Tag: commuter cycling

Belfast to Bangor Greenway: the final link

Posted on by nigreenways

The North Down Coastal Path, and the surrounding local economy, is one major project away from fulfilling its tourism and leisure potential. A new high quality traffic-free link is needed to address the current disconnection from Belfast. This will integrate with the growing urban greenway network, encourage Belfast residents to visit North Down more regularly, and open up a new seam of tourism opportunities. Considering the current options for route development, an intriguing new greenway project is proposed.

Explore the Belfast urban greenways on Google Maps
Traffic-free network in Greater Belfast Area – disconnected from the North Down Coastal Path

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The North Down Coastal Path begins at the north end of the George Best Belfast City Airport runway, with a gate to the road running past the Kinnegar Army base. From here, Belfast City Hall is 6.5km away with no direct traffic-free route. When the Connswater Community Greenway is completed as far as Victoria Park the shortest distance to this pathway network will be 4.5km, but accessible only by busy main roads.

This is a particular problem for leisure cycling; families with youngsters, inexperienced cyclists, tourists based in Belfast. These are already significant distances before the relaxed ‘leisure’ part begins, and poses a barrier to many people who would otherwise love to tootle along the coast for a day and spend in the local economy.

At present there are just two options available for travelling by road. Both routes are quite direct, but also have severe drawbacks for cycling and walking.

The A2 / Sydenham Bypass

The road ‘benefits’ from separate cycle tracks on both carriageways, but you’ll seldom see people choosing to take this route. This is quite a horrible place to be on a bicycle; a heavy traffic urban dual carriageway, with vehicles travelling above and below the 50mph speed limit.

An apparent lack of sweeping leaves the cycling surface strewn with road grit and glass. Not a happy start or end to a leisure trip, and not somewhere suitable for children or inexperienced riders to cycle. Great if you like cinematic thrills, but not fit for purpose as a modern cycle route.

Sydenham Bypass cycle lane, murderous traffic, puncture-friendly surface

It’s hard to imagine a country like the Netherlands, where road design is based on sustainable safety principles, funnelling cyclists into the hard shoulder of what is practically an urban motorway, then promoting it as an important link in the country’s cycle network.

Pedestrian access to the bypass is slightly easier with the footbridge at Sydenham Station and subway by Victoria Park, but the drawbacks of the traffic noise and fumes make this a less than appealing environment. Popular with joggers and power walkers, but lacking in great utility.

Future development of the road will include widening to three lanes each way. There will be just one 3.5m shared cycle/footway on the Victoria Park/Airport side – finally to include a physical barrier which should improve safety perception – but designing a mixed footpath on this fast cycling commuter route is a real backward step.

As the Sydenham Bypass reaches the Tillysburn Gyratory, it’ll be back to the current heady mix of footpaths, hard shoulders and crossing over fast slip roads. With no cycle lane up the slip road to Holywood Exchange, cyclists are encouraged to continue for another 2.6km on the dual carriageway into Holywood town, missing the first section of coastal path.

While it’s important to retain cycling and walking space in major road developments, this appears to be an ideal time to seek better accommodation for sustainable journeys on this corridor.

The Airport Road

Favoured by many cyclists at present, the Airport Road tracks the western side of George Best Belfast City Airport. By comparison with the Sydenham Bypass, the traffic flows are greatly reduced. Yet heavy goods vehicles and oil tankers dominate the road here, and again this poses a frightening dilemma for the novice cyclist. The pathways suffer from high kerbs and no dropped access at the many side roads; unsuitable for cycling, so the road is the only option at present.

There are plenty of opportunities on the countrybound side to reclaim space to develop a separate cycle track with the parallel pedestrian pavement. This is understood to be the preferred solution for a future cycling route, with a new bridge due to link Victoria Park with the Airport Road at the end of the Connswater Community Greenway.

Airport Road Belfast

Yet there is another issue which makes this route currently unattractive – the isolation. There is one way in and one way out, with some limited added value with the commuting link to the Bombardier site and businesses based in the Heron Road Complex. But workers here will tell you the dirt left by heavy construction traffic makes cycle commuting conditions less than ideal.

The Airport Road option also narrows the usefulness of the route to cyclists only. Very few ‘additional’ walking journeys would be generated along this stretch, being set so far away from residential areas.

But is there another way to accommodate sustainable transport in this part of the city, and link the greenway networks, away from the compromises of being tied to major roads?

A Sydenham Community Greenway?

Looking to the southeast side of the airport, across the A2 and railway line, there is another option worth exploring which ticks many more boxes:

  • direct route
  • traffic-free
  • space for full mode separation where needed
  • integration with rail network
  • greater number of access points
  • weaving through residential communities
  • integration with existing leisure facilities
  • new commuting and shopping access

Sydenham Community Greenway proposal section 1

Starting from the Connswater Community Greenway link to Victoria Park, this route would make use of Inverary Drive. This traffic-calmed and relaxed residential road is an ideal start, running for almost a full kilometre. There is an existing bridging pathway between Park Road and Inverary Drive which can be upgraded to greenway standard.

Inverary Drive pathway

Inverary Drive is a wide and calm street environment with very little through traffic. It’s possible to accomodate cycling on the road (with a 20mph limit) but space exists to provide a fully separate track by the railway fence for a ‘continuous’ route feel, and providing the highest safety standard to separate pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicles for this short stretch.

Inverary Drive

There is an important link with Sydenham railway station on this route, and a greenway route on the doorstep opens this station up as a jumping off point for journeys towards the Connswater/Comber corridor, and north where we’re headed.

Continuing on, the road turns east into Inverary Avenue at the Inverary Community Centre, but this proposal would run a traffic-free path behind the centre and through Alderman Tommy Patton Memorial Park. This popular urban park has recently upgraded its play facilities, and is another lesser-known gem in Belfast. Passing by the football pitches, the new path would approach a patch of woodland. There is an existing looped forest pathway which runs along the boundary with the train line; this could be carefully and respectfully upgraded for the purposes of a continuous greenway route.

Alderman Tommy Patton Memorial Park woodland path

Viewed from the woodland path, the potential local benefits of the next section start to snowball – the main terminal of George Best Belfast City Airport is but a stone’s throw away. The greenway would continue to follow the line of the railway fence, across the back of Shorts Recreation Club and Blanchflower Park.

George Best Belfast City Airport

As with Alderman Tommy Patton Memorial Park, there appears to be ample space to set the railway fence back closer to the line if it’s necessary to accommodate the path away from the existing parks. But for the whole route to be viable, one piece of major engineering is needed at this point.

