Cape Town aims to become cycling super city!

[Robbie Stewart]

Restraining yourself? Maybe just not sharp enough which is why you resort to pathetic little comments with pictures. Start a serious post inviting comment then immediately follow that up with a ridiculous reply to a perfectly valid expectation of what Cape Town needs before it has a chance of being a cycling super city.

 

My opinion is the only one that matters? Not at all. But I do wish you were eloquent enough for me to know what your opinion is. Rather than making silly sarcastic jokes that add little to the debate that you invited.

 

Okay, I will spell it out S L O W L Y so that you too can understand what I meant by my reply, seeing as you are slow of uptake.

 

Refer the font Comic Sans MS - it is generally used when making a tongue in cheek sarcastic comment. Such as, CPT already  has a super highway. What is normally meant, and understood by those of us who posses a quick wit, is that thus there actually exists no such highway. But hey, we cannot all be bright, or else the world would truly be a nice place to be, but alas, we must cater for the needs of the likes of yourself. 

 

There, you see, if you are bright enough to comprehend what I did there, you will note that once again I made a comment in jest. but I have a sneaky suspicion that this too will go right by you.

 

Too bad. Moving along swiftly.

[Johan A Marais]

That is just it, cyclists are doing more than the city to try and maintain this infrastructure.  I have stopped to remove **** from the path, you have done maintenance, probably more than once, and many others have, Cycles Direct actually at one stage put a team on the path to cut back the shrubs because the city just did not care.

 

What the hell man - the city must get with the program.

[carbon29er]

Okay, I will spell it out S L O W L Y so that you too can understand what I meant by my reply, seeing as you are slow of uptake.

 

Refer the font Comic Sans MS - it is generally used when making a tongue in cheek sarcastic comment. Such as, CPT already  has a super highway. What is normally meant, and understood by those of us who posses a quick wit, is that thus there actually exists no such highway. But hey, we cannot all be bright, or else the world would truly be a nice place to be, but alas, we must cater for the needs of the likes of yourself. 

 

There, you see, if you are bright enough to comprehend what I did there, you will note that once again I made a comment in jest. but I have a sneaky suspicion that this too will go right by you.

 

Too bad. Moving along swiftly.

 

Your intellect wins. I decline from engaging further.

[Robbie Stewart]

I read the article posted in N24 beofre my OP, and there was a lot said about extending the cycle routes, and making the city more of a cycle commuter friendly city. There was also mention made of targeting less fortunate individuals, to enable them to cheaply acquire bicycles, which in turn will hopefully somewhat alleviate the traffic issues. Personally I struggle to see how increasing commuters will alleviate traffic congestion, as the city keeps growing with more and more people flocking to Cape Town from elsewhere.

My take is that in and off themselves these are good intentions, but I hope that this is not where it stays. Also, no mention was made of the problems currently being faced by those people who use the cycle lanes as things stand. Therefor I referred to the Paarden Eiland issues in my OP, and for sensitivity sake refrained from mentioning the recent spate of cyclist deaths on our roads. CoCT (City of Cape Town) has long way to go before being recognized as a cycling super city, and perhaps this is all pie in the sky, but at least there is an initiative that the city is wiling to embark upon. 

As cyclists, we can and should try steer the direction that this initiative goes. to truly make it a cycling city, that is beneficial to cyclists.

@Carbon29er - did you get that, or should I dumb it down a bit?

[Pure Savage]

Do you know what the City could do? Employ an oke, with a spade and a wheel barrow at the hout bay beach front, every day he just needs to move 10 loads back to the beach. 

 

If this gets done everyday you would not have the sand dune now covering the my citi stop and half the road making it dangerous for all road users. 

 

There is so much labour and a really simple and easy job. Its one less of those 30000 jobs they need to create.

[HdB]

If I remember correctly from the article, the number of commuters is pretty low. It is great that they want to make all these improvements, but would it really make that big an increase in the numbers?

Riding 33km to work would be easy for most of us here on the hub, but the general car-bound public would rather sit in traffic for hours than cycle that far (or at all, for that matter).

[Pure Savage]

If I remember correctly from the article, the number of commuters is pretty low. It is great that they want to make all these improvements, but would it really make that big an increase in the numbers?

Riding 33km to work would be easy for most of us here on the hub, but the general car-bound public would rather sit in traffic for hours than cycle that far (or at all, for that matter).

