Our vice president, Terry Leach, is once again seeking a seat on the board of the RAA. After having precipitated the first contested election for 23 years in 1997, Terry is now one of 8 people seeking one of the 4 positions available.
Terry has also proposed a motion to change the RAA voting system to one person, one vote. The current system (one person, 4 votes) saw Terry receive 56% support, yet still not win a seat on the Board.
BISA members who are also RAA members shouldn't need much encouragement to vote for Terry. Those of you who receive SA Motor may be aware that the RAA opposes the introduction of 40km/h precincts in back streets and supports increased speed limits on some arterial roads.
Terry does need your help in encouraging other RAA members to vote for him. The RAA is the most powerful lobby group in the transport sector, and the SA community desperately needs an RAA board that is educated on sustainable transport issues. Please read the enclosed pamphlet, and talk to family, friends and colleagues about the issues.
All RAA members will receive a ballot paper either with their SA Motor magazine or in the mail.
[Top]
After several months of collecting data from cyclists and consultants, BikeSouth recently announced that they hope to see new and improved Bikedirect maps printed in November.
The planners have focused on encouraging new or occasional cyclists to cycle more regularly. 33,000 sets of the original maps were distributed and feedback on them came from a wide range of users and interest groups. Special mention was made of Hans Penning who spent many weeks pedalling over routes on map 5 checking for inaccuracies as well as making numerous suggestions for general improvements.
BikeSouth received a total of 393 comments and or corrections. The most frequent criticism related to classification & line representation of bicycle routes.
The most frequent requests were for
BikeSouth have tried very hard to please everybody and where this is not possible have offered sound arguments or reasoning.
All base map corrections have been passed on to the cartographer and 99% of suggested changes to bicycle routes were accepted.
Hardly surprisingly many cyclists asked for deli's and bakeries to be marked but this request is still in the too hard basket. Just setting up and maintaining a data base would be an enormous task and really blow the budget for what are after all freebies. (Perhaps the Department of Tourism could look at producing a booklet to accompany the maps in the future, this could include information for each map on where points of interest are for all tourists as well as special points for cyclists?)
Requests were made for the legend on map one to be moved as it covers One Tree Hill. Unfortunately due to printing costs the legend has to appear at the same place on each map.
Contour lines for showing gradients were requested and seriously considered but contours made the maps look really messy.
Shading was considered for steep hills but the question of how long or steep the hill should be before being marked would produce endless arguments. One cyclist's molehill is another cyclist's mountain.
Several suggestions about changes to the format of the map could not be taken up and despite several requests the maps will not be made available singley. In fact they will be repackaged help ensure that they are not distributed singley, The reasons are twofold: no procedure exists for distributing single maps on request and to introduce one would cost money and the idea of the maps is to encourage cyclists to venture further afield.
The maps will be printed on the same type of paper as the first issue, plastic maps would cost far too much to give away and many cyclists commented that they felt the current maps were surprisingly durable. An enlarged map of the CBD will not be added as such maps are freely available from the tourism office.
Several requests for street names to be printed will not be met for two reasons; one the base map is owned by a map company and to print street names would break their copyright. Anyway, the print would have to be so small it would be illegible.
20,000 maps will be printed in November to coincide with Bike Week and then another 20,000 in the following financial year. BISA members who get their magazines delivered by hand should a get a pack of maps with their December delivery.
Clive Palfrey
In the development of the Bikedirect network and maps, BikeSouth's objectives were to:
The second edition of Bikedirect maps will feature a simpler and clearer classification and representation of bicycle routes. Roads without bicycle lanes (that form part of the Bikedirect network) will be represented in a softer solid line while roads with bicycle lanes will be shown in a bold dashed line.
Green will only be used to show on-road Bikedirect routes which connect off-road facilities. Examples are along the Torrens Linear Park and Westside Bikeway where the paths do not continue off-road. The lines representing off-road paths and tracks will be bolder and the distinction between sealed paths and unsealed tracks will be maintained (but corrected).
Finally, the "grey" network of local access roads will be included in the legend but as not part of the signed Bikedirect network. Cyclists will be reminded that they may find ideal cycling conditions on these roads.
BikeSouth highly values the feedback that has been provided, as the comments have helped us to produce an improved product. Feedback on the next edition will again be sought ... to further improve the third edition. We look forward to your involvement in this process.
Terry Ryan
Manager, BikeSouth
[Top]
BISA is fortunate to have a very active volunteer committee, who can be relied upon to quietly beaver away with the myriad tasks required of them, without direction from any one person.
However, there is so much to be done...
Compared to many organisations, BISA has a very active membership, with members helping out with articles, magazine delivery and grass roots advocacy. Yet most members simply pay their membership and accept the services offered.
There is nothing wrong with this, every member contributes by adding legitimacy to our stance as the representative of cyclists.
Yet the fact remains that the membership fee ($25 single, $30 family) only just covers the direct costs of providing services to members and associated overheads, such as printing of Pedal Update, subscription to Australian Cyclist and third party insurance cover while cycling. Very little is left to devote to advocacy work.
