[sustran] Re: Local cycling environment indicators: Let's have a look at . . .

[Saskia]

Hello Eric,

Thank you for your inspiring mail! I would like to react on your bikeability indicators, as a dutch urban designer specialised on cycling and cycling infrastructure. 

  1.. City size and density: In the Netherlands we reckon that medium sized towns and cities ( 50.000 to 200.000 people) are more bikeable than big cities. In big cities the urban transport tends to get that well that it becomes a serious competitor for cycling (wich means less cyclists, which often leads to less infrastructure etc). In that respect I would give Paris a 3 to 4. The same holds good for density I guess, as soon as a city is dense enough public transport can flourish and people can "avoid" cycling.
  2.. Cars: Nice indicator but what about bicycles?? In Holland as a whole we do have more bicycles (almost 20 Million) then people ( 17 Million), and about 7.2 Million cars. In terms of households in Holland we do have 77.3% with a car, but we do cycle a lot more than the average Parisien.
  3.. Transit system coverage: If you mean public transport in Paris it certainly is a 5! But like I said, public transport is a competitor to cycling so should you give it a 5 in this context as adding to bikeability?
  4.. Kms of cycle path, protected space: Important BUT let's not forget that every trip has a starting point and a destination. If there are no parking facilities they are of little use. The chain is as strong as the weakest part! So I would like to add Bicycle Parking facilities as an indicator, both at home and at destination points (at schools, stations, at work, shops etc). In Holland 45% of the people sometimes do not use their bike because they are afraid it will be stolen.
  5.. Slow streets or zones: maybe to take together with the km of cycle paths?

On the following six points I would say that you know Paris better then I do. They seem reasonable indicators to me
  1.. % city area easily cyclable: 
  2.. Cyclable days /year: ca. 90% (personal estimate), ditto, between 4 and 5. 
  3.. Cycle clubs/voice: Strong/active, plugged in to policy. 3 close to 4 I would say, not least because of their role and performance in the Mobilien and Velib' projects) 
  4.. Vandalism/public facilities: Not too bad, with some clear exceptions in troubled areas. Let me go for 3+ for now, and we will know a lot more about it after a year of the Velib'. 
  5.. Driver skills: Gradually getting better as the density of cyclists increased, but still plenty room for improvement. At best 2-3. 
  6.. Police on bikes (and skates) - Yes, and a great feedback mechanism for the city. I'd say 3 going on 4. 

An other point to add might be cycle services. In the south of France where I live it is difficult to find a place where you can buy a decent bike, let alone have it repaired or get spare parts. This discourages people to invest in cycling here. You have to be part of an incrowd to be able to find the right places, if they exist at all. 
Just think of cycling as of car driving; without parking facilities or mecanics you would not use your car either.

A last indicator to add might be Sexiness of cycling or Image if you like. Again, cars are a lot about image and status, so is clothing and your address or house. It is not so different for bicycles. In Holland we do have several ministers that do cycle to work, five generations of Royalty by bike. At the Eurotop in Amsterdam Wim Kok, then our Prime minister, gave away bikes to Tony Blair, Chirac, etc in Amsterdam. The picture went all over the world. The sales of bikes had been stagnating for a long time in the 70 and 80, but began to pick up when you finally could choose between more models, notable the all terrain bike, and between more colours then black, brown and blue. As long as cycling is seen as a pooor mans solution to travel, the great masses will not be attracted to it.

You are all welcome to comment on my reaction,

Saskia Hermans


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Eric Britton (Commons) 
  To: LotsLessCars at yahoogroups.com 
  Cc: Sustran Resource Centre ; citycycles at newmobility.org 
  Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 9:54 AM
  Subject: Local cycling environment indicators: Let's have a look at .  . 


  Thanks Anzir, Roland, Dave, John, Carlos, Chris, Simon, Martin and you in case I forget,

   

  Let me see if I can quickly recall we are trying to do here, and put it before you in a form which may with more thought and several more exchanges lead to something useful.

