Some news that isn't worth an entire blog post - the ongoing quest by ex-courier Scott to force ex-employer Toronto to make good roads; non-drivers are now paying 49% of all road construction; and a new Velib contract to keep the wheels rolling:
- TO city employee bikeshare has barely been used, partly because of the strike, and requires training for any staff person that wishes to use them. Bigger hopes for next season. (TO Star)
- Ex-courier's appeal - a lawyer, Patrick Brown, feels Scott's case against the city at the Ontario labour board has merit. Despite the title the case hasn't been decided just yet. Will it affect the employee bikeshare program? (TO Star)
- Just to show how unsafe it is, we have Sloan's new Hit & Run album release, so named because band member Chris Murphy was hit by a careening driver who then took off. Murphy survived with a broken collarbone, a concussion, and now an album name memorializing the macabre occasion.
- Share of US road construction paid out of user fees drops down to 51%. We can laugh at drivers whenever they claim they "own" the roads. So that means 49% of the road should be split between transit, bikes and pedestrians! Anyone have numbers for Canada? (Streetsblog.org)
- JCDecaux gets sweeter Velib deal - City of Paris caves in and renegotiates a sweeter deal for JCDecaux, the operator of Velib bikesharing system. 50% of any income over 17 million Euros now goes to JCDecaux. The City will now pay for more of the replacement of damaged bikes. (Bike-sharing blog)
Comments
electric
Women cyclists ‘risk death’ by obeying traffic lights
Tue, 12/01/2009 - 20:24From Times Online(UK)
"...instead of positioning themselves out wide in the road where they can more easily see and be seen, they are more inclined to hug the kerb, a way of cycling that may feel safer but is in fact more risky.”
electric
English cyclists at 20 times the risk of motorists.
Thu, 12/03/2009 - 18:15According to a brand new study on hospital admissions not police reports.
Interesting reading considering it seems that England has done more for cyclist than Toronto.
simplicius2wheels
Do we know the ratio of cyclists vs drivers/passengers?
Thu, 12/03/2009 - 19:28If hardly anyone cycles because of fear for their lives, than the injuries could be few, like above. Also, cycling varies with the seasons, and I saw a sentence early in the document that states
"From April to September, there were more admissions for
pedestrians and cyclists in England (44 875 in the six
years of the study) than for car occupants (34 582). For
cyclists, proportionally more injuries in the winter months
were severe."
I am skeptical because a friend in the UK (who has cycled all over the globe)sent me this in an email a while ago:
electric
In this case they're using trips taken instead of population
Thu, 12/03/2009 - 21:43So your risk is based on the number of trips... In England there are 40 motorcar trips for every bicycle trip.
Not all 44,875 hospital admissions are from direct car collisions either - some are due to potholes, being cut-off or run off the road by drivers, bad dogs on leashes, kamikaze squirrels even!
Still, that is the risk per trip. Sorry to hear about your friends troubles in Exeter.