SydBridge
A very poor artist’s impression of a standalone bridge

The most direct route to Holywood requires the path to cross over the railway lines opposite the airport. There are two options here:

  • a standalone bridge crossing diagonally to meet the airport exit road
  • a looped ‘S’ bend crossing over the railway tunnel at the Sydenham Bypass and turning again into the airport exit tunnel

George Best Belfast City Airport Access Underpass

A simple upgrade of the airport access tunnel can continue the route towards Holywood Exchange. The tunnel already has a wide footpath and cycle lane marked on the road. Providing kerb separation at the exiting cycle line would allow 2-way cycling and walking without affecting airport traffic. There is a further option to drop an access path from the countrybound Sydenham Bypass, allowing direct cycling and walking access from the Tillysburn cycling underpass and linking the communities around Knocknagoney Park.

Sydenham Community Greenway proposal section 2

The City Airport site employees around 1,500 people, with many workers travelling from East Belfast with little option but to drive. This new greenway option opens up a significant swathe of Belfast to a truly viable alternative to car travel. And if you think the suggestion of cycling to an airport for onward travel is daft, this isn’t the case at other airports around the world, even including many served by George Best Belfast City Airport flights.

Holywood Exchange abandoned access road behind IKEA

The roundabout at the airport tunnel leads off to an abandoned access road. Today this is used for fly tipping and is a favourite spot for taxis wanting to beat the waiting restrictions within the airport car parks. This is ripe for conversion to a walking and cycling-only route into the Harbour Estate at Holywood Exchange as part of the greenway. The proposed path would cut left alongside the airport boundary fence and into the retail complex at IKEA’s massive sign. There is already a natural land buffer between the airport boundary fence and Airport Road West, ripe for a separate cycle track all the way to the North Down Coastal Path.

IKEA sign at the George Best Belfast City Airport boundary fence

Hundreds more local workers travel to the large businesses situated here: IKEA, Decathlon, B&Q, Sainsburys, Next, BHS, Harvey Norman. Commuting options are increased for locals, but also new options for shopping trips..

Cough cough .. stop right there! Shopping at IKEA? By bike?!

If the idea of cycling to IKEA to go shopping seems even more daft than the airport link, it’s perfectly obvious, natural and not uncommon in other countries. The difference between a city like Copenhagen and Belfast is exactly the type of traffic-free infrastructure being proposed here.

geograph-1274238-by-Rossographer

The separate cycle pathway would continue along the airport boundary fence until passing out of the Holywood Exchange complex, before turning under the flight path at the end of the runway. This is another one of those little treasures of Belfast – standing under a landing aircraft seemingly at touching distance.

Getting from the airport side to the Kinnegar gates requires a road crossing – the only one on this entire 4km route. The bulk of traffic on the road only goes as far as the retail park, so a pelican crossing  beyond B&Q could be an appropriate solution. Once the confusing access issues with the Habour Tillysburn gates are ironed out, a continuous link to the North Down Coastal Path is now achieved.

Local value of a long-distance greenway

Running the connecting greenway through a residential community rather than the Airport Road must be carefully weighed. The main local benefit would be the potential displacement of some regular private car journeys to cycling and walking.

The 3 wards surrounding this proposed route, Sydenham, Island and Belmont, have just over 16,000 residents. Census figures bear out that these ‘greenway wards’ are not much different from the rest of Belfast; just shy of a quarter of all commuting journeys are under 2km (1.2 miles) and nearly two thirds within 5km (3 miles) range. Yet motorised trips are higher here at 56% (48% all Belfast) and walking journeys lower at 17% (22% all Belfast). One third of households in the greenway wards have no access to a car, which is a high figure in itself, but less than the Belfast average (40%), so the area is possibly more car dependant that it needs to be.

Alderman Tommy Patton Memorial Park entrance path
Alderman Tommy Patton Memorial Park linking greenway trips to Ashfield High Schools?

While the footprint of the proposed greenway is on the periphery of the residential area in these wards, it would still open up new linkages into the harbour estate and enhanced traffic-free sections for many parents and children on the school run to Victoria Park Primary School, Ashfield High Schools and Sandbrook Nursery School.

A potential new community greenway for Belfast, linking the city with the North Down Coastal Path, providing viable commuting, shopping and leisure alternatives to private car travel. On the face of it would seem a very cost-effective option should Belfast City Council, Northern Ireland Government departments, Sustrans or others wish to take it forward with a feasibility study. With just a few wrinkles to be ironed out on access, this would seem to provide excellent value for money – a 4km Sydenham Community Greenway as the final piece of a fully connected Belfast Metropolitan Area greenway network. Is it possible?

Belfast's cycle network is a car park

Posted on by nigreenways

Belfast cyclists have again demonstrated that illegal parking on cycle lanes is creating danger on our roads and wasting public money.

16 volunteers – ordinary everyday people getting to work – logged 143 journeys over 5 days in November 2012, encountering 878 illegally parked vehicles along the way.

The Reclaim Belfast’s Cycle Lanes 2 survey shows that a typical cycling trip has an illegally parked vehicle blocking every 5 minutes or 3 times per journey. But what concerns cyclists most, and remains ignored by DRD, is that Belfast’s rush hour cycle lanes are blocked every 250 metres by an illegally parked vehicle.

It may be difficult to grasp the scale and difficulties caused by this problem if you don’t cycle in rush hour. Participants took video footage of some journeys during the survey week so that you can share the experience:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvqGnlhWHGs]

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The survey has grown to be city-wide, but some areas have regular and stubborn clusters of illegal parking on cycle lanes. Here were the worst 5 roads by average number of blocks per trip:

  1. Shankill Road – 49
  2. Springfield Road – 27
  3. Castlereagh Road – 15
  4. Crumlin Road – 15
  5. Cregagh Road – 7

A new Belfast record was set on the Shankill Road with 53 illegally parked cars blocking the cycle lane on one trip. The survey shows once more the useless nature of advisory cycle lanes, legally unenforceable except during urban clearway times. DRD compromise this ‘cycling’  infrastructure from the start to allow parking outside rush hour, but fail to make them available to cyclists during rush hour.

Reclaim Belfast's Cycle Lanes growing coverage

The outcome of the first survey in July 2012 was largely ignored. DRD promises of reviewed parking enforcement making a difference have not borne fruit.

Belfast commuter cycling grew 60% in the decade to 2011; there are thousands of cyclists on the city’s roads every day. Belfast is in the top 10 UK cities for cycle commuting increases. The Department for Regional Development (DRD) say they have spent millions on Belfast cycling, but they are not providing a cycle network – they’ve created a network of parking lanes. This is against a backdrop of cycling casualties continuing to rise, which bucks the trend of safer roads in Northern Ireland.

