Park the car and pedal

More from the City of Cyclists. Go to the link detailing Copenhagen's love affair with cycling and down load the great short film directed by my friend Michael Thomas.

Park it and pedal

A new concept uses rent-a-cycles to solve city commuters' parking problems
A car park firm has come up with an answer to Copenhagen's inner city parking problems, using the nation's cycling tradition as the solution's vehicle.
ParkCity, owner of Denmark's largest car park, has developed a concept called Park & Pedal, which hopes to put the city's less-congested car parks to good use.
'The concept is that drivers can park their cars in our lot at Israels Place, and then have a bicycle there reserved for them for an extra 100 per month,' said Frank Nielsen, ParkCity's manager.
Park & Pedal allows the customer to keep the cycle as long as he or she likes, and they can return it when picking up their car again.
Nielsen said that there are many open parking spots at the underground lots, but that some lie too far away from a person's workplace.
'If you park the car and still have a ways to go to work, you can just as well bike instead of walking or being a victim of the Metro's repeated delays. Bicycles are and will be the quickest, most flexible and, not least, most environmentally friendly means of transport in a big city like Copenhagen,' said Nielsen.
The new concept is only a week old, but is already becoming popular.
'For me it's the perfect solution,' said ParkCity customer Michael Lagoni. 'I live 40 to 50 kilometres away, and it nicely fits my needs that I can cycle the last bit from the car park to work.'
The Copenhagen Post

Clover Moore's glass jaw

This week's Council meeting has again highlighted the recurring flaw in Clover Moore's leadership style. eCouncillor readers will recall that the annual election of committee chairs, CSPC members (2) and the Deputy Lord Mayor as the ONLY time that the 10 Councilors each have an equal vote - that's real democracy. There is no casting or second vote for the Lord Mayor in the election process in stark comparison to her nightly exercise of her casting or second vote (arguably an undemocratic power) each time she can not get her way at the Council meeting.

Last year the Moore party lost the Deputy Lord Mayoral position to Labor's Councilor Verity Firth in a 5 all tied vote and a subsequent 'draw from the hat' (or wooden barrel actually) between Firth and Moore's candidate John McInerney. Fearing that she could not guarantee her people into the plush elected positions chairing the various Council committee (Finance, Planning, Cultural etc) Moore moved a sudden resolution to abolish the chair positions by seizing control of them for herself. This was reported by the Sydney Morning Herald as a sign of her inability to handle criticism (see below).

SMH September 2005
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/moore-and-more/2005/09/16/1126750129200.html
Moore and more
September 17, 2005
Clover Moore's grip on the controls of the city just got tighter, so be careful not to get in her way, warn her colleagues. Tim Dick reports.

Some people thrive on criticism. Some are broken by it. Some just don't tolerate it - from friend or foe - and are prepared to cop the consequences of not hearing it.
This week, Sydney's Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, discovered the ramifications of what her opponents say are the main irritants of her mayoralty: over-sensitivity, exclusion and taking credit for everything the council does, her idea or not.
Her deputy, the planning expert John McInerney, was dumped from office after the Greens councillor Chris Harris withdrew his support. Without it, McInerney lost by lot, a blind draw from a wooden box, prompting Moore to use a procedural rule to seize all seven of the council's committee chairmanships.
After being criticised for wanting two jobs, member of Parliament and mayor, she now has 10, including chairing the Central Sydney Planning Committee, a government-controlled body which approves major development.
Harris and Moore, a community independent with a decidedly green tinge, should be firm bedfellows. But, after Moore's promise last year to work co-operatively and constructively with other Councilors, things have soured.

On Monday night Moore took her autocratic and undemocratic leadership style one step too far moving to in effect abolish the position of Deputy Lord Mayor since she could not accept a 50:50 democratic chance on the outcome. Opposition Councillors smelt a rat early on in the unprecedented reversal in the order of the elections with Council electing the Chair of Traffic Committee before dealing with the Deputy Lord Mayoral position. (see Election of Office Bearers for 2006/07 below)
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Council/MeetingsAndCommittees/2006/Council/180906.asp

