PEDAL UPDATE No. 210 June – August 2013 ISSN 13211870 http://www.bisa.asn.au

Hyderabad, India photo by Tim Marriage

THE GREENWAYS PROJECT LOBBYING MESSAGE

Edward@bikeadelaide

I had the pleasure recently of attending the Bicycle Institute's annual general

meeting. It is something I would recommend to others. Not only did it provide

the opportunity to meet some of the regular names you see dotted around the

place and put faces to those names, but it was also an opportunity to meet

Colin Maher from the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure.

A quick Google search of Colin reveals that he worked for Tri-Met in Portland

for some years before taking up the position of Senior Planner in the Office for

Cycling and Walking. As we all know, certainly by English-speaking standards,

Portland is a bit of a success story when it comes to getting people to use al-

ternatives to the car. Although it is a few years old now, there is a good video

on Streetfilms that discusses the various measures the city has taken over the

years (1).

Colin gave a presentation about the State Government's Greenway policy (2).

As the literature says, Greenways are quiet walking and cycling routes that go

along public transport corridors and along rivers. The first and most well

known is the Linear Park trail between Modbury and Henley Beach. Further

routes are planned along the railway lines and waterways such as the Sturt

River and Little Para River.

Currently under construction is the Marino Rocks Greenway that follows the

railway line between Marino Rocks and the city.

It could be said that these are our version of the long distance higher speed

routes that are slowly being introduced cross Copenhagen (3). They were in-

troduced as a compliment to the existing grid of separated paths along main

roads. In time, I would hope that we could say the same about our Greenways.

I am sure that will come.

2

What is interesting is that based on DPTI's figures, these work, and are an illus-

tration of the "if you build it they will come" rule. The first completed Green-

way is the Mike Turtur bikeway that follows the tramline from Glenelg into the

city. Since its completion, traffic has enjoyed an average growth of 16.2% (per

year as I understand it). And importantly it has not coincided with a corre-

sponding drop in traffic on any parallel route. The bicycle traffic on Anzac

Highway has not changed. In other words, it was built and they did come.

The most interesting part of Colin's talk was hearing about how he juggles the

needs and wants of different stakeholders. In order to be able to provide a

complete route, it is necessary for parts of the Greenway to be on the road.

For example, just before crossing Marion Road, the Marino Rocks Greenway

travels through side streets that have been blocked off to through motor traf-

fic. They are clearly defined as part of the Greenway route by large bicycle

stencils. Those roads are council administered roads and local ratepayers are

entitled to their say about them.

The same applies to the end of the Mike Turtur bikeway. It ends at the model

railway shop on King William Road (Orient Express) and cyclists travelling into

the city are then required to join traffic on King William Street. For some of the

way, there are painted bike lanes but as we all know, they provide only limited

protection.

DPTI are on to that and one of the potential plans is a buffered bike lane - pro-

tected either by parked cars or a painted island (or ideally from my point of

view a physical barrier). That in turn requires negotiation with Adelaide City

Council and local ratepayers and businesses.

It was quite eye-opening to me hearing Colin talk about how a few loud and

vocal voices can change a plan. For example, in some council areas, speed

bumps have been installed. You might think it would not be unreasonable for a

local council to slow down traffic a bit in residential areas and perhaps to di-

vert through traffic on to main roads. After all, it is not car registration that

pays for maintenance on council roads, it is the local residents' rates that pay

for it. 3

To his surprise, Colin has heard complaints about noise after the installation of

speed bumps - apparently something to do with harsh acceleration between

each bump. Gouge marks are another popular complaint.

The message that came through is that if you support these types of changes,

your voice is as valuable as the naysayers. A local resident may complain that a

road being blocked adds one and a half minutes to their trip to Woolworths - a

valid complaint - but that must be balanced against the voices of cyclists, pe-

destrians, schoolchildren and so on who say they welcome the change because

it makes their journey that little bit safer.

It is abundantly clear that Colin and the rest of DPTI value feedback. They have

a limited budget and wish to use it wisely. Take the time to provide it when-

ever you can. Your voice makes a real difference to these things and as a con-

sequence you have a say in the future direction of your city. That is the mes-

sage I got.

Keep on biking!

Oh, and if any BISA member is interested in the Greenways project and how it

might expand to something resembling the Copenhagen version, I would invite

you to revive the conversation on Adelaide Cyclists about potential Greenways

routes (4).

