Mode Share

 

"This chart highlights the popularity of different transportation types in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, calculated by modal share.

Data for this article and visualization is sourced from ‘The ABC of Mobility’, a research paper by Rafael Prieto-Curiel (Complexity Science Hub) and Juan P. Ospina (EAFIT University), accessed through ScienceDirect.

The authors gathered their modal share data through travel surveys, which focused on the primary mode of transportation a person employs for each weekday trip. Information from 800 cities across 61 countries was collected for this study."

from:

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/how-people-get-around-america-europe-asia/

Today's video

"In Tokyo 14 percent of all trips are done by bike, every single day. Yet Tokyo does not have the cycling infrastructure of an Amsterdam or even Hamburg, which is something most western minds believe to be a necessity for encouraging cycling. Not that wider cycling lanes wouldn't help boost the 14 percent mode share, but Japanese folks in Tokyo have shown they will cycle regardless. If there's no bike lane, they'll just hop on the sidewalk or wherever they feel safe."


The Gaman Spirit: Why Cycling Works in Tokyo from STREETFILMS on Vimeo.

Shared space on roads

"Some cities in Europe are undergoing a fascinating transformation: they’re getting rid of all of their road signs. That’s thanks to a design concept called “shared space,” where urban planners drastically lessen the presence of traffic lights, signs, and barriers, encouraging all forms of transportation to share the road."



"There’s evidence that drivers often totally ignore road signs, so the heightened risk forces commuters to remain on high alert as they pass through an intersection, in theory leading to safer travel. But by stripping cities of their traditional traffic control systems, they leave disabled residents in the dark — and that’s sparked a powerful debate of how to balance ease of movement with all residents’ needs. "

Urban space - with and without cars

from: https://stephenrees.wordpress.com/2017/05/13/smaller-lighter-greener-are-micro-evs-the-future-of-city-transport/

and:
http://i-sustain.com/30-2/

Bike & visibility at night

"As part of an ongoing commitment to safer cycling in New York, the Citi Bike program is installing an innovative new safety feature -- the Blaze Laserlight on 250 bikes in early 2017."

Citi Bike + Blaze from Citi Bike on Vimeo.

New study about bike shares

"Here's a remarkable fact: Not a single person has died using bike share in the United States."

"Bike sharing has seen explosive growth since 2007, with systems in at least 94 cities and more than 35 million trips taken. There have been some serious injuries, yes. But — knock on wood — we've seen zero US deaths from bike sharing so far1. Contrast this with the overall estimated cycling fatality rate of 21 deaths per 100 million trips."

from: http://www.vox.com/2016/4/3/11349856/bike-share-safety

Multi-Modal Success Story

"Perhaps one of the best transportation stories of 2016 comes from Vancouver, B.C. where they have achieved a 50% sustainable mode share (bike, walk, transit) a full four years earlier than goal (2020). 10% of all work commuters now rider bikes to work."

"Long traditionally a region that prides itself on transportation options and rejecting the freeway movement in the 1960's and 70's (still the only major city in North America that boasts no freeways within its core) what Vancouver has done is set an impressive goal to have at least two-thirds of all trips by sustainable ways by 2040."

Vancouver's Multi-Modal Success Story from STREETFILMS on Vimeo.

Cyclists creating change?

"Does cycling really contribute to gentrification? John Stehlin, a geographer at the University of California, Berkeley who has studied San Francisco’s cycling politics, says the relationship is complex. “Cycling feeds into wider urban changes, including gentrification, but it does not cause gentrification. A bicycle lane gets put on a street that is already undergoing change.”



"Among what urban theorist Richard Florida calls “the creative class”, the bicycle is a potent symbol of identity and status. And more bikes, it seems, means more well-paid knowledge economy jobs. “Cycling to work is positively associated with the share of creative class jobs and negatively associated with working-class jobs,” Florida wrote in 2011."

"City planners often “use cycling infrastructure as a way to facilitate development. So where gentrification goes cycling infrastructure follows, but that is a problem of planning, not cycling.”

from: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/oct/05/blame-bike-cycling-contribute-city-gentrification




Many cyclists are white and wealthy. But not all of them are. More info here:
https://urbanful.org/2014/11/17/do-bike-lanes-gentrify-neighborhoods/

Making cycling safer

Interesting idea:

"Cars barreling by him. SUVs passing within inches of his bike’s handlebars. Drivers jamming on the brakes and leaping from their vehicles to confront him. Daily commutes used to be tough for Warren Huska, who cycles 18 kilometres from his home near the Beaches to his office in North York almost every day. “People get really insulated inside a vehicle,” Huska said. “They don’t really know where the edges of their vehicle are.” 

"But, for the past year, drivers have given Huska a wider berth. Now, when he mounts his trusty two-wheeled steed, Huska is protected by a pool noodle. Strapped to his bike’s frame with bungee cords, the floppy foam cylinder is a reminder to drivers not to get too close."

from: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/10/18/cyclist-says-his-pool-noodle-makes-toronto-streets-safer-for-him.html