Journalism and cycling

Lemming

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Started reading those comments yesterday and closed straight out of it. No sign of the RSA correcting the commentators which would be the right thing to do here rather than post & run!

I read about 20 comments and tbh they don't get any better than that one clown quoted above. There's some appalling pig-ignorance on display that you wouldn't find from the fattest, dirtiest, most unhygenic of pigs in a sty.

Chuchote

Deleted User wrote: »

here it is

https://twitter.com/RSAIreland/status/879690531017605120

How do you quote a tweet like that?

Hmm, trying going into the individual's Twitter feed and searching for the tweet, then posting it as a link…

https://twitter.com/Pflax1/status/880055916053184512

Ah, that worked. A little kludgy. Is there an easier way?

Chuchote

Report on the proposed parking-protected cycleway along the streets known as the Georgian Mile in Dublin - well done Paddy Smyth

http://www.thejournal.ie/cycle-lanes-dublin-2-3467614-Jun2017/

‘PARKING PROTECTED’ CYCLE lanes have moved a step closer to reality in Dublin city centre.
A feasibility study carried out on behalf of the National Transport Authority (NTA) has outlined the impact and estimated cost of creating a 900-metre cycle lane along Fitzwilliam Place to Merrion Square East/Holles Street.
The proposed design, labelled the Georgian Parkway, would see parked cars create a buffer between the cycle lane and traffic. It’s a method used in a number of other countries.
If successful, the route could be extended to other nearby streets.
The project was proposed by Fine Gael Councillor Dr Paddy Smyth last year. It is supported by all eight councillors in the Pembroke-South Dock ward, the area where the plan would be developed.

Fighting Tao

Chuchote wrote: »

Report on the proposed parking-protected cycleway along the streets known as the Georgian Mile in Dublin - well done Paddy Smyth

http://www.thejournal.ie/cycle-lanes-dublin-2-3467614-Jun2017/

Hopefully it's not like the one on Joycelyn St and Seatown place in Dundalk where the cycle lane is allefeglt protected by cars and is in the door zone. Also at one very busy junction with Castle Rd cars have to pull out and stop in it so they can see if there is any incoming traffic.

Actually it's not like it, it's probably worse since all that is stopping vehicles from using it are painted lines!

Annie get your Run

Fighting Tao wrote: »

Hopefully it's not like the one on Joycelyn St and Seatown place in Dundalk where the cycle lane is allefeglt protected by cars and is in the door zone. Also at one very busy junction with Castle Rd cars have to pull out and stop in it so they can see if there is any incoming traffic.

Actually it's not like it, it's probably worse since all that is stopping vehicles from using it are painted lines!

I have a question on this, when people get out of their cars how do they get to the foothpath?......All I can see here is the same issue that occurs in the Phoenix Park where drivers and passengers alight and walk on the nearest available space i.e. the cycle lane.

ED E

Annie get your Run wrote: »

I have a question on this, when people get out of their cars how do they get to the foothpath?......All I can see here is the same issue that occurs in the Phoenix Park where drivers and passengers alight and walk on the nearest available space i.e. the cycle lane.

If the cars are there for several hours each the loading/unloading volume should be pretty low, but yes cycles will have to slow way down in order to yield to little Tommy jumping out of mammys Q4.

Fighting Tao

Annie get your Run wrote: »

I have a question on this, when people get out of their cars how do they get to the foothpath?......All I can see here is the same issue that occurs in the Phoenix Park where drivers and passengers alight and walk on the nearest available space i.e. the cycle lane.

They cross the bike lane. Also swing the door open in it. It's a really stupid and dangerous design.

Annie get your Run

Fighting Tao wrote: »

They cross the bike lane. Also swing the door open in it. It's a really stupid and dangerous design.

I just did a bit of a google on protected cycle lanes, seems to be quite common in places like Canada, Amsterdam and even places in the US too. I think the differences between here and there though are that they mostly obey rules in other countries!! All I see here is mothers unloading buggies and children into the cycle lane, people getting out with luggage on wheels etc and using the cycle lane as the place to get organised before aimlessly walking across the lane to the footpath, or as they do in the PP just walking along the cycle lane. It's a pity really as it is good to see someone on the council doing something positive with regard to cycle infrastructure.