BISA's healthy financial reserves have been built up largely by profits from consultancy work undertaken for BikeSouth.
Cycling for leisure is becoming more popular, and there is a strategic opportunity to increase our membership and increase the number of commuting cyclists in South Australia. Yet we lack the human resources to make the most of this opportunity.
In our recent strategic planning workshop we formed a goal to establish an office presence. BISA would be much more effective if we had a part time officer undertaking project work and helping with administration, which would take some of the load off our hard working volunteers.
While BISA is in a healthy financial position, it would be imprudent to commit a substantial part of our financial reserves to employing a part time officer without the surplus cash flow to sustain the position. Even if we doubled our membership as a result of a part time officer, we would be in no better situation to fund that position.
How do we move forward? An option is to increase membership fees, so that we have a surplus after the provision of services. That way if we increased the membership base, we would improve our financial position. However, we don't know how sensitive our membership is to the cost of the fee.
I stress that no decisions have been made, that these are my views only, and that membership fees are set by the members at our Annual General Meeting. Accordingly any increase wouldn't take effect until the year 2000.
What are your views? Please feel free to telephone a committee member or write or e-mail the editor or to let your views be known.
In the meantime, I urge you all to keep up the good work and keep doing the quiet little things that ensure our success, like discussing cycling issues with colleagues, family and friends. In particular, we have Ride To Win, Ride To Work Day and the RAA election coming up, all of which need your help in spreading the word.
Most importantly, please pass on at least your extra copy of this Pedal Update and a membership leaflet to a cycling acquaintance, to help boost our numbers.
Terry Leach
Vice President
Peter Lumb is away on long service leave
[Top]
Velozity delegates will arrive in Adelaide on 15,16 and 17 February 1999. The Velozity organising committee is keen to not only showcase Adelaide's cycling facilities to delegates but to make them (and their bikes) feel welcome at the airport.
The plan is for delegates to inform the conference organisers of their arrival details, we then provide them an airport welcome, a small gift and a smile.
Velozity will provide the gift. We hope BISA members will provide the welcome.
Volunteers are need to help on 15,16 and 17 February. If you can spare a few hours on any of these days we would welcome your involvement.
In addition we would like cyclist guides to accompany visitors along the airport to city bike route including the Linear Park; we will transport delegates' luggage to the city.
If you can help please contact Bill Hickling
Velozity Social Program Coordinator
8332 0956
Thank you to everyone who will provide accommodation for delegates to Velozity.
[Top]
BISA is providing both an information stand and a bicycle corral for this event on 1 November, the first day of Bike Week.
For the bicycle corral we need 4 people on Saturday afternoon, October 31 for 4 hours and eight people on Sunday for 3 or 4 hours each. So if you are physically fit, capable of mild manual work (setting up portable bike parking rails), have a good interpersonal style with the public, and would like to earn a few extra dollars ($14/hour), then we would like to hear from you.
For more information, or to register your interest please contact Zara Soden on 8278 8925.
BISA is providing this service as Bicycle SA is fully committed with the Circle the City Bike Ride on the same day. Funding is being provided by BikeSouth and BISA is merely covering its costs.
BISA is also having an information stand at this event, which usually attracts over 20 000 people. If you can help staff our stand, even for just an hour or two, then we would like to hear from you. Please contact Terry Leach on 8380 5497.
[Top]
Our annual event, where we try to encourage motorists to try the non-polluting alternative, is being held on Wednesday, November 4, as part of Bike Week 98.
Bike Week has moved to November to take advantage of the start of the cycling season, for those less hardy souls who don't ride all year round.
This year will feature improved publicity for the event, including large signs appearing on major roads. These signs will reinforce the message we' ll be promoting in the media and accurately target the audience we're trying to reach. An added benefit is that motorists will be aware that more cyclists with less experience will on the roads that day.
For the day to be a success though, we need your help. Grass roots activism works best, so why not try and encourage a non-cycling colleague to give it a try, perhaps even offer to escort a novice on their first ride?
Distributing copies of the enclosed pamphlet on noticeboards or using E-mail will also assist in promoting the event.
Also, if the Victoria Square breakfast is not convenient to your place of employment, why not offer to organise a breakfast for cyclists in your workplace? BISA will even provide the food for you!
As well as asking for the support of all BISA members in promoting the event, volunteers are needed to help with the Victoria Square breakfast and to erecting signs on roads on the weekend of 23 & 24 October. If you can help, please contact Terry Leach on 8380 5497.
The third Ride To Win season is about to commence. From November to April SA commuters are encouraged to cycle. By registering that they cycle commuted during Ride To Win week each month, they are in the running for great prizes.
Ride To Win kicks off the first week in November, which by a strange coincidence is also Bike Week. Shortly you should receive a pamphlet about Ride To Win. Please get behind this exciting program by registering as a work place coordinator and encouraging colleagues to ride.
Ride To Win is a BISA program, managed on our behalf by Life Leisure Events Management, a non-profit organisation connected with Life. Be in it.
