HeraldSun: Bike wins over car in gridlock

[ghostgum]

Bike wins over car in gridlock
Liam Houlihan
31 July 2006 12:00am

MELBOURNE'S gridlocked peak-hour traffic has slumped to roughly the same speed as a 60-year-old on a penny farthing, our experiment has found.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,19964002-661,00.html

 

[Plodder]

--
Frank
[email protected]
Drop DACKS to reply
"ghostgum" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> *Bike wins over car in gridlock*
> Liam Houlihan
> 31 July 2006 12:00am
>
> *MELBOURNE'S gridlocked peak-hour traffic has slumped to roughly the
> same speed as a 60-year-old on a penny farthing, our experiment has
> found.*
>
> http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,19964002-661,00.html
>
>
> --
> ghostgum

Funny how the result is billed as bad news for drivers instead of good news
for cycling. I can see this experiment leading to more effort being put into
making the journey easier for cars instead of encouraging alternatives... or
maybe I'm just a cycnic.

me

 

[Bleve]

ghostgum wrote:
> *Bike wins over car in gridlock*
> Liam Houlihan
> 31 July 2006 12:00am
>
> *MELBOURNE'S gridlocked peak-hour traffic has slumped to roughly the
> same speed as a 60-year-old on a penny farthing, our experiment has
> found.*

And in other news today, the sun rises in the EAST!

 

[Gemma_k]

"ghostgum" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> *Bike wins over car in gridlock*
> Liam Houlihan
> 31 July 2006 12:00am
>
> *MELBOURNE'S gridlocked peak-hour traffic has slumped to roughly the
> same speed as a 60-year-old on a penny farthing, our experiment has
> found.*
>
> http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,19964002-661,00.html
>

If you actually read the article to the end, the bike didn't even finish the
race - it had a broken chain! The time stated was the geezer doing the same
rute the following day. AT least the penny farthing didn't get a broken
chanin (cause it doesn't have one
Definatly not a cycling good news story!
Gemma

 

[cfsmtb]

Bike wins over car in gridlock
Liam Houlihan
31 July 2006 12:00am

MELBOURNE'S gridlocked peak-hour traffic has slumped to roughly the same speed as a 60-year-old on a penny farthing, our experiment has found.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,19964002-661,00.html

Pah, We were first! The Herald Sun are a bunch of try-hards and camp followers!
http://www.yarrabug.org/2005/11/17/we-are-the-champions-my-friends/

 

[persia]

>
> *MELBOURNE'S gridlocked peak-hour traffic has slumped to roughly the
> same speed as a 60-year-old on a penny farthing, our experiment has
> found.*

Has slumped? Balls. I was beating cars from Ashburton to Carlton in
1980, on a 3-speed iron Chinese thing. Congestion is not new and cars
have been slower than bikes in peak hour for (at least) the last
quarter of a century.

Persia

 

[TimC]

On 2006-07-31, persia (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
>
>> *MELBOURNE'S gridlocked peak-hour traffic has slumped to roughly the
>> same speed as a 60-year-old on a penny farthing, our experiment has
>> found.*
>
> Has slumped? Balls. I was beating cars from Ashburton to Carlton in
> 1980, on a 3-speed iron Chinese thing. Congestion is not new and cars
> have been slower than bikes in peak hour for (at least) the last
> quarter of a century.

Tonight at 6:00pm, I got a coworker who was going in roughly my
direction, to carry a bunch of boxes from Hawthorn to home in
Chadstone for me. We left within a minute of each other (I was still
fscking around putting my light back on when he left). He went down
the Monash Freeway, I went down Camberwell Road. He beat me to my
place by 6 minutes.

I was quite dissapointed, although he did admit it wasn't very busy
tonight.


I have been on Glenferry road trying to get from the trainline down to
the freeway, on a day when it took us 45 minutes. Similarly once or
twice on Auburn Road (both between 4-5pm). But it seems the horrible
mess has cleared by 6pm.

--
TimC
[On being overcaffeinated...] Yes, this is possible - symptons include
the sun being too loud and grokking in full what Adams meant by
"unpleasantly like being drunk". -- Steed in ASR

 

[thefathippy]

Gemma_k wrote:
> "ghostgum" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> > *Bike wins over car in gridlock*
> > Liam Houlihan
> > 31 July 2006 12:00am
> >
> > *MELBOURNE'S gridlocked peak-hour traffic has slumped to roughly the
> > same speed as a 60-year-old on a penny farthing, our experiment has
> > found.*
> >
> > http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,19964002-661,00.html
> >
>
> If you actually read the article to the end, the bike didn't even finish the
> race - it had a broken chain! The time stated was the geezer doing the same
> rute the following day. AT least the penny farthing didn't get a broken
> chanin (cause it doesn't have one
> Definatly not a cycling good news story!
> Gemma

What a wiener! He should have had a spare link in his toolkit and he'd
have been on his way in a few minutes - still easily beating the car.
Even a repair with a chain breaker would have seen him through.

