News & Discussion: Cycling

[omada]

god seriously, I wonder why I bother living in this pissant city, build the damned bike lanes already! If your crappy little business is struggling, then perhaps its time to think of something else to do or even better, die.

Why are people so against such a healthy and unobtrusive activity such as cycling?

It's no wonder it has fallen off 20% in Adelaide.

[Westside]

My favourite line:

A different way to provide safe cycling in the city needs to be found.

It just can't make use of any existing space in the city, because we need all of our current road lanes, our current footpath width, and it can't cost too much, so it can't be raised or lowered...

[Nathan]

From InDaily: That one cafe owner that was opposed to the bikeway? He was prompted by Antic who has been in his ear scaremongering. Let's stick with 'piece of shit'.

https://indaily.com.au/opinion/2017/11/ ... -catch-22/

The east-west bikeway has yet to be designed, no consultation has taken place and little is known about it.

This vacuum has created the ideal political moment for some old-fashioned political scaremongering.

Flinders Street café owner Luigi Di Costanzo told The Advertiser on Friday the planned east-west bikeway would kill his business by necessitating the removal of his outdoor dining area (and by reducing car parking on the street).

He later told InDaily that city councillor Alex Antic, who cites opposition to Frome Street bikeway as his original reason to run for council, had warned him of the threat.

The idea that the proposed east-west bikeway will have an impact on outdoor dining is not without foundation. The council staff report which, in September, recommended Flinders and Franklin streets for the bikeway says “there may be some impacts to existing outdoor dining areas”.

It remains unclear which outdoor dining areas might be affected because the bikeway just hasn’t been designed yet – but Di Costanzo is very unlikely to lose his.

Haese was able to assure the café operator, on FIVEaa radio, that his outdoor dining area was safe.

He could be so confident because Di Costanzo’s outdoor dining area is aligned with the kerb at the intersection of Flinders and Pulteney Streets, and because members of council staff had inspected his site relatively recently (the council helped fund his outdoor dining area).

[Kasey771]

From InDaily: That one cafe owner that was opposed to the bikeway? He was prompted by Antic who has been in his ear scaremongering. Let's stick with 'piece of shit'.

https://indaily.com.au/opinion/2017/11/ ... -catch-22/

The east-west bikeway has yet to be designed, no consultation has taken place and little is known about it.

This vacuum has created the ideal political moment for some old-fashioned political scaremongering.

Flinders Street café owner Luigi Di Costanzo told The Advertiser on Friday the planned east-west bikeway would kill his business by necessitating the removal of his outdoor dining area (and by reducing car parking on the street).

He later told InDaily that city councillor Alex Antic, who cites opposition to Frome Street bikeway as his original reason to run for council, had warned him of the threat.


The idea that the proposed east-west bikeway will have an impact on outdoor dining is not without foundation. The council staff report which, in September, recommended Flinders and Franklin streets for the bikeway says “there may be some impacts to existing outdoor dining areas”.

It remains unclear which outdoor dining areas might be affected because the bikeway just hasn’t been designed yet – but Di Costanzo is very unlikely to lose his.

Haese was able to assure the café operator, on FIVEaa radio, that his outdoor dining area was safe.

He could be so confident because Di Costanzo’s outdoor dining area is aligned with the kerb at the intersection of Flinders and Pulteney Streets, and because members of council staff had inspected his site relatively recently (the council helped fund his outdoor dining area).

I particularly liked this insight into the machinations Antic is prepared to go to:
He{Haese} was also attacked on FIVEaa over the fact that there hadn’t been any consultation with Flinders and Franklin Street business owners about the east-west bikeway.
..
..But the real reason there’s yet to be consultation is that another motion, moved by Antic in late September, delayed it.

[mshagg]

Poor Luigi, Antic played him like a fiddle. I wonder if he was one of the 758 people that voted for him?

[Torrens_5022]

There's no way the council will narrow the footpath / outdoor dining area in this location. They should widen the footpath along that stretch, those buildings are almost on the road- https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.926 ... 312!8i6656

[omada]

Ok, look I hate being a negative nancy, I'd prefer not to be honestly, but I think it's time we stripped the ACC's powers for these important infrastructure projects, lets restrict the ACC to garbage collection and provision of library services.'

[Patrick_27]

Ok, look I hate being a negative nancy, I'd prefer not to be honestly, but I think it's time we stripped the ACC's powers for these important infrastructure projects, lets restrict the ACC to garbage collection and provision of library services.'

How about no, just because you don't agree with the process of their decision making doesn't mean we should make such drastic moves against the local government.

[Llessur2002]

Ofo is heading to the suburbs. Gotta love Charles Sturt...

Charles Sturt Council allows ofo dockless bikes in western suburbs

COMMUNITY bikes will be available to ride across parts of the western suburbs as part of a new trial program.

The dockless share bikes will be able to be picked up and dropped off anywhere within areas of Henley Square, Grange Jetty, West Beach, Point Malcolm Reserve and Bowden Plant 4.

They are part of a new Charles Sturt Council project which will be operated by international bike-sharing company Ofo Australia.

It is not known how many bikes will be rolled out as part of the trial.

Under the program — similar to one already operating in the CBD — the first ride is free and after that cyclists are charged up to $5 per ride.

The ride-share operator would collect the proceeds.

Bikes fitted with GPS trackers will be made available on footpaths around the designated areas.

In a letter to the council, Ofo Australia head of strategy and communications Scott Walker said local teams would be able to track “all bikes at all times”.

“Our bikes are lightweight, feature integrated lights, gears and handbrakes and are equipped with a helmet,” Mr Walker said.

