Cycle Track Network One Year Old - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Regorium · 06-24-2016, 10:56 AM

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...-1.3648543?cmp

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...year-1.3647245

Quote:

Calgary's Cycle Track Network seems to be catching on among women and families as the experiment reaches 770,000 logged trips since it opened a year ago, the project co-ordinator says.

"I can definitely say we're exceeding our expectations a bit," Tom Thivener, the city's cycling co-ordinator told the Homestretch.

Seems like a pretty big success all in all.

I know there was a 422 post thread on bike lanes the first time around, but I think we can refresh the discussion a year later.

Personally I've bought a bike and used the bike lanes 10-15 times in the last year - not huge, but it's 10-15 car trips that I didn't make.

worth · 06-24-2016, 11:03 AM

Love love love the cycle track network. I was living in the beltline at this time last year, now live in mission. I use the network to get around, try to leave my car at home as much as possible. Seeing cyclists using it makes me happy and kind of creates a sense of community and is adding to the revitalization and shift of the beltline and downtown.

MrMastodonFarm · 06-24-2016, 11:09 AM

Waiting for Sean Chu's official numbers

shermanator · 06-24-2016, 11:10 AM

Even though I don't use it, I am completely in favour of the cycle track, with the exception of the cluster#### that is the lane situation on 12th Ave. Hopefully they can sort that out, so that parking is consistently on one side and lanes run straight through from 11th St to 1st St.

Ozy_Flame · 06-24-2016, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Waiting for Sean Chu's official numbers

Sean Chu's numbers will be best numbers. And don't bother asking for sources, not necessary.

GGG · 06-24-2016, 11:38 AM

Did they have an estimate for the number of trips before the cycle track was important implemented? As 770k is just a number I want to know new trips generated.

Fuzz · 06-24-2016, 11:45 AM

One amazing thing I found was that on some roads, cycle track traffic makes up 10% of total traffic. Those are the ones that can't be denied as being hugely successful. These include 7th st, 8th ave(due to low vehicle traffic) and 5th st. 12 ave doesn't' fair as well.

The Ditch · 06-24-2016, 12:13 PM

anecdotal evidence but at least this year i've noticed far fewer people using the bike lanes, especially on 8th ave on the west side of downtown

Dan02 · 06-24-2016, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shermanator

Even though I don't use it, I am completely in favour of the cycle track, with the exception of the cluster#### that is the lane situation on 12th Ave. Hopefully they can sort that out, so that parking is consistently on one side and lanes run straight through from 11th St to 1st St.

Whoever decided that's how they should paint the lanes should be shot.

Fuzz · 06-24-2016, 01:11 PM

Let me introduce you to the Calgary Roads dept. Where they set everything up for failure, at least once, but usually 2 or 3 times.

KTrain · 06-24-2016, 01:58 PM

I'm a little worried about the 12th Ave stretch. I love it because the office is right there but it doesn't seem as popular as the other routes. Hopefully usage picks up on that route.

If we had more Flames games going into May and June (and a place to park all the bikes) it'd be a fun way to get to games.

RW99 · 06-24-2016, 02:01 PM

I've pretty much accepted the cycle track. There looks to be one going up Edmonton Trail which I may start using. Calgary is not the best city to have a cycle network so I expect there to be issues for a while.

Hack&Lube · 06-24-2016, 02:26 PM

If the city could offer casual cyclists a better/easier climb to get from downtown up the hill than the current options, that would help people cycle more as well.

Currently there's the long 10th street climb, centre street bridge (annoyingly small pathway for both bikes and pedestrians squeezing past each other), and the steep climb up capitol hill beside the curling center stairs.

Bunk · 06-24-2016, 02:49 PM

12th and 5th are doing really well - above the expected weekday average. 7th Still going strong. The ends of 12th ave aren't great, but they just kind of lead to nowhere right now.

8th is the one that's consistently below the anticipated, but let's be honest, the estimates were a bit of a wild ass guess. Nevertheless, the west part of 8th ave is currently getting about 600-700 a weekday, which is not insignificant. It's' also about double the amount compared to mid-may, which is a bigger increase than any other part of the cycle track network in that span, so it seems to be gaining popularity.

http://calgary.bike/grafana/dashboar...l-daily-graphs

Overall, the numbers and the ridership growth are impressive, especially considering the downtown core has probably lost about 15%-20% of its work day population in the downturn.

rd_aaron · 06-24-2016, 03:02 PM

I haven't used them yet (I'm not downtown that often) but I like the idea of them. The only part I hate is the 12th Ave and 1st St SE area. On the weekend now, the left most lane of 1st St SE right before 12th Ave is parking (which means you have to suddenly merge if there's cars there) and the way it's set up on 12th Ave makes going north on MacLeod to get out of downtown a pain in the butt.

If they keep expanding the network will we eventually see some bike shares set up? Would be nice for people to train downtown and then use bikes to get to their destination (especially if it's down by 17th Ave or in Mission).

puckedoff · 06-24-2016, 03:04 PM

Still see people riding their bikes right on Elbow drive, even though their is clearly a separate bicycle track right beside. Makes me want to run them over.

Fuzz · 06-24-2016, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunk

12th and 5th are doing really well - above the expected weekday average. 7th Still going strong. The ends of 12th ave aren't great, but they just kind of lead to nowhere right now.

8th is the one that's consistently below the anticipated, but let's be honest, the estimates were a bit of a wild ass guess. Nevertheless, the west part of 8th ave is currently getting about 600-700 a weekday, which is not insignificant. It's' also about double the amount compared to mid-may, which is a bigger increase than any other part of the cycle track network in that span, so it seems to be gaining popularity.

http://calgary.bike/grafana/dashboar...l-daily-graphs

Overall, the numbers and the ridership growth are impressive, especially considering the downtown core has probably lost about 15%-20% of its work day population in the downturn.

Even though 8th ave is low, it is still 10% of vehicle traffic. I think that makes it more significant than the numbers show.

taco.vidal · 06-25-2016, 06:27 AM

The bike path along Elbow covers only a very short stretch of a couple of blocks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by puckedoff

Still see people riding their bikes right on Elbow drive, even though their is clearly a separate bicycle track right beside. Makes me want to run them over.

Magnum PEI · 06-25-2016, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taco.vidal

The bike path along Elbow covers only a very short stretch of a couple of blocks.

I think he means the suggested bike route that runs mostly on 5th street, but also has some bike path segments. I think taking Elbow is far simpler and quicker for cyclists, but I can see why vehicle drivers would be annoyed.

Regular_John · 06-25-2016, 06:18 PM

I don't bike at all, but I work in the Beltline (previously on the corner of 12 & 5th) and I've become a huge fan of bike lanes.

I'd say 90% of the cyclist I see using them follow the new traffic signals and it's kept 99% of the cyclist off the sidewalks. As a pedestrian in the area I feel much safer walking around because I'm not dodging bikes on the sidewalks, nor am I trying to guess if they're going to stop for a red light or not.

So from a non-biking perspective I think they've been a big success and I hope they stick around permanently.