Dedicated cycle ways on main arterial routes

Discussion paper four

The objective:

1.To address the escalating cost in road construction required to keep ahead of traffic congestion
2. To make available a real and safe alternative to the motor vehicle that will be demanded as petrol prices escalate towards $3/Lt
3. To create conditions where average people ride bicycles because it is safe, comfortable, and easy to do. This means planning services not for the committed cyclist, but for the vast majority of “interested but concerned”, the average people, who will not ride until they feel it is safe to do so.

Let us start the debate with three assumptions:

1.To address the escalating cost in road construction required to keep ahead of traffic congestion
2.To make available a real and safe alternative to the motor vehicle that will be demanded as petrol prices escalate towards $3/Lt
3.To create conditions where average people ride bicycles because it is safe, comfortable, and easy to do. This means planning services not for the committed cyclist, but for the vast majority of “interested but concerned”, the average people, who will not ride until they feel it is safe to do so.

There are a number of cities around the world, with Portland, Oregon, being the leader, that are embracing the concept of providing separate, stand-alone cycle-ways because there is clear evidence that once built the increase in cycle use is so great that it takes the pressure off road expansion and therefore has a major economic saving for the city’s long-term infrastructure costs.

The introduction of cycle-ways to Hamilton

As a starting point, consideration could be given to developing cycle-ways along Hukanui / Peachgrove Road. There is Chartwell Square and a high number of schools along, and just off, these roads, and with the eastern section of the ring road complete Hukanui / Peachgrove Road would lend itself to modification.

A second stage could be considered to feed cyclists off Peachgrove Road into the CBD and the Wintec City Campus.

Auckland’s solution to congestion ― build more roads faster!

The Panmure intersection proposal

Interesting references:

Here is an interesting youtube clip about the development of cycle ways in Copenhagen. Click on this link to view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtX8qiC_rXE

And another youtube clip about the design of intersections:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=FlApbxLz6pA&feature=endscreen

Appendix

 

The following notes are taken from a lunchtime talk by Roger Geller given in Hamilton and sponsored by IPENZ . Roger is Portland’s Bicycle Coordinator. Portland, Oregon, is recognized as one of the most successful cities in the world in the development of a cycling system, and therefore is a good starting point for any debate.

Roger Geller has been Portland, Oregon’s Bicycle Coordinator since 2000 and has been with the city’s Bicycle Program since 1994. He has 17 years of experience managing bicycle capital, planning and policy projects. Portland has a population of 580,000 and serves a region of 2.5 million inhabitants. The city covers an area of 375 sq km, and like Hamilton, has a river running through it, crossed by multiple bridges.

 Introduction

Roger emphasised that it does not need to take Hamilton 20 years to get there. He pointed out that the combination of health concerns, climate change and increasing population density means there is a growing awareness of the need for people to be active and reduce car use. Major change is happening in cities such as Sydney, New York, Chicago and San Francisco

• The challenge is to create conditions where average people ride because it is safe, comfortable, and easy to do. This means planning services not for the committed cyclist, but for the vast majority of “interested but concerned”, the average people, who will not ride until they feel it is safe to do so

• The process was activated in Portland in 1992 by one elected transport official who decided there should be a bike network and who drove the building of the infrastructure. A further boost was provided in 2004 on the election of the still-current mayor, who decided that Portland would be a “world-class cycling city” and gave money and support to traffic engineers to deal with the development

• Roger stated that the system cannot function without a political champion. It requires proactive mayors and councillors, and even better, informed representatives at national government level.

Health and Safety

• Increased cycling has made people healthier, strengthened the local economy, increased mobility and is helping children be stronger and more independent

• There is safety in numbers. Crash trends for cyclists are decreasing markedly. As the streets feel safer, more people feel safe to bike, so more people do. Lots of women are now cycling. The very best cities in the world have a 1:1 ratio of male:female cyclists. In Portland it is now 2:1, down from the earlier level of 4:1

• Helmet use is not mandatory for anyone over the age of 16, but about 80 per cent of cyclists do use helmets voluntarily

• The point was made that people should be no more concerned about their safety on a bike than in a car, and this is what Portland and many other cities have designed for, using the Dutch principles of comfort, safety, attractiveness, direct routes, and connected systems. Cycling has been made really visible, and cyclists have been given adequate space with clear directions

• Portland is building buffered bike lanes, with bike-exclusive traffic signals in really dangerous areas. The solutions are not purely engineering ones, but it is recognised that without the infrastructure, it won’t work

• There are numerous events to promote bike use. There is also a good deal of work done in schools to develop riding skills. Free bike lights are given out, and there is very close cooperation between the council and the police on enforcement and safety issues