Opposition Councillors still contest the remnant Deputy Chairs of Committees that were ironically all won by Moore loyalists via a draw from the hat. But when Clover Moore pounced with a motion to not elect a Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney the opposition Councillors were outraged. We may have let her seize control of Committee chairmanships last year with a loud grumble and again this year but to abolish a position that is as old as the Council itself and that exists in all other Councils across Australia was going too far. In riding rough shod over the democratic election of the deputy position by the Councillors, Clover Moore and her advisors had taken their arrogance in power one step too far. How on earth they did not foresee our genuine outrage is very hard to comprehend. One after the other the 5 opposition Councillors rose in anger speaking out in outrage against the insult to the Council and the people of Sydney. Moore party Councillors rubbed their hands together claiming the position was redundant and an historical anomaly! It wasn't when Councilor McInerney held onto it for the first 15 months nor when he ran last year to be defeated by Firth.

In speaking on a point of order against the proposal to abolish the post I made the point that it was not as though a non Moore party Deputy Lord Mayor had been a fly in the ointment for Clover Moore and the City. In fact Labor's Councilor Firth had proved herself a co-operative and an effective Deputy and generally sang from the same song sheet as Moore. But this was different - this was not going to be one of the sisterhood, it was Greens Councilor Chris Harris, her opponent in Bligh/Sydney seat at the coming election and the 'Judas' of her Lord Mayoralty (her description). Harris has been running an effective gorilla (no pun intended there Chris - should be guerilla) campaign against Moore in her electorate and she feared his win would elevate his campaign status even further as well as quadruple his resources. I can see her concern with her double salaries and more the 1700 staff compared to Harris' 4 staff and $27,000 as a Councilor. With the two jobs (Lord Mayor and MP) issue still biting in the thoughts of the electorate, Harris' election to DLM would further erode her greenish voter base.

The opposition Councillors exercised their only other real power and walked out of the meeting to deny Moore a quorum and force her to conduct a democratic ballot. Moore seemed genuinely stunned as we left the Council chamber filing past an applauding and angry public gallery. The Local Government Act gives Council 30 minutes to reconvene. Failing to do so the chair sets a new date and time to continue the meeting. 15 minutes into our protest the Moore party Councilor Robyn Kemmis (who we elected earlier unopposed as the Deputy Chair of Finance Committee) called down to the opposition offices requesting our return and announcing that Clover Moore was withdrawing her motion to abolish the position of Deputy Lord Mayor. We returned and after a typical spin laced lecture from Moore we proceeded to the ballot. The draw from the hat delivered Councilor Chris Harris. That's karma for you Clover!!

In other related news - I was elected unopposed and unanimously to the powerful Central Sydney Planning Committee (details below) having forced my way onto the CSPC last year against Moore's wishes and using the draw from the hat method it seems I have earnt my place there. That goes to show that Moore's paranoia about sharing power says more about her psychology than the reality.

Election of CSPC Members
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Council/documents/meetings/2006/Council/180906/18-09-06_COUNCIL_ITEM4.1.pdf
ITEM 4.1 CENTRAL SYDNEY PLANNING COMMITTEE - ELECTION OF MEMBERS
FILE NO: S031913
MEMORANDUM BY THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
To Council:
The Central Sydney Planning Committee (CSPC) is constituted by the City of Sydney Act 1988.
Section 34(1) of the Act provides that the Committee shall consist of seven members:
(a) the Lord Mayor of Sydney;
(b) a senior government employee with architectural experience nominated by the Minister administering the Public Works Act 1912;
(c) 2 Councillors of the City of Sydney elected by the City Council;
(d) the Director of Planning under the Planning Act; and
(e) 2 persons appointed by the Minister administering Part 4 of the Planning Act.
The person appointed pursuant to Clause (b) is Mr Peter Mould, NSW Government Architect, Department of Commerce.
The two persons appointed by the Minister pursuant to clause (e) are Ms Antoinette le Marchant and Mr Neil Bird.
Previously, the Council has chosen to hold a separate election for each of the two positions and the elections were by open, exhaustive voting.
At the Council meeting of 12 September 2005, Council elected Councilor John McInerney and Councilor Shayne Mallard to the two positions on the CSPC for terms ending on 30 September 2006.

