A game changer for the körút?

Parked cars are pushed into the interstices along the edge of the sidewalks. That'd give room for continuous priority bike lanes alongside the Nagykörút

Budapest could have a reasonably bike-friendly Nagykörút with small investment and minimum offense to motorists, according to a new proposal posted by the Hungarian Cyclists' Club.

The proposal would make space for priority bike lanes alongside the curbs of both sides of the road. The parking spaces currently on the  curbs would be shifted onto the sidewalk, between the trees, advertising pillars and signposts.

This solution would probably come at the expense of some parking spaces, but the proposal's authors say the loss wouldn't be significant. Pedestrian space would also be conserved as the empty space along the curb doesn't carry foot traffic.

The post describes the scheme as a temporary fix -- and I'd agree that having parking spaces up on the sidewalk is a bit awkward and unattractive. The holy grail would be to reprioritise the körút for tram users, pedestrians and cyclists and to reduce the volume and speed of car traffic.

However, the proposal would be a huge improvement over the current situation. Right now, cycling on the körút is unpleasant and frightening for most people. Having a bike lane would attract a much bigger segment of  the biking population, and provide needed links between the increasingly bike-friendly neighbourhoods in inner-Pest.

Critical Mass Reunion Tour??

She deserves better than a gutter!

The Budapest cycling movement is back! An open invitation is up on Facebook for a cycling demonstration around the Nagykörút at 5:30 p.m. September 22, i.e. evening rush hour on European Car-Free Day. As a bonus, sunny weather's predicted.

It sounds an awful lot like the fall Critical Mass rides or yore, which were held at the same time on the same date. But the head honchos of the former Critical Mass, Sinya and Kuku of Hajtas Pajtas, don't appear to be spearheading this one -- nor is anyone else. The Facebook page doesn't identify anyone as organiser or leader. It's just a page declaring: "Let the Nagykörút be bikeable!" A text below reads:

It's been five years since the Nagykörút Critical Mass, but the situation is still the same. Instead of plans and promises, we want concrete steps! Therefore, we call for a common Car-free Day ride to re-draw attention to the matter of the Nagykörút!

It's actually been four years since the Nagykörút Critical Mass: the one that had no route, where we just went down to occupy the street, riding back and forth between the Szabadság bridge and Margit bridge on the Pest side. But the need for bikeways on the Nagykörút is an evergreen issue, and it's made especially timely this fall with the roll-out of Budapest's new bike-share system. 

In anticipation of a new wave of novice urban cyclists flooding downtown on bright green Bubi bikes, the city carried out a big programme of bike-friendly improvements to downtown streets in the system coverage area. The improvements included new bike racks, new contraflow cycling lanes and new signage. But the most needed improvement of all was left out -- bikeways for the Nagykörút.

For many trips to and from and around downtown, the Nagykörút offers the most convenient route. But the road space is mainly taken up by cars -- four lanes for moving ones, and a lane on each side for parked ones. It's legal to ride your bike on the Nagykörút but often the traffic is going so fast you feel like you're risking your life. (For a short while last year, car speeds on the Nagykörút were reduced slightly in order to prioritise tram traffic. Mayor Tarlos put the kibash on that last fall and restored the Formula 1 flavour of things.

It's insanity to have  a beautiful new bike-sharing system with several docking points on a road that feels (and smells!) like a high-speed expressway. Car traffic on the Nagykörút should be cut down to one lane going in each direction with the speed limit reduced to 30 kph. In this way, the Nagykörút would not only be bikeable, it'd be shoppable, walkable, pram-able and dine-able. 

When Critical Mass came to an end more than a year ago, organisers said it was because its mission had been fulfilled. They said they needed to turn their attention to more targetted, behind-the-scenes lobbying. But in the absence of Critical Mass, we're missing a sense of community and solidarity among cyclists and wish-to-be cyclists. And when we're dealt with setbacks, like the never-ending postponement of the congestion charge, the cancellation of priority bus lanes or the sweeping under the rug of brilliant cycling plans for the Margit körút  -- there needs to be a loud, visible response. A big turnout on September 22 will be just the thing.