Reclaiming our cycle network is important for many reasons:

Pressure must be brought on DRD and Minister Danny Kennedy to stop ignoring the problems which hold down sustainable transport in Belfast . Lack of DRD enforcement is putting some of the most vulnerable road users in harm’s way every day.

Our piecemeal cycle network lies useless, while at the same time DRD plans to flood Belfast’s bus lanes with over 2,000 taxis. DRD only pay lip service to sustainable transport. Belfast cyclists are determined to change this.

Let your MPs, MLAs, Councillors, DRD and Roads Service know how your cycling journey is made more dangerous by illegal parking. Only through concerted action can we hope to see real change.

The people behind Reclaim Belfast’s Cycle Lanes are:

Download the Reclaim Belfast’s Cycle Lanes 2 data report

Green cycle boxes: what's the point?

Posted on by nigreenways

The green cycle box is arguably the most high profile cycling investment in Northern Ireland in the last decade. Roads Service have mercilessly slathered green paint over junctions across the province, in one of many half-hearted attempts to convince people to get cycling on our roads.

I cycle across 6 advanced stop lines (to give them their official title) every day, and I struggle to see the benefit. Their presence encourages some uniquely difficult road manoeuvres, if not actually putting cyclists at greater risk on some parts of our roads. This is bad enough, but when it turns it that vehicles are blocking cycle boxes at 58% of red lights in rush hour it’s time to ask some serious questions.

St George's Market - blocked just 25% of the time, but difficult to reach safely

Gathering evidence

Two years ago I got a mini video camera, which had a handy bike attachment. I started to take it out  in 2012 to show some of the dangerous aspects of Belfast cycling. I’ve posted a few videos of dangerous overtaking moves, Maseratis hogging the cycle lane and to demonstrate the problem of illegally parked cars rendering Belfast’s cycle lanes useless.

By forgetting to delete these files as I went, I accidently ended up with a large dataset ready for a personal mini survey of cycling around Belfast!

Albert Bridge - one complete block and another partial block to the far right

My main commuting journey involves 3 cycle boxes in the morning:

  • John Long’s Corner (2 lanes)
  • St George’s Market at East Bridge Street (3 lanes)
  • Cromac Street pedestrian crossing (3 lanes)

and another 3 in the evening:

  • Hamilton Street exit Cromac Square (3 lanes)
  • Albert Bridge (5 lanes)
  • The Mount (3 lanes)

© OpenStreetMap contributors

Reviewing footage from September 2012 to February 2013, I collected key data on cycle boxes from 185 mainly morning and evening rush hour journeys, on:

  • whether the light was red
  • if vehicles were present
  • if the cycle box was blocked by another vehicle (partially or completely)
  • if the junction was blocked on green

For balance, I also checked for the biggest problem on our roads, red light jumping cyclists.

Albert Bridge cycle boxes are blocked 56% of the time - where do I go here?

During these journeys I encountered 625 cycle boxes. Just 370 had a red light, meaning I’m caught at these junctions 59% of the time.

Discarding 44 red lights (12%) where I didn’t reach (nor have sight of) the cycle box leaves a group of 326 occasions where I could judge interactions with other vehicles.

Blocked cycle boxes

138 cycle boxes were empty, but a whopping 188 cycle boxes had at least one blocking vehicle. That’s a blockage 58% of the time. These blocks involved a total of 285 vehicles, or typically 1.5 vehicles on every blocked cycle box. Just over a third of all blockages involved 2 or more vehicles.

What counted as a blockage? A partial block is where a car had rolled over the stop line (car in the picture below), and a complete block was leaving no room for a cyclist to stop in the cycle box (motorcycle in the picture below). Of all the blocked cycle boxes, the split was:

  • one or more vehicles partially covering the cycle box – 84
  • one or more completely blocking the cycle box – 70
  • a mix of both partial and complete blockages – 34

Hamilton Street exit suffers from regularly blocked junction and cycle box (59%)

Each junction with a cycle box has different characteristics, but the stand-out junction for blocking is countrybound at The Mount (video below). This is a 3 lane junction with the outside right lane split to turn onto Castlereagh Street. The 2 ‘straight-on’ lanes benefit from cycle lane access all the way to the junction, but it’s useless for turning right.

Of 88 red lights I stopped at, 75 had at least one vehicle blocking the cycle box – the junction suffers from at least one blocking vehicle at 85% of red lights in rush hour. Added to this, cyclists filtering across 2 lanes to reach the split lane find an incredibly dangerous mix of a light which can’t be timed and a tight gap between traffic islands.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJui_rxg85Q]

Cycle boxes (on this particular route) are not providing safe space for cyclists. Knowing your odds of getting comfortably and safely into dedicated cycle space is less than 50/50 means they are practically useless.

Not all vehicles sitting on a cycle box have done it intentionally – many drivers will rightly stop on amber rather than try to speed through the junction, and this may mean coming to a safe halt beyond the first stop line. However the sheer levels of blockages recorded indicates more is at work than just being caught out by light phases.

Whether there is a design solution to this, or it’s all down to driver education is up for debate. But there is that pesky question of enforcement..

What are the police doing to tackle cycle box blocking?

It appears not a lot. An FOI request from last year shows that the PSNI do not differentiate between categories of stop lines offences:

“The offence of breaching an advanced stop line is not differentiated from breach of a normal stop line (at a set of traffic lights) in police issued fixed penalties. Therefore there is no way to determine what manner of breach has occurred.”

This is despite a clear difference in the intent of a stop line with a cycle box (to provide safe space for cyclists) and the effect that offences committed here have on road safety. This is a clear failure, and must be addressed by local politicians. If there’s no evidence of enforcement, it’s fair to suggest there is no enforcement.

Red light jumping cyclists

I shared a red light cycle box with 102 other cyclists. There were 33 recorded instances of rule breaking, although 8 of these were directly caused by vehicles blocking the cycle box, forcing cyclists to advance ahead of the second stop line (picture below).

Cyclist forced to position himself ahead of cycle box by blocking vehicles

What was the nature of the rule breaking? 20 cyclists positioned themselves slightly ahead of the cycle box (picture below),  which gets more dangerous if you continue to edge forward. Pavement cycling was recorded on 4 occasions, but just 1 true ‘red light jumping’ cyclist was recorded, continuing across The Mount junction while the pedestrian crossing lights were green. For the record then (small sample it may be) that’s less than 1% of cyclists observed jumping a red light on these journeys.

