Re: News & Discussion: Cycling
Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2018 9:52 am
Great news
Adelaide's Premier Development and Construction Site
https://www.sensational-adelaide.com/forum/
https://www.sensational-adelaide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2336
This is great news. It looks like there will be underpasses to link with the NC path & the proposed/partly built Gawler greenway (which also links with Mawson Lakes). See these two PortBUG newsletters for a bit more detail/context:SBD wrote: ↑Wed Sep 26, 2018 6:55 pmThis looks like an excellent extension, as long as the details match up to the vision. I have not yet seen any details of how the path by the Northern Expressway will link to the one by the Northern Connector. I hope it is better than just at-grade crossing Port Wakefield Road protected by yellow "cyclists crossing" which isn't great for kids or walkers/runners on the path. It's also not clear how the new path will work for cycling (or running/walking) to/from Mawson Lakes. Are the current cycling detours suitable and sufficient that they will easily link in to address that direction too?
I passed the bollard this morning and it was a truly potentially diabolical piece of street furniture. I guess someone important agreed because it was gone by the time I rode home this evening! As for the rustic timber section - that bit remained Charles Sturt's responsibility apparently & they are probably hoping to hold out till the road bridge is widened once more.mshagg wrote: ↑Mon Nov 19, 2018 5:22 pmLinear park underpass for south road was finally reopened today - some two months late AND they hardly did anything during the extended closure, given 2/3rds of it is still built from the 'rustic' timber which is well past its used-by date, but whatever.
On the approach to the underpass, heading east, what do we find - but some bright spark has decided a big fucking silver bollard in the middle of the path, which is borderline invisible against the surrounding backdrop given the lack of paint, is an appropriate treatment for *insert reasons*.
I may or may not have sent a detailed email to T2T and CWT/CS councils this morning explaining the many ways it fell short of the Austroads Guide to Road Design Part 6A...Listy wrote: ↑Mon Nov 19, 2018 6:00 pmI passed the bollard this morning and it was a truly potentially diabolical piece of street furniture. I guess someone important agreed because it was gone by the time I rode home this evening! As for the rustic timber section - that bit remained Charles Sturt's responsibility apparently & they are probably hoping to hold out till the road bridge is widened once more.mshagg wrote: ↑Mon Nov 19, 2018 5:22 pmLinear park underpass for south road was finally reopened today - some two months late AND they hardly did anything during the extended closure, given 2/3rds of it is still built from the 'rustic' timber which is well past its used-by date, but whatever.
On the approach to the underpass, heading east, what do we find - but some bright spark has decided a big fucking silver bollard in the middle of the path, which is borderline invisible against the surrounding backdrop given the lack of paint, is an appropriate treatment for *insert reasons*.
From: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenge ... 78e46e2933New dockless bike sharing scheme Airbike applies to set up in Adelaide
Adelaide’s love affair with cycling is set to slip into top gear with a new dockless bike-sharing scheme set for the city.
Undeterred by the failings of ofo and Obikes, which copped an angry backlash from residents over dumped and abandoned bikes, Adelaide City Council has received an application for an operating permit from Airbike.
The Australian-based bike-share operator wants to run a 200-bike fleet in the CBD and North Adelaide.
Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor said Airbike, which has fleets in Canberra and Sydney, had fulfilled all the obligations required and would seem to be a perfect fit if councillors vote to give the operator approval.
She said Airbike had been praised by the other cities and met the council’s key conditions. A key criticism of ofo and Obikes was their bikes had became safety hazards.
The schemes were controversial as many of the bikes were left on footpaths, in waterways — and even put up trees.
As the first local authority in Australia to award bike-sharing permits, Ms Verschoor said the council had learnt from the past.
“The bikes will have GPS tracking, they will be monitored daily and will be removed if they are in a dangerous location or are damaged,” she said.
Under the conditions of the permit, “dangerously located bikes” are to be removed within four hours, damaged bikes are to be removed within 24 hours and inappropriately located bikes are to be removed within 48 hours.
Should the complaints not be addressed in the designated time frames, the council will be able to impound the bikes and dispose of them at the cost to Airbike.
The council can also penalise Airbike or revoke the company’s permit if it does not meet conditions.
Airbike has said it could start operating as early as next month if it gets council approval. Ms Verschoor said it would come at a perfect time if the city councillors voted to give the operator a permit.
“I think it will be a very good outcome,” she told The Advertiser.
“To be here in time for the festival period would be great, especially with the number of visitors we will have here.”
There is only one operating bike-hire scheme in Adelaide following ofo’s decision to leave Australia in July. The council refused to renew Obikes’ permit last year.
The remaining scheme, operated by BikeSA and funded by the council, has a contract only until March 31 after it was extended from December.
The application from Airbike will be discussed at a council committee meeting on Tuesday, and then will go to the full council for a final vote.
To be fair ofo's Adelaide operations looked absolutely nothing like that. Their bikes were well-maintained, regularly shuffled around the City to high-usage areas and missing helmets were replaced overnight. There were a few incidences of damage or dumping (always the user's or vandal's fault) but in all their operation was slick and tidy.
Cycling fatalities in Australia have almost halved since mandatory helmet laws were introduced in the 1990s, new research from the University of NSW shows.
It also said that many studies, both in Australia and overseas, did not support the hypothesis that the introduction of bicycle helmet legislation deterred cycling.
Emeritus Professor Raphael Grzebieta ... slammed an "ill-informed, small but vocal group of anti-helmet advocates who claim that the [laws] have been a disaster for cycling in Australia," and said other factors are to blame for people not wanting to cycle. "It is well-known the primary reasons for not cycling in urban Australia are the lack of infrastructure and safety concerns due to interactions with motorised vehicles," he said.
When asked if he believes this report would change anyone's mind, Professor Olivier was blunt. "No, I have no faith in that at all," he said, but added that he doesn’t do research to convince the anti-helmet people that they're wrong, as "they'll never be convinced".