CapSizer

Marine Drive in Tableview this afternoon, press the beg button at a pedestrian crossing, wait for the green man, one idiot in low rider zeffed up car races across the red, and his buddy behind overtakes at the same time. Two wide over a pedestrian crossing against the red. Not the first time that I've seen this. Traffic cops conspicuous by their absence. I think a two year gaol sentence for attempted murder might be appropriate.

"smelt dead down there" It has been ... unpleasant ... down there for a very long time. Nevertheless, some of us who have personally encountered the muggers are of the opinion that they are not members of the vagrant community. The real problem is the total neglect and decay of the area, thanks to the railways.

Thanks for posting that. Very interesting.

Yes, it got damaged when a bus caught fire there last February. Apparently the refurbishment process is still being tendered. Getting a clean audit trumps delivering a service. The bus still stops there, but you have to get on and off through the front door from the kerb, which is a bit tricky with a bike.

I would say that the core problem is that the area has become derelict and neglected (thanks PRASA). The other problems follow on that. Eventually this area will be properly redeveloped, but it's not going to happen soon.

To be honest, I don't think the legality the most important question, but these images show blue signs, which I understand to mean freeway, motorway or highway. The real question is whether you think sharing a road with high speed (OK, not during peak hours) traffic is an acceptable risk. Also, if there is an accident, what your position is with regards to liability if you are not supposed to be there.

The bike track through Woodstock runs along the MyCity bus route, next to the railway line, It is very isolated and nowhere near cars and other people. The area is really badly neglected (thanks, railways!), which is the main problem. There are some squatters, although I don't think they are responsible for the muggings.

Thanks, somehow the screengrab didn't show up at first, just seen it on Facebook as well. Nasty.

"bike jacking in woodstock" Any more information on this?

Poison is about right ... Coming from West Beach, generally in that area some time around 08h30.

Rock & hard place. N1 traffic is a risk in itself. Besides, need to get onto Albert Road, and the skollies have been operating on the Lower Church off-ramp anyway.

On the topic of the skollies in the area of the bike path through Woodstock, can anybody who has been through there in the last two weeks report on whether or not things have changed at all?

Done.

I have reported the incident to transport.info@capetown.gov.za and received a phone call from them within an hour. May I suggest that those of you who have recently had similar experiences also write to that address in order to try and get it higher up in their list of priorities? The feedback that I received is that they are doing some patrols, but they have limited resources, and it would help to report the matter to the SAPS. I think we all know that the problem is not going to go away and that we really need a more viable route. The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility is Councillor Rob Quintas. I would like to go to him with constructive proposals. Does anybody here have knowledge of any similar efforts in the past?

FWIW, the buggers had a go at me yesterday afternoon. I've been using the cycle path on and off since 2013 and never seen any threatening behaviour. Yesterday was different though. I got on the path at the Lower Church street bridge, and after I had passed underneath the bridge I saw two persons crossing the bus road about 100 m ahead of me. Their body language was totally different from the normal residents and pedestrians you find in that area, so I moved over to the bus road. As I got closer they turned around and started approaching me. One was carrying a hammer, so I executed a 180 degree turn and retreated to the bus station. I hadn't realised that the bus station had been totally trashed and closed, but managed to manhandle the bike onto a bus from the curb. The MyCity employee there was very helpful. So what to do now? The risk in that area has obviously increased recently, judging by reports on this forum. Does anybody have a contact for a person dealing with cycling infrastructure at the City? Charles

35 km/h speed limit. It's a residential street, no need to go any faster, take the danger to pedestrians, pets and cyclists out of it. Use square speedbumps if necessary.

Well that's just the thing, isn't it? A good concept without very good execution really doesn't help much. There's so many things that you could use, such as smart traffic lights or a clever layout, but how often do we see these things well implemented? The Cape Town MyCiti system with its associated bike lanes is an example of something that is almost there, but not quite.

Do you have a plan view of the layout? The nice feature that stands out is the bike lane properly separated from the road. As for the crossing, my experience with this type of very wide intersection in Cape Town is that it comes down to traffic light timing. When you hit the button you want the green soonish, otherwise there is a great temptation to sneak over. Also, you need protection from left turning cars, who may not believe that they need to wait for non-motorised crossers. At some of Cape Town's intersections you can grow a beard while waiting for a green. The Bayside MyCiti bus station intersection is more or less criminal in this regard, forcing pedestrians to jaywalk in order to get to the bus in non-geological timescales.