Crossed line is a crossed line - majority of rule breaking involves sitting ahead of the cycle box

Blocked junctions

Reviewing these junctions led to another clear conclusion, apparently resisted by Roads Service as unnecessary – Cromac Square needs a yellow box junction. Of all the 370 red light cycle box encounters where I could observe the junction ahead, the way was blocked on green 35 times. Not bad, until you realise 27 blockages occurred at the Hamilton Street Exit at Cromac Square. That’s a wildly inefficient junction with 40% blockage rate at rush hour – time to get the paint bucket out Roads Service!

Buses from East Bridge Street blocking Cromac Square in the evening rush hour

Cycle boxes that are dangerous to reach

The 6 boxes highlighted in this survey have very different characteristics. Just 2 have a cycle lane which protects a separate route for cyclists to reach the box, Hamilton Street Exit and The Mount (for straight-on cycling only). The others leave cyclists to filter through sitting traffic, with little physical space to do so, and perhaps most dangerous from a road safety design perspective, no idea if the light ahead will change before you reach the box.

By far the worst cycle box for this is St George’s Market on East Bridge Street. A with-flow bus and cycle lane (which successfully excludes taxis) leads over the train bridge, followed by a bus gate (not triggered by cyclists) and then a short run to the junction with Oxford Street, notorious for vehicles quickly and sometimes recklessly changing lanes. In sitting traffic, it is virtually impossible to time the lights at the junction. With no separate cycle lane leading up to the cycle box (as with the Hamilton Street Exit), cyclists have a difficult choice – chance filtering down between traffic, or sit back and lose the benefit of the cycle box.

Should I stay or should I go?

The numbers bear this out, even for an experienced cyclist like me – at 42 red lights I only made it to the cycle box on 22 occasions (52%). Twice I stopped short of the box as it wasn’t worth passing 1 or 2 cars, but 18 times (43%) I was unable to judge the lights and so stayed back in the traffic queue.

Recent census figures showed the concentration of commuter cyclists in South and East Belfast. This means the 2 major cycling gateways to the city are Ormeau Bridge and Albert Bridge (and by extension East Bridge Street) and this is a heavily used junction for cyclists. If nothing else, this mini survey shows attention is needed to provide better and safer access to this cycle box in rush hour.

Finally “the worst drivers are..”

Grumbling motorists cite red light jumping cyclists as a menace; grumbling cyclists cite flashy car drivers or taxis as major dangers. Everyone seems to have a clichéd grudge against someone on the roads.

So let’s not labour the point, but here’s a breakdown of the types of vehicles (out of 240 identified marques) which blocked these cycle boxes, by car make and vehicle category – and what percentage of each are actually on the roads in NI. It’s a small sample with plenty of variables, so it’s just for fun – make of it what you will!

Those 'professional drivers' of taxis showing their road knowledge once again

DRD determined to halt Belfast cycling progress?

Posted on by nigreenways

An announcement is due soon from Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy on allowing taxis full access to bus lanes in Northern Ireland. With Department for Regional Development (DRD) officials recommending go ahead over clear, vocal and overwhelming objections, it’s time to take quick a step back and ask how we got to this point, and why DRD’s priorities are so muddled? Here are five key issues:

Taxi in cycle lane
The harmonious taxi/cycling relationship

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Apologies to the rest of NI for another Belfast-centric post, but the vast majority of bus lanes are situated in the greater Belfast area, and one fifth of taxis currently operate here, which could rise under the new licensing regime.

How much will this damage cycling uptake?

Belfast has an ‘aspiration’ to raise the level of cycling in the city to 10% modal share by 2020. Not an official target mind you, which might bind a government department to actually delivering it. This why we fail – we still have one of the lowest modal shares in the whole of Europe.

In the decade to 2011 there has been 60% rise in the number of Belfast commuter cyclists – that’s a 2.1% modal share and almost 2,300 regular cycling commuters. Some areas of south Belfast are already upwards of 5% modal share. We need to add over 8,000 more cyclists to Belfast rush hour to get to 10% share.

This kind of massive surge hasn’t happened to date, so why would busier, more intimidating bus lanes make it more likely to happen?

And what do we lose by denying taxis the use of bus lanes? 24% less people travel to work by taxi than in 2001, down to just over 3,000 people, or a 2.9% share. If these two trends continue, cycle commuters will reach parity with taxi commuters by 2015, and by the next census, the current levels will be reversed in cycling’s favour. That would be just 3,000 cyclists by the way – if we want a total of 10,000 cyclists on our rush hour bus lanes by 2020, why threaten that aspiration for the sake of dwindling numbers of taxi users? Madness.

Why are people in Belfast dissuaded from road cycling? In a recent survey of Belfast residents, 60% of people felt roads were too dangerous for cycling. So why is DRD salting the earth for the sake of a declining taxi commuting sector?

Taxi in cycle box
Ahh, you get the idea of these pictures… (taxi+bike=no)

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Why has DRD not listened to objections?

86% of the rubber stamp exercise consultation responses were negative, yet how did DRD choose to handle this? With a real slap in the face to those who responded with the ‘wrong’ view – lumping everyone together with one phrase, “mostly from cyclists“, and dismissing all fears as unfounded.

I’m guessing there’s a warped logic at work – if you can distill 60 objections in to one incorrect opinion, and weigh that against fully 7 (seven) responses welcoming the proposed changes, then we have a majority in favour! That’s how government works! The logic doesn’t work both ways though – just ignore the fact that the 7 (seven) positive responses were mainly from private taxi hire firms. Shhh!

Given the overwhelming negative view on the issue, how will DRD address cyclists’ safety concerns? See if you can hear it..

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/78152979″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Audio sourced from the Northern Ireland Assembly – subject to Parliamentary copyright.

If you sent an objection in to DRD, why not follow it up with a complaint that your objection has been effectively disregarded?

Northern Ireland taxis are now…sustainable? Really?!

The whole world will shortly be coming to Northern Ireland to learn how we’ve solved that pesky problem of motor vehicles wrecking the environment. A saloon car taxi (typical of the roughly 1,500 Belfast private hire vehicles) might carry an average of 1-2 passengers per fare, and yet DRD are claiming sustainability is no longer an issue! Listen to this:

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/78148272″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Audio sourced from the Northern Ireland Assembly – subject to Parliamentary copyright.

In a public policy exercise as intellectually bankrupt and dishonest as taxis in bus lanes, this marks a new low.

