[Policy] Revised Draft of Diamond Lane Position Statement for Review
Mark Cohoe
mark.e.cohoe at gmail.com
Fri Jan 6 09:54:27 PST 2017
HI Laura,
I've attached a revised document with some edits. I have tried to emphasize
that a real danger of allowing cabs into diamond lanes stems from the fact
that most vehicles entering a diamond lane will be making a right turn,
which forces people on bikes to treat the diamond lane as a right turn lane
and ride in the middle of the lane. For s slow moving bus making frequent
stops, that's not much of a problem, but for someone who has the
expectation that a diamond lane is a high speed through lane, this will
likely lead to a lot of frustration.
An additional risk would be the increased need for someone driving a taxi
in a diamond lane to merge in and out to avoid stopped buses and moving
bicycles.
Thanks for your work on this Laura!
Cheers,
Mark
On Thu, Jan 5, 2017 at 4:57 PM, Laura Donatelli <omojean98 at hotmail.com>
wrote:
> Hi Mark and Policy Committee,
>
>
> Too bad your email came just after our policy meeting had ended! At the
> meeting, the conclusion was the Diamond Lane draft was ready for board
> review next week with the exception of Bill's request that I revise how
> related documents are listed. However, I reviewed your helpful comments as
> well as those from Green Action Centre, and thought that perhaps we could
> "beef up" our version a bit.
>
>
> Attached therefore is a revised version with the most recent changes
> highlighted in yellow. Could *you, Ian, Bill and Gord* give this one
> more look-over to see if it will suit, *send me an email either way*, and
> then I will send out to the Board for their consideration.
>
>
> Thanks, Laura
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Policy <policy-bounces at lists.bikewinnipeg.ca> on behalf of Mark
> Cohoe <mark.e.cohoe at gmail.com>
> *Sent:* January 5, 2017 2:24 PM
> *To:* Laura Donatelli
> *Cc:* policy at lists.bikewinnipeg.ca
> *Subject:* Re: [Policy] Reminder of Upcoming Policy Committee Meeting and
> Draft of Diamond Lane Position Statement for Review
>
> Hi Laura,
>
> Sorry that this is so late in getting to you, and thanks to you and the
> committee for taking this on as I've definitely neglected it.
> Some of my thoughts on the subject are below:
>
> I have definite concerns about safety and comfort levels should this plan
> move ahead. Important questions for me include:
>
> - How will cab drivers react to a bike taking the lane (as recommended
> by MPI and others)?
> - How will increased traffic affect comfort levels for people biking
> in the lanes?
> - How will safety be affected by the addition of more vehicles merging
> in and out of the diamond lanes?
>
> See below for some submissions from others that I have been copied on:
>
> Thanks again for the opportunity to provide input – here is a summary of
> Green Action Centre's position.
>
> Why taxis should not be allowed on diamond lanes in Winnipeg:
>
> 1. *The argument to include taxis on diamond lanes in Winnipeg appears
> to be based on the experience of HOV (carpool) lanes in other cities.
> However, diamond lanes in Winnipeg are different from a HOV lane – they are
> essentially dedicated bus lanes that also allow cyclists.* HOV lanes
> do not exist here, as they are best suited for large centres (>1 million
> people in the metropolitan area) and on corridors that lead to large
> employment centres (>100,000 workers) as a major transportation
> destination, and work better on highways than arterial corridors where the
> space is shared with buses and bikes (source
> <http://data.tc.gc.ca/archive/eng/programs/environment-utsp-hovlanescanada-886.htm>).
> Winnipeg's diamond lanes are intended to make transit more attractive and
> competitive (give an advantage to) while also providing space for
> people on bikes on the curbside lane during peak travel times. In other
> jurisdictions in Canada, HOV lanes are considered more as carpool lanes.
> Accordingly, some other Canadian cities have allowed taxis on arterial HOV
> lanes because they meet their definition of high-occupancy vehicle, e.g.
> Calgary
> <http://www.calgary.ca/Transportation/TP/Pages/Getting-Around-Calgary/Commuting/High-Occupancy-Vehicles-%28HOV%29.aspx> defines
> HOV as 2 or more occupants including the taxi driver while Toronto
> <http://www.toronto.ca/311/knowledgebase/64/101000040264.html> requires
> 3 or more occupants.
