tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153985804832811048.post6804264373240956043..comments2024-03-29T03:50:00.893-04:00Comments on Urban kchoze: Where should bikes go?simval84http://www.blogger.com/profile/10615053214354191224noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153985804832811048.post-15431030783275046592015-06-26T08:03:54.963-04:002015-06-26T08:03:54.963-04:00@Jeffrey -- Indeed, bicycles are much more popular...@Jeffrey -- Indeed, bicycles are much more popular in slightly less dense (though still very dense by American standards) areas of Tokyo and its suburbs than in the very crowded commercial areas of central Tokyo.<br /><br />Bikes on trains are a complete non-starter, as it would <i>significantly</i> reduce capacity and increase boarding times. Because of the general layout of Tokyo it's not really necessary anyway, as almost all commercial destinations are within easy walking distance of a train station.<br /><br />People use bikes for local trips around their home area, or as a means for getting to the train station. In the latter case, they park their bike there.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12341201158832109978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153985804832811048.post-24598159236025118682014-06-13T22:41:13.715-04:002014-06-13T22:41:13.715-04:00There are some troubles with bike parking overspil...There are some troubles with bike parking overspill in Japan, but it's mainly that people park their bikes where they bother people walking by or shopping, it's not really a lack of space as most Japanese are content to let their 150$ mamacharis unlocked to racks, simply with wheel locks. They do add parking space where needed, over there, I found:<br /><br />-Self-locking racks in front of supermarkets in Tokyo, free for 2 hours, then 100 yen (1$) per hour after that<br /><br />-Shopping malls on the outskirts of Sapporo with hundreds of bicycles parked right near the entrance of it, in a large place set aside for them<br /><br />-A 3-story bicycle parking garage near a train station in Chigasaki, a suburb of Tokyo, which could lead to bike mode share being underestimated as people coming by bike to the train station and then taking the train may be counted in surveys as doing a "rail" trip, when in fact it was multi-modal bike-rail.<br /><br />I've taken pictures, but not posted them yet, I think I will do so now, a general article on biking in Japan. Keep an eye out on the blog.simval84https://www.blogger.com/profile/10615053214354191224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153985804832811048.post-76171673854916142732014-06-13T22:11:16.894-04:002014-06-13T22:11:16.894-04:00Fair enough. It's certainly evident that Japa...Fair enough. It's certainly evident that Japan and Asia in general have done well sticking with their "traditional cities" format that leads to exceptional walkability. Even Latin America seems to do this at least to some extent. Europe shows very clear demarcations between their medieval city centers and a more "hypertrophic" industrial-age development pattern surrounding them. At least they never went as crazy with it or let it devolve a disconnected suburban typology to the extent we did on this side of the pond. <br /><br />I suspect that the walkability of Japan coupled with its crushingly overcrowded train systems actually hurts their bike mode share. Bikes don't lend themselves well to busy pedestrian-dominated streets, and if it's easy enough to walk then why bother? In many European countries they go to great lengths to provide bike parking and to allow room for bikes on trains. That's much more difficult in a place like Japan where there's so much less room. Jeffrey Jakucykhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04092631645389171565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153985804832811048.post-79434999219218212832014-06-13T14:09:47.271-04:002014-06-13T14:09:47.271-04:00I've never been to Denmark or Holland though I...I've never been to Denmark or Holland though I've certainly read about them and explored them on Google Maps. It is certainly a very sophisticated approach of bike segregation, a model for activists and planners in North America.<br /><br />But I don't think they are a separate approach, the three ones I see could be essentially:<br />Bikes share the space of cars<br />Bikes share the space of pedestrians<br />Bikes deserve their own space<br /><br />The Dutch and Danish approaches are described much better elsewhere. This article of mine meant primarily to describe the Japanese approach as I saw it on my most recent trip there, which is an approach that is not common at all, or even considered, in North America and even on urbanist websites, where only bike segregation and vehicular cycling tend to be discussed.