Doctor Bob

Annie get your Run wrote: »

I have a question on this, when people get out of their cars how do they get to the foothpath?......All I can see here is the same issue that occurs in the Phoenix Park where drivers and passengers alight and walk on the nearest available space i.e. the cycle lane.

In the Phoenix Park the footpath is set well back from the carriageway behind a low rail and a wide expanse of grass. In this scheme the cycle lanes and footpath are parallel. The situations aren't really comparable.

Fighting Tao wrote: »

Also swing the door open in it. It's a really stupid and dangerous design.

Have you looked at the design? There is a buffer between the parking spaces and the cycle lanes that's the width of a car door. (An open one.)

Fian

I love Sean nos wrote: »

....... and others use almost all of it by driving around for the most part alongside an empty armchair, with a sofa in the back...........

I'm stealing this - great line.:)

Seaswimmer

Annie get your Run wrote: »

I have a question on this, when people get out of their cars how do they get to the foothpath?......All I can see here is the same issue that occurs in the Phoenix Park where drivers and passengers alight and walk on the nearest available space i.e. the cycle lane.

There is a similar cycle lane on Newton Avenue in Blackrock. Huge objections and controversy when it went in. It is now working well and to my knowledge there have been no incidents. In Blackrock the bikes are coming towards the cars so probably easier to see them.

Will the cycleway in Fitzwilliam be 2 way?

Annie get your Run

Doctor Bob wrote: »

In the Phoenix Park the footpath is set well back from the carriageway behind a low rail and a wide expanse of grass. In this scheme the cycle lanes and footpath are parallel. The situations aren't really comparable.

Have you looked at the design? There is a buffer between the parking spaces and the cycle lanes that's the width of a car door. (An open one.)

There is only a low rail near the zoo but yes, I take your point that it's a whole 50 feet extra to walk to the footpath - some people seem to manage this fine, others not so much.

Seaswimmer wrote: »

There is a similar cycle lane on Newton Avenue in Blackrock. Huge objections and controversy when it went in. It is now working well and to my knowledge there have been no incidents. In Blackrock the bikes are coming towards the cars so probably easier to see them.

Will the cycleway in Fitzwilliam be 2 way?

That's great SS, glad to hear it's working well here already. Looking at the artists design yes, the new cycle path will be 2 way.

Fian

Doctor Bob wrote: »

In the Phoenix Park the footpath is set well back from the carriageway behind a low rail and a wide expanse of grass. In this scheme the cycle lanes and footpath are parallel. The situations aren't really comparable.



Have you looked at the design? There is a buffer between the parking spaces and the cycle lanes that's the width of a car door. (An open one.)

It could work, but it absolutely needs a solid barrier of some kind between the parking spaces and the buffer zone. Otherwise the parked cars will inevitably encroach on it, especially when trying to fit into a tight space. It needs either curbs or better yet those plastic high-vis strips on springs that seperate some cycle lanes. Paint is not going to be enough.

Fighting Tao

Doctor Bob wrote: »

Have you looked at the design? There is a buffer between the parking spaces and the cycle lanes that's the width of a car door. (An open one.)

It's a painted line. Not good enough.

ED E

Fian wrote: »

It could work, but it absolutely needs a solid barrier of some kind between the parking spaces and the buffer zone. Otherwise the parked cars will inevitably encroach on it, especially when trying to fit into a tight space. It needs either curbs or better yet those plastic high-vis strips on springs that seperate some cycle lanes. Paint is not going to be enough.

Curbs don't work.

Moflojo

Seaswimmer wrote: »

There is a similar cycle lane on Newton Avenue in Blackrock. Huge objections and controversy when it went in. It is now working well and to my knowledge there have been no incidents. In Blackrock the bikes are coming towards the cars so probably easier to see them.

There have been numerous incidents on Newtown Avenue in Blackrock, the majority of which relate to drivers attempting to bully cyclists out of the road because they think the cyclists should be using the contraflow bike lane.

There have been reports of drivers entering the contraflow bike lane to overtake cyclists!

I was a victim of the same behaviour once, with a driver getting out of his car [stopped at the red light 50 metres after his dangerous overtake] to confront me over "cycling in the middle of the road; there's a bike lane there! You should be in the bike lane!"

I've had the same thing, Moflojo. The worst one was someone in an SUV beeping me. I stopped to ask her what the problem was. "Wah wah, use the cycle lane." She seemed to think that she would be stuck behind me all the way into town.

