On-line bicycle map service

UPDATE: I recently heard of a new mapping site www.bikely.com. It looks very promising and already has a few Singapore routes! Check it out and add your own favourite routes - it is easy.


WorldChanging blog highlights a new development in the US.

We're pro-bike here, but we do recognize that there are a myriad of challenges bikers face getting around their cities. One of those challenges is just figuring out the most bike-friendly route between where you are and where you want to be. As every biker knows, the difference between riding on street with bike lanes, sensible traffic calming and good safety measures and a sidewalk-less arterial full of speeding cars and road-raging drivers can be the difference between arriving relaxed and on time, or perhaps not arriving at all.

ByCycle is working to create interactive biking maps for North American cities.

We have talked before about our dreams for better information in Singapore to help us find bicycle-friendly routes (here, here and here).

And more official effort here to increase the number of friendly routes would be nice too!

NParks has been leading the way with the Park Connector program and certain Town Councils (like Pasir Ris and Tampines) have shown some interest.

Biking on the roads in Singapore is not as bad as you might think but we need a lot more bike friendly, traffic calmed streets in between the isolated park connectors. In fact, this may be the only way we will ever be able to link all the park connectors up. Any interest LTA?

Singapore's Bike Boutique gaining attention

On Sunday 30 July an article by Dawn Tan in the Straits Times highlighted the use of bicycles for commuting to work in Singapore. (no link sorry subscribers only)

It was a positive article, with nice profiles of real cycle commuters and their experiences. It also mentioned some of the difficulties, like high-speed traffic.

The article featured an interesting business in the city centre, The Bike Boutique, that offers extra services for bike commuters, like showers, secure parking, etc... or what they like to call "Bike Lodging". The Bike Boutique has also been noticed by Sydney bicycle blog Spinopsys! Take a look!

The Bike Boutique folks have also set up a website to promote bicycle commuting which is worth a look too.



Must get down to check them out and have a chat.

Buses and bikes

Earlier this year, SACA raised two incidents with SBS Transit concerning close shaves by cyclists in quick succession. SBS Transit responded by inviting SACA to a discussion to better understand the issues.

Before that meeting, I met up with Ling and Ai LIn from SACA at a coffee shop in Holland Village. We discussed the fact that serious encounters with bus captains will get reported and be widely discussed in cycling circles. However, positive incidents like this post, "Leeway for cyclists." are not half as exciting and ussually not written or not as well popularised. This imbalance reinforces the idea that bus captains are a threat to cyclists.

Is this actually true across the board?

I doubt that for I have often seen Bus Captains give way to me, slow down, give me wide berth when traffic is light or wave me ahead when pulling out from bus bays to indicate they've spotted me. I have observed many on these incidents through my rear-view mirror.

Admittedly there are Bus Captains, like other motorists, who are unfamiliar with cyclists, and be unable to judge a cyclists speed, or appreciate how it is relatively difficult to brake to avoid a vehicle swerving into our paths. These require education and this can be dealt with in training.

For the minority who are errant, a reporting procedure to deal with this has been established. Thankfully no incidents of this nature have arisen since.

Another issue we discussed was the fact that cyclists are often are a threat to themselves, and thus to other road users. I, for one, feel that a cyclist who intends to ride on our roads amongst traffic should be armed with a rear-view mirror and be familiar with the highway code. Many cyclists are not as well prepared for our traffic-laden roads as they should be.

So SACA put up this SACA-SBS Transit Programme page for starters. By briefing their drivers after receiving this feedback, SBS Transit is improving the situation from their end. And feedback can be incorporated into Bus Captain training in future. And serious incidents will be given their due attention.

Educating cyclists, on the other hand, will be more of a challenge - we lack any organisational structure. While there are ideas about how to improve that, for now, this SACA webpage is a start.

If you have points for the feedback to Bus Captains/motorists or to cyclists, you can leave your comments here to be forwarded to SBS Transit, or email SACA.

