[bikeqld] free Citibikes in Brisbane

Fri Jan 23 20:40:34 CST 2009

Hi Kim and all ...

This morning I noticed that K-Mart has bike helmets for just $11.99 ...

So the nominal or token helmet has arrived ... no doubt complying 
with the appropriate standards but at a reasonable price ...!

Makes the rumoured $20.00 to buy a helmet with hiring the BCC hire 
bikes a bit expensive ... but at least the cheaper they are, the 
closer we get to having (i) disposable helmets and (ii) a degree of 
evidence that compulsory wearing of a helmet is problematic ... in 
both cases the downside is required increases in very obvious 
conspicuous consumption ...!

Or perhaps like bikes in Amsterdam, you park the helmet expecting it 
will be taken by someone else ... so you just help yourself to 
another one ... apparently for free ...!

(Although not complying with AS, the trick is to carry a simple 
cotton or similar washable cap to wear under the helmet then hope 
there is a helmet of the right size.)

It will be interesting to see how the helmet requirement is addressed 
... not surprisingly also being kept under wraps ...!

As for access to the QUT - Gardens Point area, I recall when people 
including BQ publicly opposed the campaign to have the "Goodwill 
Bridge" built such that it better complied with disabled access 
requirements, many people said it would not be used or spending the 
extra money to flatten it was a waste. Was it BQ that argued in the 
city free media, it was unnecessary as parts of Brisbane were steeper etc??

As a spokesperson seeking the flatter bridge we devised two tactics 
to overcome those who in effect were campaigning (i) AGAINST building 
the bridge given its apparently high cost with no obvious need/demand 
and/or (ii) AGAINST making it more user friendly for ALL users given 
it was not only a benchmark facility but would be in place for a 
50-100 year life, if not more.

The first was to remind people how they had quite happily walked from 
one end to the other of the EXPO site, and often walked back, often 
without even realising how far they had walked eg from the former 
South Brisbane Town Hall to the Victoria Bridge ... several trams 
stops for those who recall ...!

The second was getting people to open their street directory or a map 
and have a look at the actual distances involved ... and to park away 
for ever those vivid lasting memories of trudging up to Queen Street 
or to Roma Street or Central stations ...!

It was surprising how many people could not imagine how close Vulture 
Street (now South Bank) station was and still is, to QUT ...!

It was also surprising and an excellent lesson in campaigning to have 
evidence esp during "talk back" radio, of how easy it was (and 
presumably still is) to demonstrate the facts IF the facts as it 
were, speak for themselves.

That said, it is to be hoped that QUT students and others of that 
ability in fact walk rather than use the hire bikes just to get to 
Gardens Point from South Bank station given it is such a short walk.

 From a transport perspective, perhaps rather better that people who 
are heading for say Petrie Bight or the bottom end of Creek 
Street  use the bikes to get to/from the Gold Coast-Cleveland lines 
and/or the Southeast Busway catchments??

As others have commented on the various blogs, one problem may just 
be that too many people will try the bikes in the initial period 
leading to a system breakdown in having the bikes ready and/or too 
many more people trying public transport then relying on the bikes 
adding more people to buses and train services that are already 
over-crowded ...

I wonder what the contract requires in the event of demand exceeding 
supply ? The same as the Lord Mayor's solution with the buses? Build 
more roads instead of funding even more buses ... and hire bikes?

Or as recently emerged at Indooroopilly station where despite BCC 
supposedly supporting the idea of integrated public transport, during 
the $26m upgrade, it emerged BCC won't pay for upgrading its share of 
public transport infrastructure and expects developers to pay ...

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/developer-should-pay-for-smelly-tunnel-council/2009/01/21/1232471395490.html

BTW for those not aware, the BCC has the subway under Coonan Street 
because it removed and will not provide access at grade for 
pedestrians to get to/from Station Road and the station ... despite 
useful nearby bus stops on Coonan Street ...!

We live in interesting times ....

MY.........................

At 08:15 AM 23/01/2009, kim wrote:

>The helmet issue will be interesting. Perhaps an amendment to allow 
>no helmet on shared paths and footpaths with a commensurate speed 
>limit (warning at least). We have no requirement for pedestrians or 
>other recreational vehicles which typically use these paths to wear 
>helmets. I notice that in Byron Bay there is a high use of bicycles 
>for short haul commutes and 99% of the riders do not wear helmets 
>either on the road or when they ride (illegally) on the footpaths. 
>Police seem to turn a blind eye to this and I have watched as 
>several cyclists rode past a well resourced RBT without helmets and 
>did barely attract a glance from the NSW police. I think that if the 
>helmet law was rigidly enforced that there would be far less cycle 
>usage in Byron. Byron is the ideal place for a low speed limit too, 
>although this is not in place, I do see a lot of road being claimed 
>back by pedestrians, skaters and boarders in an apparently ad-hoc 
>manner that seems to be a metaphor for what Byron is about. I think 
>the Brisbane CBD would be much more pleasant to ride in and thru if 
>it was more like Byron.
>I can see these hire bikes as being a great way for QUT students who 
>travel in by train to get down to the campus. I can remember the 
>long walk every day for 4 years as a kid from St Bris station to the 
>then QIT. You still see a big precession going to/from Central or St 
>Bris stations. I guess it could account for a large number of bikes 
>on that route alone and I wonder if the numbers will be adjusted to 
>match the demand in both directions.
>I think the clunker design is fine. Hopefully they are easily 
>adjusted to suit the rider. Should have just gone for an ungeared 
>design to keep them simple and cheap as they will probably only ever 
>be for flatlander use.
>
>
>
>Ian Lister wrote:
>>Thanks to Richard and Seb for posting the links to the articles. 
>>There are still a lot of details missing though, and nothing on the 
>>BCC web site yet. Is there any more comprehensive information 
>>available out there?
>>
>>Over the last year one of the big questions has been how the scheme 
>>will deal with helmets. From the articles Seb linked to it's not 
>>clear but it sounds like they'll sell you one for $20 and, other 
>>than that, it's up to you to bring your own. If so, surely that 
>>will cut down the opportunities for using the bikes - people will 
>>need to plan ahead and carry a helmet around with them if they're 
>>intending to use one of the bikes.
>>
>>Or people might just ignore the law. Perhaps this will result in a 
>>higher level of disregard for the law. There had been speculation 
>>that BCC could pressure the state government to amend the law. That 
>>doesn't seem to have happened, but perhaps in the longer run some 
>>pressure will build. It'll need the federal government to be on 
>>board too though, I think, and, frankly, I can't see any level of 
>>government in Australia leaning that way any time soon.
>>
>>Ian
>>
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