In the following day's media Moore's spin city was decrying the undemocratic 'draw from the hat' and making the extraordinary claim that she should be able to appoint who she wants as deputy because that method is MORE democratic. Get that logic? it seemed Ok when she is winning the positions. But with 43% of the primary vote at the Council election there is a case to be made that the leadership of the Council should be more proportional. Clover Moore's constant use of a second or casting vote dozens of times to ram through her party's agenda could also be described as undemocratic using her logic.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/deputy-draw-creates-problem-for-moore/2006/09/18/1158431650398.html
Deputy draw creates problem for Moore
Bellinda KontominasSeptember 19, 2006
CLOVER MOORE'S hopes of choosing her deputy as Lord Mayor of Sydney have been dashed after a dramatic walk-out at a council meeting last night.
All but the independent Councilors walked out in protest over Ms Moore's decision not draw the deputy's name out of a hat, but they were soon called back in and the name of the Greens councillor Chris Harris was drawn.
Under the Local Government Act a council may elect a deputy mayor but is not required to. Cr Moore said the State Government should change the law.
"It is ridiculous in this day and age that Sydney's deputy lord mayor needs to be appointed through a draw from a hat." The appointment of Cr Harris, who has said he will stand for Cr Moore's state seat in March, is a serious blow to her.
She said backroom deals had been done by Labor, the Liberals and the Greens to place in the role someone more concerned with state politics than the council.
She said it could subvert her work for the city. "I don't think [this process] is the proper use of public money.
"Relying on the luck of the draw is undemocratic and until the State Government sees fit to amend the legislation I will continue to delegate duties to Councilors based on their skill, interest and availability."
Cr Moore, who has been criticised for her autocratic management style, said it was her right as Lord Mayor to choose her deputy.
"I describe my style as inclusive and non-adversarial. I'm here to serve the city and I expect all parties to do the same," she said. Cr Harris could not be reached for comment last night.

The name-from-a-hat option is as old as democracy itself. Probably older than the casting vote. Rather than undemocratic as Moore claims, it is believed to have evolved as a civilised way to resolve ballot ties as opposed to bribery or duels. In recent years the draw from a hat method has been proposed to resolve the ALP leadership ballot and it even has constitutional precedent in Victoria where, in a tied 1985 Victorian Upper House election, a returning officer drew the winner from a hat between two candidates.

In a footnote Clover Moore's outrageous actions and the spin her million dollar PR machine put on it have been seen through by many commentators and bloggers. Whilst the mainstream media handled the matter with kid gloves - no doubt finally anthesised by Clover Moore's outrageous advertising spend and huge spin budget- the internet remains beyond her manipulation.

Here's two good blog posts on the shenanigans.

http://kingscrosstimes.blogspot.com/

http://www.southsearepublic.org/story/2006/9/19/81435/9543


and all this deserves a revisit of the popular eCouncillor Queen Clover post.

http://ecouncillor.blogspot.com/2006/05/satirical-look-at-citys-administration.html

Cyclocity in Brussels - Sydney soon?

I received an email this morning from Steve Connor the CEO of JCDecaux Australia informing me of their exciting Cyclocity bicycle hire service launched during car free day in Brussels. I met Steve at the Cycling Promotion Fund 'Business of Cycling Breakfast' earlier this week. It was a great event with the broad range of cycling proponents in attendance including the head of bicycle Police unit, bike importers, retailers, sporting and tourist operators, health experts and government. Councillor John McInerney gave an address on the new City of Sydney draft bike plan www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

As we roll out more cycling infrastructure across the City of Sydney it will be exciting to offer a bicycle hire service for residents, workers and tourists of this quality in Sydney.

Media Release below and read about Cyclocity here and images..



JCDecaux launches Cyclocity® in Brussels
on the city’s ‘car-free day’

