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AA president speaks out in favour of cycling
Comments
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well your description shows both the bus and bike going far faster than any car.
Yes, because the cars have been squeezed into half the road space.The bus could have gone at the speed limit in the almost empty bus lane if it wasn't for one individual who thought us bus users should travel at his pace.0 -
Yes, because the cars have been squeezed into half the road space.The bus could have gone at the speed limit in the almost empty bus lane if it wasn't for one individual who thought us bus users should travel at his pace.
As opposed to all the ones who choose to take their cars and block the way for the other motorists?0 -
From what I see most cycle lanes are there for the benefit of motorists, to encourage them to pass cyclists closer than they otherwise would, and to corral cyclists in an undersized space in the gutter on the edge of the road.
Bus lanes on the other hand are a different story - these are very good for cycling in, and I like that the Highway Code advises to cycle in the middle of the lane.
[declaration of interest - highway designer and cyclist]
They have their place, but are rather misused. If there is sufficient roadspace to provide a 2m wide mandatory lane AND a reasonably wide (say 3m) general traffic lane, then you do have a reasonable seperation between cycles and cars, and can also enforce parking restrictions.
The problems come when there is less space, and well meaning people squeeze a 1.5m (or less) advisory lane in next to a 2.5m (or less) general traffic lane. At that sort of width I agree they probably do more harm than good. If they weren't there the cyclist would be riding at least 1m into the lane to avoid gullies, and would be closer to car drivers eyeline, so they would have to make a conscious decision to overtake, rather than assuming that white line is all that is needed to seperate them.
The other downside of cycle only lanes is that leaves and debris tends to get swept away by cars, but not by cycles, so it piles up in the cycle lane.
Designing for cyclists is actually rather difficult. Car drivers (in theory at least!) have demonstrated a certain level of competence, and you can treat them as a single group (which also includes the designers. Cyclists are more diverse, and what works for an experienced commuter will almost certainly not work for a child (or inexperienced adult). Even for those of us that do cycle, we only readily identify with one type of cyclist.
I'm by no means saying that we get it right all the time, we clearly don't, but the contention that we don't attempt to design for cyclists is unfair.0 -
Are you bothered by the cyclist or the existence of the bus lane?. Both seem to be a problem for you.Yes, because the cars have been squeezed into half the road space.The bus could have gone at the speed limit in the almost empty bus lane if it wasn't for one individual who thought us bus users should travel at his pace.0 -
Yes, because the cars have been squeezed into half the road space.The bus could have gone at the speed limit in the almost empty bus lane if it wasn't for one individual who thought us bus users should travel at his pace.
Surely you should be angry with all the motorists causing the congestion, after all, if they weren't there the bus could have easily overtaken the bicycle. Out of interest, how many times a day do buses hold up other traffic? Swings and roundabout?
This is one of the reasons I never understand car commuters getting angry at all the cycle commuters - the more bicycles on the road the less congestion there is and people in cars get to work quicker. There's been a noticeable reduction in my car commute time over the past 5 years as more and more people have taken to bikes to get into Manchester City Centre. If everyone cycled to work I could probably halve my car commute time.
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Norman_Castle wrote: »Are you bothered by the cyclist or the existence of the bus lane?. Both seem to be a problem for you.
Yep, road space is at premium and we should use it to its capacity.0 -
Yep, road space is at premium and we should use it to its capacity.
Not necessarily. E.g., the M4 bus lane resulted in smoother journey times because it mean there was no bottleneck as traffic went into London since the number of lanes along the route was constant.
Also shorter car journey times encourages more car journeys. Longer journeys will make people think twice about driving.0 -
Its those smaller lanes at the side of the road going to waste. does my head in
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-202522120
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