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Date: 15 Aug 2007 06:15:33
From: Paul Berg
Subject: Secret habits of timid bicyclists studied
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News article from The (Portland) Oregonian - August 15, 2007
If you're a cyclist who rides fewer than four days a week, Jennifer Dill
would like to track your movements using satellite technology. Dill, a
transportation researcher at Portland State University, wants to see how
moderate cyclists use Portland city streets and bike paths in hopes of
boosting the use of bikes as alternatives to cars.
The study also will help planners understand more about the value of
bike lanes, a subject examined in a previous Dill study that showed the
number of bike lanes within a quarter-mile of a person's home had no
bearing on the amount of cycling the person did.
The new study drills deeper using global positioning system units.
During the past few months Dill has captured the movements of more avid
cyclists, issuing 130 of them GPS units to carry on trips around the
city.
After it's analyzed, Dill hopes the data will help show city bike
planners where to locate bike paths, bike lanes and directional signs to
help riders find their way. In this second phase of the GPS research,
Dill wants to get a snapshot of the routes that less-frequent cyclists
use to get from place to place.
For this phase of the study she's looking for cyclists who are at least
18 years old, live within the Portland-area urban growth boundary and
don't ride bikes for a living. She'll choose just one volunteer per
household.
Dill shares a cozy office with her Breezer Uptown 8, a purple commuting
machine that she often rides to work at Portland State University's
Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning.
If it were up to her, a lot more people would share offices with their
bikes. Dill says the locators will fill in crucial gaps in knowledge she
has gained about bicycle use from telephone surveys of 566 Portland-area
residents.
The units record the rider's location, speed and direction every three
seconds. The volunteers carry a GPS device for a week, turning it on
every time they climb on a bike.
Surveys are useful, Dill says.
"But there's only so much people can remember about their rides," she
says. With the GPS units, she says, "We'll know how far and how fast
they're going."
And most important, which routes they travel. The devices enable the
researcher to draw a computerized map of each trip.
Participants also log in the reasons for their trip and weather
conditions at the time.
Roger Geller, bicycle coordinator for the Portland Office of
Transportation, says Dill's research will add important knowledge about
the patterns of bike use in the city. Geller said the city has surveyed
bicycle use extensively and has maps of the most popular bicycle routes.
"But we don't have data on the intensity of the use," he said.
"Jennifer's study will tell us that."
In addition, he said, the GPS data will give planners a more precise
idea of the lengths of bicycle trips.
So far, Dill said, most of the volunteers have been experienced
cyclists. But in recruiting several hundred more riders for the study
she hopes to find those who have less experience and self-confidence.
That will give her an idea of the differences in the choice of routes
between experienced cyclists and those who are more fearful of riding in
traffic.
Dill hopes to find out how far cyclists will go out of their way to
travel on streets where there's less competition from cars.
Do cyclists choose different routes in different kinds of weather? The
study will show that, too.
The GPS study likely will help answer another puzzling question: How
much do bike lanes encourage people to cycle on the streets?
"The jury's still out on the amount to which bike lanes contribute to
cycling," Dill said.
"I'd hope we'd find out what types of infrastructure the city should
build to get the most bicyclists," she said. "Bike lanes work for some
but not for others."
Her GPS study could show the relative popularity of bike lanes and "bike
boulevards," neighborhood streets that can be used as cycling routes
where cars are few and slow.
Knowing the lengths to which cyclists will go to avoid heavy traffic is
important. Almost half of noncyclists would like to take up bicycling if
there weren't so much traffic, Dill found. And most of those who ride
bicycles would ride even more if it weren't for competition with cars.
Dill and others say more people could be lured onto bicycles if only
they knew how to find back streets, mostly free of traffic, that would
take them where they wanted to go.
A survey by the Portland Office of Transportation found that 67 percent
of respondents had at least some interest in getting on a bike. Of
those, 7 percent characterized themselves as "enthused and confident"
and less than 1 percent called themselves "strong and fearless" in
traffic.
Other surveys have found that the fear factor is a major deterrent to
cycling among those who were interested in riding but concerned about
their safety.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which promotes research into
health-related fields, supported the study to figure out how the built
environment affects bicycle riding and how to encourage physical
activity.
Support for the second part of the GPS study comes from the Oregon
Transportation Research and Education Consortium.
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Date: 19 Aug 2007 03:32:42
From: Bjorn Berg f/Fergie Berg and All the Ships at S
Subject: Re: Secret habits of timid bicyclists studied
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On Aug 18, 9:45 pm, Paul Johnson <ba...@ursine.ca > wrote:
> On Aug 15, 6:15 am, pjb...@webtv.net (Paul Berg) wrote:
>
> > Her GPS study could show the relative popularity of bike lanes and "bike
> > boulevards," neighborhood streets that can be used as cycling routes
> > where cars are few and slow.
>
> I hope it's also used to write citations for riding against traffic.
Many people like to see what's about to kill them.
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Date: 19 Aug 2007 03:45:03
From: Paul Johnson
Subject: Re: Secret habits of timid bicyclists studied
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On Aug 15, 6:15 am, pjb...@webtv.net (Paul Berg) wrote:
> Her GPS study could show the relative popularity of bike lanes and "bike
> boulevards," neighborhood streets that can be used as cycling routes
> where cars are few and slow.
I hope it's also used to write citations for riding against traffic.