Terry Leach
[Top]
Stage two of the Share the Road public awareness campaign is scheduled to commence in the first week of September. The strategy over the ensuing 9 months will focus on the following cycling safety issues:
The main objectives of the second stage of the campaign are to continue strengthening general community awareness of cycling safety and to focus on specific driver and cyclist behaviours. The year's activities will consist of:
The main component of the year's activities is a new television commercial reminding motorists to look for cyclists at all times and reminding cyclists to do all they can to enhance their visibility. Once again this commercial will screen predominantly on Channel Seven.
The general "Share the Road" message of the television commercial will be supported by the continued distribution of the brochure produced for Stage One of the campaign.
A series of `mini-campaigns' will highlight the main cycling safety issues which were identified in preliminary research and endorsed by representatives of major stakeholder groups.
These mini-campaigns will maintain a high profile for the campaign throughout the campaign period and will involve radio advertising, promotions and media releases. They will be timed to highlight important events - both cycling and non-cycling related (Great South Australian Bike Ride, Bike Week, School holidays, Christmas, Tour Down Under, VelOZity, Daylight Saving, Road Safety Awareness Week).
Transport SA is committed to raising public awareness of cycling safety issues and is confident that the Share the Road campaign will have a positive impact on road-user behaviour.
Terry Ryan
Manager, BikeSouth
[Top]
Seymour College, Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 November
This project is a first for South Australia and is a tremendous opportunity to educate the community about environmental and ecological work being undertaken by organisations in the state.
It is a wonderful opportunity to draw together governments (State, Fed & Local), the community, environmental interest groups and others. Activities will include a trade exhibition, education program, environment forum and a display of Art Work.
Helpers are needed for the BISA stand. Please contact Margaret on 8271 5824.
Margaret Day
[Top]
I recently spent a few weeks in Canada and want to report a few observations.
The city of Victoria, British Columbia is very bicycle friendly with white lines demarcating bicycle lanes on major roads. There are 40km/hr zones in residential and shopping areas and bicycle racks all over the place. There was also a network of walking and bicycle paths through the hugely treed suburb I was staying in, and pedicabs (including semi-trailer versions). Police on bicycles were evident in the city centre.
The town of Red Deer, Alberta, had many kilometres of bike trails in the scenic river parklands and a network of green bike racks with free green bikes which you could borrow and return to any other green bike rack. Unfortunately I was too busy working to go looking for the bikes, but I talked to the mayor who believed the system was working and was very proud of his efforts to keep the locals happy and healthy with cycling.
Major routes between centres in Alberta were being 'twinned'. That is converted to double lane dual carriageways. These had a good sealed breakdown lane, with the half next to the traffic being a rumble strip to alert motorists and the rest being smooth for cyclists.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is screening ads on TV encouraging people to leave their cars at home and walk or cycle instead. For example a trendy young man comes up in his flashy new car and offers a lift to his friends. 'No thanks we'd rather walk' comes the answer. The main message is to cycle or walk for better personal health.
Kath Cooper
A cycling hazard we don't have to worry about in Adelaide...
[Top]
A one day workshop run by Bicycle SA
Sunday October 24.
Learn the art of wheel building, gain insight into bicycle wheel design and construction, and find out how to build and repair front and rear wheels.
All materials and tools will be provided.
If you would like to repair or build your own wheel let the organisers know ahead of time.
You must book: 8410 1406.
Cost: $35
Venue: North Adelaide Railway Station.
[Top]
[Top]
Malcolm Healey and his letter-writing helpers are doing a fine job bringing cycling issues to the attention of a broad audience. A (slightly) edited copy of this letter from Malcolm appeared in the latest SA Motor Magazine.
I was surprised to read that [the RAA] is opposing the general introduction of 40km/h speed limits on residential streets (SA Motor August 1998). These are the very streets in which most RAA members wish to live and enjoy quiet, safe neighbourhoods. They are used by residents to access arterial roads from their homes. Frequently these streets are narrow, have blind corners and are where children, pedestrians and cyclists are found.
Traffic speeds of 60km/h are generally unsafe in these streets. Recent research by The University of Adelaide has shown that differences of speed by as little as 5-10km/h can have a profound influence in the number and severity of accidents.
Reducing traffic speeds from 60km/h to 40km/h does not substantially increase travelling time, because travel though residential streets comprises only a very short part of the total journey. The potential savings in motor insurance premiums alone due to reductions in accidents would justify the lower speeds.
Certainly Local Government can introduce traffic calming devices to force lower speeds, but these expensive devices penalise all motorists and make access by emergency vehicles difficult.
I acknowledge that it will take a little time for motorists to adjust to the lower speeds, however this is no reason to oppose their introduction. With appropriate support and enforcement the attitude of motorists will change just as it has for alcohol consumption and driving.
The holding of a motor vehicle license is a privilege and carries a great responsibility. Motor vehicles wreak terrible carnage on our roads every day. Most accidents are caused by driver error and by driving without due care. I believe that the RAA should encouraging it's members to drive with greater care and discipline, supporting a reduction to 40km/h rather than higher speed limits.
Malcolm Healey
[Top