MaHü

Soon 2 districts in Vienna vote on the MaHü project.  This has created a lot of discussion and interest about public space and it's use, which I think is a really good thing. 

I have my opinion and I am interested in the discussion.  However when you engage with some activists who are opposing traffic calming you quickly realise they have no problem with making totally wild statements that have no references or basis on reality.


There is a very patient, well written and researched blog post here: http://blog.sektionacht.at/2014/02/zwoelf-mythen-zur-neugestaltung-der-mariahilfer-strasse/ (which I hope you will read and use for those bullshit bingo moments).

I try to keep an open mind but one side of the argument is frankly completely fucking nuts, and has more to do with political polarizing than anything I understand to be based on reality.

Picture from wikipedia showing the the apparently good old days when motor traffic was free to create traffic Jams (while looking for parking spaces), buses got delayed and the (very few) cyclists got doored, while pedestrians squeezed along crowded footpaths.

The vision that came out of the Dialogue Process that will be fully implemented if those crazy Greens are allowed to take away freedom and ruin Vienna.

Space for Cycling

The LCC's Space for Cycling Campaign I think is fantastic.  It deals head on with the real political issue that is important if cycling conditions are to improve and numbers enjoying cycling are to increase.  Space needs to be allocated to cycling so that proper infrastructure can be built.  The space is there but the political battle of who benefits from it needs to be won.

Here is my bike on the Prater Hauptallee in Vienna with my Space For Cycling Bike Plate.

The Cycling Embassy of Great Britain have produced a fantastic document that explains exactly the technical issue that needs to be addressed.  The Dutch System of Sustainable Safety and CROW based road design needs to be implemented.  They have managed to put everything I hoped this blog would communicate in one PDF file:

There is certainly enough frustration amongst London cyclists with their "Die-in Protests" and more widespread understanding of the solutions available thanks to the View From a Cycle Path and Bicycle Dutch Blogs amongst others.

Austria built an empire by compromise, marriage and diplomacy.  The Brits built one with aggression and violence.  Maybe I am a Brit in the wrong empire but I am very impressed and totally support this style of head on political and technical campaigning.  Compromise does not work in road design it results in an un-clear mess of function and usage that no amount of useless paint can fix.  Dealing with the issues head on has got to be more effective than continuing to gently encourage with marketing.

I will watch very closely in 2014 to see how the situation in my home country develops.

Beatrixgasse

Beatrixgasse is a 30kmph one way road with cycling allowed in both directions so it should be good for cycling. Most working days I ride along a bit of it and I absolutely hate it.  It is a great example of bad cycling infrastructure even if at first glance it looks perfect.

There is a problem and that is the quickest way to drive from A to B is not the 50kmph limit main multi-lane road (red line) due to number of traffic lights (red dots).  It is the 30 kmph Beatrixgasse.  Drivers know this and use this shortcut as a Rat Run.

If you are trying to drive from A to B as quickly as possible the last thing you want is a bloody cyclist in the way.  Cycling fast here helps to reduce this conflict but this is not so easy up hill.  Most drivers squeeze past carefully but some squeeze past even if there are obstacles caused by long parked vehicles or cyclists speeding down the hill in the other direction. 

There is a very nasty pinch point going into the road as cyclists merge with cars who started from the same red light, which results in a lot of blind overtakes. I am sure it is just a matter of time before I or someone else gets caught in this trap and has a 60kmph impact head on collision with a car.


Yes drivers should be patient and not make cyclists feel uncomfortable or endangered.  However they are taking a short cut and want to get though as fast as possible.  Asking them to be patient is asking them to ignore their current priorities and objectives.  Behavior based solutions will not work no matter how much useless paint you put on the road.

The Function of the road is clearly not clear and it is conflicting.

What would the Dutch do?  I believe they would stop the Rat Running.  This can be done very easily using the one way system like this.

This allows residents or people to access everywhere but stops the road being a short cut for motor traffic.  This would cause a slight inconvenience for some residents that need a longer distance to access their property but in return they have a very very low traffic road to live on.

Dutch Sustainable Safety aims to reduce conflict with clear road function.  Access roads are not also Through Roads.  Conflict of function leads to conflict of design and use and that creates conflict between the users.  This in turn leads to unpleasant danger as different needs are "negotiated".  I have had more than enough of "negotiating" with drivers here...

Ignore the problem and blame the users.

Vienna has spent huge amounts of money renovating it's train stations. Wien Mitte is a central train station with a new shopping Mall so it is a very important destination as well as a transport hub. Even before it opened bikes got locked to scaffolding and sign posts as there was no where else to leave your bike.  It was a mess but you have to make a mess to build something better.  However once opened the additional bike parking provided was pathetic.  So understandably creative bike parking continued.  Reluctantly the city provided more bike parking but this too filled up instantly and the creative bike parking continued.

