[sustran] [sustran] Cycling in cities (continued)

[Francis Papon]

Hello dear sustran list members,

Sorry for sending the first part of my message before it was 
completed. I go on.

One way of assessing the lack of interest of authorities in cycling 
is when they do not record non motorized traffic in statistics:

À (At) 22:40 +0530 31/03/02, kisan mehta écrivait (wrote) :
>no traffic study ever takes into account
>walking and cycling as traffic)

In fact, a comprehensive transport policy in cities should combine 
measures favouring environmental friendly modes such as public 
transport or bicycles, and  measures aiming at curbing car use. An 
example of such policies is to be found in the Netherlands.

As much has been said in the debate about cycling, I would just add 
one point: intermodality.

À (At) 4:16 +0000 1/04/02, TR Saranathan écrivait (wrote) :
>Regarding private cars 'pooling' and a combination of private cars 
>and public transport will be useful

Access to public transport is a key issue for sustainable transport 
in cities. But I don't think park and ride is the best way of using 
scare space around stations and public money. Bicycles are a more 
efficient way of increasing public transport patronage and reducing 
travel times. They need less dense public transport networks which 
then can be more efficient. Everybody agrees that rapid mass transit 
systems (mainly rail, but I not entering in the rail vs bus debate 
again) are the backbone of the transportation systems of large 
cities. Bicycles can efficiently complement these systems, and then 
the issue of distances raised at the beginning is solved. Many 
countries such as Japan, the Netherlands, have build good bicycle 
facilities at railway stations. Sometimes even towers are built to 
store bicycles at main station, such as at Innsbruck hbf.

If you feel concerned with issues of cycling in cities, I give you an 
anticipated information.
Velocity conference will be held in Paris on September, 23-26, 2003.
The main theme will be  "the bicycle as an indispensable tool for 
reclaiming town space".
The call for papers will be issued later on this year, and I shall 
keep you informed. But you can think about it from now. It would be 
nice to have contributions from all over the world to exchange 
experience.

Best regards,
-- 
ƒÕ‰ÙFrancis Papon, mailto:francis.papon at inrets.fr tel +33147407270
Ingénieur en Chef des Ponts et Chaussées, chargé de recherche à 
INRETS/DEST/EEM,
2, av. du Général Malleret-Joinville, F-94114 Arcueil France
http://www.inrets.fr/