All those saloon cars driving around with 1-2 passengers are perfectly sustainable, as long as they are designated so by government.

DRD should pass this trick on to the Department for Finance and Personnel. Northern Ireland can dump Air Passenger Duty for short haul flights too by simply designating all aircraft as ‘sustainable’. I think Sammy Wilson might actually be game enough to try it..

Another taxi in a cycle box Belfast
Dirty polluting taxi about to magically become a sustainable vehicle

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Why damage journey times for 13.5% of commuters, for the sake of 2.9% of commuters?

There are no government targets to increase taxi usage – why would there be? Yet this entire policy seems entirely designed for that one purpose. Meanwhile, by the hard numbers from Census 2011 again, 13.5% of people use buses to get to work. In terms of sustainable objectives, reducing rush hour traffic and increasing revenue take for Translink, more bus passengers is a big goal for Belfast.

Just 2.9% of people used a taxi as their main form of transport to work in 2011, down from 4% in 2001.

Metro and Bus Rapid Transit efficiency of service will be one of the big factors which determine success of public transport in Belfast. The consultation itself recognised that taxis in bus lanes would have a negative impact on buses. A report from Amey in 2008 stated “bus lanes are currently underperforming against targets…additional vehicles in the bus lane … would probably contribute to further reduced bus journey speeds”.

How destructive can one little policy be?!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOK6mE7sdvs]

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What is really driving this policy?

Taxi firms must have some truly amazing lobbying powers. Northern Ireland’s wonderfully transparent political system doesn’t allow us the luxury of seeing donations to political parties. So we’re left to wonder why such a poorly designed policy is being railroaded through a hostile consultation exercise, and if the policy wonks have given any weight to the potential damage it could cause?

Is Minister Kennedy running the risk of fatally undermining both Belfast Rapid Transit and the city’s blossoming cycling potential? Two birds, one stone – well it’s more efficient than a Belfast bus lane.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3StCJI-tnY]

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What the people say about taxis in bus lanes

13 ideas to improve Northern Ireland cycling in 2013

Posted on by nigreenways

With numbers of regular cyclists in Northern Ireland rising, especially in Belfast, 2013 should be a year of steady progress on cycling issues. However ongoing government spending cuts, alongside the natural disinterest of the authorities to transport and utility cycling, mean radical ‘big ticket’ cycling projects are unlikely to be pedalling up the agenda.

Rising numbers of cyclists, most visible at major Belfast junctionsBut instead of being deterred, we need to organise and innovate! Since I started blogging about Belfast cycling I’ve seen amazing resourcefulness and passion among local people who choose to get around by bike. New community connections are being built every day, and spawning innovative action such as Reclaim Belfast’s Cycle Lanes 1 and 2. It is among the people who ride our streets every day that we will find creative solutions to change the experience and perception of cycling here.

Continue reading “13 ideas to improve Northern Ireland cycling in 2013” →

Cycle to work: a New Year's resolution?

Posted on by nigreenways

As 2013 arrives, some of us will be taking stock of life, waistlines or bank accounts and deciding to start afresh with some New Year’s resolutions. It’s traditionally a bad time of year for the luxuries in life, while gym owners fill their boots on new memberships – before willpower inevitably fades.

Perhaps these are clichés, or maybe it is a good time to try something new. One of the barriers to making major a successful change in your lifestyle is finding time. There is one activity which ticks the fitness, finance and quality of life boxes, and doesn’t require significant extra time – cycling to work.

Why do I cycle to work?

It’s an easy argument to make as a regular bike commuter in Belfast, but here’s a secret – I don’t always cycle. I own a car, and I occasionally use it for the work run. I’ve been a regular commuter on the Metro bus system. I’ve even been known to walk to work too – it’s just under 3 miles door-to-door. Forget about labelling me as a “cyclist”. I’m a commuter.

But on balance I’ve made the decision to use the bike for commuting all year round for a number of reasons; the short distance, the time saved over other forms of transport, the money saved, and the regular exercise.

I’ve previously posted about why Belfast has the potential to be a great cycling city, and my own commuting journey is fairly typical in Belfast, a small city with a quite centralised employment. So why do more people not use a bike to get from A to B?

It turns out more people already are. In 2001 just 1.4% of Belfast workers listed cycling as their main form of commuter transport. Over 10 years, the number of people cycling has increased by 60%, and cycling now has a 2.1% share.

Comparing journey options

Using the bike certainly feels like the most efficient way to get to work. A steady 15 minutes maximum journey time for a trip of just under 3 miles, regardless of traffic conditions, and no per-journey costs. Even if I didn’t know the comparative journey times, the traffic queues are ever-present and fun to whizz past. Despite cars overtaking me in short stretches, I’ll consistently beat any car door-to-door. But as a multi-modal commuter, I can record and compare my transport options.

Assuming 233 working days a year (subtracting weekends and 28 days statutory leave) I can work out the actual cost savings I make by cycling over taking the car, the bus, or walking. These personal costs can be measured in time and money.

Bicycle vs walking

Walking compares favourably to cycling on cost, as each journey is free – unless you’re counting shoe wear. However, it takes the longest of all options, 45 to 50 minutes. Unless there’s a particular reason to walk (and in Belfast, issues such as flag protests do crop up), it’s not an attractive option. Compared to cycling, I lose 233 hours a year travelling, or 10 full days annually. This is time lost from home life and makes walking my least favoured option.

Bicycle vs bus

During rush hour, it is rare that any Metro bus will stay ahead of me for more than 2 stops. Indeed, the scheduled timetable puts the average rush hour speed at around 8mph, easily slower than the bike. The Metro system in Belfast means that my route has a regular 10 minute service at peak times. While this is very a reliable option, if I exclusively used the bus all year round, the service intervals means the average bus journey includes 5 minute wait at the bus stop. Adding two more 5 minute walks from stops to work and home means that my average journey time is already 15 minutes – the same as the cycling door-to-door – and I haven’t even added the actual bus journey part yet. This is a major disadvantage.

Overall I will lose 155 hours a year, or approximately 6 days, travelling by bus rather than by bike. Bus fares are £1.70 per journey, but if this was my main transport option, taking advantage of a Metro Smartlink card would see that discounted to £1.10. Still, over a year, that’s £513 pounds out of my pocket for slower journeys.

Bicycle vs car

Attempting to work out costs for my car faces a major variable factor – Belfast city centre parking. I don’t have access to a free car parking space, and I doubt many of us do. My two main choices are on-street parking around my workplace, or a cheaper ‘all-day’ car park.

