtling down the road's fastest lane on a kamikaze bicycle ride against the flow of traffic.
Kamikaze Auntie is usually found in the central districts of Singapore. She is robust enough to ride her bike without wobbling, but old enough to give you a tongue-lashing if you dare tell her she is riding dangerously. After all, it is illegal to cycle on footpaths in Singapore, she will snarl.
Against this backdrop, drivers probably felt nothing but relief when Tampines town announced last month that it was going to be the Republic's first cycling town. The two-wheelers would be given space on expanded footpaths so they could ride safely and legally alongside pedestrians.
But this has got some pedestrians all worked up. At work one day, I was treated to a long tirade from a colleague about the looming threat of gory deaths in Tampines as reckless cyclists mow down hapless residents.
'Look at what it is like in East Coast Park,' she cried. 'That is what it is going to be like in Tampines.'
Singapore's most popular seaside park is home to a whirlwind of high-speed cyclists, in-line skaters, joggers and campers. Jaw-dropping pile-ups are common there, as unsuspecting park strollers stumble into the paths of speeding skaters or cyclists.
It is true that dangerous cyclists are a hazard both on roads and on footpaths. Kamikaze Aunties aside, there are also clumsy cyclists who wobble along the road at low speed, as well as professional-looking athletes who are apt to weave from road to footpath, or vice versa, on a whim.
These cyclists stand little chance on the roads in a country known for bad driving. At least 15 cyclists lose their lives each year, many to drivers who feel that the roads belong to cars - especially their car.
The fact that the Land Transport Authority has resisted calls to build proper cycling lanes is probably one of the reasons that Tampines is expanding its footpaths for cyclists.
Still, the simmering debate begs the question: Do cyclists belong on the road or the footpath?
It is an issue which no amount of finger-pointing is going to resolve, but recent road traffic experiments in Europe might hold a clue.
In the bustling Dutch town of Drachten, the authorities have removed traffic lights, road markings and some pedestrian crossings. Lane markers are absent and there are no kerbs separating the street from the pavement. It is not clear who has the right of way, nor how fast drivers can go.
Conditions which most people would presume cause anarchy have produced the opposite effect: Traffic moves smoothly as drivers slow down to gauge the intentions of cyclists and pedestrians. All parties make eye contact with each other as they negotiate their usage of the ambiguous space. In short, the street has turned out to be safer for everybody, precisely because nobody has the right of way.
The Drachten experiment may be too out of this world for a place like Singapore, where there are clear rules telling people where they can eat and how to wash their hands. But the principles that apply in Drachten could well apply - in reverse - in East Coast Park.
Traffic engineer Hans Monderman, who reworked Drachten's roads, believes that clear lanes and street signs give drivers a false sense of security. Drivers speed down these lanes thinking there are no obstructions, which increases the severity of accidents should something catch them unawares.
According to Mr Monderman, lowering speed limits does not help if all other visual cues tell the driver that the road ahead is clear.
Which explains the pile-ups on the cycling paths in East Coast Park. The dedicated trails give cyclists the impression that they have the right of way and prompt them to throw caution to the wind.
Instead of erecting speed limit signs and slapping yet more penalties on errant cyclists, perhaps the authorities should be looking in the other direction. Perhaps the spaces - be they walking or cycling trails or secondary roads - should not be so clearly demarcated in the first place. (Note, here, that expressways are not part of this discussion, as such high-speed roads perform a key function in the transport system.)
After all, if footpaths are meant for pedestrians, and cycling paths are meant for bicycles, where should skateboarders and in-line skaters go? Where do motorised wheelchairs fit in, for that matter, or zippy two-wheel Segways, which are neither bikes nor wheelchairs?
How can the Singapore transport system accommodate a growing list of mobility gadgets in a meaningful way, without further cramping the available space we have?
Bus lanes need not exist if motorists gave way to buses on the roads. Similarly, cycling lanes would not be needed if motorists took care when overtaking them on the roads, and if cyclists themselves looked out for the safety of pedestrians in their way.
