Why do inner city residents walk and tram to work?
Posted: June 3, 2010 Filed under: Planning, Public transport | Tags: CBD, Cycling, density, Inner city, new urbanism, Orenco, Public transport, socioeconomic status, sustainable transport, symbolic analyst, traffic congestion, walkability 4 CommentsMore than half of all trips to work by residents of the inner city are made by walking, cycling or public transport. In fact three quarters as many residents walk and cycle as use public transport for their commute.
Why? Is it because of the higher density of the inner city?
Inner city Melbourne (photo by ExTester)
The view that density predicts more sustainable transport use is a common one. While it has some role, it is not the key force at play here. In fact there’s evidence that the population density of some parts of the inner city is not that much higher than that of the suburbs – this is because the average size of households in the inner city is relatively small compared to suburban locations.
There are also examples of higher density developments where use of public transport is quite low, for example edge cities in the US and suburban New Urbanism developments like Orenco in Portland, Oregon.
So if density isn’t the primary force driving more sustainable transport use in the inner city, what is?
Here are four plausible explanations.
The first is proximity. Inner city residents live cheek by jowl with the largest concentration of jobs in the metropolitan area – the inner city has 28% of all metropolitan Melbourne’s jobs and the CBD, despite its diminutive geographical size, has 14.5%. There is no other location in Melbourne that comes within cooee of the job density of the CBD. Read the rest of this entry »
Should bicycle lanes be abolished?
Posted: May 7, 2010 Filed under: Cars & traffic, Cycling | Tags: arterial roads, Assen, bicycle lane, Copenhagen, Cycling, Netherlands, vehicular cycling 3 CommentsOver on the Bicycle Victoria Forums there’s a thread on something called “vehicular cycling”. This term is new to me and probably to most readers too.
As I read it, the key premise of vehicular cycling is that cyclists should “claim” the roads. Rather than being segregated in bicycle lanes that too often are narrow and impeded by parked cars – or worse, herded into off-road paths that are too indirect and are shared with unpredictable pedestrians – vehicular cyclists ride well away from the edge of a lane (although not in the middle) in order to be more visible to drivers and hence safer.
Cyclists in Copenhagen
They are concerned that construction of separate cycling infrastructure, such as Copenhagen-style lanes and on-road lanes, will reinforce the idea that cyclists are not legitimate road users.
There’re possibly some nuances here I’ve missed, but that seems to be the general idea. I think there’s a lot of logic to it. Even if a completely segregated network is feasible, it will be a long-term project, so there’s little choice other than to mix it with motorists in the meantime. And the meantime is likely to be a long time. Even in The Netherlands and Denmark, a significant proportion of cycling continues to be done on roads. So it seems sensible to find ways that cyclists and motorists can co-exist safely.
I can see that responsible cyclists, who ride defensively and maximise their visibility, could very well be safer if they adopt a more assertive approach. However I’m much less sanguine about how safe vehicular cycling is for irresponsible riders. Here I’m thinking mainly about children but there are also some adults who do irresponsible things like ride at night in dark clothing or without lights. Read the rest of this entry »
Time to hand Yarra Boulevard over to cyclists
Posted: April 14, 2010 Filed under: Cycling | Tags: Bicycle Road, Cycling, Yarra Boulevard, Yarra Trail 15 CommentsI think it’s time Yarra Boulevard was declared a ‘Bicycle Road’ where cyclists have priority over cars. This would increase safety and send a powerful message to residents and tourists alike that Melbourne is a bicycle friendly city.
Yarra Boulevard is already an iconic recreational and commuter cycling route due to its river and bush outlook, undulating alignment and direct connection to the Yarra Trail. It also operates as an alternative route for part of the Yarra Trail. Read the rest of this entry »
Should bicycles be registered or cyclists licensed?
Posted: April 6, 2010 Filed under: Cycling | Tags: awareness campaign, Cycling, Education, justice, health, insurance, licencing, registration, VECCI 7 CommentsThere was a major debate over the Easter weekend on the VECCI blog about whether or not bicycles should be registered and/or cyclists licensed. It was initiated by an online poll started by VECCI. As of Monday night a narrow majority had voted in favour of licensing (51:47) and mandatory education of cyclists (50:45). Not clear to me why you’d license a cyclist other than to educate/train her, but it’s not my survey.
My view is that registration is not a good idea. However there’s a stronger argument for licensing notwithstanding there are some real difficulties in implementation. Read the rest of this entry »
Cycling in The Netherlands
Posted: March 24, 2010 Filed under: Cycling | Tags: bicycle, cycle path, Cycling, Netherlands, school, suburbs 2 CommentsFascinating video of dedicated route followed by children cycling to school in The Netherlands. This gives a perspective on cycling that you wouldn’t get from the standard tourist spots. Note the suburban setting – it ties in with my earlier post arguing that the suburbs have greater potential for cycling than the inner city, not least because it would be easier to fit in this sort of infrastructure. (Hat tip to Tom Vanderbilt) Read the rest of this entry »
The Melbourne Urbanist 