> 2. *Adding taxis would reduce the effectiveness of diamond lanes by
> reducing transit speeds and reliability of trip times for passengers and
> would create an additional safety hazard for people on bikes in the diamond
> lane. *Dedicated bus curb lanes can roughly double transit speeds in
> typical urban congestion (source <http://www.vtpi.org/blw.pdf>, p4),
> which attracts more riders. Bus lanes have also been shown to provide
> safety benefits, with statistically significant reductions in collisions (
> source <http://www.vtpi.org/blw.pdf>, p6). Diamond lanes should
> continue to be used as a TDM measure in Winnipeg to promote and encourage
> the use of transit and cycling.
> 3. *While taxis with 3 or more occupants (including the taxi driver)
> technically qualify as carpooling, this is outweighed by the potential
> negative impacts on transit and cycling.* We believe that a taxi trip
> consisting of the driver and one passenger is the equivalent of driving
> alone.
> 4. *Furthermore, non-compliance is highly likely and and would be
> costly to monitor. *Enforcement would be more challenging as it would
> require assessing how many passengers are in the taxi. This could set up
> the scenario of taxi drivers using the lanes when they are alone or have
> one passenger only.
> 5. *If inclusion of taxis on a diamond lane is based on the carpooling
> argument, it opens up the discussion that any vehicle with 2-3 or more
> passengers should be** able to use the lane (similar to a HOV lane).* This
> is clearly undesirable on an arterial diamond lane as it would result in
> the same congestion issues as adjacent lanes. It once again underscores the
> difference between an arterial diamond lane (bus/bike lane) vs. a HOV
> (carpool) lane.
> 6. If anything, we need more bus/bike diamond lanes in Winnipeg to
> create a continuous network, as sections where the diamond lane continue to
> pose a challenge for buses and bikes, and reduce the effectiveness of
> existing diamond lanes.
>
> Beth
>
> David: attached are feedback and comments I have compiled from a subset of
> the employees I canvassed at 360 Portage Avenue.
>
>
>
> In summary, we support the points made by the Green Action Centre. A
> common theme is cyclist safety: diamond lanes are well utilized already so
> adding more users will affect efficiency and safety for current users;
> taxis are a mismatch with current users with taxi drivers being more
> likely to be in a rush; taxis are more likely to be a risk to cyclist
> safety than buses as bus drivers are more likely to take a professional
> attitude to safety which, as one cyclist observes, extends to bus drivers
> giving him a full lane when they overtake him and because electric/hybrid
> taxis are more likely to be relatively quiet and more of a risk to
> cyclists unaware of their presence. Another common theme is that it is
> illogical to give taxis an advantage over other multi-passenger vehicles
> and it is illogical to disadvantage efficient public transit and
> carbon-free commuters to the benefit of a special interest group that is
> less aligned with national goals to reduce greenhouse gases. We also agree
> with the Green Action Centre that diamond lane non-compliance will increase
> if additional users are permitted in diamond lanes. Both the increased
> difficulty of enforcement and, in my opinion, the tendency of drivers to
> disregard rules they consider illogical and unfair (such as letting taxis
> move in and out of diamond lanes as it suits them while someone in a
> similar vehicle who is late for work, late for a meeting or late for day
> care is not permitted to do so) will contribute to non-compliance if taxis
> are permitted in diamond lanes.
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Dan Prowse
>
> 360 Portage Ave
> 204-360-3712 <%28204%29%20360-3712>; cell 204-792-1288
> <%28204%29%20792-1288>; home 204-453-6060 <%28204%29%20453-6060>
>
>
> Cheers, \
> Mark
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 3, 2017 at 4:42 PM, Laura Donatelli <omojean98 at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Ian, Bill and Gord,
>>
>>
>> Happy New Year to all.
>>
>>
>> Here is the revised draft of the Diamond Lane position statement for your
>> consideration and comments. You can send me comments electronically or
>> share your thoughts at our meeting. You will note that the recently
>> released (Dec. 20/16) Taxicab Review report is recommending that the
>> majority of taxicabs be allowed to use diamond lanes, so we need to get a
>> statement finalized and approved by the BW board quickly in anticipation of
>> this going before Council.