I told her no and just carried on. Not a minute later, I turned right onto Idrone Terrace (as was my original intention) and she continued straight. Problem solved.

Some people. :rolleyes:

The speed limit on that road should definitely be 30km/h or lower.

Seaswimmer

Moflojo wrote: »

There have been numerous incidents on Newtown Avenue in Blackrock, the majority of which relate to drivers attempting to bully cyclists out of the road because they think the cyclists should be using the contraflow bike lane.

There have been reports of drivers entering the contraflow bike lane to overtake cyclists!

I was a victim of the same behaviour once, with a driver getting out of his car [stopped at the red light 50 metres after his dangerous overtake] to confront me over "cycling in the middle of the road; there's a bike lane there! You should be in the bike lane!"

I agree that all that may hapen but my point was that when cyclists are using the contra flow lane (correctly) I haven't heard of any incidents with parked cars which was the original point..

Moflojo

Annie get your Run wrote: »

I have a question on this, when people get out of their cars how do they get to the foothpath?......All I can see here is the same issue that occurs in the Phoenix Park where drivers and passengers alight and walk on the nearest available space i.e. the cycle lane.

The comparison with the Phoenix Park isn't a like-for-like one. In that scenario the bike lane is poorly signposted, has infrequent bicycle icons, and there are physical barriers between the road and the footpath; An iron railing, a grassy surface, and the footpath is 10 to 20 metres beyond the cycle path, away from the road. The surface treatment of the footpath also makes it look like a regular path, i.e. there is no distinctive green or red surface which might suggest that it's a cycle path.

The Fitzwilliam street design will have no major barriers between the cyclepath and the footpath, aside from a small kerb between the two, so it will be very easy and straightforward for people alighting from cars to cross the cycle path and access the footpath.

Chuchote

Time to call the government on the UN's requirement that 20% of transport funding go to walking and cycling

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/unnecessary-deaths-caused-by-low-spend-on-cycling-infrastructure-1.2837200

‘Unnecessary deaths’ caused by low spend on cycling infrastructure
UN report says 20% of transport budget should be spent in area but just 1% will be in 2016

Thu, Oct 20, 2016, 18:03 Updated: Thu, Oct 20, 2016, 18:10
Dick Ahlstrom

Ireland is grossly underinvesting in cycling and pedestrian infrastructure which helps to save lives and reduce carbon emissions, according to a report from the UN’s Environment Programme.
The report argues that countries should invest at least 20 per cent of their transport budgets in walking and cycling facilities but finds that Ireland spends less than 1 per cent on these facilities.
The Department of Transport’s 2016 allocation for road improvements was €555 million. About €5.5 million went into improvements for cyclists and pedestrians but according to the UN’s recommendations the State should have invested some €111 million.
The lack of investment is causing unnecessary deaths, and is also contributing to climate change, the report, Global Outlook on Walking and Cycling, states.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/varadkar-to-allocate-1bn-extra-for-infrastructural-spending-1.3137101

Varadkar to allocate €1bn extra for infrastructural spending
Taoiseach has said Ireland’s economic growth at risk if such spending not increased
Fiach Kelly

Leo Varadkar and Paschal Donohoe are set to use the Summer Economic Statement to give effect to the Taoiseach’s promise, made during the campaign for the Fine Gael leadership, for greater infrastructural spending.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is to use his first budgetary set piece to allocate at least €1 billion extra towards infrastructural spending while also committing to a so-called “rainy day fund”.
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe is set to outline the Summer Economic Statement, which will mark the beginning of the budgetary process, in the coming weeks.
Mr Varadkar and Mr Donohoe are set to use the platform to give effect to the Taoiseach’s promise, made during the campaign for the Fine Gael leadership, of greater infrastructural spending.
The exact level of infrastructural spending to be outlined in the Summer Economic Statement has yet to be determined but discussions are ongoing in Government.
Growth risk
Mr Varadkar has said Ireland risks future economic growth if such spending is not increased. He said projects such as the Dublin Metro, the M20 motorway between Cork and Limerick and motorways to the north and northwest of the country are needed.