Paris, September 18, 2006 – JCDecaux (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number
one outdoor advertising company in Europe and in the Asia-Pacific region,
and number two worldwide, yesterday launched Cyclocity® in Brussels on the
city’s annual ‘car-free day’. With 250 self-service bicycles available at
23 cycle racks, this innovative system is now up and running within the
pentagon of boulevards surrounding central Brussels.
Following Vienna (Austria), Cordoba and Gijon (Spain), Brussels becomes
the 4th city outside France to team up with JCDecaux, the world leader in selfservice
bicycle hire, and offer this pioneering form of individual public
transport.
In France, Cyclocity® (christened Vélo’v® by the greater Lyons area), has
enjoyed unprecedented success since its début in Lyons in May 2005. The
system’s 60,000 subscribers – who hire bicycles up to 28,000 times per day –
have already covered 10 million kilometers in the space of 15 months,
averaging a daily total of 40,000 kilometers - equal to the circumference of
the Earth at the equator..
According to a BVA survey carried out in May 2006, Vélo’v® users are
extremely satisfied with the service, giving it an average score of 7.7 out of
10. Acting as veritable ambassadors for the service, they contribute to its
continued development through favourable word-of-mouth publicity. Indeed,
Vélo’v® enjoys a personal recommendation rate of almost 90%.
Brussels will now become a new showcase for Cyclocity for cities wanting to
adopt this new type of eco-friendly transport system.
Commenting on the launch of Cyclocity® in Brussels, Jean-Charles Decaux,
Chairman of the Executive Board and co-CEO of JCDecaux, said: “With
Cyclocity, JCDecaux is introducing its pioneering means of individual public
transport for the first time in Belgium. This is why we decided, in agreement
with the City of Brussels, to launch this system on the highly symbolic
occasion of ‘car-free day’..
“In line with the expectations currently expressed by cities and citizens in
terms of sustainable development, Cyclocity® forms an integral part of the
urban landscape as an eco-friendly answer to the problems of excessive car
use and pollution while simultaneously guaranteeing safety, comfort and ease
of use. With its development constantly driven by innovation, JCDecaux is
demonstrating once again, with Cyclocity®, its ability to offer local
communities new solutions capable of meeting the challenges confronting
them, notably in the area of environmental protection”.

Key Figures for the JCDecaux Group:
- 2005 revenues: €1,745.2m, first half 2006 revenues: €945.8M
- JCDecaux is listed on the Eurolist of the Euronext Paris stock exchange, and is part of
the Euronext 100 and FTSE4Good indices.
- N°1 worldwide in street furniture (318,000 advertising panels)
- N°1 worldwide in airport advertising with 153 airports and more than 300 transport
contracts in metros, buses, tramways and trains (207,000 advertising panels)
- N°1 in Europe for billboards (200,000 advertising panels)
- N°1 in outdoor advertising in China (79,000 advertising panels in 20 different cities)
- 725,000 advertising panels in 48 countries
- Present in over 3,400 cities with over 10,000 inhabitants
- 7,900 employees

Helmeted riders 'more likely to be hit'

Helmeted riders more likely to be hit by a car!!

By Tamara McLean, National Medical Writer
September 14, 2006 02:05pm
Article from: AAP

CYCLISTS who wear helmets for better protection on the road are ironically more at risk of being knocked down by cars, according to new research.
A study by a British traffic psychologist has found that drivers pass twice as close when overtaking cyclists wearing helmets than when overtaking their bare-headed counterparts.
Drivers shaved an average of 8.5cm off their passing distance when passing cyclists wearing helmets, increasing the risk of a collision.
"This study shows that when drivers overtake a cyclist, the margin for error they leave is affected by the cyclist's appearance," said Dr Ian Walker, from the University of Bath.
"By leaving the cyclist less room, drivers reduce the safety margin that cyclists need to deal with obstacles in the road, such as drain covers and potholes, as well as the margin for error in their own judgments."
The scientist used a bicycle fitted with a computer and an ultrasonic distance sensor to record data from over 2500 overtaking motorists in Salisbury and Bristol.
Dr Walker spent half the time wearing a cycle helmet and half without and was knocked down twice, by a bus and a truck, while helmeted.
He said while helmets had been proven to protect kids in low speed falls, it was questionable whether they offered any real protection to somebody struck by a car.
"Either way, this study suggests wearing a helmet might make a collision more likely in the first place," Dr Walker said.
He believed drivers perceive cyclists as an unfamiliar sub-culture of "lycra-clad street-warriors".
Riders wearing helmets were incorrectly viewed as very experienced and less likely to do something unexpected, which explains why drivers leave less space when passing.
To test another theory, Dr Walker donned a long wig to test whether there was any difference in passing distances when drivers thought they were overtaking a female cyclist.
He said drivers gave "her" an average of 14cm more space than for a man not wearing a helmet, probably because women riders were seen as more unpredictable.
The study, accepted for publication in the journal, Accident Analysis & Prevention, also found that buses and trucks passed considerably closer than cars.



