Metro Vancouver Bike & Pedestrian Discussion

[st7860]

http://www.vancouversun.com/Bicycle+lane...ould+permanent+report/6740850/story.html

Strong public support for Vancouver's separated bicycle lanes on Dunsmuir and Hornby streets shows the temporary lanes should now be made permanent.

That's the conclusion of a city staff report going to council next week that recommends the city keep the structures in place.

Using both in-ground and hose-type counters, the city says there's been a dramatic increase in traffic on the two lanes as cyclists readily accepted the idea of separated lanes in the downtown core.

The bike lane over the Dunsmuir Viaduct showed a 19 per cent increase in bike traffic year-over-year since being installed in April, 2010. A total of 411,000 trips were recorded between April, 2011 and March, 2012.

But the lion's share of bike trips are still being made over the Burrard Bridge, which over the same period recorded just over one million trips. Overall, bike traffic increased eight per cent for both Dunsmuir Viaduct and Burrard lanes combined.

Bike traffic on Hornby Street's separated lane, which was only opened in January, 2011, is much less. In the three months between January and March, 2012, 59,000 trips were recorded on Hornby, up four per cent from the same period last year.

The city spent $4.1 million installing all of the lanes.

[s211]

Wow, is Yukon between 5th and 12th pooched since they restriped for bike lanes. Traffic in that area is an absolute gong show. 7th to the east of Cambie's a parking lot too.

Thanks for the middle finger, Visionistas!

[IanS]

Originally Posted by jlousa

The long awaited bicycle study is heading to council, recommended reading.

http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20120613/documents/ptec2.pdf

Not much of a surprise they aren't recommending any changes

No great surprise, true. Did anyone imagine that they would?

Some of the Report makes me wonder where they got their numbers. According to the City's data, the number of cycle trips over Burrard St Bridge went from 1,034,188 (April 1/10 - March 31/11) to 1,034,555 (April 1/11 - March 31/12). Not sure how that amounts to a 5% increase.

The Dunsmuir Viaduct numbers are a little more in line with the data, going from 347,029 (April 1/10 - March 31, 11) to 410,896 (April 1/11 - March 31/12). That's not quite the 19% cited in the report, but awfully close.

I was glad to read that the lanes have resulted in only a minor increase in travel times, though the lack of right turns seems to have greatly lengthened some trips. I wonder if they took into account into instances of people going over the Burrard Street bridge due to lack of a right turn on Burrard and Pacific. Probably not.

In any event, while the Report doesn't identify any great benefit from the bike lanes, it's encouraging to know that at least they haven't resulted in any significant damage.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by s211

Wow, is Yukon between 5th and 12th pooched since they restriped for bike lanes. Traffic in that area is an absolute gong show. 7th to the east of Cambie's a parking lot too.

Thanks for the middle finger, Visionistas!

I ride that route every day, the traffic hasn't changed because of the bike lanes that were painted a few weeks ago, it's because of the new traffic light at 7th, and because of all of the increased vehicle traffic in the area. I guess that's either from new residents, the businesses along Cambie, or some other factors.

[Porfiry]

Originally Posted by IanS

Some of the Report makes me wonder where they got their numbers. According to the City's data, the number of cycle trips over Burrard St Bridge went from 1,034,188 (April 1/10 - March 31/11) to 1,034,555 (April 1/11 - March 31/12). Not sure how that amounts to a 5% increase.

If you're looking at the raw .xls data off the vancouver.ca website, there seems to be a few data entry errors. One row appears to be a formula instead of data (Thursday June 29, 2010), which mucks up that sum. If you ignore it, you get 995,789, which makes their reported figure of 997,000 entirely sensible.

The raw data is also missing for 4 days in October 2011, so the 1,034,555 number from the .xls isn't complete. Again, the 1,045,000 reported number seems entirely sensible.

[SFUVancouver]

I noticed this today. Were these installed recently? I think they're a great addition and will hopefully pop up throughout the city-wide cycling network.