The on-street option gives me an average door-to-door journey of 25 minutes, but at £1.20 per hour (£9.60 per day) it really hurts the wallet. The closest car park with a ‘commuter’ offer is Castle Court, which has a £4.50 maximum daily rate. However the trade-off is an extra 10 minutes per journey walking to/from work. Petrol costs only around 85p for the round trip each day.

Compared to the bicycle annually, using the car park I lose 155 hours (4 days) and I’m £1,247 worse off, while the on-street option sees me lose just 78 hours (approximately 3 days) but leaving me a whopping £2,435 poorer.

Comparing time and money costs of bike commuting vs walking / bus / car

TransportEfficiency2013

The significant personal journey costs of car commuting are not limited to this example, as the large monthly repayment hole in my bank account will attest. Depreciation, hefty insurance and VED costs, servicing and MOTs must be considered as well.

According to the 2011 Census, 40% of Belfast households have no access to a car or van, and the cost disadvantage must be one of the primary reasons.

Completing the comparison fairly, bikes themselves are not free. However, picking up your main form of transport for between £100-£300, and modest servicing costs from your friendly local bike shop, there really is no comparison to a car on cost.

Witness the fitness

Okay, this blog post can’t ignore the fitness aspect. First, if you met me in person you’d be unlikely to think ‘that person cycles every day’, so cycling to work won’t necessarily give you the figure of an Olympic athlete. But I’ve built 30 minutes of exercise into every working day. That’s a base level of activity that I’d need to find time for elsewhere in the day, for a trip to the gym or swimming pool – time most of us just don’t have. It’s also exactly what the NHS recommends as the level of physical activity needed to stay healthy. So if you want to sneak up on yourself with some exercise, burn a few more calories, and arrive at work invigorated rather than snoozing on the bus or frustrated by gridlock, cycling could be for you!

All things being equal

These are very basic comparisons, which ignore many aspects which are in favour of private car travel, or reduce the choices available to people. The challenge is laid firmly at the feet of the Northern Ireland government to create the conditions for real choice in Belfast.

Some jobs designate workers as essential car users, with sales posts and others requiring quick flexible transport on a daily basis. There is no doubt that the current public transport system, and road infrastructure, doesn’t offer realistic alternatives to some people. However, many arguments for car travel should be first evaluated with the query ‘how do they do it in the Netherlands?’ If cities elsewhere with similar climates have people happily getting on with commuting, shopping, doing the school run and more by bike, and can have modal shares upwards of 20%, even 30%, we’re failing if we say it can’t be done.

Local retailers cry foul when the status quo on our roads is altered, as we’ve seen with Belfast bus lanes. But research is starting to show that cycling customers spend more than car drivers. If the ‘shop local’ agenda is truly to help the many independent retailers dotted around our unique city, advocates need to take safe cycling and walking infrastructure seriously as a means to drive footfall and revenue.

A key argument against cycling infrastructure is that the car is the dominant travel form here because people make rational informed decisions on transport. When the government spends money on “sustainable”  transport, it is an artificial distortion of market forces, prioritising transport modes that will never, or need never threaten the motorised hegemony.

Choices are not equal though. If the main barrier to cycling uptake in Belfast remains fear of the roads, then until we have the type of cycling infrastructure where people of all abilities from 8 to 80 feel safe and secure, then it’s not an equal choice. Yes, this may mean segregation in some places, wide areas of 20mph residential streets as standard, better routes to schools, and a recognition that advertising, inconsistent cycle lanes and unenforced cycle boxes alone will not make a significant difference to uptake.

Despite the problems, a 60% increase in 10 years is good news. Why not think about trying the bike for work, seeing for yourself what the benefits are. Maybe your workplace already operates a cycle to work scheme? And if fear is putting you off, try asking you elected representatives for action on creating a better city for you and your family.

You can also use this handy cycle to work calculator if you want to try some calculations on what you could be saving.

Happy New Year!

Belfast workers getting on their bikes

Posted on by nigreenways

LanyonBikePark

Census figures have given a boost to active travel in Belfast, showing a strong rise in the level of cycling in the city. In the ten years up to the 2011 Census, there has been a 60% rise in the number of Belfast residents using a bike as their main form of transport between their home and place of work.

Broad modal share for commuter cycling in Belfast has also jumped up by just over 50%, with cyclists now accounting for 2.1% of travel to work share, up from 1.4% in 2001.

The tables below show the method of travel to work for the employed working age population. I’ve compared the Northern Ireland headline figures with a split between Belfast Council area and the rest of NI excluding Belfast.

Method of travel to work (resident population) 2011
All persons (16-74 years) in employment and currently working

ShareTravelToWorkNI

Belfast has a much lower reliance on private motorised travel (Motorcycle, scooter, moped, car or van driver or passenger, can or van pool or taxi) than the rest of Northern Ireland, with greater usage of public transport (train, bus or minibus), walking, and now significantly over three times the rate of cycle commuting than the rest of Northern Ireland.

Change in method of travel to work (resident population) between 2001 and 2011
All persons (16-74 years) in employment and currently working

ChangeTravelToWorkNI

The headline Northern Ireland figure shows a rise in bicycle commuters of 5% between 2001 and 2011, but delving deeper shows that Belfast is starting to leave the rest of Northern Ireland behind in modal shift terms. Belfast has seen a massive 60% increase in cycle commuters, while the rest of NI has seen a fall of 12%. While this poses some difficult questions of NI-wide policies, there is a clear challenge to allow Belfast to forge ahead with a wholly separate strategy for urban utility and commuter cycling.

Private motorised travel to work, while on the rise in Northern Ireland as a whole, has stagnated in Belfast in the last decade. Yet interestingly, car or van pooling showed the biggest increase of any transport method in Belfast (80%) in part pointing to good work and outcomes from the Travelwise NI campaign.

Public transport has also seen a dip in numbers of commuters, mostly due to a reduction in bus passengers. The number of Belfast residents travelling to work by train has risen by 72%, but interestingly more than twice as many people living in Belfast cycle to work than take the train. Similarly train commuters have risen by 63% across NI, obscured in the public transport category by a 15% drop in bus commuters, a much larger group.

For more detailed information you can access the supporting data tables through the Census 2011: Key Statistics for Northern Ireland Statistics Bulletin on the NISRA website (PDF).

Belfast cycling on a different path

One of the main points for future policy is the growing divergence between cycling levels in Belfast and the rest of Northern Ireland. Data gathered by Roads Service from cycle counters in Belfast has shown a quiet groundswell of cycling uptake over ten years from 2000 to 2010. Over this period, cycle usage at key locations in Belfast has risen by a staggering 152%, with some of the most popular areas (Stranmillis Embankment, Albertbridge Road) showing increases well above 200%. The early indications are pointing to real year on year progress in Belfast cycling levels.

