Does Sydney have a chance?

Of interest to Sydneysiders, Clover Moore is currently in New York at
the C40 Climate Summit:

T.A. Rides with the Mayors of Sydney & Copenhagen (3:03)
http://tinyurl.com/25gltj

" .. On the closing day of New York City’s historic C40 Climate Summit,
Lord Mayor Clover Moore of Sydney, Australia and Copenhagen’s Mayor of
the Technical & Environmental Administration Klaus Bondam took a lunch
break to ride bikes with Transportation Alternatives in a symbolic loop
around Central Park. As usual StreetFilms brings you the best coverage
.."

Also from Transport Alternatives, Interview with Enrique Peñalosa
(12:07)
http://tinyurl.com/yve7sb

" .. As mayor of Bogota, Colombia, Enrique Penalosa accomplished
remarkable changes of monumental proportions for the people of his
country in just three years .."

Timely, considering this article in yesterdays SMH:

Saturday: Sydney's one big car park
http://tinyurl.com/2cj2ur

" .. Weekday traffic jams were bad enough. Now Sydney is gridlocked at
the weekend, too. Roads and Traffic Authority figures show more cars
are using some of the busiest roads on Saturday than on weekdays. Roads
from Bondi to Penrith are clogged with drivers fighting to get to
children's soccer matches, the shopping centre or to a barbecue. The
problem has become so bad that the RTA is considering expanding to
other parts of Sydney a trial of weekend clearways on Spit Road,
despite concern from residents and shop owners.

Sydneysiders make more than 13 million trips on weekends. Public
transport is irregular and track work often disrupts the CityRail
network, so most of those trips are made by car .." (more in article)

Can Sydney actually do something about it's traffic chaos, or is the
problem too far gone, or complicated by competing interests?


--
cfsmtb

On Sun, 20 May 2007 12:01:35 +1000, cfsmtb wrote:

Can Sydney actually do something about it's traffic chaos, or is the
problem too far gone, or complicated by competing interests?

Maybe the only thing they can agree on is that they should hold on to
the "worst city in Australia to ride in" title.

--
Home page: http://members.westnet.com.au/mvw

Michael Warner Wrote:

Maybe the only thing they can agree on is that they should hold on to
the "worst city in Australia to ride in" title.

That would be a pity really, considering Sydney Council are now
implementing the Cycle Strategy and Action Plan.
http://tinyurl.com/ysbpl6

And the RTA are implementing the Sydney Orbital.

sigh.


--
cfsmtb

In aus.bicycle on Mon, 21 May 2007 11:26:46 +1000
cfsmtb wrote:

That would be a pity really, considering Sydney Council are now
implementing the Cycle Strategy and Action Plan.
http://tinyurl.com/ysbpl6



I don't really mind the bits of the trip that are in the City of
Sydney.

There are bits that are annoying - the mess at the end of the Pyrmont
Bridge path, the mess that is the Pyrmont Bridge, the various
approaches to the Harbour Bridge none of which are very good, are all
just annoying, not actively bad.

I'd like better provision in the Campsie area to make the shopping run
easier, not everyone's as happy as I am to brave Beamish St but the
bypass is worse and the backstreets generally steeper.

What makes Sydney bad for a bicycle for me is the hills, probably
because I'm a motorcyclist so more confident in traffic on two wheels
than someone who normally uses a car.

What I'd like to see is each council sizing up their area and locating
routes that are as straight a line to major centres as they can get
while not being too steep. As that was what horse-drawn traffic also
wanted, they should re-route car traffic up the steep slightly more
roundabout routes and have the straighter flatter ones that the
council areas are built around focused on bicycles.

Zebee

On May 20, 12:01 pm, cfsmtb cfsmtb.2qv...@no-
mx.forums.cyclingforums.com wrote:
Can Sydney actually do something about it's traffic chaos, or is the
problem too far gone, or complicated by competing interests?

its all very well and wonderful that Clover goes off on a junket to
ride a pushie.. but the Sydney CBD is already very well serviced by
public transport and the council appears to have a plan for bicycles.

What about the other 90% of the population that doesn't go anywhere
near the CBD for the majority of their cycling (or public) transport
needs? That's where Sydney's problems really lie: in the ring 10k
out from the CBD. The northern beaches, and anything west (SW/W or NW)
not near a train line.

