Who cares about pavement users ?

October 29th 2018
I guess this is just going to be never ending from now on. Pavement users, as not all of them are walking ie pedestrians, are treated as the lowest form of traveller . In spite of all analysis and thought being that they should be the priority and designs should come from that.

Lets be clear about a term; Active Travel means cyclists , walking is a convenient sounding add-on used to justify the expenditure. It is clear that the pro cycling groups brigade online surveys and push agendas that are detrimental to other groups eg elderly, disabled and children that have limited access to this format of testing public opinion.

Lets look at a recent example and the attitudes;
So this was tweeted;

So when it gets dark there is no continuous path for pavement users as there is for cars,buses and bikes. Walking south ( ie back to traffic ) on this street goes from being 100% safe from traffic to 100% lottery if a cyclist uses this at speed when a bus pulls up and people get on and off.
Dont forget the angled tactile leading directly into walls and narrow sections that with one step more go straight on to the road and into traffic.

This was the draft design

Very faintly you can find the wall line but no clear indication that is a solid boundary.
Of course on this draft page it shows the supposed typical cross section;

Hmmm .... somethings missing in the as built. Damn those pavement users.We should probably be grateful there is still a bus stop as the design for the Glasgow North East active travel just gets rid of bus stops when they get in the way of cycle paths.( NB i cant find any full design docs online );

So there were a number of replies but the one that caught me short were these;

"tiny tiny amount of foot traffic" ; Judgemental and unqualified. At a minimum everyone getting to and from the the bus stop is using the pavement. They will be coming from and going to their houses using the bus stop.

Another failing is not enough adequate safe crossing points, that doesnt deter people who have to get somewhere but just makes it less safe, but who cares about non mechanised transport any way
A probably over generous isochrone showing where you can walk in 7 minutes from that bus stop.



"A safe place for bus users ( PAVEMENT USERS ) to WAIT without INTERRUPTING the FLOW of CYCLISTS and BUSES"
Where to start with this arrogant nonsense. Are cyclists actually dangerous vehicles to watch out for ? Pavement users have to cower on a non pavement ( "floating bus stop" ) so as not to get injured. Priorities all wrong.

Think what this will be like on darker days and worse weather. Should cyclists be made to follow the mobility scooter speeds for pavements on sections like this ?

Some other recent planner nonsense;
Partick Bus Station revamp has finished. The terrible exits off the buses that trap people with prams are bad, but here is something else;

(Update Oct 30 You can see a person cutting across the bus plate and two bikes chained to fence . Guess who many of the enormous bike shed spces were being used 50ft away

)

Sauchiehall Street revamp
I posted about this last November but it is now in place.

These are the entry and exits to the cycle path that directs cyclists through the people waiting to cross Rose Street and Sauchiehall St.
I guess to go West they have cycled up Sauchiehall Street or gone the wrong way down Rose Street or Blythswood St( non Core path ).

The widths given over to the different parts are clear now as well. Also the street clutter that will be dumped on the pavement part is visible in context, add in digital signs, seats, tables etc. Remember the cities own numbers showed this stretch was used by 11,000 pavement users a day and 500 cyclists but this is the split they have built. A cynic would think the plan is to make it look like there is an apparent percentage increase in cyclists by making it dangerous for pedestrians and stop them using the street.

We will soon get to see the sections with the exits from the bus stops behind digital signs directly onto the west bound cycle way.
You can also make out the bumps supposed to segregate pavement users from cyclists. Are cyclists going to have a speed limit and if not are mobility scooters that will also use this. A light dusting of snow will cover those up nicely.

Pavement users need to be more active in reporting hits and near misses from vehicles inclusing bikes. Too often they shrug them off as part of using the streets and so the scale of the problem is missing from the statistics and ignored in planning.