“The first ride is always free, after which we charge used $1 for 30 minutes, with an individual ride cap of $5.”

Ofo rolled out about 50 bright yellow bikes across Adelaide’s CBD and another 200 in Sydney last month.

Adelaide City Council has already received 18 complaints, with Ofo reporting one bike theft to police and two bicycles damaged beyond repair.

The council’s transport and assets co-ordinator, Sam Adams, said the bikes had “social, environmental and health” benefits.

Mr Adams said some rental bike-share schemes had a “geo fence” which limited the parking of the bicycles to specific areas.

He said people who took bikes out of the permitted area would receive demerits if they were not returned within a time period.

“Dockless bike-share, as a privately operated service, has the potential to significantly increase bicycle coverage across the council area, to reduce costs for (the) council and to provide useful bicycle travel data at minimal cost for users,” Mr Adams said last week.

The council will continue its Adelaide Free bikes scheme, which costs about $20,000 annually, and allows bikes to be hired at West Lakes Library, Hindmarsh Library and the Henley Beach Library.

These bikes have to be returned to the same spot they were hired from.

From: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenger ... 845b02d46e

[Nathan]

Nice. A few ofo bikes have been appearing around Bowden, geofence be damned, so there's obviously some demand.

Also, a whole 18 complaints to the council. That's hardly damning.

[Llessur2002]

Nice. A few ofo bikes have been appearing around Bowden, geofence be damned, so there's obviously some demand.

Same in Croydon - when the bikeway's (finally) finished it could be a nice little boost to Queen Street businesses. Annoyingly as they're out of the geofence I can't ride them back into the city which would work out great for both me and ofo. I wish there was a way round this - could encourage people to earn some user credits too.

Also, a whole 18 complaints to the council. That's hardly damning.

Received from:
A.Antic
Alex A
AA Esq.
Antic & Co.
Alexan Tic
Citna Xela
Antic, A
etc

[Kasey771]

Nice. A few ofo bikes have been appearing around Bowden, geofence be damned, so there's obviously some demand.

Same in Croydon - when the bikeway's (finally) finished it could be a nice little boost to Queen Street businesses. Annoyingly as they're out of the geofence I can't ride them back into the city which would work out great for both me and ofo. I wish there was a way round this - could encourage people to earn some user credits too.

Also, a whole 18 complaints to the council. That's hardly damning.

Received from:
A.Antic
Alex A
AA Esq.
Antic & Co.
Alexan Tic
Citna Xela
Antic, A
etc

Maybe a couple from
Moran, A
Ann Moran
Anne Moran
A moran
Annemore An

[Nathan]

Sigh...

Controversial East-West separated bikeway on hold so Adelaide City Council can consult ratepayers
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... d81924e9be

EARLY design work on the city’s East-West bikeway project will be put on hold until the council consults with ratepayers on Flinders and Franklin St who are affected by the contentious scheme.

A formal engagement strategy due to start this month has also been stopped following concern from businesses, residents and property owners.

Traders along Flinders and Franklin St have said they fear the proposed bikeway will damage their businesses when parking and outdoor dining areas are reduced under the project.

A total of $5.5 million has been allocated for the design and construction of the bikeway between Dequetteville Tce and West Tce.

However the route — which mirrors the new design for the Frome St bikeway — will make all angled parking parallel and is likely to affect on-street dining areas.

At a meeting on Tuesday night, a majority of Adelaide City councillors supported an alternate motion by Councillor Houssam Abiad that approves administration immediately consulting with the impacted ratepayers along Flinders St, Franklin St and all branching side roads and laneways.

Mr Abiad also requested that ratepayers be asked if they support an East-West separated bikeway along Flinders and Franklin St, and be given options to answer “yes”, “no” or “depending on the design”.

“The first thing that we are hearing from a lot of our ratepayers is a great deal of finger pointing towards Frome, towards Sturt St, with a level of discontent and discomfort around what this council is trying to deliver,” he said.

“We can’t afford to simply send letters out ... we need to knock on every door, we need to explain to our ratepayers that potentially if any project were to progress what it would look like, get their direct feedback and their direct understanding of what council is trying to plan because without winning our ratepayers over, there will be no project.”

Councillor Alex Antic said there was almost “universal opposition” to the project from ratepayers.

“They feel as if they have not been consulted on whether they want a bikeway or not and the reason they feel that way is because they have not been,” he said.

Consultation between council administration and immediately impacted ratepayers is expected to occur next year with results to come back to council by April 2018.

[Norman]

"Universal Opposition to the project". Where? On AdelaideNow/InDaily?

[Llessur2002]

ffs, what an utterly ridiculous bunch of morons.

Or as North Ward councillor Phil Martin put it:

"The simplified consultation was bound to return a strong ‘no’ vote for the bikeway project given the council’s track record on bikeways projects.

He suggested members of the State Government would be regretting the decision to sign a contract with the council to fund the bikeway – and that the council might not follow the results of the consultation anyway.

“They must be waking up every morning saying: what the hell have we done entering into that agreement with those monkeys at the council?"

He argued that Abiad’s motion was designed to produce a negative response “and place this council in a position where it doesn’t proceed with an east-west bikeway – where it says to the State Government, ‘rack off’”.

“This council is demonstrating a fantastic – a wondrous – capacity to self-inflict injuries,” he said.

Martin expressed scepticism about a “groundswell” of opposition to the east-west bikeway, noting that the council had, also last night, formally received a petition with just eight signatures, opposing the bikeway.

From: https://indaily.com.au/news/local/2017/ ... al-threat/