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Cycling in Waterloo Region
(07-10-2020, 09:39 AM)Bob_McBob Wrote: Those temporary bike lanes are not giving value for money

D'Amato takes on the all-powerful cyclists' lobby...

Oh, D'Amato, earning her creds as trash rag writer.

The all-powerful "cyclists lobby"...WTF is that supposed to be.  It's just like antifa, the boogieman invented by people too cowardly to face the fact that they're "the baddies".

So tired of her bullshit.

Just for some context to her numbers.  That 1/2 million dollars is for "temporary" infrastructure for lets say, half a year, for about 30 km of infrastructure.  Road paving costs ~ 1 million dollars per lane km and must be done every ~10-15 years.  Lets ignore that these are 4 lane roads and take the lower number.  That means these same roads cost 30 million dollars / 10 years = 3 million dollars per year in "temporary" costs.  So a little perspective there, nothing is permanent, and this is only expensive because it's a MASSIVE project.
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(07-10-2020, 10:03 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: So a little perspective there, nothing is permanent,

It occurred to me that we think of our road infrastructure as permanent; but it only seems that way because of a massive ongoing expenditure on maintenance. And when it falls even a little behind, people complain, in effect, about its impermanence being made manifest; and complain about how high their taxes are.

Has anybody costed out what would happen to our road expenditure if we reduced all our 4 lane roads in the Region to 2 lanes with turn lanes? I know if would be a massive reduction in asphalt surface area. How big of an effect would it really have on traffic, and how much could our taxes go down with reduction in the amount of maintenance (both winter and pavement)?

And as to traffic, the analysis should be split into (1) immediately; and (2) after people get used to the idea that certain roads are busy at certain times and some of them move their deliveries and trips to off hours.
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(07-10-2020, 11:58 AM)ijmorlan Wrote:
(07-10-2020, 10:03 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: So a little perspective there, nothing is permanent,

It occurred to me that we think of our road infrastructure as permanent; but it only seems that way because of a massive ongoing expenditure on maintenance. And when it falls even a little behind, people complain, in effect, about its impermanence being made manifest; and complain about how high their taxes are.

Has anybody costed out what would happen to our road expenditure if we reduced all our 4 lane roads in the Region to 2 lanes with turn lanes? I know if would be a massive reduction in asphalt surface area. How big of an effect would it really have on traffic, and how much could our taxes go down with reduction in the amount of maintenance (both winter and pavement)?

And as to traffic, the analysis should be split into (1) immediately; and (2) after people get used to the idea that certain roads are busy at certain times and some of them move their deliveries and trips to off hours.

Nobody in the region has ever costed a reduction in road space. Frankly, I don't think such a thing is conceivable to the.

But costing a reduction in the growth of road space was a component of costing the LRT, and it had absolutely giagantic savings...half a billion dollars...and that's with the...lets call it, not particularly ambitious mode share targets that the region has.

It is indeed the case that every time I hear fiscal conservatives whine, it rings so incredibly hollow in the face of the gigantic waste that is excess roads in the region. No level of self proclaimed "fiscal conservatism" has EVER questioned roads, and frankly, few question police--it's almost as if they're worried about somethign different than the budget.
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My new e-bike is being delivered today.

Commuters shift gears towards e-bikes
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I think that e-bikes are great. I just want people to keep them off the sidewalk.
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(07-16-2020, 12:06 PM)Acitta Wrote: My new e-bike is being delivered today.

Commuters shift gears towards e-bikes

NZ media also observes increasing popularity of ebikes. 65k new sold last year vs 100k new cars, 150k imported cars.
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(07-16-2020, 04:11 PM)plam Wrote:
(07-16-2020, 12:06 PM)Acitta Wrote: My new e-bike is being delivered today.

Commuters shift gears towards e-bikes

NZ media also observes increasing popularity of ebikes. 65k new sold last year vs 100k new cars, 150k imported cars.

How much is it as a percentage of bicycle sales?
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(07-16-2020, 12:06 PM)Acitta Wrote: My new e-bike is being delivered today.

Commuters shift gears towards e-bikes
    Rad Power RadCity Step-Thru
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New bike day is always a good day.
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(07-17-2020, 07:34 PM)Acitta Wrote:
(07-16-2020, 12:06 PM)Acitta Wrote: My new e-bike is being delivered today.

Commuters shift gears towards e-bikes
Rad Power RadCity Step-Thru

Nice bike! That’ll make a hot summer day feel more like a warm breeze.
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(07-16-2020, 04:11 PM)plam Wrote:
(07-16-2020, 12:06 PM)Acitta Wrote: My new e-bike is being delivered today.

Commuters shift gears towards e-bikes

NZ media also observes increasing popularity of ebikes. 65k new sold last year vs 100k new cars, 150k imported cars.

That’s for New Zealand — do we have numbers (other than cars) for Canada?
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(07-17-2020, 11:37 AM)tomh009 Wrote:
(07-16-2020, 04:11 PM)plam Wrote: NZ media also observes increasing popularity of ebikes. 65k new sold last year vs 100k new cars, 150k imported cars.

How much is it as a percentage of bicycle sales?

I don't know enough about NZ to know where to find that number. But here are some depressingly familiar anti-bike arguments and local stats to counter them.

https://can.org.nz/cycling-facts
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So I am crossing the Freeport Bridge on my new e-bike going 30KM/h. I am 3/4 of the way across when this car comes up behind me at high speed and decides to pass me on the bridge. It came within inches of having a head on collision with the car coming the other way. I think that there should be some kind of test that people have to take before they are allowed to drive a car!
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Huh. I guess "single file" doesn't mean much to them.
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(07-19-2020, 05:34 PM)Acitta Wrote: So I am crossing the Freeport Bridge on my new e-bike going 30KM/h. I am 3/4 of the way across when this car comes up behind me at high speed and decides to pass me on the bridge. It came within inches of having a head on collision with the car coming the other way. I think that there should be some kind of test that people have to take before they are allowed to drive a car!

Or perhaps real fine for idiots that can't drive properly. I am kind of sick with drivers not obeying the road laws (pet peeve is still drivers not stopping at red lights (when turning right) and stop signs. I am one of those idiot bikers that's still using a sidewalk. Not sure how I would be on an e-bike, confidence wise (I did purchase one a few years ago, but it was defective).
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