http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8400094.stm
How long will it take to train everyone who cycles in Edinburgh?
How long will it take to train everyone who cycles in Edinburgh?
Training for Tramlines
- Thread starter Coco
- Start date
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'training for cyclists'. What a load of cock! A bit of design at the right time would have been better.
Tramliness are a menace, but, if we're serious about sustainable transport we're going to see a lot more of them. The trick, surely, is to design the points at which tramlines come in to roadways at an angle to ensure that cyclists aren't trapped by the things.
this is my least favourite - the road curves round, but the tram goes straight on. The cyclist following the main road has to cross the tramlines at an acute angle - if you're coming down from Addiscombe at 30+ it's not easy. You can see the tram in the pic below.
Tramliness are a menace, but, if we're serious about sustainable transport we're going to see a lot more of them. The trick, surely, is to design the points at which tramlines come in to roadways at an angle to ensure that cyclists aren't trapped by the things.
this is my least favourite - the road curves round, but the tram goes straight on. The cyclist following the main road has to cross the tramlines at an acute angle - if you're coming down from Addiscombe at 30+ it's not easy. You can see the tram in the pic below.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
It's not the cyclists you need to worry about, it's the motorists...car vs tram...hmmmm. Plenty of that in Manchester.
BentMikey
Rider of Seolferwulf
- Location
- South London
magnatom said:
Yeah, EdinburghFixed, on a raptobike lowracer.
You think you've got it bad. Try a randonnee round San Francisco. On a fine day, its a careful study of the roads, not the buildings. In the wet, it's worse.
Thankfully, there are only about six rainy days per year, mostly in January.
The Cable cars go up the hills, where the cyclist don't, but the trams go along the flat and around the Embarcadero where the cyclists commute.
Further out of town, up 19th and then along San Jose Avenue, the trams criss-cross the roads until the depot at Geneva and San Jose where the tracks are diagonal across all the carriageways on the junction.
That's right by the City College of San Francisco, and I never heared of ONE student coming a cropper.
Thankfully, there are only about six rainy days per year, mostly in January.
The Cable cars go up the hills, where the cyclist don't, but the trams go along the flat and around the Embarcadero where the cyclists commute.
Further out of town, up 19th and then along San Jose Avenue, the trams criss-cross the roads until the depot at Geneva and San Jose where the tracks are diagonal across all the carriageways on the junction.
That's right by the City College of San Francisco, and I never heared of ONE student coming a cropper.
I was out shopping on Princes St at the weekend and the problem from my perspective is that cyclists are being squeezed by the buses. The re-opened street is essentially a glorified bus lane with no cars allowed. A watched a cyclist in the inside lane move out to overtake a stationary bus at a bus stop. As she got level with the back end of the bus, the bus pulled out on her. She was forced to move further to the right and into the tram line. She wobbled, and managed to get over i the first track gutter and into the road between the tracks. But, her wobble caught out the bus driver behind and he was right onto her back wheel.
I watched all this and wondered what the problem was. I think it is because the lanes are tight, there is no safety margin. You can just get 2 buses down the road. You seem as a cyclist to have 2 options - stay in the stopping lane and travel very slowly or get out early into the tram tracks and dominate.
I concluded that this was an accident waiting to happen. There are too many cautious and nervous cyclists who will be bullied by the buses. Certainly, I will intend to try where possible to avoid the tramlines.
I watched all this and wondered what the problem was. I think it is because the lanes are tight, there is no safety margin. You can just get 2 buses down the road. You seem as a cyclist to have 2 options - stay in the stopping lane and travel very slowly or get out early into the tram tracks and dominate.
I concluded that this was an accident waiting to happen. There are too many cautious and nervous cyclists who will be bullied by the buses. Certainly, I will intend to try where possible to avoid the tramlines.
gavintc said:
Are there stickers on the back of the buses saying "Please let buses pull out"?
Usually, if a cyclist cannot see the bus's mirrors, the bus driver cannot see the cyclist.
Dealing with crossing tram tracks is to increase the angle of approach as much as possible and use a 'double hop' manouver. The front wheel is 'jinked' sideways for a moment ( with an additional tug to reduce weight ) to broaden the angle with the track, and then the rear wheel 'hopped' across the track with a jump.
The closest tram tracks to where I live now are in Wolverhampton.
It needs practice. Edinburgh cyclists will no doubt get the hang of it.
The summer before last I was at the cyclist breakfast in town and there was a representative from TIE there. I asked what risk assesment had been carried out for the tram lines in regard to cyclists and he said that all the usual railway risks had been covered. He looked a bit blank when I laughed.
gavintc said:
With a bit of luck, they'll be so long in the library, they will never get out on the street.
You must remember. Horse drawn trams were around town before bicycles, so the early cyclists had to deal with tram tracks from the outset.
The Edinburgh cyclists only have to negotiate the rails, and not the horse shoot as well.