 

The biggest congestion is the school traffic which due to the zoning is max 3km. 

 

I rode to school, my lightie will ride once I have convinced my wife he is baller at cycling.

[Two-Stroke]

I still think there's some merit in this idea for a nice commute between Southern Suburbs and Cape Town...

 

https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/151780-cpt-cycle-route-along-dewaal-drive/?hl=de+waal

 

Wind will give you horns on certain days, but you bypass the Woodstock/Saltriver messiness.

[MTBeer]

I think the elephant in the room in the cycling commuter debate is the South Easter. maybe it won't discourage a reasonably fit/regular cyclist, but it sure as hell puts the majority of non-cyclists off commuting.

 

Another impediment is the lack of shower facilities in most work places. It's ok for those working in fancy corporates who have money to burn on staff facilities, but try and convince the owner of a small company struggling to keep head above water to spend money on some showers...

[cfcjim]

I think the elephant in the room in the cycling commuter debate is the South Easter. maybe it won't discourage a reasonably fit/regular cyclist, but it sure as hell puts the majority of non-cyclists off commuting.

 

Another impediment is the lack of shower facilities in most work places. It's ok for those working in fancy corporates who have money to burn on staff facilities, but try and convince the owner of a small company struggling to keep head above water to spend money on some showers...

Quite a few years ago the wind used to freak me out, you have to learn to accept it and not fight against it, just be. (That was quite Zen wasn't it).

 

Installing and maintaining a shower would probably cost a lot less than providing parking for multiple vehicles. Toilet facilities have to be provided by law so I'm pretty sure adding a shower and a few lockers wouldn't be too difficult/expensive.

[MTBeer]

Quite a few years ago the wind used to freak me out, you have to learn to accept it and not fight against it, just be. (That was quite Zen wasn't it).

 

Installing and maintaining a shower would probably cost a lot less than providing parking for multiple vehicles. Toilet facilities have to be provided by law so I'm pretty sure adding a shower and a few lockers wouldn't be too difficult/expensive.

parking facilities are generally already there so that cost is included in the rent of the building.

 

The older I get the more the wind irritates me. But then that applies to most things, not just the wind...

[Tubehunter]

Oh the potential for this really exists! But it's going to take the input of a large group of people to pull it off! This execution is where it keeps failing unfortunately.

[Hairy]

Oh the potential for this really exists! But it's going to take the input of a large group of people to pull it off! This execution is where it keeps failing unfortunately.

it will happen slowly at first, and then accelerate as a critical mass is reached (no not the other critical mass)

 

our group started small and slowly, but surely people have been added. through word of mouth, and meeting riders on the lane we have grown. the last year was a big growth rate for us.

 

on our whatsapp group we are now 45 riders....not a huge number, but this is for a specific route and at a specific time in the morning and evenings.

[Albatross]

Hows the security nowadays on the cyclelane to town after the warning from PPA last year that we should avoid? I noticed during the hols when on the MyCiti bus that there was a Police bakkie riding up & down the bus route at the crime  hotspot, not sure if he was patrolling or chasing though.

 

edit: I see this question has been answered in earlier post

[bikebloke]

this is how you turn your city into a super cycling city

http://www.bikecitizens.net/perth-cycling-right-direction/

quote :

the TravelSmart Workplace program. Organisations are able to apply for expert assistance to transform their workplace into a cycle friendly business. This expertise largely helps businesses understand how to incorporate or add end journey facilities into their premises, from bike parking and lockers, to showers and ironing boards.

 

as for the wind just buy a ebike its a perfect excuse and someone has to eventually buy one or two to keep them around so future generations can see how stupid and lazy they where  

[Tubehunter]

it will happen slowly at first, and then accelerate as a critical mass is reached (no not the other critical mass)

 

our group started small and slowly, but surely people have been added. through word of mouth, and meeting riders on the lane we have grown. the last year was a big growth rate for us.

 

on our whatsapp group we are now 45 riders....not a huge number, but this is for a specific route and at a specific time in the morning and evenings.

 

Hairy I commend you and your group on their sustained efforts regarding the cycle lane route and creating a bike bus for people on the West Coast. You are accomplishing on a small scale what could be a blue print for much greater involvement from all cyclists across the city. Sadly the crews with the real power of influence are not that interested in practically getting the ball rolling en masse!