It’s been about 12 months since I purchased my Avenir folding bicycle, and while the head-turning novelty has worn off, the flexibility that a bicycle adds to my commute has not. Originally, the decision to buy a bicycle came out of a parking problem. My house is a 15 minute drive from Brampton GO station, but the parking lot tends to fill up by 7:15 am. If there were no spots remaining then the only other solution was to drive another 20 minutes across Brampton to Bramalea GO station. In order to avoid the parking lot altogether I would have to walk 20 minutes from my front door to the Orangeville GO bus stop for a 15 minute trip to Brampton GO. A bike would have cut the walk to 4 minutes, but there was no place I felt comfortable locking up the bike for the day and I had a desire to take the bike downtown to save on TTC fares. The solution was a folding bike, which are allowed on rush hour GO trains and could be folded, bagged, and placed in the luggage compartment of almost all GO buses. (more…)

Source: Rannie Turingan

On occasion I go for a lunch-time bike ride, to pick up fresh fruit and veggies, then go over to the park to eat. In front of the grocery store, I have to lock my bike to a tree. And I feel guilty.

This isn’t the only intersection in downtown Toronto where I’ve had to search for a bike rack.

Recently in New York City, 10 bike rack designs were announced for the CityRacks Design Competition. It is part of a move to increase bicycling as a way to commute. The City’s Department of Transportation, Janette Sadik-Khan, said the bike rack “that meets the City’s needs for usable bike parking [that] will also generate greater interest in bicycle use in the City.” From the 10 shortlisted designs, they seems to fit the criteria of being functional, secure and aesthetic. Prototypes are installed at various locations around the city.

Two racks look seem similar to the ones we have in Toronto.

If you build it they will come. Is this the idea behind New York’s DoT to double cycling commutes? Will it work? As a cyclist (but not a good one), I don’t think a competition to redesign bike racks will inspire automobile commuters to get on a bike (even if musician David Byrne is one of the jurors). But I do think that it’s important that the transportation department has raised the public profile of cycling to hold an international competition.

The competition was one part in a mix of approaches taken, which also includes “legislation that will require large commercial buildings to provide indoor bike parking”. That a transportation agency is entering the realm of land-use regulation to establish one piece of their mandate into building projects is something for Toronto – or any city in Ontario – to seriously consider. Looking through Cycling’s homepage, reading their policies and ‘latest’ bike plan, “Shifting Gears” – it can only get better. The timing couldn’t be more perfect.

Some Links:

NYCDoT Press Release

David Byrne’s bike racks designs

NYCDoT Strategic Plan for the New York City Department of Transportation 2008 and Beyond

Photos of bike racks on Flickr

Photo by Dylan Passmore

photo by natashlcd

Every Wednesday, we’ll be featuring a image from the Metronauts flickr group. If you have any pictures you’d like to submit, feel free to join the flickr group and add your photos. On occasion, we may even grab your photos for a post.

Last year, I bought a bell for my bicycle. I installed it on the wrong side of my handlebars and I noticed this one day as I was approaching an opening door. Having survived a near dooring and having moved my bell to the proper side of my handle bars, I now feel qualified to write about usability for cyclists.

Usability is a term that is used in the web design world to refer to interfaces which are ‘user-friendly’ or easy for people to use. During recent travels, I have been reminded to think about how the concept of usability relates to cycling. How can technologies and towns and cities be designed to better meet needs of cyclists?

To begin the discussion, let me introduce you to two brilliant technologies which are widely available in Vancouver and that inspire me: buttons for bicyclists, and bike racks on buses.

Buttons for bicylists: In Vancouver on certain designated routes like 10th Avenue, bicyclists encounter buttons which they can easily control when they reach traffic lights. These buttons are available from on the road, and are located at the proper height for a bicyclist to press while remaining on their wheels.

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