It might sound counter-intuitive, but the journey ahead could be a lot smoother if every road or path user had to learn to negotiate the space with every other user.
When the lines are fuzzy and nobody has the right of way, there could be just enough space for everybody, even Kamikaze Auntie.
IT IS a sight that would make the skin of any driver crawl: A weathered old lady hurtling down the road's fastest lane on a kamikaze bicycle ride against the flow of traffic.
Kamikaze Auntie is usually found in the central districts of Singapore. She is robust enough to ride her bike without wobbling, but old enough to give you a tongue-lashing if you dare tell her she is riding dangerously. After all, it is illegal to cycle on footpaths in Singapore, she will snarl.
Against this backdrop, drivers probably felt nothing but relief when Tampines town announced last month that it was going to be the Republic's first cycling town. The two-wheelers would be given space on expanded footpaths so they could ride safely and legally alongside pedestrians.
But this has got some pedestrians all worked up. At work one day, I was treated to a long tirade from a colleague about the looming threat of gory deaths in Tampines as reckless cyclists mow down hapless residents.
'Look at what it is like in East Coast Park,' she cried. 'That is what it is going to be like in Tampines.'
Singapore's most popular seaside park is home to a whirlwind of high-speed cyclists, in-line skaters, joggers and campers. Jaw-dropping pile-ups are common there, as unsuspecting park strollers stumble into the paths of speeding skaters or cyclists.
It is true that dangerous cyclists are a hazard both on roads and on footpaths. Kamikaze Aunties aside, there are also clumsy cyclists who wobble along the road at low speed, as well as professional-looking athletes who are apt to weave from road to footpath, or vice versa, on a whim.
These cyclists stand little chance on the roads in a country known for bad driving. At least 15 cyclists lose their lives each year, many to drivers who feel that the roads belong to cars - especially their car.
The fact that the Land Transport Authority has resisted calls to build proper cycling lanes is probably one of the reasons that Tampines is expanding its footpaths for cyclists.
Still, the simmering debate begs the question: Do cyclists belong on the road or the footpath?
It is an issue which no amount of finger-pointing is going to resolve, but recent road traffic experiments in Europe might hold a clue.
In the bustling Dutch town of Drachten, the authorities have removed traffic lights, road markings and some pedestrian crossings. Lane markers are absent and there are no kerbs separating the street from the pavement. It is not clear who has the right of way, nor how fast drivers can go.
Conditions which most people would presume cause anarchy have produced the opposite effect: Traffic moves smoothly as drivers slow down to gauge the intentions of cyclists and pedestrians. All parties make eye contact with each other as they negotiate their usage of the ambiguous space. In short, the street has turned out to be safer for everybody, precisely because nobody has the right of way.
The Drachten experiment may be too out of this world for a place like Singapore, where there are clear rules telling people where they can eat and how to wash their hands. But the principles that apply in Drachten could well apply - in reverse - in East Coast Park.
Traffic engineer Hans Monderman, who reworked Drachten's roads, believes that clear lanes and street signs give drivers a false sense of security. Drivers speed down these lanes thinking there are no obstructions, which increases the severity of accidents should something catch them unawares.
According to Mr Monderman, lowering speed limits does not help if all other visual cues tell the driver that the road ahead is clear.
Which explains the pile-ups on the cycling paths in East Coast Park. The dedicated trails give cyclists the impression that they have the right of way and prompt them to throw caution to the wind.
Instead of erecting speed limit signs and slapping yet more penalties on errant cyclists, perhaps the authorities should be looking in the other direction. Perhaps the spaces - be they walking or cycling trails or secondary roads - should not be so clearly demarcated in the first place. (Note, here, that expressways are not part of this discussion, as such high-speed roads perform a key function in the transport system.)
After all, if footpaths are meant for pedestrians, and cycling paths are meant for bicycles, where should skateboarders and in-line skaters go? Where do motorised wheelchairs fit in, for that matter, or zippy two-wheel Segways, which are neither bikes nor wheelchairs?
How can the Singapore transport system accommodate a growing list of mobility gadgets in a meaningful way, without further cramping the available space we have?