Tony F
who carries spare links and tools

 

[Bleve]

TimC wrote:
> On 2006-07-31, persia (aka Bruce)
> was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> >
> >> *MELBOURNE'S gridlocked peak-hour traffic has slumped to roughly the
> >> same speed as a 60-year-old on a penny farthing, our experiment has
> >> found.*
> >
> > Has slumped? Balls. I was beating cars from Ashburton to Carlton in
> > 1980, on a 3-speed iron Chinese thing. Congestion is not new and cars
> > have been slower than bikes in peak hour for (at least) the last
> > quarter of a century.
>
> Tonight at 6:00pm, I got a coworker who was going in roughly my
> direction, to carry a bunch of boxes from Hawthorn to home in
> Chadstone for me. We left within a minute of each other (I was still
> fscking around putting my light back on when he left). He went down
> the Monash Freeway, I went down Camberwell Road. He beat me to my
> place by 6 minutes.
>
> I was quite dissapointed, although he did admit it wasn't very busy
> tonight.
>
>
> I have been on Glenferry road trying to get from the trainline down to
> the freeway, on a day when it took us 45 minutes. Similarly once or
> twice on Auburn Road (both between 4-5pm). But it seems the horrible
> mess has cleared by 6pm.

You won't win in the 'burbs, the distances are too great. It's in the
city that gridlock gets cars.


>
> --
> TimC
> [On being overcaffeinated...] Yes, this is possible - symptons include
> the sun being too loud and grokking in full what Adams meant by
> "unpleasantly like being drunk". -- Steed in ASR

 

[DaveB]

Bleve wrote:
>
> You won't win in the 'burbs, the distances are too great. It's in the
> city that gridlock gets cars.
>

I had to drive into Abbotsford Cycles last week and had a cyclist pass
me about 10 times. I must have been the only motorist there that smiled
and chuckled to myself each time she went past.

DaveB

 

[Zebee Johnstone]

>
> You won't win in the 'burbs, the distances are too great. It's in the
> city that gridlock gets cars.

I've been wondering what the magic equation is.

How far out do you have to live when commuting into the city is still
faster by car?

And is it only CBD destinations? When I worked in Mona Vale I left
after 9am which meant I missed the mess that is the feeders into North
Ryde. But once past North Ryde I was against the main traffic into
the city so it was fairly clear even before 9. A bicycle wouldn't
beat a car over that 50km journey (although it would get some serious
speed down Tumbldedown **** Hill!) but it would probably beat the car
into North Ryde before 9am. But I dunno about after. (and it
probably wouldn't beat the motorcycle)

My bicycle commute from Merrylands to Silverwater would probably have
been the same in a car, the gridlocked bits were a very small
percentage of the trip. Ditto Greystanes to Silverwater.

Any car trip that goes into a main work area - CBD or suburban - is
going to slow down, but what is the percentage of the trip in that
area that means a car is slower than a bike?

There has to be some relatively simple equation about average speed.
If the average commuter bike is averaging say 18km/h, then it will be
faster than the car at any point the car is doing less, and slower
when it's doing more. Seems to me there ought to be some fairly
simple way to draw a graph or equation to predict it, to show when
bike commuting is better if you have some idea of average traffic
speeds in the various areas.

Might be complicated by light cycles though. There's places where the
light cycles are short so a lanesplitting two wheeler can gain maybe 2
light cycles which can have a flow on effect on averages.

Zebee

 

[Mike]

ghostgum wrote:
> *Bike wins over car in gridlock*

Dumarse "journalist" doesn't even know what gridlock means. Somebody
give Liam a dictionary please!

Has Melbourne ever actually suffered from gridlock? I didn't think
the drivers were quite THAT bad.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gridlock

> Liam Houlihan
> 31 July 2006 12:00am
>
> *MELBOURNE'S gridlocked peak-hour traffic has slumped to roughly the
> same speed as a 60-year-old on a penny farthing, our experiment has
> found.*
>
> http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,19964002-661,00.html
>
>

 

[sinus]

I've been wondering what the magic equation is.

It is always time dependant. Which is why the bicycle is such a good proposition - it isn't impacted by traffic holdups as much.

If I leave home at 7am, the vehicle commute wins by 5 minutes. If I leave at 7:30am, the bike wins by 5 minutes.
If I leave after 7:45, the bike romps it in. It is slightly slower than earlier in the morning, because of the extra filtering and bike traffic to negotiate.

But the real variable is the traffic holdup. Driving in peak hour can be surprisingly quick, though often turns into a nightmare. About 10% of times I drive, there is excessive waiting due to any combination of illegally parked cars, breakdowns, accidents, etc. All avoided on a bike.

So even if driving a car is on average quicker, there is still a greater chance a driver will be late because of traffic issues. Give me a bike any day.

If the average commuter bike is averaging say 18km/h, then it will be faster than the car at any point the car is doing less, and slower when it's doing more.