<br /><br />As to mode share, the data I've seen shows that bike mode share in Japan can get up to 20-25% in certain cities, but walking itself tends to get another 15-25% share of transport. Which I think may say something about how Japanese cities are denser and more walking friendly than Dutch or Danish cities, which tend to be dense compared to American cities, but aren't all that dense, with plenty of green buffer zones and more segregated uses.simval84https://www.blogger.com/profile/10615053214354191224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153985804832811048.post-65693864890803600932014-06-13T13:41:35.712-04:002014-06-13T13:41:35.712-04:00In terms of kilometer of street, of course the nar...In terms of kilometer of street, of course the narrow, no sidewalk, streets dominate, as there are a lot more of them, just like most streets in North America would be the relatively narrow residential street, not the wide highway. Well, at least in Tokyo and other old cities, Japan has very recent cities I'm planning to write about soon.<br /><br />On street parking is effectively very rare, and travel lanes are narrower even on arterials, I'd say about 3 meters wide (10 feet) on average, without any shoulder. So there's not a whole lot of space for cyclists to bike on the street, but a few cyclists still do it, they are rare however. I've seen a couple of lycra-wearing, road bike-riding cyclists, and they were on the street, not on the sidewalk.<br /><br />Japanese drivers tend to be very mindful of pedestrians and cyclists and not aggressive like North American drivers, still, there's not much space for vehicular cycling due to the lack of shoulder and narrow streets. And most Japanese bikes are not built for speed but for comfort and utility. Japanese cyclists will sometimes bike on the street if there is little traffic and the sidewalks are narrower than usual, or if the pedestrian lights at intersections are too long (cyclists on the sidewalk respect the pedestrian signals at intersections, cyclists on the street respect the traffic lights for cars instead).simval84https://www.blogger.com/profile/10615053214354191224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153985804832811048.post-76150747853213979012014-06-13T13:30:31.281-04:002014-06-13T13:30:31.281-04:00Any comment on the more sophisticated Dutch and Da...Any comment on the more sophisticated Dutch and Danish approaches for cycle tracks which fall between your descriptions of segregated cycling and pedestrian cycling? In technical terms it's segregated cycling, but rather than painted "bike lanes" which are something of a stopgap, they're neither "of the street" or "of the sidewalk" but a third "of their own" network.<br /><br />In this case there's two sets of curbs, one between the street and the cycle track, and another between the cycle track and the sidewalk. So it's a bit of a stair-stepped cross section, but with fairly small changes in elevation kind of like you see in Japan. Street trees, if present, exist as bump-outs into the parking lane, as do bus stops, while signs and parking meters and lamp posts are most often near the curb on the sidewalk, keeping the cycle track clear.<br /><br />With the highest bike mode share of the western world, they seem to know what they're doing. Here's a good example of the Dutch approach, which is arguably more sophisticated and successful than the Danish approach, though it's more a case of the details (especially at intersections) than anything: http://goo.gl/maps/Vb5LW Either way we're a good 40 years behind on best practices here in North America, but sadly we seem unwilling to learn from these other countries. Jeffrey Jakucykhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04092631645389171565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153985804832811048.post-78259146990495686752014-06-13T12:31:46.742-04:002014-06-13T12:31:46.742-04:00On newworldeconomics, it says that 85% of street-k...On newworldeconomics, it says that 85% of street-kilometers in Japanese cities are the single lane, no sidewalk type. Also it says that thinner lanes and no on-street parking is usual on the multi-lane arterials. Is that your experience, simval84?<br /><br />I also wonder if there are any cyclists acting like vehicular cyclists on the smaller arterials. Most of your photos are 3+ lanes in each direction, but Google Earth shows a lot of one lane in each direction arterials. A cyclist could be comfortable there at 20-25 kmph if people drive like they do in North America.<br />El Gringohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04445984552616680278noreply@blogger.com