There are some academics who argue that by removing the compulsion to wear helmets when riding bicycles the resultant increase in people taking up riding their bikes (particularly to work) would result in a net community health benefit through decreased obesity, heart disease, diabetes and mental health disorders after the additional head traumas are taken into account. Council's own research has shown that in the top 5 reasons why people do not ride a bicycle to work is the requirement to wear a helmet with some finding them 'unattractive' and others concerned about the impact upon their hair style. Of course safety was the first reason why people did not take up riding - a rather contradictory outcome. I do not know of any government that has reversed a road safety regulation.

Best justice that money can buy

Crikey.com.au makes a sharp point today on the relative inequality of our justice system, comparing Steve Vizard's case to the case of a young Aboriginal burglar caught doing over Vizard's Toorak mansion.

The inequality of Australian justice was on full display in Melbourne yesterday.

On one side of William Street, in a witness box inside the Supreme Court, a wealthy, handsomely-suited, prosperous-looking 50-year-old businessman was into his third day of refusing to answer questions about, among other things, his illicit share dealings. On the other side of the street, in the dock inside the County Court, a remorseful 21-year-old Aboriginal burglar with a history of drug addiction and 75 previous convictions was being sentenced to four years' jail after pleading guilty to 25 counts of theft and burglary.

Steve Vizard squirmed but, advised by a legal team that included two of Australia's most expensive QCs, he managed to avoid giving evidence that could expose him to prosecution for perjury or for trading shares while on the board of Australia's biggest company, Telstra -- offences for which he was tapped over the knuckles by ASIC, fined $390,000 and disqualified from being a company director for ten years.

In the courtroom over the road, Peter Clarke also squirmed. "I'm very, very sorry for the pain I have caused in committing these crimes," he told the judge -- crimes which included aggravated burglary and stealing six laptop computers from the Toorak mansion of Steve Vizard.

As Steve Vizard could affirm, if he was prepared to answer, Australian justice is still the best that money can buy.

Euro-style bike lanes plan for City

If it's good enough for Melbourne's cyclists then why not Sydney? As I have continually advocated for the 'Gateways' and Kent Street routes.

from the Sunday Age....

Coming this way: a Copenhagen cyclist passes a row of parked cars keeping him segregated from moving traffic.

Photo: Casual Cas

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/eurostyle-bike-lanes-plan-for-city/2006/09/02/1156817151269.html

Clay Lucas September 3, 2006

MELBOURNE is to get its first taste of European-style bike lanes that separate cyclists and car traffic by putting a parking lane between them.
The bike lanes, which will run along either side of Swanston Street from Melbourne University to RMIT, will cost more than $500,000.
If the trial is successful, VicRoads will consider rolling out more of the bike lanes across the city.
The new-style lanes will be two metres wide and 50 centimetres lower that the footpath.

Under the design, named the Copenhagen Treatment by planners because it is common in that city, existing numbers of parking spots will be kept but moved away from the footpath and towards the middle of the street.
Work on the scheme, aimed at reducing the number of cyclists being hit by cars on that stretch of road, is set to start at the end of the year.
The area has become a bicycle black spot, with six cyclists admitted to hospital after being knocked off their bikes in the past five years.
Under the City of Melbourne's cycling strategy released last week, installation of similar lanes on main cycling roads across the city is likely.
"This is the next stage of this city's bicycle lanes," said Harry Barber from Bicycle Victoria, which has worked closely with the council and VicRoads to get support for the new lanes.
"Drawing a line to mark out a bike lane came first, over the last decade. Then they started painting bicycle lanes green, as we're seeing all over town," Mr Barber said.

"Now they've reached the next stage: separating bikes and cars physically. Australians all have bikes, and they love riding them, but most are reluctant to ride in traffic. These lanes will mean they don't have to."

On average, 1000 cyclists a year are admitted to hospital after accidents. Some 200 end up in hospital after a collision with a car. On main cycling strips such as St Kilda Road, which has boomed as a cycling area since bike lanes were created in 1993, the number of cyclists in accidents with cars has stayed steady.