>>
>>
>> Ian, do you have a draft of the Bike Helmet statement for our review
>> prior to our meeting?
>>
>>
>> Reminder that we meet this *Thursday Jan. 5th at 1:00 p.m. *at my place
>> (129 Grove Street). Hope all can make it.
>>
>>
>> Cheers, Laura
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Policy mailing list
>> Policy at lists.bikewinnipeg.ca
>> http://lists.bikewinnipeg.ca/listinfo.cgi/policy-bikewinnipeg.ca
>>
>>
>
> On Tue, Jan 3, 2017 at 4:42 PM, Laura Donatelli <omojean98 at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Ian, Bill and Gord,
>>
>>
>> Happy New Year to all.
>>
>>
>> Here is the revised draft of the Diamond Lane position statement for your
>> consideration and comments. You can send me comments electronically or
>> share your thoughts at our meeting. You will note that the recently
>> released (Dec. 20/16) Taxicab Review report is recommending that the
>> majority of taxicabs be allowed to use diamond lanes, so we need to get a
>> statement finalized and approved by the BW board quickly in anticipation of
>> this going before Council.
>>
>>
>> Ian, do you have a draft of the Bike Helmet statement for our review
>> prior to our meeting?
>>
>>
>> Reminder that we meet this *Thursday Jan. 5th at 1:00 p.m. *at my place
>> (129 Grove Street). Hope all can make it.
>>
>>
>> Cheers, Laura
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Policy mailing list
>> Policy at lists.bikewinnipeg.ca
>> http://lists.bikewinnipeg.ca/listinfo.cgi/policy-bikewinnipeg.ca
>>
>>
>
> On Tue, Jan 3, 2017 at 4:42 PM, Laura Donatelli <omojean98 at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Ian, Bill and Gord,
>>
>>
>> Happy New Year to all.
>>
>>
>> Here is the revised draft of the Diamond Lane position statement for your
>> consideration and comments. You can send me comments electronically or
>> share your thoughts at our meeting. You will note that the recently
>> released (Dec. 20/16) Taxicab Review report is recommending that the
>> majority of taxicabs be allowed to use diamond lanes, so we need to get a
>> statement finalized and approved by the BW board quickly in anticipation of
>> this going before Council.
>>
>>
>> Ian, do you have a draft of the Bike Helmet statement for our review
>> prior to our meeting?
>>
>>
>> Reminder that we meet this *Thursday Jan. 5th at 1:00 p.m. *at my place
>> (129 Grove Street). Hope all can make it.
>>
>>
>> Cheers, Laura
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Policy mailing list
>> Policy at lists.bikewinnipeg.ca
>> http://lists.bikewinnipeg.ca/listinfo.cgi/policy-bikewinnipeg.ca
>>
>>
>
> On Tue, Jan 3, 2017 at 4:42 PM, Laura Donatelli <omojean98 at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Ian, Bill and Gord,
>>
>>
>> Happy New Year to all.
>>
>>
>> Here is the revised draft of the Diamond Lane position statement for your
>> consideration and comments. You can send me comments electronically or
>> share your thoughts at our meeting. You will note that the recently
>> released (Dec. 20/16) Taxicab Review report is recommending that the
>> majority of taxicabs be allowed to use diamond lanes, so we need to get a
>> statement finalized and approved by the BW board quickly in anticipation of
>> this going before Council.
>>
>>
>> Ian, do you have a draft of the Bike Helmet statement for our review
>> prior to our meeting?
>>
>>
>> Reminder that we meet this *Thursday Jan. 5th at 1:00 p.m. *at my place
>> (129 Grove Street). Hope all can make it.
>>
>>
>> Cheers, Laura
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Policy mailing list
>> Policy at lists.bikewinnipeg.ca
>> http://lists.bikewinnipeg.ca/listinfo.cgi/policy-bikewinnipeg.ca
>>
>>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.bikewinnipeg.ca/private.cgi/policy-bikewinnipeg.ca/attachments/20170106/6107888d/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: BWP005 Diamond Lanes Jan 5 17-MC-Edits.docx
Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
Size: 49177 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.bikewinnipeg.ca/private.cgi/policy-bikewinnipeg.ca/attachments/20170106/6107888d/attachment-0001.docx>
More information about the Policy
mailing list