Category Archives: Bicycling

Autonomous bicycles

The dream of an autonomous bicycle is that it would control itself, relieving the rider of the need to know how to control it or ride safely. It would also have an electric motor so it could deliver itself to … Continue reading

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Traffic-signal actuators — some documentation

As described in another post on this blog, metal detectors embedded in the street to trigger traffic signals first appeared around 1970, when transistorized electronics made them practical. By 1986 they were in fairly widespread use, and the definitive report … Continue reading

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Bruce Epperson’s examination of bike-share legalities

Bruce Epperson is a lawyer and bicycle historian in Florida, USA. Bruce’s comment on a previous post drew my attention. Several years back (2014 or 2015) I wrote a detailed analysis of the legal status of bike-share operations in Florida. … Continue reading

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Mighk Wilson’s report on Orlando bicycle crashes

Mighk Wilson, who works for the Orlando, Florida metropolitan planning organization, has prepared a very interesting study of bicycle crashes in the Orlando area based on a database of 5,000 crashes, 2011-2017. The study is important in that it distinguishes … Continue reading

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Simultaneous greens: bicycle roundabout?

An article on the UKrant.nl Web site describes an intersection in the Netherlands with simultaneous green lights in all directions for bicyclists. The headline, “How to Survive Simultaneous Greens” misrepresents the installation (not all greens actually are simultaneous) and tends … Continue reading

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Some comments on electric scooters

At various dates in 2018, companies Bird, Lime, Skip and Spin have released dockless electrically-powered scooters  into a number of US cities — sometimes with approval from the city government, sometimes without. These scooters represent more or less a third … Continue reading

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New York Bike Lane Promotional Video

This video is long on promotion and unbalanced, weak on anything which approaches a description of a comprehensive bicycle program. Parking? Enforcement? Education? Other infrastructure? 0:00 Leads with fear and hyperbole. “Let’s be honest. For many people, the thought of … Continue reading

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The definitive paper about loop detectors, published 1986

The City of San Diego, California, USA published its Traffic Signal Bicycle Detection Study Final Report in 1986. I have scanned a copy of the document and posted it online. This report’s main topic is inductive-loop traffic-signal detectors. These are … Continue reading

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Counterrotating spins about blind spots, from Germany

This post is a translation of an article on the site of the ADFC (German bicyclists’ association), to which I have added comments, in indented italics as here. The German original is at https://adfc-berlin.de/radverkehr/sicherheit/information-und-analyse/121-fahrradunfaelle-in-berlin-unfallstatistik/222-exkurs-der-tote-winkel.html. For a different approach which could … Continue reading

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About dockless bike share

Your bike: you own it and look after it. Docking bike share: the company owns it and it is secured at the dock when not being ridden. If you lose it, you bought it. Dockless bike: once it is locked … Continue reading

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