Bus lanes need not exist if motorists gave way to buses on the roads. Similarly, cycling lanes would not be needed if motorists took care when overtaking them on the roads, and if cyclists themselves looked out for the safety of pedestrians in their way.
It might sound counter-intuitive, but the journey ahead could be a lot smoother if every road or path user had to learn to negotiate the space with every other user.
When the lines are fuzzy and nobody has the right of way, there could be just enough space for everybody, even Kamikaze Auntie.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
"Copenhagenisation"
"Bicycle-friendly Copenhagen a model for big cities," by Henriette Jacobsen. Reuters, 14 Dec 2009.
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - The world is gathered in Copenhagen for the U.N. climate summit, but Denmark"s bicycle-friendly capital has also given its name to a movement of cities trying to find a kinder way to commute.
Nearly 40 percent of Copenhagen's population cycle to work or school on ubiquitous paved cycle paths. Many residents take to their bikes year-round, braving rain and snow through the winter in a city where the bicycles outnumber the people.
"Only when there's half a meter of snow outside would I consider using the underground," said 24-year old student Louise Kristensen.
Amsterdam and Beijing too are known for their bicycles, but the Danish capital is where urban planners from around the world have been looking for ways to get their people out of cars and up onto bikes, an effort known as Copenhagenisation.
"We're trying to strike a balance in our transportation network which means having streets that can accommodate everyone," New York Transport Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said.
Klaus Bondam, Copenhagen's technical and environmental chief, calls himself a "mega cyclist" and says the bike's popularity stems partly from high taxes on cars which meant working-class Danes could not afford to drive in the 1930s and '40s.
"Today you'll meet everybody on the bicycle lanes -- women and men, rich and poor, old and young," Bondam said.
The municipality has during the last three years invested more than 250 million crowns ($49.42 million) in bicycle lanes and to make the traffic safer for bicyclists.
City Hall has also made a rule that when it snows, the bike paths get cleared before car lanes.
Today around a third of the population drive cars to work or study, another third take public transport, while 37 percent cycle -- a figure the city aims to boost to 50 percent by 2015.
Bondam said there are many benefits when citizens choose bicycles over cars: pollution and noise decline, public health improves, and more people on bikes or walking creates a sense of safety in the city.
Fewer parked cars leaves more space for playgrounds, parks, shopping areas and other useful public amenities.
Bondam said car traffic should be limited, though a car-less society is probably impossible. However, cars that cannot be avoided should be electric rather than run on fossil fuels.
COPENHAGENISATION
From 70 to 80 percent of the world's carbon emissions, blamed by scientists for global warming, come from big cities.
As more and more people have become concerned with the climate, officials from around the world have come to Copenhagen to learn about its bike culture.
But Danish architect and professor Jan Gehl, who coined the term Copenhagenisaton, says the concept is broader than that and entails cities becoming lively, safe, sustainable and healthy.
For the past decade Gehl has helped cities around the world, including New York, Seattle, San Francisco, London, Stockholm, Oslo, Melbourne, Sydney and Amman, to "Copenhagenise."
"Depending on culture, region, climate and topography, there are good solutions for every city," Gehl said.
He noted that in most parts of the world car travel has only been common after the Second World War.
"Sixty years is a short time in the greater perspective, so people should be able to change their habits once again," the architect said.
New York has initiatives to improve the look, feel and mobility of its streets, according to Sadik-Khan.
For instance, in the last three years, the city has installed 200 miles of bicycle lanes to boost safety for cyclists and pedestrians and has transformed old railway land into public spaces to improve the quality of life in residential and business districts.
"The response has been tremendous, and we hope to keep the momentum going by expanding it next year," Sadik-Khan said.
From 2008-2009 the city saw a 26 percent increase in bike commuting, and a recent survey in Times Square and Herald Square found that 93 percent said the plazas made the area a better place and one to which they wanted to return.
Gehl said that making cities better for pedestrians and cyclists is even smarter in poor, fast-growing developing countries and cities because it is cost-effective.