(1). http://www.streetfilms.org/portland-celebrating-americas-most-livable-city/

(2).http://www.infrastructure.sa.gov.au/infrastructure_projects/greenways_project

(3). http://www.cykelsuperstier.dk/concept

(4). http://www.adelaidecyclists.com/forum/topics/greenways-routes

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THE BICYCLE INSTITUTE QUIZ NIGHT

????? Friday 13th September ?????

Forget bad luck (it may never happen), forget about the Federal election (if

only), come along and test your (bicycle) knowledge. Arrive from 6.30pm for

7pm start. Tables of (up to) 8 people. All sorts of surprises and prizes in store.

BYO nibbles and drink. $15 per person, $10 concession. Look out for an up-

coming flyer with more details, including how to book your seat/table.

It’s at the Plympton Community Centre, 34 Long Street Plympton, home of the

Bicycle Workshop (if you’re doing poorly at the quiz, give your bike some love!)

TWEED RIDE ADELAIDE 2013

You are most cordially invited to take a ride back in time dressed in your finest tweed, riding on your finest steed. Pull your oldie out of the shed, dust off the cobwebs, oil your chain, dress your best, twirl those moustaches, pack your cucumber sandwiches and come to celebrate the love for tweed and the vintage bicycle. Photos by Peter Hill, 2012

This event is open to anybody and every- body who likes to dress up and have fun on a bicycle. We ride at a slow pace, so bring your family to explore wonderful historic Adelaide, stopping along the way for pho-tographs, picnic and games. The ride will finish at the Wheatsheaf Hotel, to sample some fine ale. Meet at the Adelaide Town Hall, Sunday July 28th 12pm, leaving at 1pm. 5

JOINING THE BICYCLE INSTITUTE COMMITTEE

Fay Patterson ...

Fay Patterson came late to cycling as a cyclist but early to cycling as a profes-

sional.

Growing up on Mt Nelson (Hobart), Fay learnt to ride a bike at the age of 19.

While still wobbly, she joined a group of friends on a trip to Cairns and the first

mountain bike World Cup held in Australia – where Hans “No Way” Rey dem-

onstrated his skills and a young local called Cadel Evans did well. She and a

friend then toured and bussed back down the east coast to Melbourne, then

home, where her sister was on her way to becoming a competitive force as a

mountain biker.

Graduating from engineering into the recession Australia ‘had to have’, Fay be-

came the Bicycle Development Officer for Tasmania, which included represent-

ing the state on the (then) National Bicycle Committee. A planned trip to

Europe was amended to include a side-trip to the 1997 Velo-City conference in

Barcelona – a valuable experience for someone new to the field.

Joining Adelaide City Council as its Pedestrian and Bicycle Planner in 1999, Fay

added walking to her scope. In 2002, she moved into consulting with QED and

projects such as designing the signalised crossings for the Mike Turtur Bike-

way. Fay and husband Ian moved to Wollongong in 2005 to open an office for

QED (after cycling from Brisbane to Melbourne on a tandem), preparing nu-

merous walking and cycling plans for NSW councils. A European holiday in

2007 included the Velo-City conference in Berlin and cycling from Berlin to

London, which was hosting the prologue of the Tour de France (as well as Ian

and Fay’s first grandson). Fay and Ian returned to Adelaide from NSW in early

2008.

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A 2010 trip through Germany and Holland took the form of a study tour of cy-

cling infrastructure and demonstration projects in shared spaces, finishing in

Denmark for the Velo-Global conference in Copenhagen.

Fay is a long-time supporter of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Transport Institute

of Australasia, preparing a PedBikeTrans e-news digest on and off for years,

and has been involved in organising the Australian Cycling Conference series

since its inception. Her paper Cycling and Roundabouts: an Australian Perspec-

tive led to a change in the Austroads guidelines and a subsequent research

project. In 2012, Fay organised Adelaide’s successful Bike Art Adelaide festi-

val. She is a principal of Hub Traffic and Transport and writes fiction under the

pen name Fay Lee.

... and Ian Radbone

Ian learnt to ride on a woman's 28 inch step-through bike 50 years ago. (He

was too small for a man's bike.) Most of the time since then he's been riding

on a daily basis, but on a different bike.

In the last ten years he's taken up cycling on a professional basis -- if that in-

cludes cycle planning as a consultant and then when working for Adelaide City

Council.

This started in 2003 with a review of cycling expenditure for the South Austra-

lian Government and a review of cycling's best practice for the Adelaide City

Council. Fay's bio covers what's been done since.

While Ian has always loved riding a bike, his passion now is for wonderful

places to live in and how cycling can contribute to this.