Annie get your Run

Moflojo wrote: »

The comparison with the Phoenix Park isn't a like-for-like one. In that scenario the bike lane is poorly signposted, has infrequent bicycle icons, and there are physical barriers between the road and the footpath; An iron railing, a grassy surface, and the footpath is 10 to 20 metres beyond the cycle path, away from the road. The surface treatment of the footpath also makes it look like a regular path, i.e. there is no distinctive green or red surface which might suggest that it's a cycle path.

The Fitzwilliam street design will have no major barriers between the cyclepath and the footpath, aside from a small kerb between the two, so it will be very easy and straightforward for people alighting from cars to cross the cycle path and access the footpath.

I hope you're right, but as I said before I can see buggy's and god knows what else being offloaded into the cycle lane and getting the child into the buggy and getting the shopping bags sorted etc etc etc before walking (without looking) to the footh path. There is a certain mentality in this country of 'I don't give a sh1t' and these are the people that will walk on cycle lanes and use grass or the fact that they're standing on the cycle sign (so they didn't see it) as an excuse. Thank god for the folks who are able to make it to the footpaths!

Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that someone is trying to do something good for cycle infrastructure, I just think the solution they've come up with won't work in particular for commuter cyclists who want to be able to move freely and quickly - those folks will stay on the road and we'll have spent millions on another cycle solution that's not working. I was just on Westmoreland Street and I see they've put those orange plastic bollards the whole way along the luas track, this is despite their already being a curb there too. Someone knows what's needed in that instance!!

rubadub

Moflojo wrote: »

they think the cyclists should be using the contraflow bike lane.

It seems they even pre-empted this and put images of bikes on the road with arrows indicating they should be there rather than the contra flow. Plenty of them too.

https://goo.gl/maps/nUDzN4NRK552

Chuchote

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jun/29/chinese-bike-share-scheme-mobike-launches-in-rainy-manchester?CMP=share_btn_tw

Described as the world’s first cashless and station-free bike-sharing platform, Mobike launched in Shanghai in April 2016 and has expanded to 99 cities across Asia. Five million Mobikes are in circulation, and the company claims to be able to manufacture 100,000 more every day.

An “Uber for bikes”, the company does not rely on fixed docking stations like more established schemes in London and Paris, instead trusting users to park them wherever they like within the city boundaries of Manchester and Salford.

Huang is optimistic that the Mobikes won’t all get stolen, pointing out the parts are all custom designed and can only be dismantled with custom tools. He hopes they won’t end up at the bottom of the Irwell or the Ship Canal either: the app riders use to unlock and pay for the bikes tracks where they end up, and there are fines and bans for those who dump them somewhere stupid. They are also fitted with alarms that sound if someone tries to break the wheel lock.

The firm chose Manchester for its first non-Asian launch because of the city’s reputation for innovation, said Chris Martin, Mobike’s head of international expansion. “We wanted to find a city that would be the fastest and most open-minded to work with, and everyone said Manchester.”

The company had its first meetings with Manchester city council in March, successfully persuading officials that inviting Mobike in was a win-win situation. Unlike the London scheme, which has cost taxpayers over £60m since its launch in 2010 and is still subsidised by £3.6m each year, Mobike costs nothing to the public purse.

Chuchote

Shock announcement that swathes of Dublin may be closed off to cyclists because of Luas:

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/luas-may-make-areas-of-dublin-inaccessible-to-cyclists-1.3141052

Luas may make areas of Dublin ‘inaccessible to cyclists’

Busy areas of Dublin city such as Henry Street may become virtually inaccessible to cyclists when Luas Cross City starts operating, according to a National Transport Authority (NTA) draft report.
The NTA has assessed the possibility for cycling along the new Luas corridor and concluded that substantial areas of the city would become largely inaccessible to cyclists unless interventions were made at certain points.
The report also says that areas including parts of St Stephen’s Green, Nassau Street, Lower Grafton Street, O’Connell Street, Parnell Street and Dominick Street will end up being completely off-limits to cyclists when the new line becomes operational.
It warns that a failure to act on the shortcomings it identifies would have “implications for the safety of cyclists and pedestrians”.
Luas Cross City will connect the northern end of the Luas Green Line at St Stephen’s Green to Broombridge station in Cabra, intersecting with the Luas Red Line at O’Connell Street. The route runs on-street between St Stephen’s Green and Broadstone station.
The draft report, released under the Freedom of Information Act, highlights issues such as a lack of space to accommodate both cyclists and trams at certain “pinch points”, as well as acute crossing angles over tracks where cyclists are at risk of getting their wheels caught in the rail grooves.