The census figures show, perhaps surprisingly, overall numbers of commuter cyclists have decreased in 19 of 26 district council areas in Northern Ireland since 2001. Of the top ten council areas by number of cycling workers, six have seen a decrease.

Top 10 councils by number of persons using a bicycle as main method of travel to work 2011
All persons  (16-74 years) in employment and currently working (resident population)

BikeToWorkCouncils

The Belfast Metropolitan Area (Belfast, Castlereagh, Carrickfergus, Lisburn, Newtownabbey and North Down councils) has seen a 30% rise in cycling as the main form of transport, but this is mostly due to Belfast adding 853 new cycle commuters against just 47 in the other five council areas combined.

Antrim, which had the fourth highest number of commuter cyclists in 2001, has seen a significant reduction of 42% in the last decade.

Taxis in bus lanes – the twist?

Recently DRD have signalled their intention to allow all taxis the use of bus lanes. A consultation received an overwhelmingly negative response, but DRD plan to press ahead. The majority of bus lanes in Northern Ireland are in Belfast. It is interesting to note that in the ten years to 2011, the number of people using taxis as a main mode of travel to work has decreased by 8% across Northern Ireland and by 24% in Belfast. This is compared to commuter cyclists rising by 5% across Northern Ireland and by 60% in Belfast. Comparing the absolute numbers, Belfast taxi commuters have dropped from 4,000 to 3,000, while commuter cyclists have increased from 1,400 to 2,300. This goes a little way to exposing the flawed reasoning as DRD move to prioritise taxi movements in bus lanes, to the expressed detriment of cyclists.

Belfast – a cycling city on the rise

The census figures released this week are broad headline travel to work statistics. As a previous blog post shows, we wait for a more detailed analysis of methods of travel to work by distance. For example in the South Belfast Parliamentary Constituency Area in 2001, cycling modal share for commuting journeys between 2-5km was already above 3%.

The rise to 2.1% for cycling as a method of travel to work is just the beginning for Belfast. The question we must ask of government departments, politicians and Belfast City Council is: do you want to build upon this, and how far will you commit to seeing it happen? These rises are set against soft policies of advisory cycle lanes, advanced stop line cycle boxes, education and awareness campaigns and a nascent cycle to work tax relief scheme. We even have a city bike hire scheme in the pipeline.

Supercharging these already impressive rises over the next ten years is possible with the right commitment to budget and priority. More hard measures such as quality cycle corridors instead of piecemeal unenforced/unenforceable cycle lanes, the Gasworks Bridge, junction priority and redesign can start to send a message to reluctant possible cyclists. Most importantly, better engagement and consultation with the daily cycle commuters can only help to identify the areas of greatest weakness, and boost the chances of working together to improve the city. DRD and Roads Service must recognise the growing importance of cycling as a form of urban transport in Belfast, and give much needed weight to our issues within the city’s network planning.

Notes to census figures

There are some comparability issues with the 2001 Census – more information can be downloaded from the NISRA website (PDF).

More detailed Travel to Work data will be released over the next 18 months. This will allow a more detailed look at cycling modal share increases over typical commuting journey ranges. 

Regional Development questions: cycle lanes and 20mph zones

Posted on by nigreenways

Safer roads were on the agenda at Stomont on Monday 19th November 2012. Questions to the Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy included the topics of Conall McDevitt’s forthcoming Private Members’ Bill on 20mph zones, and a subject currently close to the heart of the NI Greenways blog, illegal parking in cycle lanes.

Excerpts from the Official Report of Assembly Business:

Judith Cochrane, Alliance MLA for Belfast East - Parliamentary copyright: image is reproduced with the permission of Northern Ireland Assembly CommissionMrs Cochrane asked the Minister for Regional Development what action his Department is taking to address illegal parking in cycle lanes. (AQO 2876/11-15)

Mr Kennedy: I want to begin by saying that I fully appreciate the concerns and frustration of cyclists caused by vehicles that park in cycle lanes during their operational hours. Motorists should be mindful and considerate towards cyclists when using our roads and should not park illegally in cycle lanes.

Roads Service has advised that a traffic attendant can issue a penalty charge notice to a vehicle that is parked on a mandatory cycle lane. However, a penalty charge notice cannot be issued to a vehicle that is parked on an advisory cycle lane, unless other parking restrictions apply; for example, clearway restrictions or bus lanes. When a traffic attendant observes a vehicle parked in a cycle lane in contravention of a restriction, the appropriate enforcement action will be taken.

NI Greenways comment: While welcoming the question, this answer does little to address what Belfast cyclists see as a persistent problem which still isn’t being “tackled” with focus or priority. A July survey by commuter cyclists showed that for every km of restricted lane in Belfast there are 4.5 vehicles illegally parked during rush hour. Advisory cycle lanes with urban clearway restrictions are the dominant form of cycle space in Belfast, with mandatory lanes few and far between, with no recurring reports of illegal parking problems. Refusing to recognise a special problem in some areas of the city means the issue can continue to be largely ignored.

Mrs Cochrane: I thank the Minister for his answer. Will he also give us an update on the parking enforcement awareness programme that was due to commence on 30 October?

Mr Kennedy: I am grateful to the Member. Obviously, the Department encourages cycling. We are committed to providing safer roads for the growing number of cyclists and pedestrians. We have done that through a range of measures such as road safety engineering, traffic calming and the enhancement of the pedestrian and cycling network. All these initiatives, including those brought forward by Travelwise, are key elements of the sustainable travel options involving cycling and its promotion.

Conall McDevitt, SDLP MLA for Belfast South - Parliamentary copyright: image is reproduced with the permission of Northern Ireland Assembly CommissionMr McDevitt: I thank the Minister for his ongoing commitment to cycling. Given that it is the beginning of road safety week, will the Minister indicate to the House whether he is willing to strongly consider the merits of introducing 20 mph zones on a statutory basis or to support the private Member’s Bill due before the House in the coming months that will do so?

Mr Kennedy: I am grateful to the Member for his supplementary question. I know that he is a keen and very active cyclist. I am aware of the private Members’ Bill and of the representations made by those in favour of introducing 20 mph schemes. Although I am not opposed to such schemes, the issue seems to be one of enforcement: how such limits are to be enforced, whether the PSNI can commit the necessary resources and whether responsible motorists and vehicle users will be prepared to accept the restrictions that are placed upon them. That is an ongoing discussion that I am having with my officials, and we will see what emerges.

