1 million bike rides

It might be enough to make your legs feel tired, but there's been 1 million bike rides already this year, past my favourite bike counter.

I missed the day itself as we've had a lot of wet weather recently; though obviously not bad enough to stop other people riding bikes. It happened sometime around mid-October.

If you saw my previous post on this, I'm comparing it to how many people use the sports stadium nearby. The rugby league season has now ended with a total Broncos' home game attendance of 401,421.

Already this one bike-path is 2.5 times more popular - and there's still a few months to go.

UPDATE: a couple of days after the photo above, I say the sign tick over from 1049999 to 1050000. My attempt to capture it was seconds too slow and another rider ticked it over one extra.

It's a bit like that feeling - back in the car days - of seeing the odometer tick over another milestone. Except this feeling doesn't come with an obligatory car servicing, or thinking about how much I've wasted on fuel.

Space Invaders (cars)

Nobody likes being stuck in traffic. But there's a simple solution.

In the 80s video game Space Invaders the invaders were from space. Today's space invaders are invaders of space.

Next time you're in traffic, try to count 50 cars in front of you. If you're on a 3-lane road try to count 17 cars in front.

In most situations it's further than you can see. But that's how much traffic could be removed with just one bus.

My local public transport agency gives out these stickers to illustrate the point.

Even though there's not even 50 cars on the picture, is still demonstrates how obvious the solution to traffic is.

Which is more popular: Bike-riding or football?

We've now passed half a million bikes on my favourite bike counter (it's the only one I know of).

Here's photo from Friday night. There were a few passers-by who had been to the football. It got me wondering. Which is more popular bike-riding or football?

So I looked up the stats. the stadium just around the corner from this bike counter is primarily for the Brisbane Broncos. According to wikipedia the total homegame crowds this season is 131,756. Add in Friday night's crowd and it's about 160,000.

With the bike counter at 521,000 it seems that bikeriding is more than 3 times as popular. And that's just on this one little piece of the bikeway network.

It's interesting that we spend so much on stadiums and so little on bikeways.

Previous posts about the counter:
250,000 people on bikes
How many bicycles?

250,000 people on bikes

Today I rode past the bikeway bicycle counter again. (See January's post)

Just over 2 months, and we've had a quarter of a million people on bikes - just on this particular piece of bikeway.

Looks like we'll pass a million by year's end.

How many do you think it will be?
Put your guess in the comments and we'll see who gets the closest.

How many bicycles?

Late last year the city council installed this bicycle and pedestrian counter on my local bikeway.

I especially like the little logos. It makes it feel like a sports competition. How active and healthy can Brisbane be?

I took this photo today, 26 January. There have been more than 100,000 people on bikes go past the point in less than a month. Exciting to know that the bikeway is so well used.

PS. See the March update.

The poor woman

I've certainly felt like this at times. The smug pedestrian (or bike rider) cruising past a traffic jam.

Thursdays in my neighbourhood are particularly bad for drivers. Our city has late night shopping on Thursdays, so commuter traffic and shopping traffic add together.

In a logical world some of the regular drivers would work this out and take public transport on a Thursday - or ride or walk if it's a short distance. But people tend to stick to habits even if it means sitting in traffic for much longer than other forms of transport would take.

Of course the poor woman in the cartoon is also doing for for her physical and mental health.

Damn, these electric bikes (are great)

The topic of electric bikes came up at work today. One colleague mentioned how jealous she is of electric bikes as they pass her on the uphills.

I think this cartoon sums it up well. The rider of the electric bike is thinking "Damn, these electric bikes (are great)" while the other rider thinks "Damn these electric bikes (are making me jealous)."

The Secret of Happiness

I've just read an article on Enrique Peñalosa, the former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia. "We might not be able to fix the economy. But we can design the city to give people dignity, to make them feel rich. The city can make them happier."

One experiment was to have a day of a total car ban. The 'car free' day was the first day in 4 years that nobody was killed in traffic. Hospital admissions were down, smog thinned, and people were feeling more optimistic about life. All from just one day without cars.

Why does better city design, and fewer cars, give such a boost to our happiness? The article had some stats on that - and it seems that we've over-valued the role of money in happiness.

• The British got 40% richer from 1993 to 2012, but the rate of psychiatric disorders and neuroses grew.
• Londoners are among the least happy people in the UK, despite the city being the richest region in the UK.
• The more connected we are, the less likely we are to experience heart attacks, strokes, cancer and depression. Connected people sleep better at night. They live longer. They consistently report being happier.
• People who endure more than a 45-minute commute were 40% more likely to divorce.
• People who live in car‑dependent neighbourhoods are much less trusting of other people.
• Longer commutes mean lower life-satisfaction. A person with a one-hour commute has to be paid 40% more money to be as satisfied with life as someone who walks to the office. For a single person, exchanging a long commute for a short walk to work has the same effect on happiness as finding a new love.

So why is driving so bad? So bad that being freed from it is the equivalent of falling in love - or getting a 40% pay rise?

"Driving in traffic is harrowing for both brain and body. The blood of people who drive in cities is a stew of stress hormones. The worse the traffic, the more your system is flooded with adrenaline and cortisol, the fight-or-flight juices that, in the short-term, get your heart pumping faster, dilate your air passages and help sharpen your alertness, but in the long-term can make you ill. Brain researchers found that peak-hour travellers suffered worse stress than fighter pilots or riot police facing mobs of angry protesters."

Apparently, it's the mobility of walking, running or riding that makes commuting enjoyable.

