I would be all for this. . .as long as they can make our weather more like Holland too

[Adamson865]

Originally Posted by atxcio

We don't worry about how someone gets to work.

Oh please - if that only were true, we could get rid of hundred of bureaucrats at TxDOT, the City of Austin, and Capital Metro.

[verybadgnome]

There are certain roadways were this is a no-brainer. For example Cameron Road above E. 51st Street went on a "road diet" that took it from four to two lanes while adding bike lanes. The road is still under capacity and is projected to still be that way until sometime around 2035. The previous layout was four very (11ft?) narrow lanes whereas now there is adequate room for bikes and motor vehicles. I think the old knee-jerk reaction for road designers was to build out as much capacity as you had right-of-way regardless of demand, a wasteful practice that thankfully is being scrutinized more of late.

If we are at 2% now then Portland's 6% should be our goal.

As far as suburban communities are concerned nothing is preventing them from developing their own employment centers so their workers don't have to commute into Austin.

And who says you have to use a bicycle for your entire commute as you can gain a lot of flexibility by doing bike/transit.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

There are certain roadways were this is a no-brainer. For example Cameron Road above E. 51st Street went on a "road diet" that took it from four to two lanes while adding bike lanes. The road is still under capacity and is projected to still be that way until sometime around 2035. The previous layout was four very (11ft?) narrow lanes whereas now there is adequate room for bikes and motor vehicles. I think the old knee-jerk reaction for road designers was to build out as much capacity as you had right-of-way regardless of demand, a wasteful practice that thankfully is being scrutinized more of late.

If we are at 2% now then Portland's 6% should be our goal.

As far as suburban communities are concerned nothing is preventing them from developing their own employment centers so their workers don't have to commute into Austin.

And who says you have to use a bicycle for your entire commute as you can gain a lot of flexibility by doing bike/transit.

I think it is highly unlikely that a significant portion of people will convert, however every bit the city does to make austin more of what it is will cause us to continue to attract the people that desire those attributes.

Encouraging more live music via liberal zoning - more musicians and music lovers
train transit - attract people who like mass transit
bike lanes - attract people who want to commute via bikes
parks and green space - attract people who like the outdoors
walkable downtown - attract people who like the urban lifestyle
awesome homeless shelter - attract the homeless
paving over greenspace - attract people who dont want to be outside
museums - attract the types of people who will frequent museums
build more roads - attract people who want shorter commutes
tax breaks to movie studios - attract production companies and movie employees

the creative class is the foundation to the growth of austin. They are the overly educated, pretentious, yuppies, hipsters etc. However they are also great to attract knowledge based companies.

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

If we are at 2% now then Portland's 6% should be our goal.

Last time I checked, Portland has implemented the exact kind of smart growth, inwardly focused, dense growth in the urban core that I am advocating. I am willing to bet a sliver American dollar on the fact that if Portland has had 3X the success as Austin in getting people to bike to work, it's because they live close to work.

We can't be the sprawling mess of an urban wasteland that we are becoming and expect that people will do anything other than get in cars for commutes increasingly 5, 10. . .even 20 miles.

If Austin wants to get serious about people changing behavior, then Austin needs to get serious about focusing growth in the central areas (and not just the CBD).

Oh, and we're among the fastest growing cities (the fastest major metropolitan area?) in the United States. They are coming. We can build more homes in Buda, Cedar Park and Leander - or we can do so centrally. It's far more efficient, and environmentally friendly (not to mention makes for a better urban experience overall) to develop the urban core rather than encourage suburban sprawl.

If you want to achieve Portland's 6% bike commuters, then let's look at what Portland is doing.

[Ole Texan]

Just where are these central areas for residental growth that will allow a move to 6% bike riders? Additional tax payer funds for bike lanes will be a waste unless distance between living location and job location are no more than 2 to 3 miles. Hopefully the problem of where to locate core housing is addressed before more money is spent on a lane to nowhere.

[veloman777]

Preface: I have been a cyclist/commuter cyclist since I was 13 yrs old, 14 years now. I advocate and literally work with the city on bicycle infrastructure. I literally advise them on specific improvements, whether they agree with me or not. They are using some of my ideas. When there is bike access across Lamar at 46th st to Sunshine, I am the current mind behind that.


Okay, so let me state a fact. Even a small % reduction in people driving single occupancy vehicles during rush hour has a very significant affect on traffic flow. 2% reduction has more like a 10% improvement. Traffic engineers now understand this.

Let's look at the big picture, and start a long time ago. The default slate we started with was 99.99% infrastructure designed for only motor vehicles, and in some areas, pedestrians (sidewalks). With that, development was horribly designed suburbs that were nowhere near anything in many cases. Every time I go out into the suburbs on my ebike, I have to do these cockamanie loop arounds because nearly nothing is connected by neighborhood streets. If only developers looked to Hyde Park, Cherrywood, anything pre-1960. Basically, transportation was predetermined and bicycles were nothing but kids toys in the eyes of those who built our city.

So, if you fast forward to the early 2000s you'll see some improvements, and up till 2012 you'll see some big projects that were completed for cyclists. Some were nearly a waste (Veloway), some were game changers (Pfluger bridge over the Lake. Oh, now we can ride our bike 1 mile into downtown! Doesn't this make sense!) You'll say that we've made great progress, and in one perspective, yes we have. But when you start with nothing, even just a little looks like a LOT. Sure we are getting decent bike lanes and fancy separated facilities like Bluebonnet and in Mulleur and West Campus. But they are only worth a little until you COMPLETE THE SYSTEM.

What if drivers could use Lamar from 29th to 12th street. But then from 12th to Riverside they had to get out of the car and walk through a shooting range? How much value would the safe street from 29th to 12th be if you couldn't safely get to Riverside? Well folks, that's what it's like right now for cyclists. No wonder we have a LONG way to go.

Gee, no wonder only 2% of us commute by bike.

Oh, you say the heat is awful and no way any of us would ride more than a couple miles on a lightweight 2 wheeled emission free vehicle limited to about 20mph? Well, glory gee, guess what? We have electric assisted bicycles now! (Look up my friends at Rocket Electrics on East Riverside. Yeah, shameless plug, they are great people).

Newsflash people! Do you ever see that guy on a bare aluminum mtn bike zipping around town silently, getting places faster than cars, not causing any traffic problems, without breaking a sweat and without using more energy than what it takes to cook dinner? Okay, the bike is a little "mad-max", but you can buy a normal looking ebike at the above shop. I've put 6000 miles on my ebike in the last year or so. #1 reason I ride it is because it's way more fun than my car.


Back on topic, I look forward to seeing what the Dutch can do at ThinkBike.

I also agree with what was said about Austin needing to be more dense. I may love my ebike but I still have enough common sense to not live in Cedar Park. Afterall, how many people would live out in the burbs if they didn't have highways to get there on?

[bridgebats]

I agree that we need a complete system in place if we expect people to use bikes more. Personally, I would like to see more bike/ car separation similar to the Shoal Creek trail and LAB. Even if people don't ride to work, they might choose to ride to festivals or restaurants on the weekends and help cut down on the crazy weekend traffic. In my experience, it's actually more fun to ride down to big events because parking is a breeze!

I think suburban neighborhoods could benefit from more connectivity as well. Remember, downtown isn't the only area of Austin with jobs. I actually commute to work on my bike roughly 3/5 of the week (in the summer/ >4 mi each way) and travel NW from central Austin. Thanks to more recent bike lane striping and a few other bike facilities put in place many years ago, I feel safe riding my bike where I do. We actually chose to move to our current neighborhood vs. other equally nice neighborhoods without safe bike facilities partially for this reason.