"It's a good solution for the climate, the economy and the poor," he said.
Though many officials want citizens on bikes for climate reasons, back in Copenhagen, Kristensen said: "Biking is just the easiest way to get around here."
($1=5.059 Danish Crown)
Thanks to WildSingapore for the alert!
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - The world is gathered in Copenhagen for the U.N. climate summit, but Denmark"s bicycle-friendly capital has also given its name to a movement of cities trying to find a kinder way to commute.
Nearly 40 percent of Copenhagen's population cycle to work or school on ubiquitous paved cycle paths. Many residents take to their bikes year-round, braving rain and snow through the winter in a city where the bicycles outnumber the people.
"Only when there's half a meter of snow outside would I consider using the underground," said 24-year old student Louise Kristensen.
Amsterdam and Beijing too are known for their bicycles, but the Danish capital is where urban planners from around the world have been looking for ways to get their people out of cars and up onto bikes, an effort known as Copenhagenisation.
"We're trying to strike a balance in our transportation network which means having streets that can accommodate everyone," New York Transport Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said.
Klaus Bondam, Copenhagen's technical and environmental chief, calls himself a "mega cyclist" and says the bike's popularity stems partly from high taxes on cars which meant working-class Danes could not afford to drive in the 1930s and '40s.
"Today you'll meet everybody on the bicycle lanes -- women and men, rich and poor, old and young," Bondam said.
The municipality has during the last three years invested more than 250 million crowns ($49.42 million) in bicycle lanes and to make the traffic safer for bicyclists.
City Hall has also made a rule that when it snows, the bike paths get cleared before car lanes.
Today around a third of the population drive cars to work or study, another third take public transport, while 37 percent cycle -- a figure the city aims to boost to 50 percent by 2015.
Bondam said there are many benefits when citizens choose bicycles over cars: pollution and noise decline, public health improves, and more people on bikes or walking creates a sense of safety in the city.
Fewer parked cars leaves more space for playgrounds, parks, shopping areas and other useful public amenities.
Bondam said car traffic should be limited, though a car-less society is probably impossible. However, cars that cannot be avoided should be electric rather than run on fossil fuels.
COPENHAGENISATION
From 70 to 80 percent of the world's carbon emissions, blamed by scientists for global warming, come from big cities.
As more and more people have become concerned with the climate, officials from around the world have come to Copenhagen to learn about its bike culture.
But Danish architect and professor Jan Gehl, who coined the term Copenhagenisaton, says the concept is broader than that and entails cities becoming lively, safe, sustainable and healthy.
For the past decade Gehl has helped cities around the world, including New York, Seattle, San Francisco, London, Stockholm, Oslo, Melbourne, Sydney and Amman, to "Copenhagenise."
"Depending on culture, region, climate and topography, there are good solutions for every city," Gehl said.
He noted that in most parts of the world car travel has only been common after the Second World War.
"Sixty years is a short time in the greater perspective, so people should be able to change their habits once again," the architect said.
New York has initiatives to improve the look, feel and mobility of its streets, according to Sadik-Khan.
For instance, in the last three years, the city has installed 200 miles of bicycle lanes to boost safety for cyclists and pedestrians and has transformed old railway land into public spaces to improve the quality of life in residential and business districts.
"The response has been tremendous, and we hope to keep the momentum going by expanding it next year," Sadik-Khan said.
From 2008-2009 the city saw a 26 percent increase in bike commuting, and a recent survey in Times Square and Herald Square found that 93 percent said the plazas made the area a better place and one to which they wanted to return.
Gehl said that making cities better for pedestrians and cyclists is even smarter in poor, fast-growing developing countries and cities because it is cost-effective.
"It's a good solution for the climate, the economy and the poor," he said.
Though many officials want citizens on bikes for climate reasons, back in Copenhagen, Kristensen said: "Biking is just the easiest way to get around here."
($1=5.059 Danish Crown)
Thanks to WildSingapore for the alert!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Bicycle article at the Online Citizen
The Online Citizen site is having a "Public Transport Week".
One of the articles is on bicycles in Singapore's land transport system.