Commute by bike

nice story to share about cycling to work...

http://commutebybike.com/2006/03/27/the-new-york-commuter-nick-james/

In late December, the local news began covering the contract dispute between the Metropolitan Transit Authority and the Transit Workers Union, and the possibility of a strike by subway and bus operators. A lot of friends and co-workers were confident that the strike wouldn’t happen, but I wanted to be prepared. On Monday, December 19th, I put on several layers of clothing and some cold weather gear, hopped on my bike, and rode to work. Having proved to myself that I was capable, I concluded that I was prepared for a strike. The next day, the strike was on.

Biking in sub-freezing weather proved easier than I had expected. I anticipated burning wind, icy roads, numb extremities, and other unpleasantries, but learned over a few days of trial and error some of the basic do’s and donts of winter biking, the most important of which was not to overdress, which I did at the start. I also found, somewhat to my surprise, that I enjoyed it. Since you guys at CbB have done a fine job cataloging all the joys of commuting by bike, I won't waste my time listing them. I expect we're all very familiar with them. Suffice it to say that they were new to me.

The transit strike lasted only four days, but it gave me a new resolve. When one transportation option was taken away, I was forced to find another, and the alternative turned out to be the preferable option. So, when the trains started running again, I didn’t get on, and I don't regret it. Commuting by bike has made me stronger, faster, leaner and smarter. It's burned my lungs, strained my knees, torn my rotator cuff, and toughened me up in a hundred little ways. My wife sure likes what it's done to my butt. My co-workers, who at first were impressed and confused, have come to accept it as normal, even to the point of buying bikes and riding to work themselves. Now, having started in the dead of winter, I'm looking forward to the warm weather and sunshine that most cyclists consider "biking season."

I don't think there's anything difficult or special about what I did. Lots of people bike more than 75 miles in a week, and I’m no athlete. Make anything a part of your daily routine and you stop seeing it as a challenge.
I encourage anyone still debating their options to try it out. If it’s not possible, you'll know, but you might surprise yourself.

.....................
more story can be found here
http://commutebybike.com

Low stress route makes for a joyful bike ride

Joyful? By bicycle? In Singapore? On the roads?? Yes! Let me explain.

My daily ride to work has become a joy since I found a low stress route to take. It takes me mostly along quiet streets. These stretches are linked up by some short off-road short cuts (and a few short stretches of busy roads). Riding to work is now a real pleasure.

The 'short cuts' involve places where I need to dismount to deal with a few steps or clamber up or down a slope. Maybe that sounds annoying but IMHO these inconveniences are a small price to pay to help me avoid the heavy traffic, lorries, noise and fumes of the main alternative route, which includes Alexandra and Pasir Panjang Roads.

You might think all the hassles with short cuts would take more time. But no! The low stress route takes me less than 25 minutes door to door (about 5 or 6 kms). The main road route is shorter and flatter but takes 25 minutes as well, mainly because it has more traffic lights to wait at.

Below I will give details of the route. But first I want to explain why I am sharing this. Why should you be interested in this route if you live nowhere near it?

One reason is to make the point that riding in Singapore is NOT always unpleasant and dangerous. My daily commuting ride is mostly very pleasant, relatively safe and leaves me feeling calm and happy.

Another reason for sharing this is that I hope to encourage you (Singapore cyclists) to share your own useful short cuts. I have often wished for a map of 'secret' ways to avoid dangerous stretches of road when I am out cycling in unfamiliar territory. So much so that I once started to make my own such maps. I might try again if enough people share their short cuts and low-stress bicycle routes! And, at risk of getting carried away with enthusiasm, if we can find and map enough safe routes all over the island, maybe we can persuade the LTA, URA and NParks to improve and protect them and one day link them up into a national bicycle network. Why not?

My route to work
Here is a brief summary of the route. Just the basic facts so you could find it if you wanted to.

