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They've got a lot of ways of doing it in Amsterdam, Copenhagen and similar cities, but one way's being reproduced here in Melbourne in one street (from little things, big things grow, Paul Kelly told us).
Notice that the cyclists are physically separated from road traffic, and that the parked cars act as a barrier. Important also is the raised area between the car parking and the bike path - they call that the "car door swing zone" and the benefits are obvious to anyone who's ever cycled by parked cars.
And all without any research by the CSIRO:)
Check out the Copenhagen bike blog, Cyclelicious.
Nice idea - I always have the fear when I'm in the swing zone.
Paul Kelly has many wise things to say, but he can get stroppy at times - I saw him play at a pub in London once, and the one phrase which stuck in my mind forevermore was "I'm not a f***ing jukebox", when the crowd were yelling requests during the encore...
They don't make 'em like Paul Kelly anymore ... but what's this got to do with trams?
Kiashu used a Paul Kelly quote in the message I replied to - it was enough to launch me off into some random anecdote...
Ahhh yes ...
They don't make songwriters like Paul anymore.
This is great, really, it's the way all major roads in metro areas should have been built when we had the oil to do so. Or the cheap oil.
I live in an area where there was never even the money or foresight to put in SIDEWALKS. So if you want to walk, you have to get into the road with the cars. A lot of Ohio is like that.
Now imagine how much it would cost to put in sidewalks! Try to lobby some broke township or city to do this. When there's no money, there's no money.
Big improvements to infrastructure? Is that really possible now? I'd like to believe so myself, but it won't happen where I live--they can't even take care of the potholes. Only in the wealthiest countries....
Its not like America can't afford to fix potholes or build sidewalks (or footpaths, as we call them down here) - its just that it chooses to spend its money on other things.
Even with increased energy prices, there are large changes to the way you spend your federal budget that would enable sidewalk construction.
Assuming the country doesn't get driven completely bankrupt by the gang of crooks currently in charge of course.
Too late.
I think the latest group of crooks are just the cherry on the top of the triple scoop banana split.
The real fork in the two paths was in 1980. We had two visions, one of smiles and Morning in America and one of hard work and uncertain future. To misquote Robert Frost, "We took the easy way and it made all the difference." Can you imagine what we as country and as a world could have done with 28 years of careful leadership and actual investment? Instead we got the flying party in Chapter 21 of Life the Universe and Everything. I often wonder if it is a thin disguised description of America....
http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/tomsnyder/hg-3-21.html
Charles
:-)
What a great thought - I was too young when I read Douglas Adams to consider that he might be making a point about the politics of the day.
I loved the Flying Party idea - remember how towards the end it arms itself and start plundering neighbouring planets, in search of party liquids ?
And decimating the avocado farms on the world below.
The Hitchhikers Guide came out in 1978, during an era of fuel scarcity and critical examination of many of the periods institution. People were concerned about the Club of Rome's predictions of resource scarsity 1st world overconsumption. People were advocating Zero Population Growth because we expected that as the population of developing nations expanded, there would be proportionally more Rich and Middle Class using more resources. And there was the assumption that the third world would crawl out of poverty and start living an energy intensive standard of living.
So it doesn't surprise me that the image of a well armed, dangerous party, raiding the landscape and sucking down all the liquor was conceived in the 1970's. In many ways it describes the 1st world. Even the comments about the types of people that are at the party are spot on. Mean, but spot on.