   

  Bikeability indicators - Quick introduction:

  The idea is to see if we can hammer together a fast and dirty (but not too dirty) set of indicators giving a compact idea of "cyclability" in a given place: ease, safety, comfort.  I think Stephen put it quite well when he reminded me: "Provided that the settlement is reasonably compact, so that most journeys are within the range of an ordinary person rather than a cycling enthusiast, by far the most important thing is to give cyclists a safe and agreeable environment." That is to say a place in which (a) you would want your family to cycle and (b) which also provides a good prospective environment for city or public bikes of the sort that has recently come into plan in the world of new mobility and whose potential transformation potential is something that I believe we are only now starting to scratch with the new 20,000 free bikes Paris Velib' project that is to open on 15 July.

   

  First-cut Paris indicators - example, for comment and correction:

  Now, here is how I am looking specifically at the situation here in Paris - based on my own, on-street observations and admittedly very subjective indicators. I might add that I received a number of very interesting suggestions for digging deeper, and indeed if this is possible in your city  I hope you will give it a try. My concern is not to let the whole thing get too long or too complicated. Otherwise, as we say in the language we tend to speak around here, 'le mieux devient l'ennemi du bien". So modest does it!  Here is how my first cut looks this morning for Paris:

   

    1.. City size/density:  2.1 million people living in 105 sq. kms, with more than half a million more pouring in from the suburbs, and most often by public transit, every day:  - i.e., we have a compact central city that is as such potentially well suited to cycling - if we were to put it on a quasi-arbitrary scale of 1-5, I would give it 5. 
    2.. Cars:  ca. 0.5 per household - Nice. Maybe 4 out of 5 and working on it. (Availability of carsharing might be another good car indicator. After all if you share you are not likely to own and that makes you a prime candidate for other ways for getting around in the city.  However in Paris we are still in early days. But fast developing.) 
    3.. Transit system coverage: Excellent/dense. (Sure this is subjective, but I an neither selling nor abusing the city, so let's try for 5 in this important bikeability context) 
    4.. Kms of cycle path, protected space: 370 (planned to 500 kms). I'd give it something between 3 and 5. (But that said it's the kind of situation that most North American cities can for now only dream about) 
    5.. Slow streets or zones: ?? kms. (got to find it) - and expanding quite rapidly.  2 out of 5 for now, but fast gaining. 
    6.. % city area easily cyclable: ca. 90% (my personal estimate, to be cross checked with more informed sources) So call it between 4 and 5. 
    7.. Cyclable days /year: ca. 90% (personal estimate), ditto, between 4 and 5. 
    8.. Cycle clubs/voice: Strong/active, plugged in to policy. 3 close to 4 I would say, not least because of their role and performance in the Mobilien and Velib' projects) 
    9.. Vandalism/public facilities: Not too bad, with some clear exceptions in troubled areas. Let me go for 3+ for now, and we will know a lot more about it after a year of the Velib'. 
    10.. Driver skills: Gradually getting better as the density of cyclists increased, but still plenty room for improvement. At best 2-3. 
    11.. Police on bikes (and skates) - Yes, and a great feedback mechanism for the city. I'd say 3 going on 4. 
   

  Philosophy, Politics, Usefulness:

  Cycling in cities has until very recently and in almost all cities been considered barely a detail as a daily mobility form. But, and suddenly and strange enough for most of us, it is starting to pierce into the mainstream of transportation, let's call it new mobility policy and practice. In a fast expanding number of cities, it is no longer trivial, and because of rapid evolution in terms of our knowledge of what needs to be done to create safe cycling environments as well as new forms of organization and intermodal collaboration, we now are seeing it as significant means of getting around in our cities.

   

  My thought is that if we can work up something along these lines and then share it and make it known, we will have a small but possibly useful tool to advance the cycling agenda in our cities. That would be a great thing to help make happen.

   

  Next steps:

  Now based on this clearly very rough first cut, what I am doing is sharing this with you for comment - and perhaps with the thought that you might run this or a similar drill on your own city and let us see how it looks. In parallel, I am putting this in front of some of the most knowledgeable people here in Paris, and I am sure that they will have their own ideas on this.

   

  Once I have some useful feedback, I will then circulate it to the list in the most efficient way I can put my hands on.

   

  Hope this works for you. Keep on peddling. 

   

  Eric Britton

   

  PS. I you would care to share this with your lists and networks that would be great. Please invite them to get back to me on this so we can add theri contributions to the rest.  

   

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