See "Bicycles: the Missing Link?" by guest writer, John Ang. It is generating an interesting stream of comments.
One of the articles is on bicycles in Singapore's land transport system.
See "Bicycles: the Missing Link?" by guest writer, John Ang. It is generating an interesting stream of comments.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Documents on 'Bicycles as Transport' in Singapore
Even slow cycling is well-suited to compact, flat new towns, such as Tampines.This post links to two pdf documents on Bicycles as urban transport in Singapore.
1. On 8 June 2008 I gave a presentation on ‘Taking Bicycles Seriously as Transport’ at the 'Tampines Town Hall Forum: Cycling the Way Forward?' which was held at the Tampines East Community Centre. Here is a pdf of the presentation.
This talk was reported in some media outlets for its call on the LTA to appoint a "Mr or Ms Bicycle" (in other words, I called on the LTA to have a small bicycle unit, possibly starting with just one person.)
2. In recent months I also prepared a report: 'The Status of Bicycles in Singapore’. Here is a pdf of the draft paper. I hope there are no glaring errors. Any comments and corrections would be very welcome.
This report was for the ‘Position paper on cycling in Asia’ project coordinated by the Interface for Cycling Expertise (I-CE) and the Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Program (TRIPP), IIT, Delhi under the aegis of the Bicycle Partnership Program of I-CE and the Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA) project led by Clean Air Initiative (CAI), Asia.
Here is my conclusion (which includes some 'opining' on bicycle policy):
Conclusion: Untapped Bicycle Policy Opportunities
We have seen that there has been relatively little official encouragement of bicycle use in Singapore. Nevertheless, practical bicycle use for transport purposes in Singapore is not negligible and may even be increasing after a long decline.
There appears to be a core niche role for bicycles in Singapore’s urban fabric. Most practical cycling appears to be at low speed, for short trips (well under 4 km), using cheap bicycles, but by quite a wide cross section of society. Only about one third of Singapore’s households own a car and in the state-managed housing estates (built and run by the Housing Development Board, HDB) that house about 80% of Singapore’s residents, the rates of car ownership are a little lower still. HDB estates are also compact and densely built up. In this context, a large proportion of non-work trips (and a good proportion even of work trips) must be short and within easy cycling distance, even at a very gentle pace. For someone without a car or motorcycle, a bicycle is often the fastest and most convenient mode for trips of between 1 and 4 kilometres. A significant number of people in the flatter parts of Singapore have apparently discovered this bicycle niche.
However, official transport policy has tended to focus on the mass movement of people during the busiest times and over longer distances. It has therefore tended to miss the potential importance of bicycles and their potential strength in serving this niche of trips. The exception is the recent increase in effort to exploit bicycles as a feeder-mode to public transport.
The officially-stated belief is that a network of routes for bicycles cannot be developed because of land scarcity and because bicycles must not be allowed to interfere with the central priority of providing for mass movement in space-efficient public transport. However, it is not clear if there has ever been any systematic investigation of the truth of this belief or the assumptions behind it. Such claims have been made many times but, to my knowledge, never with any clear evidence to justify them. This view will certainly strike international bicycle infrastructure experts as odd, since the space-efficiency of providing for bicycle transport, relative to provision for cars, is usually seen as a positive.
Bicycles, with their high space-efficiency relative to cars, could be seen as potentially most appropriate in serving short trips in a space-constrained context like Singapore’s. Furthermore, bicycles are usually seen as serving a set of trips that complement public transport and which are not easily served by buses or trains.
Arguably, space constraints provide arguments for, not against, stronger efforts to include bicycles in the transport network. Despite Singapore’s anti-car reputation, the lion’s share of road space is devoted to high-speed mixed traffic dominated by private cars. It is therefore plausible that a safer network for cycling could be provided in Singapore, through space reallocation, speed management, and shared-space techniques, without expanding road rights-of-way and with either no change or even a net gain to the overall carrying capacity of each corridor.
