Commentary by Chris Bradshaw on Citizen Cycling Audit - wp.me/psKUY-3HQ KyAUTO*WALK Project, Ottawa Canada - Eric, Good to hear this important 20th anniversary has arrived. I would humbly suggest that the #1 strategy for making the city more active-modes-friendly is to lower speeds (not just speed limits) on all roads, including urban freeways, to the speed of cycling: 20 km/h. It is not just because that speed is safer, but because any speed above cycling gives it an advantage over cycling. It also allows cyclists to mix with motorists, removing the need to built separate-but-equal facilities. Think of how much more bicycles, walking, and transit would be used if cars (er, drivers) had no speed advantage! I focused on the bonus questions (numbered 14-plus) for some comments: 14. Accuracy of modal splits (you referred to it as mobile split at one point): this is serious issue. The longer a trip, the greater number of times it will be counted by the people who measure such things. That means walking is greatly under-counted as a satisfying of trip needs (vs. safisfier of kilometre generation). And many walking trips are missed completely because the pedestrian never crosses a street, at least at a corner where counting is done. Finally, in O-D surveys, where trips at least are registered, walking, when used with another mode, is not counted at all. In transit trips, walking (and standing) often occupies half of the time of the trip. And screen lines are located where in large barren open spaces where alternative modes are least likely to be used. 15. Statistics on collisions reflects counting biases, such as pedestrians killed or injured in parking lots and driveways, which are usually not counted by traffic people (only health statistics pick them up), are not counted, since they are not on highways. 17. I oppose any incentives except those that are natural. Rather than rewarding cyclists and transit rides and walkers, we should be focusing on ending rewards and subsides for drivers and those who live in car-dependent residential area (and the deductability of company cars.). 18. Street code: I suggest forgetting about fault and suspending the license of drivers for as long as the vulnerable road use is unable to resume their use of the mode they were using at the time of the collision. For fatalities, the suspension would, naturally, be permanent. 20: Sustainability: The basic element of transportation is reducing the footprint of each trip (to zero, if the trip can be avoided). First, the Green Transportation Hierarchy needs to be adopted (hearthhealth.wordpress/about/previously-published-works/feet-first-early/the-green-transportation-hierarchy-a-guide-for-personal-public-decision-making/). Then a system of measuring travel by a neutral measuring system, such as the one I devised, NRFUT, for my piece in Local Environment, about 20 years ago (hearthhealth.wordpress/about/previously-published-works/feet-first-early/using-our-feet-to-reduce-our-footprint-the-importance-of-scale-in-life/). We have to focus on the basics. [My system shows that a trip to the corner store for milk and bread can be as frugal as 1 NRFUT to 1200 for doing it in a car in a suburban neighbourhood]. At several points, you show a bias towards long trips during rush hour (commuting trips) where speed is paramount, even though the service aimed at this market has few stops per km . As a senior, I see transportation differently: why do most transit systems charge by the trip, not by the km? Why do cyclist promoters ignore the value of a bike to carry more than a briefcase? Where is there a planning principle to make sure all urban residents have the basic services (the Four Fs: food[1], financial [2], fixins,[3] and farmacy) within one NRFUT of their home. And why not find ways to ensure the daily commutes are not so long (ever hear of telework, etc.)? To conclude, I wanted to share with you my journey of discovering the cargo-carrying capability of bicycles. A group of us who use our bikes this way -- to replace a car, not just some car trips) are promoting this use of bicycles via a traveling road show at farmers markets. I have developed an info sheet that I will be posting at my wordpress site soon. Chris Bradshaw [1] food = restaurants and grocery stores, including bakeries, green grocers, and other specialty (ethnic) food stores. [2] financial = banks, insurance offices, financial advisors, cheque-cashing services, and pawn shops [3] fixins are hardware stores, repair shops, and personal grooming salons.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 06:37:06 +0000
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