Taken by SFUVancouver, June 6th, 2012.


Bute Street between Pender and Cordova has had some great improvements take place recently to its sidewalks. Additional street trees appear to still be to come, but the sidewalk width alone must be two to three times what was there before. I'm very impressed.


Taken by SFUVancouver, June 6th, 2012.


Taken by SFUVancouver, June 6th, 2012.

[s211]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

I ride that route every day, the traffic hasn't changed because of the bike lanes that were painted a few weeks ago, it's because of the new traffic light at 7th, and because of all of the increased vehicle traffic in the area. I guess that's either from new residents, the businesses along Cambie, or some other factors.

What are you talking about "new light at 7th"? There's been a light there for years.

And as a resident right in the area, I can guarantee you that Yukon traffic's been absolutely pooched during daylight hours, especially the afternoon rush hours, since they put in the bike lanes. The traffic pattern changed literally happened overnight when the lanes went in. This isn't because of organic growth happening in the area.

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by s211

What are you talking about "new light at 7th"? There's been a light there for years.

And as a resident right in the area, I can guarantee you that Yukon traffic's been absolutely pooched during daylight hours, especially the afternoon rush hours, since they put in the bike lanes. The traffic pattern changed literally happened overnight when the lanes went in. This isn't because of organic growth happening in the area.

As far as I can recall (with some assistance of Google Street View) there was on-street parking along the curbs of Yukon and one travel lane in each direction. Was the on-street parking in off-peak hours only? Based on my half-dozen or so observations over the last couple weeks of walking up Yukon in the mornings from 6th to 10th Avenue, the street does not appear congested or chaotic. How is it during the afternoon/evening rush hour?

[IanS]

Originally Posted by Porfiry

If you're looking at the raw .xls data off the vancouver.ca website, there seems to be a few data entry errors. One row appears to be a formula instead of data (Thursday June 29, 2010), which mucks up that sum. If you ignore it, you get 995,789, which makes their reported figure of 997,000 entirely sensible.

The raw data is also missing for 4 days in October 2011, so the 1,034,555 number from the .xls isn't complete. Again, the 1,045,000 reported number seems entirely sensible.

I suppose they could be relying on data other than that which they are making available to the public. Seems to undermine the purpose of making that data public, but whatever. (I suppose, however, that this might explain some of Mr. Meggs' stranger interpretation of the data.)

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by s211

What are you talking about "new light at 7th"? There's been a light there for years.

And as a resident right in the area, I can guarantee you that Yukon traffic's been absolutely pooched during daylight hours, especially the afternoon rush hours, since they put in the bike lanes. The traffic pattern changed literally happened overnight when the lanes went in. This isn't because of organic growth happening in the area.

Sorry W 8th. There are too many lights on that stretch of Yukon. I guess car drivers couldn't figure out a 2-way stop so they spent millions on a light...

What difference did the bike lanes make anyway? They removed some parking on one side of the street. There were never split lanes painted.

[s211]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Sorry W 8th. There are too many lights on that stretch of Yukon. I guess car drivers couldn't figure out a 2-way stop so they spent millions on a light...

What difference did the bike lanes make anyway? They removed some parking on one side of the street. There were never split lanes painted.

The issue stems from the loss of what was two lanes along Yukon at Broadway. That one loss has had a trickle effect all the way north of Broadway, effecting traffic for several blocks, and gumming up 7th along also as a result.

[Porfiry]

Originally Posted by IanS

I suppose they could be relying on data other than that which they are making available to the public. Seems to undermine the purpose of making that data public, but whatever. (I suppose, however, that this might explain some of Mr. Meggs' stranger interpretation of the data.)

Stop trying to spin this. As I said, if you take out the one obvious entry error in the daily data .xls (where a formula summing two random cells was accidentally typed in instead of a data point), everything lines up. The only problem here is on Microsoft Excel for being a terrible piece of software.