Urban transport policy in Singapore has generally not taken bicycles very seriously. However, despite this neglect, cycling has not died out. In fact, it appears now to be growing in importance again. However, a lack of appropriate policy settings makes such an increase problematic for everyone, since the system as it is currently designed cannot easily accommodate increasing numbers of bicycles. There would appear to be a strong case for the land transport authorities in Singapore to take the potential role of bicycles more seriously, in order to transport them from a problem into an opportunity.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Dutch Ministry - "Cycling in the Netherlands" (2007)
"Cycling in the Netherlands" says, "Based on the frequent requests for information from policy-makers, politicians and NGO’s from all over the world, we decided to produce a comprehensive brochure about cycling in the Netherlands, giving an actual overview on the results and findings of relevant studies and experiences."
See: "Cycling in the Netherlands."[pdf] The Directorate-General for Passenger Transport,
Ministerie van Verkeer en Waterstaat (Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management), The Netherlands, 2007. 62pp.
Some titbits will be surprising. Perhaps the most startling: according to a mobility study, 70% of all journeys are 7.5km or less. And 61% of people making these trips either walk or cycle!
See: "Cycling in the Netherlands."[pdf] The Directorate-General for Passenger Transport,
Ministerie van Verkeer en Waterstaat (Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management), The Netherlands, 2007. 62pp.
Some titbits will be surprising. Perhaps the most startling: according to a mobility study, 70% of all journeys are 7.5km or less. And 61% of people making these trips either walk or cycle!
The Ministry's webpage says,
"Bicycles are fast – in the city, they are often faster than cars. Cycling is healthy. Bicycles are environmentally friendly. So the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management is promoting this means of transportation, particularly indirectly through provinces and municipalities, which will then build cycle paths and provide bicycle racks. There are many benefits to bicycles, both for you and for the country."
Monday, May 14, 2007
Women cyclists more at risk of death
Women cyclists are more likely to be killed by lorries than men because they obey red lights and then wait in drivers' blind spots.
Research by Transport for London, which has been kept secret since last July, suggests that cyclists who jump red lights may be safer than those who stick to the law.
Any street-savvy tips for Singapore?
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Building a better bike lane
The WAll Street Journal
By NANCY KEATES
May 4, 2007; Page W1
COPENHAGEN -- No one wears bike helmets here. They're afraid they'll mess up their hair. "I have a big head and I would look silly," Mayor Klaus Bondam says.
People bike while pregnant, carrying two cups of coffee, smoking, eating bananas. At the airport, there are parking spaces for bikes. In the emergency room at Frederiksberg Hospital on weekends, half the biking accidents are from people riding drunk. Doctors say the drunk riders tend to run into poles.
Flat, compact and temperate, the Netherlands and Denmark have long been havens for bikers. In Amsterdam, 40% of commuters get to work by bike. In Copenhagen, more than a third of workers pedal to their offices. But as concern about global warming intensifies -- the European Union is already under emissions caps and tougher restrictions are expected -- the two cities are leading a fresh assault on car culture. A major thrust is a host of aggressive new measures designed to shift bike commuting into higher gear, including increased prison time for bike thieves and the construction of new parking facilities that can hold up to 10,000 bikes.
The rest of Europe is paying close attention. Officials from London, Munich and Zurich (plus a handful from the U.S.) have visited Amsterdam's transportation department for advice on developing bicycle-friendly infrastructure and policies. Norway aims to raise bicycle traffic to at least 8% of all travel by 2015 -- double its current level -- while Sweden hopes to move from 12% to 16% by 2010. This summer, Paris will put thousands of low-cost rental bikes throughout the city to cut traffic, reduce pollution and improve parking.
The city of Copenhagen plans to double its spending on biking infrastructure over the next three years, and Denmark is about to unveil a plan to increase spending on bike lanes on 2,000 kilometers, or 1,240 miles, of roads. Amsterdam is undertaking an ambitious capital-improvement program that includes building a 10,000-bike parking garage at the main train station -- construction is expected to start by the end of next year. The city is also trying to boost public transportation usage, and plans to soon enforce stricter car-parking fines and increase parking fees to discourage people from driving.
read more..
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