On 2007-05-21, Zebee Johnstone (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
In aus.bicycle on Mon, 21 May 2007 11:26:46 +1000
cfsmtb wrote:

That would be a pity really, considering Sydney Council are now
implementing the Cycle Strategy and Action Plan.
http://tinyurl.com/ysbpl6

I don't really mind the bits of the trip that are in the City of
Sydney.

There are bits that are annoying - the mess at the end of the Pyrmont
Bridge path, the mess that is the Pyrmont Bridge, the various
approaches to the Harbour Bridge none of which are very good, are all
just annoying, not actively bad.

Isn't there one that ends in steps? Would you not call that actively
bad?

Or am I just more clumsy than most people (I haven't fallen down steps
with the bike yet (oi, shuttup in the back))? Don't answer that.

while not being too steep. As that was what horse-drawn traffic also
wanted,

How many gear inches was your average horse?

--
TimC
To define recursion, we must first define recursion.

In article ,
Zebee Johnstone wrote:

What I'd like to see is each council sizing up their area and locating
routes that are as straight a line to major centres as they can get
while not being too steep. As that was what horse-drawn traffic also
wanted, they should re-route car traffic up the steep slightly more
roundabout routes and have the straighter flatter ones that the
council areas are built around focused on bicycles.

Zebee


Zebee,

Diverting motorised transport to hilly roads just increases pollution
and ****es off drivers.

Main roads are generally the easiest route along ridge-lines and least
possible inclines because that is where the horses and trams could go.
These roads must be shared by cars, buses, trucks, motorbikes and
pushbikes. What they do not need to have is parking.

Around my way the thing that annoys me most is not dealing with traffic
going the same direction as me but vehicles parked in perfectly usable
road space, especially in clearways. I try to give drivers a fair go but
I am not going to sacrifice myself to a door flinging open or someone
stopping to reverse into a parking space, or a taxi letting somebody out
(and they take five minutes to pay the driver).

A bus lane should be provided on each side of every major suburban road
and only buses and bikes allowed in that lane. Get the taxis and
motorbikes out of there.

cheers,
Darryl

On Mon, 21 May 2007 14:19:07 +1000, TimC wrote:

Isn't there one that ends in steps? Would you not call that actively
bad?

No, I'd call it extremely fun. It's awesome for stoppies on the way down,
and a good challenge to ride up.

Oh wait, I see your point.

--
Dave Hughes |
"This isn't life in the fast lane, it's life in the oncoming traffic."
- (Terry Pratchett, alt.fan.pratchett)

In aus.bicycle on Mon, 21 May 2007 14:19:07 +1000
TimC wrote:
On 2007-05-21, Zebee Johnstone (aka Bruce)
Bridge path, the mess that is the Pyrmont Bridge, the various
approaches to the Harbour Bridge none of which are very good, are all
just annoying, not actively bad.

Isn't there one that ends in steps? Would you not call that actively
bad?

Dunno, guess I'm used to it. I don't ride down it. Pushing up it is
a pain, but hey, stretches bits of leg that don't normally get it.

Dunno what City of Sydney could do about it though, as that's a) North
Sydney and b) State Govt.

Zebee

In aus.bicycle on Mon, 21 May 2007 04:50:39 GMT
Darryl C wrote:
possible inclines because that is where the horses and trams could go.
These roads must be shared by cars, buses, trucks, motorbikes and
pushbikes. What they do not need to have is parking.

I'll agree with that.


A bus lane should be provided on each side of every major suburban road
and only buses and bikes allowed in that lane. Get the taxis and
motorbikes out of there.

Oddly, I don't agree with this.

Because bicycles slow buses up, and in traffic a bicycle can't get out
of the bus's way.

If the bus doesn't have to stop them the bicycle is an active nuisance
unless it is going faster than most commuters, never mind kids or
shoppers or novices.

A motorcycle doesn't slow the bus up at all.

Given that a bus can transport many more people, I think that either
the lanes have to be wide enough for the bus to safely pass the
bicycle, or the bicycles have to be out of the bus lanes.

Zebee