[IanS]

Originally Posted by Porfiry

Stop trying to spin this. As I said, if you take out the one obvious entry error in the daily data .xls (where a formula summing two random cells was accidentally typed in instead of a data point), everything lines up. The only problem here is on Microsoft Excel for being a terrible piece of software.

Not sure how I'm spinning anything; just pointing out that the City's conclusions don't match the data doesn't seem to support the conclusions set out in the Report. That's just a fact.

FWIW, your speculation as to the cause of the discrepancy may well be true. I don't know one way or the other.

[Porfiry]

Originally Posted by IanS

Not sure how I'm spinning anything; just pointing out that the City's conclusions don't match the data doesn't seem to support the conclusions set out in the Report. That's just a fact.

Get out your calculator and add up every day if you don't believe me. As I said, the raw data published shows a count of 995,789 for 364 days. The city claims 997,000 for the year.

Your math is wrong, plain and simple.

[IanS]

Originally Posted by Porfiry

Get out your calculator and add up every day if you don't believe me. As I said, the raw data published shows a count of 995,789 for 364 days. The city claims 997,000 for the year.

Your math is wrong, plain and simple.

Well, if it helps, I don't dispute that you can change the result by choosing not to take into account certain days.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by s211

The issue stems from the loss of what was two lanes along Yukon at Broadway. That one loss has had a trickle effect all the way north of Broadway, effecting traffic for several blocks, and gumming up 7th along also as a result.

Bad news for the retailers there. It will probably help ring the death knell for that Home Depot. There's barely anybody shopping there when I've been in, most people will go the Terminal Avenue location where there is ample free parking.

[Porfiry]

Originally Posted by IanS

Well, if it helps, I don't dispute that you can change the result by choosing not to take into account certain days.

Ah, so you truly believe that the correct value for June 29th, 2010 is indeed "=A646+B646".

(where cell A646 isn't even a number, it's a timestamp)

Look, I don't blame you for making the initial mistake because it's not obvious, but there's no reason to continue fighting when that single cell explains why your number came out wrong. The city's reported sums are correct and the growth in usage is real.

[IanS]

Originally Posted by Porfiry

Ah, so you truly believe that the correct value for June 29th, 2010 is indeed "=A646+B646".

(where cell A646 isn't even a number, it's a timestamp)

Look, I don't blame you for making the initial mistake because it's not obvious, but there's no reason to continue fighting when that single cell explains why your number came out wrong. The city's reported sums are correct and the growth in usage is real.

Heh. I appreciate that you don't blame me. But, honestly, I'm not certain what we're arguing about. As I said, I don't dispute that changing (or correcting, if you are right in your speculation) the data produces a different result. You may well be right in your conclusion.

[tybuilding]

This is pretty cool. A band used the Pioneer Overpass in South Surrey as the set for their music video "Colours". Catchy song too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rFoqL3F6r7w

http://www.civicsurrey.com/2012/06/07/pioneer-overpass-becomes-set-for-vancouver-band-music-video/

[Porfiry]

City gears up to unveil long-awaited bike sharing plan
http://metronews.ca/news/vancouver/254773/city-gears-up-to-unveil-long-awaited-bike-sharing-plan/

After more than five years of talk at city hall about implementing a public bike-sharing (PBS) system in Vancouver, the city’s director of transportation will present a much-anticipated proposal to city council Wednesday.

Bike sharing systems provide affordable access to bikes in urban areas, allowing users to pick up and drop off bikes for short trips at strategically located pay-stations.

The city is staying tight-lipped about who might win the contract to install and operate Vancouver’s system, but Keith Ippel, executive director of BikeShare BC, said six companies, including his, submitted bids.

“The city over the last year has been very thoughtful with all aspects of the proposal and just trying to make sure they pick the right partner long-term,” he said. “They’re very mindful of what it takes to be successful and run a bike share, and they’ve been very good about talking to other cities and learning what worked and what hasn’t worked in other cities.”

...

Whoever wins the contract, one thing is certain: They will be footing the bill for the capital and operating costs. The city and TransLink are only going to provide things like space for stations, marketing and communications support, and permitting support and costs.