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Date: 18 Aug 2007 11:47:31
From: Bjorn Berg f/Fergie Berg and All the Ships at S
Subject: Re: Secret habits of timid bicyclists studied
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On Aug 18, 12:37 pm, Wayne Pein <wp...@nc.rr.com > wrote:
> Tom Keats wrote:
>
> > I hope Jennifer Dill realizes that problematic
> > intersections are a far greater concern than
> > the volume of a rider's adjacent, parallet
> > traffic flow.
>
> Doubtful.
>
>
>
> > Nevertheless, it still makes more sense to me to
> > track the movements of the more route-astute riders,
> > who have already figured things out.
>
> Yes it makes more sense. But that's already been done, and folks like
> Jennifer Dill have to come up with something new to justify their
> funding, even if it won't offer much utility.
>
> Wayne
It didn't have binary spam pics in it, that is all I concede to the OP.
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Date: 18 Aug 2007 01:31:16
From: Tom Keats
Subject: Re: Secret habits of timid bicyclists studied
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In article <926-46C2FC75-45@storefull-3238.bay.webtv.net >,
pjberg@webtv.net (Paul Berg) writes:
> ~
>
> News article from The (Portland) Oregonian - August 15, 2007
>
> If you're a cyclist who rides fewer than four days a week, Jennifer Dill
> would like to track your movements using satellite technology. Dill, a
> transportation researcher at Portland State University, wants to see how
> moderate cyclists use Portland city streets and bike paths in hopes of
> boosting the use of bikes as alternatives to cars.
>
> The study also will help planners understand more about the value of
> bike lanes, a subject examined in a previous Dill study that showed the
> number of bike lanes within a quarter-mile of a person's home had no
> bearing on the amount of cycling the person did.
>
> The new study drills deeper using global positioning system units.
> During the past few months Dill has captured the movements of more avid
> cyclists, issuing 130 of them GPS units to carry on trips around the
> city.
>
> After it's analyzed, Dill hopes the data will help show city bike
> planners where to locate bike paths, bike lanes and directional signs to
> help riders find their way. In this second phase of the GPS research,
> Dill wants to get a snapshot of the routes that less-frequent cyclists
> use to get from place to place.
At first I feared this approach would tend to
perpetuate the inferior route choices selected
by "less-frequent" (and thereby less astute about
routes) cyclists.
But y'know what? Let those amenities & facilities
be installed. As those less-frequent riders become
more frequent and more acquainted with their riding
environments, they'll discover, on their own, better
options. Those options might not necessarily be
designated bike routes or paths, or have bike lanes,
but they may well involve quieter streets that cut
across town on an efficient and pleasant diagonal,
and occasionally connect with more bike-specific
amenities, and occasionally divert away from them[*].
I hope Jennifer Dill realizes that problematic
intersections are a far greater concern than
the volume of a rider's adjacent, parallet
traffic flow.
Nevertheless, it still makes more sense to me to
track the movements of the more route-astute riders,
who have already figured things out.
cheers,
Tom
[*] One of my favourite ways to cut across east
Vancouver is via 18th & 19th Aves (neither of
which are designated bike routes,) from Main St
to either the Windsor St bike route or Glen St.
Go across Kingsway, hang a right onto either 15th
or 10th Ave, hit the Woodland St bike route, head
north as far as ya wanna, hang a right onto wherever
you want to be on Commercial Drive. Or continue
east until you hit Lakewood St. North across
Hastings St, cut through the little park, right
onto Wall St, past New Brighton Park ... next
thing you know, your crossing the 2nd Narrows
Bridge on your way to Deep Cove, on your merry
way to that donut place. Or maybe going along
Penzance Dr (around the north foot of Capitol Hill)
to hook up to the Barnett Hwy via Fell St - >
Union St - > that other street who's name eludes me,
to get to Port Moody. Watch out for wildlife (including
cougars & bears) along Penzance Dr.
Anyways, maybe it /is/ a better idea to establish bike
routes by the movements of riders who know where they're
going, and how best to get there.
--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca
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Date: 18 Aug 2007 14:37:54
From: Wayne Pein
Subject: Re: Secret habits of timid bicyclists studied
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Tom Keats wrote:
>
> I hope Jennifer Dill realizes that problematic
> intersections are a far greater concern than
> the volume of a rider's adjacent, parallet
> traffic flow.
Doubtful.
>
> Nevertheless, it still makes more sense to me to
> track the movements of the more route-astute riders,
> who have already figured things out.
>
Yes it makes more sense. But that's already been done, and folks like
Jennifer Dill have to come up with something new to justify their
funding, even if it won't offer much utility.
Wayne
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Date: 16 Aug 2007 19:04:18
From: Bjorn Berg f/Fergie Berg and All the Ships at S
Subject: Re: Secret habits of timid bicyclists studied
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I'm not timid.
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Date: 16 Aug 2007 19:03:35
From: Bjorn Berg f/Fergie Berg and All the Ships at S
Subject: Re: Secret habits of timid bicyclists studied
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On Aug 15, 7:15 am, pjb...@webtv.net (Paul Berg) wrote:
> ~
>
> News article from The (Portland) Oregonian - August 15, 2007
>
> If you're a cyclist who rides fewer than four days a week, Jennifer Dill
> would like to track your movements using satellite technology.
Maybe we'd like to track her movements using current at naughty
locations with an HD camera. It will be unnecessary to use GPS to see
where she goes.
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