NI Greenways comment: The level of commitment from MLAs to seeing this important measure gaining passage through the Assembly remains uncertain. The issue of enforcement is one that pops up time and again in 20mph zones debates, and is dealt with along with other weak arguments against on the 20’s Plenty For Us website.

Reclaim Belfast's Cycle Lanes November 2012

Posted on by nigreenways

Fed up with your cycle route in Belfast being blocked by illegally parked cars? Is your daily commute is made much more dangerous than it should be? Take part in a unique survey to highlight the problem! Reclaim Belfast’s Cycle Lanes 2 hits the streets of Belfast on the week beginning Monday 5th November 2012!

Last time..

The original running of Reclaim Belfast’s Cycle Lanes was in July this year. Nine volunteers found that a typical rush hour cycling journey in Belfast was blocked five times by illegally parked vehicles, or 4.5 blocks for every kilometre of restricted lanes. One journey even had 36 cars blocking a single cycle lane! The evidence shows right across Belfast, people cycling during rush hour are facing dangerous road conditions.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyUXs3YkDGw]

This was a unique effort of independent civic action between private individuals – people who choose to travel between work and home on a bike – and researchers at the Centre of Excellence for Public Health at Queen’s University Belfast.

The report made it into the press, and following engagement with Belfast councillors, MLAs, Roads Service, the DRD Minister and the Regional Development Committee, the issue got….absolutely nowhere. If you weren’t sure how Northern Ireland’s politicians felt about the problems of cycling as transport, the indifference is very clear to see.

In response to the first survey report, Roads Service maintain that cycle lanes mean rush hour “cyclists effectively have their own road space. This makes cycling safer, and at times of congestion, allows cyclists to make time savings.” Does this match your experience of Belfast’s cycle lanes?

So we must keep the pressure on! It’s November, it’s cold, it may be wet, but many hundreds of commuter cyclists will still be on our roads at rush hour. This time we need to expand the number of volunteers, and the route coverage to see what the problem is like across the whole of Belfast.

More and more people in Belfast are choosing a bicycle as their main form of commuting, and are encountering problems on our roads. Cycling in Northern Ireland is becoming more dangerous. Parked cars on cycle and bus lanes may be just an inconvenience to most road users, but they pose real dangers to cyclists. Let’s pile up the evidence again, and start to shame the authorities into meaningful action.

How to get involved

Join a growing community of Belfast commuter cyclists in this unique research project, and participate in some constructive public action. Send an email to nigreenways AT gmail.com with your name and usual commuting route. You can download the information pack here, with more detailed instructions and survey sheet:

Reclaim Belfast’s Cycle Lanes survey sheet and information

You can help the effort by mentioning to friends or work colleagues who cycle at rush hour, and encourage them to join, Why not print off some copies of the information pack for others? You don’t have to cover every single day of the week, you don’t even have to be on a bike to help out – let’s all do what we can!

Let’s really get Belfast on the move, and help to put an end to illegal parking in cycle lanes!

Safer cycling with Belfast On The Move?

Posted on by nigreenways

Belfast On The Move, a series of road design measures to promote sustainable transport, has been causing controversy since the introduction of new bus lanes. Drivers have been experiencing some delays, while Translink report Metro services are running a more reliable service. The project has yet to complete, and there will be a natural bedding-in period while road users get used to the new system.

The project itself is mainly aimed at making the public transport network more efficient, allowing faster and more reliable bus services to permeate the city centre with greater ease. One of the ultimate goals is allowing a smooth introduction of Bus Rapid Transit sometime in the next few years.

But the project also claims to make improvements for cyclists and pedestrians. Certainly there are visible signs of the latter, with many new and improved pedestrian crossings springing up around the centre. As for cycling infrastructure, there is little sign of a vast improvement so far. There are rumours of a section of dedicated, separated cycle pathway to be added to the Linenhall Street one-way system – even if only it’s only a 50 metre contraflow. The project promises 3.6km of new cycle lanes, but looking beyond this headline, 2.6km of that is actually bus lane, which cyclists can share during operating hours.

May Street Belfast bus lane
New 4.5m wide bus lane on May Street Belfast

For my own commuting journey, I miss out May Street and the new stretch of 4.5m wide bus lane, which is apparently of benefit to cyclists hoping to overtake stationary buses. But I do pass beside a new bus lane which has been added to East Bridge Street, on the south side of St. George’s Market. The Google map below shows the configuration of the junction before the bus lane was added.

Coming off the bridge, two traffic lanes run outside a bus lane, which passes through a signal controlled bus gate, and then three traffic lanes continue on to the junction with Oxford Street. Past this junction, three lanes quickly split into six, with two turning south onto Cromac Street, one crossing into Hamilton Street, and three turning north towards the city centre – the inside of these three is now a bus lane.

[googlemaps https://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&t=k&ll=54.595408,-5.92132&spn=0.001243,0.006437&z=17&output=embed&w=600&h=200]

What is confusing to many road users is the correct way to filter – there is no sign on the approach to the bus gate to advise how to ‘get in lane’ for the junction ahead. But the road markings are a little more instructive – the left lane after the bus gate appears to be for all southbound traffic, and the two right lanes are for northbound traffic.

This would be fine if not for two problems at work here – driver confusion over the layout, and the natural inclination for some people to ‘queue jump’. Quite often the traffic will be at a standstill around the bus gate, with many southbound vehicles trying to filter left. Many impatient drivers fly on past the stationary traffic, and then attempt to filter across at the last minute. This is where cyclists are experiencing  increased road danger.

As a cyclist trying to get to Hamilton Street, I pass through the bus gate, hold the centre of the ‘southbound’ lane, and then gradually edge right after Oxford Street. But when impatient traffic is queue jumping, and cutting across the bus lane and the Hamilton Street filter lane, the danger of collision is highest.

Here are just a few examples of the problems on this stretch of road:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp6RZsb4Xlk]

Some thought needs to go in to the best way to manage this issue, before we start to see collisions happening. Prior signs to alert road users of the correct lanes may stop those who get themselves in the wrong position for the Cromac Street junction. But from the speed and traffic conditions shown in some incidents in the video, it’s clear that many drivers are choosing to filter at the wrong point. One solution may be to add soft bollards to the inside of the bus lane, to prevent vehicles making this dangerous move.

This is just a little stretch of my commuting journey which only grazes the Belfast On The Move changes. But when the project is being sold as ‘better for cyclists’, I can’t say it’s been my experience so far. How are you finding safety on the new bus lane system?