• Depot Rd (traffic not too bad usually) turn right (north) into Alexandra Rd (very busy - but on it for a just short stretch)
• turn left (west and up the only serious hill of the trip) into York Rd (in quiet leafy Alexandra Park) (map)
• turn right into Canterbury
• then left into Russels (becomes Winchester)
• then right into small blocked road before Tennis Courts (map)
• left onto grass at the end, dismount, carry bicycles and clamber carefully down steep slope towards AYE. Cross drain - be careful not to fall in! (this bit may put some people off)
• left along 'goat track' that has been worn by pedestrians and bicycles running along AYE (on the safe side of the crash barrier)
• join the Normanton exit from AYE
• at far side of junction dismount and climb steps into Science Park I (at the back of Cintech III) (map)
• turn right into Science Park Drive (some traffic but usually low speed)
• turn left into South Buona Vista (and be careful of the pinch point right near the junction at the star on this map and be wary of the heavy traffic here at peak times)
• continue south along the windy road (by the way, if you instead turn right immediately here you can enter NUS and either ride along the ridge to the Central Library or head down to the Business School past the PGP student accommodation)
• until the first bus stop (you will see a sheltered bus stop on the right for SBS route 200). Cross road (carefully!) and carry bicycle down the stairs into Science Park II (The Gemini) (map)
• turn right into Science Park Rd (down hill - the only serious hill of return trip)
• This takes you to Pasir Panjang Rd, although I turn right again before the Capricorn building to go up to Heng Mui Keng Terrace and my office

The reverse route is more or less the same, but with slightly more inconvenience (walking bike on footpaths in two places for a short stretch rather than ride the wrong way against traffic - which is very very dangerous!).

Please email details of your favourite LOW-STRESS routes and short cuts to sppbpa at nus dot edu dot sg. Please give enough detail so we can find them. I and other friends of 'Cycling in Singapore' blog will try to check them out and then hopefully share them via this blog sometime.

In coming months I will also share some other low stress routes and useful short-cuts that I have found.

Cycling home - faster than public transport

"Break Even." By Warhammer. Le Tour, 11 Feb 2006.

"At the end of the day got back at 0925. Surprise, surprise, cycling home is 15mins faster then if I had taken public transport!"

"I'm thinking that it'll be quite a good experiment to compare the time taken for cycling, public transport and car from point to point. It should make a good case for cycling as a mode of transportation. I noticed that on roads with a lot of traffic lights keeping pace with a bus is actually not a problem."

Link.

"Cycling track or obstacle course?"

"Cycling track or obstacle course?"
Letter from Elke Eskes-Frey. Today, 09 Feb 2006.Pedestrian bridges along park connector give cyclists a back-breaking experience.

I grew up in an environmentally-conscious nation where people cycle not only to exercise, but also to commute and save energy — even if they have two cars at home. So, perhaps I was spoilt to think that I have rights on the road as a cyclist.

I don't cycle here because of drivers who hoot or push me off the road. I tried in the beginning, but soon found that I am too exposed to the risk of sudden death on the street, and am barely tolerated on the sidewalk. Until recently, I had not found any cycle track outside a park, which made it impossible to cycle with pleasure from one point to another.

But then, a stroke of luck: I picked up a map that informed me of the Government's plan to build a park connector network that will span over 300km once completed for pedestrians and cyclists alike.

I dusted off my bike and went to explore the already-completed Kallang and Whampoa connector. I could see myself riding, long hair blowing in the wind, along parks and canals.

But I ended up finding myself carrying the bike on my back, up and down one pedestrian bridge after another, finally reaching the Toa Payoh bridge with its six flights of stairs (or was it only five?).

My hair got covered in sweat and car fumes and could not even dry out in the short cycling stretches between the crossings.

Don't get me wrong — the ride was fun and educational. I learned about the concept of having numerous "No riding on bicycle" or "Get off bicycle" signs on a cycle track!

And I now know that Singapore's new park connector "caters to cyclists who prefer longer distances" — and especially to those who prefer carrying their beloved bike around for even longer ones.