Metro Vancouver Bike/Pedestrian Discussion

[officedweller]

Thanks for posting - those bike lane marking are wierd at Hastings & Burrard. Odd that they moved it to the west side of Burrard (could be to line up with the lane at the Burrard Bridge end of the street for southbound cyclists I guess).
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The flag people make some sense because they'll also prevent a cyclist from crossing on the right turn signal (i.e. if they just see "green" and go, rather than waiting for their signal (the way that pedestrians often cross prematurely)).

[dleung]

those bike traffic lights are going to confuse the hell out of a lot of drivers... they're trying to make the city retard-proof and it's simply impossible to achieve...

Those planters also look very temporary... classic trial-and-error Vancouver planning I suppose...

[SpongeG]

global bc is running a story on the 11 pm news about the escalating bikes vs cars wars going on in the city as well as across the country...

[Millennium2002]

Aren't most of the bike lanes supposed to be "trials"? I think they're all mentioned as such... which might be leading to the cheaper landscaping.

Anyway... I think they did the bike lane on the wrong side of the road. Do it on the left side... everyone's more familiar with stopping at red lights when turning left... plus drivers have better view of oncoming cyclists... but in this arrangement they have to stop at the traffic light for RIGHT turns... which one rarely sees here in Vancouver.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by whatnext

$3 million well spent indeed.

So I guess the 1/1000th the price of the PMB/Gateway project for cars is too much to spend on bicycles?

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

global bc is running a story on the 11 pm news about the escalating bikes vs cars wars going on in the city as well as across the country...

I missed it. Anything interesting?

[mezzanine]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Thanks for posting - those bike lane marking are wierd at Hastings & Burrard. Odd that they moved it to the west side of Burrard (could be to line up with the lane at the Burrard Bridge end of the street for southbound cyclists I guess).

i guessing they did that to avoid the parking lot entrances at the daon building and the fairmont waterfront office building. That being said, it adds more inconvienice to cyclists - if it was on the east side of burrard, you could cycle without stopping from the north foot of hornby to burrard+cordova.

[Lee_Haber8]

If you guys get Bixi, cycling is going to takeoff. That's what's happened in Montreal.

[deasine]

Okay, that's it. Enough with the bike vs. car again. It always boils down to this whenever there's a discussion and that's going to end from today. If I see another post continuing that same argument, I'm going to suspend you automatically.

If you don't like what's being discussed here, simply don't post, and yes, I'm referring to you whatnext. Similarly, for all other bikers, if you don't like what is being discussed in some of the other road infrastructure threads, don't post.

[WaxItYourself]

Edited due to not reading the above post beforehand

[racc]

Thanks deasine. I deleted my response to whatsnext

[racc]

Originally Posted by dleung

those bike traffic lights are going to confuse the hell out of a lot of drivers... they're trying to make the city retard-proof and it's simply impossible to achieve...

Drivers and cyclists will learn quickly enough. Signalizing the right turns also makes it safer for peds and might even improve traffic flow especially at intersections with lots of peds, They have the flag people out there to help out.

When the first traffic lights appeared, I expect it took a bit of time to adapt as well.

Originally Posted by dleung

Those planters also look very temporary... classic trial-and-error Vancouver planning I suppose...

They are temporary. The reason why they used that design is because they are self watering. I believe water only has to be added every few weeks which cuts down on costs. Assuming the trial is successful, it would be reasonable to expect that as time goes by and opportunities such as street work and development take place, permanent green areas would be created and the planters can be used elsewhere.

[officedweller]

There's also a sign for cars that says no right turn on red, so that helps (i.e. it's not just a right turn traffic light with a red light).
I'm not sure if there's a sign for cyclists saying "delayed signal". That may help too.
(i.e. just like with pedestrians, if a cyclist starts to go (when they aren't supposed to) the car turning right will hesitate until the driver knows its clear, and that eats up time out of the 30 second right turn cycle meaning that instead of 4 or 5 cars, maybe 2 or 3 get through.)

[racc]

Some interesting research from Melbourne

Retail $ benefits from changing car parking to bike parking
http://colabradio.mit.edu/?p=7296

[deasine]

Originally Posted by officedweller

There's also a sign for cars that says no right turn on red, so that helps (i.e. it's not just a right turn traffic light with a red light).
I'm not sure if there's a sign for cyclists saying "delayed signal". That may help too.
(i.e. just like with pedestrians, if a cyclist starts to go (when they aren't supposed to) the car turning right will hesitate until the driver knows its clear, and that eats up time out of the 30 second right turn cycle meaning that instead of 4 or 5 cars, maybe 2 or 3 get through.)

No, there isn't any "delayed signal" sign, which would be a great idea actually. Technically, I don't think there is enough signage on Hornby, especially when where Hornby turns right onto Burrard... the path turns, but there's nothing to warn the cyclists about the sharp turns!

I'm glad they didn't start painting parts of the bike lane green. I really hate the shade of green they used for the Dunsmuir bikeway. If there is any colour that should be given, it should be red, as per original colour.

[Porfiry]

Originally Posted by deasine

I'm glad they didn't start painting parts of the bike lane green. I really hate the shade of green they used for the Dunsmuir bikeway. If there is any colour that should be given, it should be red, as per original colour.

I guess that's personal preference, I like the green. Red is so European, and would probably be less visible on those grey Vancouver days.

[racc]

Originally Posted by deasine

No, there isn't any "delayed signal" sign, which would be a great idea actually. Technically, I don't think there is enough signage on Hornby, especially when where Hornby turns right onto Burrard... the path turns, but there's nothing to warn the cyclists about the sharp turns!

I'm glad they didn't start painting parts of the bike lane green. I really hate the shade of green they used for the Dunsmuir bikeway. If there is any colour that should be given, it should be red, as per original colour.

The green is the recently approved Canadian standard. It stands out more especially over time.

[SFUVancouver]

^ Agreed. The red/maroon they used for the early bike boxes fades very quickly into the background when it is discoloured by dirt, water stains, and leaves. Plus I love how exuberant the green is.

[deasine]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

Plus I love how exuberant the green is.

That's exactly what I don't like about it. It's too bright XD

[twoNeurons]

Too bright? Too visible? I don't think that's a bad feature for a bike lane.

On a side note, I always thought red was the most visible color due to its longer wavelengths... though I don't know how well the paint actually stands up over time... hadn't thought about that. I'm referring mainly to red light.