[sustran] Mixed (motorized and non-motorized) transportation and Landuse.

[Obwon]

J.H. Crawford wrote:

 Forgive me but I'm going to do a lot of deleting of stuff we agree on
and need not be readdressed here.

> But if lots of people tried to take their bikes on the
> subway, it would be banned because of the space it
> requires. Even here in Amsterdam on the new metro
> lines, only two bikes are allowed in each metro car.

  True if you assume that people will not use commonsense/courtesy, I
see some evidence that some people might or would be inclined to try.  I
believe that such people's untoward efforts could be managed more
effectively and to everyone else's benefit with individual citations or
summonses. 

  Post the rules, make them both reasonable and clear.  These are
intelligent people we're dealing with not mindless "monkey see monkey
do" cattle. We're supposed to be providing tranportation configured to
the needs of the travelers.  As opposed to making the travelers
configure themselves to what we feel is comfortable or easy for us to
provide.  After all, it's a service provided to people for pay, not an
exercise in regimentation to be enforced upon the riders.

  So, in that view, if people prefer to travel with their bikes in great
numbers it hooves the the TA to make satisfactory provision for them
rather than force the traveler to reconfigure their preferences.  For
instance they could provide a bike car at the end of the train with rack
that allow bikes to be stored efficiently by hanging them. The rack
might even provide a locking mechanizm for those takeing longer rides so
they could go to another car and find a comfortable seat.

  Of course some people will forget their bikes or not attend to them
insufficient time to get off at their stops.  But that's a problem that
they create and must risk, they could always stay with their bike as a
precaution if they are uncertain.  Otherwise they know that they run the
normal risks associated with recovery.  Much the same as people who
leave valuables on the trains.

  Missed stops, unless there are very long distances involved are even
less of a bother, our subway system in NY has stops that are as close as
1/4 mile in some places and certainly not more than 1/2 mile so it's a
short ride back.  I also like the freedom having the bike gives me, to
take the line that I'm already on and not change trains to get closer,
but simply get as close to my destination as this one will take me and
ride the extra distance.  

   ob
> 
> I'm afraid that common sense and consideration for one's neighbors
> are no longer a reliable way to run anything. If the trend continues
> unchecked, it's the end of civilization.

  This deserves a chuckle, the crossbow too was predicted to be the end
civilization as they knew it. :-D
 
  ob
 
[...]
> You can take your
> bike on pretty much any train, but you have to buy a separate
> ticket for it. City buses and trams do not accept bikes.
> You can rent a bike at most train stations for about $3/day,
> which is an excellent solution in many cases. They rent a LOT of
> bikes this way. They're decently-maintained, single speed bikes.

 I don't know about this, do they charge people with 'large packages'
extra fares too for the package?  Or are they just charging based on the
competeing utility of the "package ".  There's a lot to be said in favor
of being able to get a bike where ever you go.  It lessens the
difficulties associated with tranporting one.  But, not everyone's made
of money. People need to get themselves and their equiptment to their
destinations.  Otherwise the utility of the tranporting system loses
some of it's value.

 That could very well translate into a shift back to cars. Which is
where we started in the first place.

   Obwon

 
> We're trying the "provo" bikes again here after a 30 year lapse.
> Last time, all 20,000 were stolen within a week.
  
  Omigosh, 20,000 bikes stolen! I'd suspect Cuba, you know that they
recently switched to bikes as the prefered mode of travel.  But
seriously, yes, that is a problem. But there might be a solution... 
Checkpoint systems makes metal foil transponders.  They can be hidden in
the bike during it's manufactor and it would make the bike both
locateable and identifiable with a 'reader' device.  I think they had
the same thief problem in Seattle with their yellow bike program, maybe
I'll surf there later and see what they did about the problem.

 Obwon

 
>                                           ###
> 
> J.H. Crawford    Crawford Systems    joel at xs4all.nl    http://www.mokum.com/