There are problems with the creative bike parking that are really well communicated in this video by Wolfgang Kremser:



Wolfgang has a very good point and we should all consider his perspective when we park our bikes. 

BUT

There is a chronic shortage of bike parking due to what can only be called a planning cock up.  Lets fix this problem, and not blame the cyclists for creative solutions to someone else's mistake.  Unfortunately the issue is being hijacked to force number plates on cyclists as part of an ongoing hate campaign!

http://tvthek.orf.at/programs/1339-Buergeranwalt/episodes/7039885-Buergeranwalt/7040017-Kennzeichen-fuer-Drahtesel

I will not even bother to answer why this is pathetic because the idea is not worth any time.

I went to the Wien Mitte this weekend a few times after the TV program aired and there was always a different bike locked to this very post.  So the TV program had zero effect on behaviour apart from to help fuel anti-cyclists hate politics.

How can the most basic planning cock up be allowed to turn into a debate about user behaviour?  If I was blind I would be furious that I had to put up with this crap.  There is no solution to the problem yet, and there will be no solution to the problem until we stop these pathetic hate political arguments about the behaviour of minority groups and find good technical planning solutions to the problem that has been created due to planning incompetence.

UPDATE 4.11.2013 from WIEN MITTE The Mall:
"Dear Doug, currently Stadt Wien is reconstructing Gigergasse. There will be more bike stands, as soon as their work is finished. We assume that it'll last till the beginning of the new year."

Fantastic.  This will hopefully be a real solution.  Thanks Wien Mitte Shopping Mall.

Dual Network.

The London Cycling Campaign had what I think could be a ground breaking AGM. If think Motion 3 (When do we need protected space for cycling?) and 5 (Uniformity of cycling provision and suitability for all-ability groups) are critical to future successful campaigning. They define numerically (not subjectively) when to mix and when to separate. They also end the failing dual network approach to cycling infrastructure.

Vienna to my dismay and disbelief appears to be going backwards.

Is this really Modern cycle planning and freedom of choice or is this total and utter crap?

In Vienna as in every city there is limited space so we have to be very efficient with it. A dual solution takes up a lot of space so it is the opposite of what we should define as a good space use strategy.

In Vienna we have very very poor junction design with very unclear rights of way. The junctions that have a dual solution will be much more complex, confusing, have longer waiting times and lead to much more conflict as cyclists use a combination of the 2 sets of infrastructure to find their path of least resistance.

There is not a city in the world that has made a dual network approach to cycling infrastructure work and there are many many examples of where this approach has failed and lead to compromise that is not good for any type of cyclist.

This might not be the worst bit of cycling infrastructure in Vienna but it is not a template for a modern pleasant cycling city.  It is total and utter crap designed by selfish arrogant cyclists who think they belong on the road because they are advanced and beginners should train on the footpath until they are confident enough to graduate to the road like them. If you guys are reading this Fuck you.

An inspiring film and presentation.

I get very frustrated when I seem to make no progress communicating what I consider to be the blatantly obvious. Luckily there are people out there that are much better at this, so if you have time please listen to them.

Street films produced a fantastic film about Groningen that explains how they facilitate cycling with traffic planning and infrastructure.

The Movement for Liveable London has some great presentations on their website. This presentation is an inspirational incite into Sustrans DIY Streets, which allows communities to develop affordable solutions to make their streets safer and more attractive places to live.

What should you do here?

So you are riding along on your bike in VeloCity 2013 and you approach this with a motor vehicle approaching fast from behind.  What do you do?

Here are some helpful tips to consider before you make a split second decision.

It is illegal to ride up the curb on to the footpath.
If you continue over the bridge and get rammed from behind it is your fault.
If you leave the cycle lane early to take the lane you have a developed good coping strategy so lets hope the driver has not developed a good contra-strategy.
If you get hit by a motor vehicle it will hurt you more than its driver.
You are totally reliant on the good will of the driver who will have to slow from 50 plus to 20 kmph and be stuck behind you as a reward for their behaviour.
If you stop and wait for the road to clear you loose all your hard earned momentum as a reward for your behaviour.


So what is the correct answer?

Well the most aggressive road user will win here and the other will be punished for backing down. So get a big aggressive motor vehicle and drive it fast and you will be fine.

In next weeks quiz we will be asking: how do we get a better "miteinander culture" to develop on Vienna's roads, and how do we get Austrian drivers to be as considerate toward cyclists as the Dutch?  Is it

A: Culture (whatever that means),
B: Fight the Nazis,
C: Reduction of engineered conflict that rewards aggressive behaviour, or
D: Some other load of made up random bullshit that explains why the Dutch are different and therefore we can not copy them?

Please send your made up random bullshit to roadrage@velocity2013.at and you may win a special prise of  useless paint.