Tag: bicycles

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Development News Transportation

Guangzhou’s bus rapid transit system wins city international transport award

Streetfilms, in partnership with the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP), produced a new video highlighting Guangzhou’s bus rapid transit (BRT) system. The BRT system won the city the 2011 International Sustainable Transportation Award from ITDP, and currently serves 800,000 passengers each day.

The system is by far the largest BRT system in Asia, but comes in behind Bogota’s Transmilenio system which serves 1.2 million riders daily. The similarities are striking though. Both Guangzhou and Bogota include robust stations and heavily dedicate right-of-way. The systems are also being built in combination with other forms of transport instead of lieu of them.

“You must also think about multi modal integration,” says Xiaomei Duan, Chief Engineer, Guangzhou BRT Project. “For example, on this corridor we have three metro stations integrated with our BRT station, and around the BRT stations we have our bike stations.”

Guangzhou is the second largest city in the world with approximately 25 million people, and it is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. The implementation of the new BRT system was done, in part, to cut carbon emissions, reclaim space for people and reduce traffic congestion.

The Guangzhou BRT system opened in February 2010 and was designed to now be completely integrated with the city’s new bike share network and metro system.

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Development News Transportation

First Eastern Corridor open house raises additional questions about plan

First proposed in the late 1990’s, the multi-modal Eastern Corridor plan concluded its Tier 1 planning in 2006. After four years of inaction, planning for commuter rail on the Oasis line resumed in May 2010. Tier 2 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis and preliminary engineering is currently underway and preferred alternatives will be determined in 2012.

As the plan moves forward, project leaders are holding three community open houses this week to provide an opportunity for the public to learn more about the project and offer feedback at the midpoint of this planning phase. But because there will not be any official decisions concerning track alignment, vehicle type, etc., until 2012, those who attended the April 5 open house at the Leblond Recreation Center on Riverside Drive were frustrated by the inability of planners to answer specific questions.

The primary concern of open house attendees was the proposed use of diesel locomotives. Area residents are familiar with the sound of the line’s periodic freight trains and the Cincinnati Dinner Train, and fear that frequent high-speed diesel commuter train service will significantly impact their neighborhoods. Most expressed that they would be more welcoming to the proposed commuter service if it took the form of electric light rail or modern streetcar technology similar to that of the proposed Cincinnati Streetcar.

Several concerned citizens, including Arn Bortz, Managing Partner of Towne Properties, observed that the Oasis Commuter Rail is designed to serve far eastern Hamilton County and Clermont County to the detriment of those who live in Cincinnati. Thayne Maynard, President of the Cincinnati Zoo, said that he moved to Newtown to be close to the Loveland Bike Trail, and is worried that the Oasis commuter rail might scuttle plans for the Ohio River Trail between Downtown and Lunken Airport.

Planners assured those in attendance that “No Build” is a possible outcome of the Tier 2 work, in which case all of these concerns can be forgotten. But the completion of Tier 2 work will not determine how capital funds are acquired or which local entity will operate the line. The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) is the most likely operator. With the vast majority of SORTA’s funding coming from a .3% Cincinnati earnings tax, it appears that a special source of revenue will be needed for the Oasis Line as it is expected to terminate near I-275 in Clermont County.

Further complicating the issue, UrbanCincy investigated the Eastern Corridor plan in August 2010 and discovered several significant flaws that have yet to be addressed by project planners.

Two more open houses are scheduled to be held. The first will take place on Wednesday, April 6 at the R.G. Cribbet Recreation Center (map), and the second on Thursday, April 7 inside the Milford High School cafeteria (map). Both open houses will take place from 5pm to 8pm, and will include an open comment/Q&A session beginning at 7pm.

Eastern Corridor Open House photograph by Jake Mecklenborg for UrbanCincy.

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News Transportation

Cincinnati to install second on-street bicycle corral in OTR

Cincinnati’s second on-street bicycle parking facility will be installed on Main Street in Over-the-Rhine (OTR) this week. The on-street parking is part of the city’s overall effort to dramatically improve its bicycle infrastructure over the coming years.

