‘Stricter rules bicycle taxi’
1 May 2007 - New York has introduced stricter
rules for bicycle taxis; France wants to allow cyclists to jump
red lights and London found that it may in fact be safer to do so.
Useful lessons for Amsterdam?
As a bicycle-friendly city, Amsterdam is often seen as an example
for the rest of the world. However, lessons can be learned from
other cities as well.
For example, Amsterdam recently decided to expand the number of
locations where affordable ‘Public Transport Bicycles’
(OV-fietsen) can be rented. This is a small step in the direction
of the successful Vélo’v project in Lyon. Throughout
that city, bicycles can be rented almost for free.
RED LIGHT
Recently, Le Monde reported that the French cyclists’ organisation
Mieux se déplacer à bicyclette (MDP) argues for a
change in traffic regulations. For bicycles, a red light should
mean ‘give way’ rather than ‘stop’.
In fact, this would amount to legalising the existing situation:
in France too, many cyclists ‘happily’ ignore the red
lights, writes the newspaper.
Would it be a good idea to allow Dutch cyclists to carefully jump
red lights as well? Otto van Boggelen of the Fietsberaad, an expertise
centre on cycling, has his doubts. At some crossings traffic lights
can be safely ignored, but not at others.
It would be confusing to have different rules at different crossings.
Also for parents who have to explain the rules to their children:
“Now they can still say, red is red”. If many cyclists
jump the lights at a specific crossing, it would be better to consider
removing the traffic lights altogether, said Van Boggelen.
In Amsterdam, this is already current practice, explained Marjolein
de Lange of cyclists’ organisation the Fietsersbond. “You
might not think so, but the municipality really tries to reduce
the number of traffic lights”. De Fietsersbond prefers a roundabout
over traffic lights too, but there is not always enough room.
If it would be decided to allow cyclists to jump the lights, it
should be communicated very clearly that they should give way to
pedestrians as well, said De Lange. While cyclists generally do
stop for cars, they sometimes overlook pedestrians. Especially for
visually impaired pedestrians, this is a problem.
Incidentally, a study commissioned by Transport for London found
that for the cyclists themselves, it may be safer to jump traffic
lights. Women cyclists run a higher risk of being killed by lorries.
The reason might be that when traffic lights are red, they remain
standing in the blind spot of lorries waiting to turn left (cars
drive on the left), instead of ignoring the traffic light.
BICYCLE TAXI
The New York Municipality recently introduced stricter regulations
for bicycle taxis. They must have good brakes and lights, must be
insured, may no longer use electric motors, and may no longer use
bicycle lanes. In addition, the number of pedicabs will
be limited to 325, while some estimate that there are now 500 to
600.
Businesses located near Broadway had complained about congestions
caused by bicycle taxis aggressively trying to attract customers
among the theatre-goers. Many bicycle taxi drivers themselves found
that some sort of regulation should be introduced, even though they
find the current regulations excessive.
An independent bicycle taxi driver complained in the New York Post
about fleet owners importing ‘foreign pedalers’ who
ignore traffic regulations and give bicycle taxis a bad name. “It's
like the Wild West out there. It's completely out of control”.
In Amsterdam, only 30 licenses for bicycle taxis have been issued,
15 of which are used by the Wielertaxi company, tells co-owner Richard
Nijssen. In the future, he would like to expand to 20 to 25 bicycle
taxis.
According to Nijssen, research shows that bicycle taxis mix well
with normal bicycle traffic. “Only someone who is really in
a hurry might get stressed if he cannot pass immediately”.
Only if the number of bicycle taxis would grow substantially, stricter
regulations might be needed, said Nijssen.
Nijssen does get occasional complaints about traffic violations.
“Sometimes they have a high adrenaline level and they do sometimes
jump red lights”, Nijssen said. “We advise anybody not
to do this in busy traffic”.
At times, cyclists bump into a bicycle taxi if it brakes more abruptly
than expected. According to Nijssen, this is not really a big issue:
“During the three years I have been active as a bicycle taxi
driver, I have had at most one incident involving angry cyclists
per year”.
De Lange of the Fietsersbond paints a less positive picture. “We
get quite a lot of complaints about bicycle taxis, especially about
them blocking the way on narrow bicycle lanes. It so happens that
bicycle taxis are wide and slow and they are active in the city
centre where everything is narrow and tight”.
The Fietsersbond has not yet taken a stand on bicycle taxis, but
if the number of licenses is to increase, there should be a debate.
One might for example consider banning bicycle taxis from certain
routes during rush hour, said De Lange.
She said it is conceivable that reducing car traffic in the city
centre would create more room for bicycle taxis.
As yet, there seems to be no reason to introduce stricter rules
on brakes. Wielertaxi’s bicycle taxis have brakes that were
designed for motorcycles. According to Nijssen, you have to have
good brakes, especially if you go down a bridge with a 150 kg taxi
plus driver and passengers.
Wielertaxi’s taxis have a support motor. One can hardly do
without in a city with so many bridges, said Nijssen. What is more,
they use environmentally friendly electronic motors.
Sixty percent of bicycle taxi clients are tourists. In addition,
there are Amsterdammers who consider the bicycle taxi a serious
mode of transportation, claims Nijssen, among them people who are
going out.
Bicycle taxis might come to play a more important role if regulations
for regular taxis become stricter and when new technology becomes
available, increasing the capacity of the batteries and making the
taxis lighter without compromising comfort and safety.
More: Vélo’v,
Transport
for London, Indypendent,
Rickshaw
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