"We were born to move. Immobility is to the human body what rust is to the classic car. Stop moving long enough, and your muscles will atrophy. Bones will weaken. Blood will clot. You will find it harder to concentrate and solve problems. Immobility is not merely a state closer to death: it hastens it."

Cyclists report feeling "connected to the world around them" in a way that's not possible in a sealed vehicle. Their journeys are "sensual and kinesthetic".

So how did Bogotá's experiment go?

It made life better for almost everyone. Commuting times fell by a fifth. The streets were calmer. The accident rate halved, as did the murder rate, even as the country as a whole got more violent. There was better air quality. Bogotáns got healthier. The city experienced a spike in feelings of optimism. People believed that life was good and getting better.

To find out more, read the article, or get the book it comes from - "Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design" by Charles Montgomery.

Bubble Art

Another aspect of public transport that I enjoy is artwork. There's a lot to be seen from the train network, but this one's is near the ferry terminal at Teneriffe.

It might not be 'gallery-quality' art, but it's nice. A lot of people see it, and I'm sure it brightens their day.

It's certainly better than a plain brick wall, and better than motorist equivalent - a stream of roadside advertising billboards.

The mobile device that charges you

There's nothing quite like a nice bike ride.

I reckon this would be t-shirt worthy.

(Image is my slight variation on this one)

Biking to Work

I participated in Ride to Work day this year. One of the joys of riding during peak times is not being caught in the traffic. There's something freeing about cruising along, in a bike lane or path. Even at my not-so fast riding pace, I was easily passing the stop-start vehicle traffic.

I felt a bit like the rider in this video, but looking even less like a pro-rider. ;)


Related post: Ride to work day 2012

Billy Slater for Bikes

Rugby league star Billy Slater (Melbourne and Austalian fullback) promoting Ride to Work day (and Australian Bananas).

First Glimpse - G:link tram

Here it is. The first of the new light-rail trams for the Gold Coast's new G:Link has arrived for a trial run. It's 43m long, and can carry more than 300 people.

The service starts in mid 2014 with a route of 16 stations from the University Hospital, through Surfers Paradise and down to Broadbeach. End-to-end will take just 37 minutes, and high-frequency services will be available from 5am to midnight.

PS. I'm a previous Gold Coast resident, so it's exciting to see more public transport options in that area.

Good Mood Guaranteed

I'd imagine there would be plenty of people jealous of the Germans who came up with this idea.


"A good mood is always guaranteed" claims the Bierbike website. I reckon riding a bike usually brings on a good mood by itself. Perhaps the activity of pedalling, while enjoying a relaxed drink with some friends adds to the joy.

PS. I'm assuming the driver isn't partaking in the beverages ;)

Traffic Tetris

Does driving a car ever feel like this?


I know i've seen it from the outside. Yesterday i was cruising past traffic on my bike - without even pedalling. Gravity and a gentle slope was all it took for me to be gliding by two lanes of stationary cars - backed up from one intersection to the next.

And that was on a Saturday!

Of course the difference with traffic tetris is that filling every available space is not a winning move.

Key Christmas Tip

It was a real surprise to see this post from a good friend of mine - who is a really sweet and intelligent guy.

But in the light of my last post (it's circumstance, not the person) I probably shouldn't be overly surprised.

So here's my Christmas shopping tip: Take Public Transport

At the shopping centre my friend was at, the "perfect park" is probably the one the busses get - about 5 metres from the door.

Another shopping centre near me is actually built on top of the train station. Hard to get more convenient than that.

Sometimes a bike is also helpful (if getting smaller gifts). I used to park 3 metres from the shop entrance and could ride home in less time than it took most shoppers to find a park.

So that's my tip - leave the car keys at home and enjoy the Christmas season!

Ride to Work Day 2012

Yesterday was Ride to Work Day. I took this photo on a mini-break along the way. I had just ridden alongside the City Botanic Gardens, and the waterfront plaza area you can see at the base of the towers. The views, the great weather, and the early morning sunshine make it worth starting out at 6.30am.

The inspiration for going so early was that, as part of Ride to Work Day, my workplace was having a breakfast for all riders from 6.30 to 8. Clearly i wasn't there for the start, but it was definitely worth the effort.

There was a selection of cereals, sliced up fruit, yoghurts, fruit muffins, and juice boxes. Mmmmm. :)

Benefits of Riding to Work

This was part of my email invite to join Ride to Work day. It summarises some of the reasons i like going car free.

By the way, if you're interested, Ride to Work day this year is Wednesday 17 October.

Birthday Express

This week i enjoyed a friend's birthday dinner. I also enjoyed the trip there. For a 19km journey (including through the city in peak hour) it took just 26 minutes on the express train. Friends (including the guest of honour) spent as long as that stuck in traffic.

For the record it also results in about 1/9th of the greenhouse emissions according to the Queensland Rail Emissions Calculator.

A pleasant exchange with an elderly man

I did a quick jog tonight - to catch the 5:19 train. Catching my breath in an almost empty carriage, an elderly man asked me if this train stops at Albion. Between catching my breath, and the station announcer on the loudspeaker it was hard to hear his gentle voice.

"I beg your pardon." i said

"Albion station?" he asked again.

"No, that's the other way." i informed him

"Isn't this platform 4?" he said, puzzled.

"No, It's platform 3. Platform 4 is just there." i said, pointing the way.

"Oh, thank you very much." he said, and made his way quickly off the train. Well, quickly for an older man. ;)

I felt good about it. I saved the man some confusion and probably half an hour of being lost (had he stayed on board). It was another one of those pleasant little stranger-exchanges that i enjoy on the public tansport network. :)