Merry Christmas and happy new year

I wish everyone Merry Christmas and a happy new year. I hope everyone stays healthy and happy.

Consider buying a bicycle for present. It is one of the top presents of all time, especially for children. 

Shared Bikes – Way to go Brisbane

Brisbane is the one of two Australian cities with a bike sharing scheme. It is the newest in Australia and the biggest regarding the total number of bikes with 1000 operating and 1000 more soon to be offered. The bicycles in CityCycle look a lot like those of Velib in Paris where the bike sharing scheme is a huge success with more than 20000 bikes on Parisian roads. CityCycle bikes can be found in 104 (soon to become 150) stations in the city centre and the surrounding neighbourhoods. In order to use CityCycle you need to subscribe and then you can ride for free for a period of 30 minutes. As long as the bikes are returned to a station within half-hour intervals the user can ride all day for free. If there is a need for longer usage then there are usage fees.

Bike sharing is a great idea for the cities aiming at providing an alternative to private car use in the city centre, thereby reducing traffic congestion, noise, and air pollution. It is a great practice for cities with parking supply problems. It also aims at supporting the use of public transportation and especially for commuters as it provides the means to the last part of the home to work trip.  Besides the obvious advantages of moving by bike like benefits in health and cleaner urban environment, bike sharing schemes are great for tourists as they provide an easy way to visit more city attractions and reach more city businesses.

There is some criticism about CityCycle especially regarding that is not so successful in attracting users. Major reasons for this are the initially high daily subscription which was 11 $ and the mandatory helmet use. The first issue was recently addressed by setting the daily subscription to 2$ which had an instant effect on rising casual hires. But the mandatory use of helmet is not. Australian bike sharing schemes are the only known bicycle share schemes that operate under a mandatory helmet requirement. But who would carry with him a helmet at all times just to use it on his last part of the daily trip to work? Also who will carry a helmet on the chance that he/she might want to borrow a bike for a quick trip to run an errand? Netherlands and Denmark are the countries with the highest percentage of bicycle use and very low percentage of accidents and no mandatory helmet use. Maybe we can learn from the best.

Shared Space – Streets for everyone

By the term “Shared space” we define the design approach that seeks to change the way streets operate by reducing the dominance of motor vehicles, primarily through lower speeds and encouraging drivers to behave more accommodatingly towards pedestrians. In addition the use of level surface tends to remove a physical and psychological barrier to pedestrian movement. It can also indicate to drivers that pedestrians are not confined to the footway and that they can expect to encounter them in the whole of the street.
The other basic measure in shared space is reducing demarcation. Removing almost every road sign like speed limits and traffic lights increases the amount of interaction taking place between pedestrians and car drivers. Reducing demarcation indicates that the street is meant to be shared equally by all users of the street. Implied priority for vehicles is reduced, as are physical and psychological barriers to pedestrians using the street.

Shared space is not a solution for every city street. But is a great solution for streets with high leisure activity, historical importance and small commercial shops. Shared space enhances a street’s sense of place. As it is an idea based on sustainability all the basic principles of sustainable mobility must be considered. Successful shared space streets do not have to use costly materials, and their maintenance requirements are low.

Such proposals can benefit especially tourist destination cities. All that is needed some open minds and some political support.

Principles of Sustainable Mobility

Sustainable mobility or sustainable transport is the basic theory behind mobility management.
But what is sustainable mobility?  There are many definitions available in bibliography. My personal favourite is the one from World Business Council for Sustainable Development that in 2001 defined sustainable mobility “as the ability to meet the needs of society to move freely, gain access, communicate, trade, establish relationships without sacrificing other essential human or ecological values, today or in the future”.

So the basic principles behind sustainable mobility and mobility management are:

EQUITY Inter and Intra generation

Mobility that

•       fulfill the rights of every person regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, social and economic status.
•       meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

HEALTH for people and environment

Mobility that

•      supports complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.
•       provides options for people while remaining within the carrying capacity of the local, regional and global environments.

PROGRESS Satisfy people needs, provisioning, prosperity, joy

Mobility that

•       aims in satisfying people needs for transportation, reducing transportation cost, preparing and equipping infrastructure networks.
•       reduces people tension, anxiety and anger while enhances their prosperity and joy.

EMPOWERMENT participation, options

Mobility that

•       increases the spiritual, political, social, or economic strength of individuals and communities.
•       encourages people active participation and aims at providing people with more options.

CULTURE diversity, individuality, joy

Mobility that

•       respects cultural diversity and encourages cultural production.
•       enhances individuality and works towards happier local communities.