[sustran] Urban cycle use

Kerry Wood kwood at iconz.co.nz
Sat Aug 23 10:27:15 JST 1997


Greetings

On 1 August, Paul Barter Wrote:

>5. KUALA LUMPUR BICYCLE WAYS
>The Kuala Lumpur City Hall has built the country's first dedicated bicycle
>ways in the suburban housing area of Wangsa Maju. This pilot project cost
>RM800,000 (US$320,000) and includes sheltered bicycle parking at certain
>bus stops in the area, which will next year also be served by Light Rail.
>Shade trees are being planted along the bikeways. Mayor Tan Sri
>Kamaruzzaman Shariff said that RM4 million (US$1.6 million) has been
>allocated to build bicycle ways throughout Kuala Lumpur, which has about
>1.4 million out of the 3.5 million (or so) people in the Klang Valley
>metropolitan area. Developers will be required to provide bicycle ways in
>new housing estates. Kamaruzzaman also said that another RM 4 million has
>been allocated this year to building and improving facilities for
>pedestrians. [Source: The Star newspaper, April 29 and May 3, 1997.]


The combination of cycles and walking for short distances, and cycles,
walking and public transport for longer distances, is beginning to look (to
me at any rate) like an important part of the urban transport solution to
me. In New Zealand we have just seen a report that the average middle-aged
New Zealander is becoming obese at a rate of 1 gram per DAY, and cycling is
proposed - in medical terms -  as one of the better answers.

A map in Austroads 14 (Cycle facility design: Australia) shows that over 80
% of Melbourne citizens living within 16 km of the centre are within a 7.5
minute cycle ride of a suburban rail stop: cycling rather than walking
increases the catchment of a stop tenfold.



Kerry Wood
Transport Consultant
Phone/fax + 64 4 801 5549  e-mail kwood at central.co.nz
1 McFarlane St  Wellington 6001  New Zealand




More information about the Sustran-discuss mailing list