Can't argue against that

 

[Bleve]

sinus wrote:
> Zebee Johnstone Wrote:
> >
> >
> > I've been wondering what the magic equation is.
> >
> >
> It is always time dependant. Which is why the bicycle is such a good
> proposition - it isn't impacted by traffic holdups as much.

And, it's fun!

 

[PiledHigher]

I cross the southeastern on my way to work and can see the travel time
as I do. Usually after about 7:30am, the travel time is greater than my
time to the door at work in the CBD(only getting worse the latter you
are travelling). The bike route is probably longer than the freeway as
well.

The bike route doesn't seem to vary in time significantly, that's the
beauty. The risk with them running these stories is that it might
change behaviour.

Stay in your cars... You are doing your bit for the environment by
dying earlier...

 

[beerwolf]

Bleve wrote:

>> It is always time dependant. Which is why the bicycle is such a good
>> proposition - it isn't impacted by traffic holdups as much.
>
> And, it's fun!

Seconded.

Traffic in King Street Newtown is bad most of the time, not just
in peak hours. From Carillon Ave down to near St Peters, I will
usually outpace a car over the whole journey, starting from either end.

The sensation of lanesplitting past a huge line of stopped or slow
moving cars must be how a cat feels, walking along the top of
a fence with angry dogs down below.

--
beerwolf (remove numbers from email address)

 

[Zebee Johnstone]

In aus.bicycle on Tue, 1 Aug 2006 14:31:03 +1000
sinus <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Zebee Johnstone Wrote:
>>
>>
>> If the average commuter bike is averaging say 18km/h, then it will be
>> faster than the car at any point the car is doing less, and slower when
>> it's doing more.
>>
>>
> Can't argue against that

Well no

But if the commute is 50km and the car's doing 10km of it at 70, 10km
at 50, 10km at 25....

If the bike averages 18km/h (hills and all) how long is the commute
before the car always wins?

I bet that even in a car leaving at 8am I'd have done the 50km to Mona
Vale faster than a pushbike would. Because half of that would have
been done at 70km/h or more. (on the motorcycle I took the long way
round via the twisty bits but I was still doing 70 or so, just having
more fun!)

Zebee

 

[Zebee Johnstone]

In aus.bicycle on Tue, 1 Aug 2006 19:11:21 +1000
beerwolf <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> The sensation of lanesplitting past a huge line of stopped or slow
> moving cars must be how a cat feels, walking along the top of
> a fence with angry dogs down below.

I definitely prefer lanesplitting on the motorbike, I feel a lot less
vulnerable.

Which is weird cos the things are stopped, it isn't as though they can
get me!

Zebee

 

[brett fenton]

On 1/8/06 7:42 PM, in article [email protected], "Zebee
Johnstone" <[email protected]> wrote:

> If the bike averages 18km/h (hills and all) how long is the commute
> before the car always wins?
>
> I bet that even in a car leaving at 8am I'd have done the 50km to Mona
> Vale faster than a pushbike would. Because half of that would have
> been done at 70km/h or more. (on the motorcycle I took the long way
> round via the twisty bits but I was still doing 70 or so, just having
> more fun!)

It really depends. I ride from out in the burbs getting on the M5 at either
Henry Lawson Drive or Heathcote Rd, more often than not these days the M5 is
in gridlock and I'll travel from there to Bexley Rd faster than the flow of
traffic. I work at Chippendale, when I ride I usually add a few km for good
measure so I'm not always comparing apples and apples. To drive on average
these days is taking a good 60 minutes (plus or minus say 5-10 minutes), to
ride (on the same route) I'll do it in about 55 minutes (total elapsed time,
not riding time).

--brett

 

[Zebee Johnstone]

In aus.bicycle on Tue, 01 Aug 2006 22:07:33 +1000
brett fenton <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> It really depends. I ride from out in the burbs getting on the M5 at either
> Henry Lawson Drive or Heathcote Rd, more often than not these days the M5 is
> in gridlock and I'll travel from there to Bexley Rd faster than the flow of
> traffic. I work at Chippendale, when I ride I usually add a few km for good
> measure so I'm not always comparing apples and apples. To drive on average
> these days is taking a good 60 minutes (plus or minus say 5-10 minutes), to
> ride (on the same route) I'll do it in about 55 minutes (total elapsed time,
> not riding time).
>

Yes it does, it definitely depends on how much time you spend going in
the same direction as everyone else during the same time window.

Any trip up a freeway going the same way as every other bugger is
going to be slow in a car, but going the other way will be faster than
on a bike.

Meaning bike travel might be good if you are going to a major
destination depending on distance and how you get to that destination
and the time, but not if you aren't. This is the first job I've had
in a major destination for years. In the other jobs, there was no
real saving on the pushbike over a car, and in the previous job to
this one the puhsbike would have been a serious disadvantage on the
way home!


Zebee