Returning members to the Bicycle Institute of SA committee are:

Jeremy Miller (chair), Katie Gilfillan (vice chair), Stephen Janes (treasurer), Nick

Thomas (secretary), Angus Kingston, Alan Sanderson, Bonnie Dowling, Brian

Jenkins.

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A RIDE IN INDIA … AND A RIDE IN OMAN

Tim Marriage

In January I travelled to Hyderabad, India, on business. I’ve got an ambition to

travel to more countries than my age so I thought I’d take this opportunity to

bag a couple more. I found it was just as cheap to fly via Dubai and as such

UAE and Oman would be achievable in the time I had. In India I was thinking it

would be good to relive my cycle touring days on the subcontinent 20 years

earlier. In my suitcase I had room for either my kids or my Dahon folding bike :

or

I chose wisely and before I knew it, I was riding around Hyderabad. Hyderabad

is a city in the south of India, 700 kms southeast of Mumbai. It has a population

of around seven million (almost twice Sydney’s) and it’s also the sister city to

Brisbane.

I arrived in Hyderabad on the weekend. It wasn’t long before I ventured out to

ride around the signature Hussain Sagar lake, and on to the outskirts of town

to circumnavigate the 10km of crumbling city walls of the 13th century

Golkonda Fort.

It makes you appreciate old when

construction began around 945 AD. It’s a

great example of Mongol architecture. It

was the seat of the Kingdom of Golkonda

between 1518 and 1687.

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Heading back to the centre of Hyderabad, chasing tuk tuks through the insane

traffic to Charminar, “The East’s Arc de Triomphe”, where you get a great view

of the local architecture and the insane traffic.

I looked up the local cycling club and went out for their morning ride. Two laps

round the lake on a Wednesday morning. The lake at dawn was wonderful.

After the ride the club riders discussed their last monthly ride 100km out to

the ‘forest’. They lamented that last time a group of sixteen of them rode out

there, 7 contracted Malaria. I didn’t elect to go. Of course, the real reason I

was in India was for work. That went well, and before I knew it I was on the

overnight flight to Dubai.

Arriving at dawn, my early start didn’t quite go as smoothly as I had hoped. I

was held up for two hours in the UAE immigration queue while the arrogant

officials were taking their time to process visitors. Getting my passport

stamped, I dumped the suitcase with my work stuff in ‘left luggage’ and

headed off into town to find the bus to the end of the suburban line, Ram El

Shaed.

Once at the Ram el Shaed, it was time to ride - but it turned out to be more

challenging than I thought. I had planned to perhaps catch a taxi to the

border, but none were immediately evident. My GPS maps didn’t load and I

made wrong turns and miscalculations. Before I knew it I had spent more

precious time before I found myself on the right highway and still had 40km to

go to the border. I wanted to be at my destination of Khasab (dubbed the

Norway of Arabia as it is surrounded by ‘fiords’) by dusk, another 45km from

the border. It was Friday (the Sabbath), raining and with 40km winds. I was

riding a folding bike with jeans (shorts are offensive) and sandals. Nothing for

it but to put my head down and tail up through the not very inspiring highway

to the border.

Once I crossed the border into Oman, the scenery changed. It was much drier

with sparse vegetation. I found it a magical sight looking across the Persian

Gulf to Iran. Ominous signs were posted saying “take extra water” and “check

your engine doesn’t overheat”.

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Riding for 15km I stopped to get money and noticed my front tyre was getting

a bit soft. I had a spare tube, and a new compact pump, but when I’d tried to

reinflate it before, it’d let out more air than I put in. I decided not to risk

pumping it up any more and pushed on. By the late afternoon I was getting

nervous. Darkness was falling, I had another 30km to go and the wind was still

against me. While the scenery was spectacular, with superbly maintained

roads, low traffic and mainly hugging the coast, some tough hills were ahead.

I made it to Khasab, tired and relieved, as the last light disappeared and settled

into my hotel. I had a great night’s sleep then after a hearty breakfast, I was

ready to face the world. The front tyre was still an issue. I tried to pump it up

but snapped the valve stem off when I tried to inflate it with my new canister

assisted compact pump. Resorting to my spare, I installed it carefully making

sure I didn’t pinch it and pumped it up. The original stem was still stuck in the

pump. I thought while I couldn’t open it up to retrieve it, it wouldn't be a

problem. But when I pulled it off, I bent the stem of the spare and all the air

escaped. Cursing and resigning to myself that my cycle touring was over and I’d

be employing a local driver to take me to the border, I had one more try, and

with the store of luck I’d stashed away, the stem bent back straight without

breaking. I carefully pumped it up as much as I dared to what must have only

been about 40 psi.