• Portland has got children cycling to school again. They have “bike trains”, equivalent to walking school buses. Roger noted that these work because the infrastructure for safety has been provided. The roads are safe and people feel comfortable using them

• Portland holds training courses for cyclists three nights per week. It also has a rainfall level very like Hamilton, with 900mm annually, mostly in the winter. There is a drop in cycling during winter, but Roger noted that the winter rates now are actually higher than the summer rates five years ago

• For every mile cycled there is a saving of 25c–$1 in health costs. By Roger’s calculations, if 25 per cent of all city trips in Portland were by bike, there would be a saving of $200 million in health costs. The answer is to provide “active cities” which are walkable and bikeable, so people get their exercise as part of their daily lives. Portland uses a street sign, with a picture of a bike, labelled “The latest technology in the fight against heart disease.”

The System

• Cities all over the world are now embarking on similar programmes to develop cycling and discourage private car use

•  Overall in Portland, car use is declining, public transport shows a slight increase, walking has remained steady, and there have been huge increases in cycling numbers

• The development of a cycling culture was based on providing the infrastructure first: Build it and they will come. This was supported by laws which stated that any road being built had to have pedestrian and cycle facilities provided. At least 1 per cent of the total cost of the road had to be spent on these facilities

• Cycling in Portland requires no special gear – it caters for ordinary people in ordinary clothing, commuting to work, schools, shops and other outings

• All buses can carry two bikes, and all light rail can carry up to six bikes, to allow linkage of cycling and public transport systems

• Portland works cooperatively with the regional government, and cycling is ecognized as a main pillar of the transportation system, which requires funding and encouragement. It is city policy to create conditions that make cycling more attractive than car use for trips of three miles or less. Space is taken from cars to get bike lanes up to acceptable widths

• In 1990, Portland was very car-centric. It had large malls with acres of parking, lots of freeways, and Roger stated that they had destroyed lots of high quality central city areas to accommodate more roads and more cars

Roger defined four types of cyclists:

1 ― strong and fearless (a tiny group);

2 ― enthusiastic and confident, happy in narrow bike lanes of about 1.5m width (a small group);

3 ― interested but concerned (a huge group, about 60 per cent of the total population, which includes “average” adults and children, who need good safety systems to be persuaded to bike);

4 ― No way, no how (about 30 per cent of the total population).

The economics benefits

• The replacement value of the entire existing bicycle network in Portland is $60 million (assessed in 2007). This amount of money will buy one mile of urban freeway, compared to 300 miles of bike lanes. Bike infrastructure is CHEAP. Portland spends $7 million per year on biking, which is 5.5 per cent of the transport budget

• As the miles of available bikeways in the city increase, so do the numbers of cyclists. In 1992, Portland had 133km of cycle paths and 2850 daily cycle trips. They now have 488km of paths, and 17,576 daily trips. A “smart trips” programme was introduced in 2004 and led to a significant increase in cycle traffic

• In 1990, 1 per cent of commuter trips were done by bike. As the cycle network expanded, the number of bike commutes increased hugely. In some areas cycling accounts for more than 10 per cent of the commuter trips within a 7km radius of the city centre

• Advertising campaigns have been conducted to discourage car use and encourage bikes. There has been a 9–13 per cent drop in single-occupancy car trips after each campaign

• The benefits of increased cycling are profound and structural. The river bisects Portland. The main arterial route across the Hawthorn Bridge got a 20 per cent increase in vehicles crossing it between 1990 and 2008. However, these extra vehicles have all been bikes. The car numbers have remained steady. If people had continued to use their cars, the bridge would have failed due to congestion, and would have needed more lanes and bigger intersections at either end. The savings amount to tens of millions in bridges and roads that did not have to be built. All Portland’s bridges are bike-friendly. Overall, the growth in automobile traffic on the bridges has been nil or slight, while the bridges overall carry 12 per cent more vehicles in 2008 than in 1990, totally due to cycle traffic. To quote Roger “This is affordable. Cars aren’t”

• The total benefit to the Portland region economy due to the changed transport system is estimated at $1,200,000,000, which would otherwise have been spent on motorised vehicular transportation. Roger noted that approximately $800 million annually remains to circulate in the economy, because the costs of oil and cars are not money that is retained in the local economy – that money goes to large corporations located elsewhere

• A cyclist has more money to spend on other things, compared to a car driver

•  For every $1 per gallon increase in the cost of petrol, $240 million per annum leaves the Portland economy (and it is worth noting that petrol in the US is still only about $4 per gallon i.e about .88c per litre!)

• Portland has steady support from a few politicians, good advocacy groups, and a skilled bureaucracy, and the system is now a “virtuous circle” established over 20 years.