The new on-street bicycle corral will be installed just south of Park+Vine (map) and will accommodate 14 bikes. City officials say that the bike corral has been ready since November 2010, but warmer weather was desired for installation.

“Bockfest seemed like the perfect opportunity to showcase the burgeoning use of bicycles in Over-the-Rhine,” explained Department of Transportation & Engineering (DOTE) planner Melissa McVay. “This will also be a great way to demonstrate the City’s support for bicycles as a viable means of transportation.”

The location is currently a no parking zone and will avoid the loss of any on-street automobile parking spaces. Fabrication, of the bike corral, was performed by Cincinnati-based Vulkane Industrial Arts. The first corral installed in Northside last year cost $1,000, while the new OTR corral cost $4,000.

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News Transportation

City Looking for Feedback on Potential Bicycling Fixes for Riverside Drive

The City of Cincinnati is examining how to improve bicycle conditions along Riverside Drive through the East End neighborhood. Data shows that the corridor is popular for both recreational and commuter bicyclists, but that the heavy traffic along the roadway makes it unsafe or uncomfortable for many potential riders.

“We’re continuously looking for ways to improve the quality of life for residents, and enhance neighborhoods in ways that are more in line with our community’s interests in walkable, bike-friendly and sustainable neighborhoods,” said Matthew Andrews, Acting Principal Architect with Cincinnati’s Department of Transportation & Engineering. “But due to the complexities of this corridor, we are really interested to see what kind of feedback we can get from the public.”


Such complexities include that approximately 10 percent of all traffic along U.S. 52 is dangerous truck traffic thanks to a national truck corridor designation. DOTE officials also say that recent studies show that while the posted speed limit is 35mph, the average vehicle is zipping through the area at 46mph.

But while some solutions seem obvious – separated bike lanes, traffic calming features – the larger picture is making things more difficult. The ongoing Ohio River Trail will eventually create a separated bicycle path that will accommodate both recreational and commuter bicyclists, but officials do not know when that might be or how it is executed. As a result, the City is looking at potential fixes now and is hoping the public can help come up with a solution.

The City is currently soliciting feedback on five potential solutions that include everything from dedicated bike lanes, a separate path, cycle tracks, and a combination thereof. Those interested in providing feedback on the potential solutions are encouraged to do so by Thursday, September 30 so that officials can narrow down the list of concepts and do further analysis in early October.

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Business News Transportation

ArtWorks looking to secure sponsors for final nine Queen City Art Racks

After installing the first Queen City Art Rack in May 2010, ArtWorks is in the process of securing sponsors for the remaining 14 artist-designed bike racks they hope to have installed around Cincinnati by May 2011 to coincide with National Bike Month and ArtWorks’ 15th Anniversary.

ArtWorks executive director Tamara Harkavy said that the non-profit organization has now secured enough sponsors to fund six of those remaining bike racks which cost approximately $7,500 each. The additional money came through sponsorships by Kroger, the Duke Energy Convention Center, Truepoint Financial, Pantene, and Clairol.

The organization plans to install these recently funded bike racks in Northside, Price Hill and Hyde Park Kroger stores, and two locations in downtown Cincinnati. All of the rack locations are being determined based on the needs identified in the city-wide Bicycle Master Plan.

“We are excited about the early support of the Queen City Art Racks program,” said Harkavy. “We have at least nine more funding opportunities along with a number of creative proposals from artists, and we are now looking to close the funding phase and move to the creation phase of the project.”

Project officials at ArtWorks say that the designs for these bike racks will not be developed until December 2010 when they have finalized all fund raising efforts with potential sponsors.

In May, the first Queen City Art Rack was celebrated outside of Coffee Emporium in Over-the-Rhine where it was installed. Named Tours de Cincy, the first rack was designed by Pam Kravetz, Carla Lamb, and Karen Sanders. It was fabricated by Cincinnati-based Vulkane Industrial Arts, and sponsored by the NLT Foundation.

Those interested in sponsoring one of the additional nine racks needing funding can contact Michael Stout at ArtWorks by phone at (513) 333-0388 or email at Michael@ArtWorksCincinnati.org. All sponsorships must be submitted by Thursday, September 30.