I thought about my options. Would it be foolhardy to go out into the desert

with a leaky front tyre and without a spare? Absolutely. Becoming stranded in

a desert in Oman wouldn’t please my family, or work who expected me back

on Monday. There were still some unanswered questions regarding the UAE

re-entry visa too for which I couldn’t get a straight answer from the

authorities. What was I to do? The friendly hotel staff pointed me in the

direction of Khasab’s finest bike shop to see if there might be any other

options.

The shop didn’t have the widest selection, but I purchased a BMX type tyre

with a woods valve. I knew this wouldn’t really work, but as a spare it offered

me some security and it brought me a slender piece of hope. With a deep

breath I set off. I figured I hadn’t come all this way not to ride so I would go as

far as I could and then ride on the rim if I had to. 10

The weather that day was sensational and, again, the scenery was just

stunning.

The front tyre was definitely softening so I didn’t risk stopping. By day’s end I’d

made it to the border and thankfully through immigration without too much

fuss. Continuing on to make my bus trip and my flight, before the tyre went

down, I didn’t dare stop. All the time I was resting all my weight on the back

tyre, feeling my way round corners on the 1-in-10 hills I’d struggled up the

previous day. I was hoping the tyre didn’t roll off the rim, and waiting for the

inevitable pinch flat. In the end I managed to ride 90km including wrong turns

back to Ram el Shalam without it happening.

Back in Dubai, I rode out of the bus station and to the airport and locked my

trusty steed to a guardrail. I was sore, sweaty and windswept, but immensely

proud of the things that could have gone wrong but didn’t. Proud of the

achievements of riding a folding bike with a flat tyre up great hills, getting

through a dubious border crossing and slogging along a lonesome highway. I

showered and caught the metro into the glitzy malls while I waited for my early

morning flight, happy in the knowledge that another couple of countries were

in the bag.

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RIDE AND TELL - IT’S READY TO ROLL!

A quarterly update on completed new cycle infrastructure and initiatives

introduced to promote cycling. Not what will be done, not what is planned, but

what has been done!! Why?

- To celebrate the positive steps taken by State and Local Government to

support cycling

- To keep you up to date on improvements that may make your ride more

enjoyable

- To ask for your feedback on how it works for you as a cyclist and improve

our collective knowledge of what works, where, when and how in South

Australia.

- To start to identify trends such as - How are infrastructure improvements

spread spatially in South Australia? What trip types are gaining the most

support? What is missing?

So please Ride it and Tell us what you thought via email at katie@bisa.asn.au

Feedback

In the last PU we detailed improvements made by Unley Council to the Rugby

/Porter St cycle route. Thank you to Paul who wrote to us with his feedback:

“The recent Pedal Update says on p.11 that 'a number of intersections' on

Rugby St have been realigned to favour North South traffic. I've just ridden that

road and I have to say that whether Stop and Give Way signs favour North

South or East West is pretty random, with East West coming out in front. Pity,

because this could be a good commuter route, and better than the scary Unley

Rd. Favouring North South should mean a Stop sign at each intersection. Car

drivers don't believe Give Way means they have to actually give way to a mere

cyclist, as one demonstrated to me today.”

We appreciate Paul’s feedback and are working to pass on the suggestions to

Unley Council. We will continue to lobby for improvements to the route.

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I also rode Porter Street for the first time a few weeks ago when I was looking

for a safe way to the South from the North/East in the pouring rain at around

6pm at night. It was wet and dark and, yes, I was feeling pretty miserable.

Before I arrived at Porter St, I had been meandering along local streets,

secondary roads, and crossing busy arterial roads with some time on Greenhill

Rd (this was so bad I resorted to the footpath). My experience at this stage was

that barely adequate cycle infrastructure in good weather became seriously

dangerous and impossible infrastructure in bad weather. So I was interested to

see how I would find the Porter St route from Greenhill Rd to Cross Rd. To sum

up this part of my trip I felt comforted. As I rode along, regular bike signage

told me where to go, clear even in the dark. The road had few cars because the

route was closed in places to through car traffic, with bikes and walkers

allowed access. The cars also seemed less intimidating. Maybe this was

because of the 40km speed limit, or because the drivers were ‘trained’ to look

for me on a bike and seemed to do so, although this differs from Paul’s

experience. It may sound crazy but all of these things made me feel important;

as though I mattered as a cyclist. And it made me feel safe even in poor

weather conditions.

