Non-Powered Transit
Posted by Fred Jandt
Editor, Mass Transit
Everyday as I come into work I see a guy riding his bike and he is pedaling hard. He’s got a backpack slung over his shoulder and it’s hard to tell if he is going to work or school, but he’s been at it everyday this summer.
I remember when I was a kid, pedaling my bike to my grandparents house five miles away was an epic journey. It was something I looked forward to and the distance never came into consideration. Now, I admit I am a little older, a little rounder and a little less inclined to tackle five miles on a bike to see any relative.
Bike travel isn’t new to transit. Virtually every agency in the country is outfitted with bike racks on their buses or a spot for bikes on the trains. But a bike used for transit in the states isn’t what it’s like in Europe — for now.
A recent report came out about a new bike rental initiative being put into place in Paris. The city has placed bikes you can rent in about 300 locations around the city. For about $40 a year for an annual pass or a single Euro for a half hour, a person can rent a bike, ride it anywhere in the city and drop it off at a different rental location. This is a new thing for Parisians, but is already in place in other parts of Europe like Barcelona and Geneva.
So what does this mean for the U.S.? Milwaukee is about to initiate the same program in 2009, with 300 bikes (in comparison to Paris’ 10,000) located at rental centers in the city’s more populated areas.
City officials hope to give people an alternative to driving for short trips. They hope that people who would normally drive for a five to six block journey (as opposed to walking) would instead look to bikes as another alternative.
Will it work? Who knows. Milwaukee isn’t as conducive to bicycle or pedestrian traffic as Paris is. But it gives officials a chance to start changing people’s mindsets towards daily transit use and maybe if they get on those bikes for short trips and like it, they will get curious and step on a bus for the longer ones.
We can only hope.
Thanks for reading the MT Position.
You may have noticed that it’s Friday, not Thursday. It’s not a mistake, we’ve changed the blog to go out on Fridays now, along with an extra news e-blast each week because we’ve had overwhelming support to get you more news. So as you sip your coffee on Friday morning, you can do your weekend wind down with the MT Position.
Fred
fred.jandt@cygnusb2b.com
July 27th, 2007 at 10:12 am
If big baby buggies can go INSIDE transit buses , why can’t bikes? Especially when a route isn’t crowded? Inside, out of the way in the back or when a w/c space is vacant?
July 27th, 2007 at 10:17 am
I wonder if placing a value on the bike, i.e. rental will be more successful than the failed experiment some have experienced by offering “free” bikes to be used and left for the next rider.
July 27th, 2007 at 10:29 am
I’m on the Boston region Transit Agency advisory board and a cyclist -even commuting 10 miles one way before retiring ,but I don’t much favor bikes on buses, at least in Boston - they slow down bus trips, and basically they don’t make too much sense. However, the idea of biking in the cities works - I’ve done it over the years and its a great supplment to transit.
The model adopted in Paris was already in place in several smaller cities, I’ve noticed. Two years ago, vacationing in Brittany, we found the beautiful city of Rennes had rental bikes - with a card lock to collect fees without attendants - at a large number of bus and metro stops (Rennes claims to be the smallest city in the world (200,000) with its own Metro - an automatic VAL system identical to that of Toulouse and Lille. THe Rennes bikes carry ads for Clear Channel, the American pop radio chain which apparently has a presence in France (not my taste). But the idea makes sense. Take the metro to a stop nearest your destination (they run at 1 min headways during Rush and 3 min. off peak) rent the bike and return it to any station with rental facilities.
The larger city of Nantes - with a modern tram system - rents bikes also but they are based at city parking garages and manged by the parking attendants. For a tourist, there is no better way to see a modern city, if bike lanes are present almost everywhere (they are in most French cities) and the weather is conducive.
GB
July 28th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Sometimes it seems forever before what goes around- comes around. The bicycle movement was the precursor for roads, in many places in the USA. In fact, the bicycle clubs had much more clout and larger constituencies than the auto clubs up to about circa WWI.
The car drivers soon ran the bikes off the roads of America, and the streetcars another couple decades later. So, as the bicycle constituencies are experiencing a rebirth, will they lend a political hand to electric streetcars, interurbans, and local railway rehab & reconnect? (passenger and combination passenger/baggage cars on lines modeled after the Pacific Electric in Southern California are naturals for bicycles.
BART & other California rail transit lines like the Capitol Corridor make it possible to “Bicycle” from Sacramento to San Francisco, ride the Embarcadero, Fery Boat back to Jack London Station, train back to Sacramento/Roseville.
Gasoline taxes must shrink (higher per gallon to be sure, but fewer gallons year by year) as we begin the Peaking Oil backside, will the bicycle users be able to keep the road maintenance budgets at an adequate level? This is not yet discussed- the need to maintain Societal & Commercial Cohesion, part of the road maintenance scenario. Trucking will not have as large a role, and so this entire chain of events, increased bicycle volume in step with motor traffic constriction will require concommitant railway expansion for freight; delivery of perishables & necessities of life must be maintained, to warehouses & neighborhoods, not just massive container break-bulk facilities. Visualize 1920 America- Except, now looking at declining, not ever-expanding oil supply.
Wheelmen: time to get involved to the same degree your ancestors did in the early 20th century… This time, to promote public transportation, not undermine it like the last time around!
July 29th, 2007 at 5:47 am
This is exactly what I expected to find out after reading the title Non-Powered Transit. Thanks for informative article
July 30th, 2007 at 4:08 am
I work in a Regional Transit Authority in Italy.
The trip to work is for me a 5km (3 miles) bike ride, and another 3 miles back. It takes door to door 15 to 20 minutes depending on traffic lights. The bus trip takes 35 to 50 min depending on traffic, rain and so on, not counting the walk to and from the bus-stop. And the Transit Service in my town is excellent! With frequencies in the peak of 4-5 min.
So the bike is for me the first option for trips up to 11km (7 miles). And my car … does not exist. In my town of more 400,000 residents I have the Car-Sharing abo and a lot of taxis running around.
Kisses
Samanta
July 30th, 2007 at 10:24 am
Fantastic! Better than the “city car” timed small-car rentals that are also springing up. As a transit engineer for a large consulting firm, and an avid cyclist that often rents bikes when on the road for business, I can only say it’s about time! The best way to tour a city, IMHO, is on a bicycle. Even better if the transit system is also bike-friendly. I’ve often used bicycles to survey large transit project routes and sites to get a feel for the project - a much better way than only driving it, and light-years beyond relying solely on the maps and photos take by others. Can’t wait until they introduce this in cities like New York, Boston and Seattle!
July 31st, 2007 at 11:17 am
Increased bicycling also brings with it increased hazards. Three years ago my sister was left in a coma, probably because she wasn’t wearing a helmet, as a result of a cycling accident on an off-road bicycle path. Everyone should always wear a helmet to prevent such tragedies. In too many cities, helmets are optional. You think it could never happen to you, but it only takes a few seconds to change your life forever.
September 15th, 2007 at 11:57 am
Hi there! I came across your blog posting after searching for sacramento website and your post on Non-Powered Transit makes an interesting read. Thanks for sharing. I will research more next Saturday when I have the day off.