And an American tourist whose wife was killed on a dangerous Kerry road calls for changes (there are the usual responses calling for cyclists to be careful, as well as other road users; one even mentions drivers on phones). I've made cuts in the parts I quote:

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/i-had-to-make-the-two-most-difficult-calls-in-my-life-us-tourist-on-the-moment-his-wife-died-in-kerry-cycle-accident-35885922.html

Don Theiler (75) was travelling 30 yards behind Janet Price when she disappeared around a sharp corner half a mile from Kate Kearney's Cottage at the Gap of Dunloe. By the time he took the turn she was dead. The 69-year-old had collided with a trailer carrying lambs up the valley. She was killed instantly.

"When I got to her, her eyes were open, staring. She never responded to any stimulus. Blood was coming out of her mouth and nose but I didn't see any visible injuries on her body.
"I then had to make the two most difficult calls I will ever make in my life, to her daughters Jennifer and Erica."

Don is campaigning to make Irish roads safer for cyclists because Janet's death has changed their lives and had a huge impact on her four grandchildren. "She just disappeared from their lives."

He has written to Transport Minister Shane Ross and called for a number of changes, such as introducing extra signage and mirrors at dangerous points on the road.
He also wants non-residents to be banned from driving on some of the country's most popular tourist trails, including the Gap.

"A road like that has blind spots everywhere. I think in an area like that they must prohibit non-resident vehicles and limit it only to residents, bikers, hikers and horse-drawn carts."
Thousands of hillwalkers and cyclists visit the area every summer, drawn by the remote location and scenery.

Residents and farmers from the Gap drive on the narrow twisting road every day but in the summer months it can also be clogged with people who are unfamiliar with the roads.
Don said a gate could be installed at a site close to Kate Kearney's Cottage at the mouth of the valley to prevent traffic building up. He said tourists could then explore the area on foot, bike, horseback or by paying a jarvey for a tour.

Road Safety Authority CEO Moyagh Murdock told the Sunday Independent last week.

She said road users, including cyclists, need to be cautious and aware of vulnerable road users and how they behave on the road. "Drivers need to pay greater attention to their speed, as drivers are becoming increasingly distracted by mobile devices and they are also speeding in our towns and cities.
"Cyclists too have a responsibility to make sure they follow the rules of the road and make sure that motorists can see them by using their lights and wearing a helmet and high-visibility clothing."

However, there is no suggestion that speed, distraction or lighting played a role in Janet's death so Don is calling for robust action to be taken. He said the support he had received from locals in Killarney has made him more determined to see conditions improved.

Chiparus

Seems to be far worse in Australia.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/cyclist-hater-ben-smith-jailed-for-more-than-five-years-over-death-of-steve-jarvie/news-story/fd2deac1513db13c849818eb7e5cf25f

magicbastarder

More than 100 cyclists seriously hurt in collisions each year
Cycling body says RSA figures ‘grossly misrepresent’ level of injuries suffered by cyclists
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/more-than-100-cyclists-seriously-hurt-in-collisions-each-year-1.3142936

seamus

magicbastarder wrote: »

More than 100 cyclists seriously hurt in collisions each year
Cycling body says RSA figures ‘grossly misrepresent’ level of injuries suffered by cyclists
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/more-than-100-cyclists-seriously-hurt-in-collisions-each-year-1.3142936

Ah, here.

There has been a sharp escalation in annual figures of cyclist injuries, in part due to a change in how the RSA compiles its statistics, moving from paper to electronic records in 2014.

FFS. So the article is basically a big pile of nonsense then since there's no real basis for comparing year-on-year statistics. We can't realistically say whether the # of injuries has gone up or down.

The dangerising of cycling by the media continues apace.

magicbastarder

a bit tenuous for this thread, but hey:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jul/01/shaun-ryder-this-much-i-know

Chuchote

Only way to change this is to keep hammering at the shocking figure that half of all driven journeys are under 2km - if we can get the majority of people on their bikes for those short journeys, that's the back of the problem broken.

Pinch Flat

The Irish Times, as a paper supported heavily by the motor industry, has a vested interest in dangerising cycling. They're part of the problem, not the solution.