Writing of my experience is not to take away from Paul’s feedback. The easy

steps have been taken. More difficult decisions are required to make the route

an excellent stress-free cycle way. The placement of bike signage on the road

in parking spaces is also highly inadequate and needs to be addressed. I mostly

wanted to convey the difference some cycle specific on-route planning made

to my trip. It influenced my perceived and actual safety, it increased my self-

esteem as a cyclist in a motor dominated transport system, and it appeared to

alter the driving behavior of motorists. Hopefully the improvements this

quarter do the same and there are some exciting ones!!! Please let us know.

Bicycle parking

Secure bike cages, linked to the new Metrocard, have been installed at Gawler,

Munno Para and Elizabeth train stations. For access visit an Adelaide Metro

Info Centre and pay a $10 annual fee.

On street bicycle parking nodes on Pirie St and Rundle St.

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Bicycle route improvements

Green bike lanes at intersections on Torrens Rd between Churchill Rd and

Fitzroy Tce at crash locations involving vehicles turning left.

Bike lanes (1.5 metres wide) on Port Rd between West Tce and Park Tce with a

painted 0.5m buffer or 0.2m yellow raised buffer where space is limited.

Bike lanes on Main North Rd from Nottage Tce to Edgeworth St (to operate

during extended peak hours 7-10am and 3-7pm). Width unknown.

Improvements to the cycle route along Pirie St between King William St and

Pulteney St including:

Reallocated road space to create a ‘buffer’ spaced between parked cars

and the bike lane

Green bike lanes and 3 bike boxes

Bike lantern at Pulteney St intersection. When the bike signal lantern is

green, cyclists can proceed from the bike box to turn left, go straight or

turn right. When the traffic signal is green, cyclists proceed through the

intersection as normal.

Median refuge crossings at the following intersections (DPTI):

Porter St / Greenhilll Rd*

Braund Rd / Fitzroy Tce*

Dequetteville Tce / Angas St and William St / Angas St / Fullarton Rd

Beaumont St / Birkin Rd / Greenhill Rd

The median refuge crossings are an initial step in upgrading low-traffic

BikeDirect routes to create Bike Boulevards. The first two crossings (*) link to

new paths built by Adelaide City Council (the rest link to existing paths).

West Tce median refuge crossing at the West Tce/Franklin St intersection to

assist bikes onto the West Tce shared use path.

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Education and marketing campaigns

Adelaide City Council has released an educational leaflet on bike box etiquette

and bike signal lanterns (see back page). It is important both cyclists and

motorists know how they work. To view in full, visit:

http://www.smartmoveadelaide.com.au/assets/sma/Bike_Box_Etiquette_+_bi

ke_signal_lanterns_20-5-13.pdf

Thanks to our sponsors ...

Pedal Update is a newsletter of the Bicycle Institute of South Australia Inc., published four times per year. The Bicycle Institute is incorporated in South Australia. Material published in Pedal Update is copyright unless otherwise stated. Articles and graphics may be copied and republished by non-profit or-ganisations, provided the author and Pedal Update are given credit. Opinions published in Pedal Update are not necessarily those of the Bicycle Institute.

We are always looking for contributions. Send any stories, ideas or feedback to the editor@bisa.asn.au 15

These diagrams and the

information are contained in the

leaflet produced by Adelaide City

Council titled:

Smart Move = Bike Box Etiquette

and Bike Signal Lanterns

HOW TO USE A BIKE BOX

Cyclists: When the traffic signal is red,

enter the bike box from the approaching

bike lane. Cyclists must stop behind the

white stop line. When in the bike box,

cyclists wanting to turn left or go straight

on must keep to the left of the bike box.

Cylists wanting to turn right must keep to

the right of the bike box.

Some intersections have a bike signal lantern provided. When the bike signal

lantern is green cyclists can proceed to turn left, go straight on or turn right.

Where no bike signal lantern is provided, cyclists must follow the traffic signals.

When the traffic signal is green, proceed through the intersection as normal.

Cyclists please be aware of motorists behind you making turning manoeuvres.

Motorists: When the traffic signal is red, motorists must stop behind the white

line behind the bike box. Don’t stop on top of the bike box. Keep it clear for

cyclists to use. When the traffic signal turns green, motorists and cyclists may

move through the intersection as usual, with cyclists going first. Motorists

please be aware and watch for cyclists in front of you.

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