What: Bike demonstration for cycling accommodation on the Nagykörút
When: Starts 5:30 p.m. September 22
Where: Jászai Mari tér
 

Bike Study Commissioned for Margit Körút

I'd say this cyclist is enjoying a wider than average berth -- yet she's still forced to ride in the rain gutter.

The City has just commissioned a feasibility study on creating a bikeway on Margit körút. The local engineering firm Trenecon-COWI (working on the Bubi bike-share project among other cycling projects) recently got the assignment from the Budapest Transport Centre (BKK).

No particular design or approach has been proposed. Instead, Trenecon has been asked to look at all the possibilities, including:

• bike lanes (as on the kiskörút)
• bike tracks, grade-separated lanes between the sidewalks and the carriageway (these are common in Denmark and the Netherlands, but they've never been implemented in Budapest)
• sharrows, bike ways that motorists could legally ride over when they're not occupied by cyclists. (The chevrons on the outside lanes across Margit híd are sharrows.)

The study will look into other possibilities to make the street more bike-friendly, including ways to reduce motor traffic, ways to make intersections safer and more convenient for cyclists and the feasibility of reducing speeds.

This is typical körút-style riding. With cars crowding him out on the curb, he chooses instead to ride between the first and second lanes. Technically illegal, I believe, certainly risky, but faster and more pleasant than waiting behind a car and sucking up exhaust.

Margit körút is a busy main road with two lanes for cars going in either direction. In order to create proper, comfortably-wide bike lanes, car lanes would have to be sacrificed. You can imagine how eager the mayor would be to eliminate two car lanes from Margit körút. However, given the volume and speed of motor traffic, sharrows or advisory bike lanes, in my opinion, would not cut the mustard. Like the ones on Margit bridge -- they wouldn't encourage many new cyclists to use them. They'd be used by messengers and other road-savvy cyclists -- basically the ones who already ride on the körút. They wouldn't boost cycle traffic and would likely wear off and be forgotten.

BKK might find there's just enough space to squeeze in exclusive bike lanes that just meet the minimum legal width. But this would be far from ideal on such a busy street. With taxis rushing by at 50-60 kph, you want a comfortable distance between them and your left handlegrip.

Unavoidably, the best possible solution would be to sacrifice car lanes. With the freed space, there'd not only be room for adequately wide, exclusive bike ways, but also expanded space for walking, restaurant and cafe seating, benches, greenery -- maybe even a fountain somewhere. This would not only be a major boon for cycling, it would calm the street, revive retail and recreation and generally improve neighbourhood livability. A good reference would be Oktober 6 utca -- Petofi Sandor utca, the once congested through street in District V that is now a destination in its own right.

Nagykörút Overdue for Bikeway

On a recent weekday, about six bikes passed on the Nagykörút for every 100 cars. And the hour-by-hour traffic pattern matched that of normal commuters, with morning and evening peaks and another spurt during lunch hour. These people aren't biking for fun or relaxation -- they're trying get somewhere.
These are a couple of conclusions of a 12-hour traffic count performed on a random weekday earlier this month by volunteers for the Hungarian Cyclists Club. The results support what many of us Budapest cyclists have long suspected -- that our numbers have grown into a significant part of daily traffic in downtown.
The count took place on Wednesday, Sept. 9. Counters set up at two stations on körút, one at Blaha Lujza tér which monitored traffic going in the direction of Nyugati station, the other at Oktogon monitoring traffic going the opposite direction. The counters worked in two-hour shifts from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and tried to count all bikes, whether going on the road itself, the sidewalks or the 4-6 Tram tracks.

Then coordinator Virag Bence-Kovács, a staff engineer for the cycling club, compared the collected data with car counts made by automatic, magnetic sensors embedded in the tarmac. The cycling club's count did not consider traffic on foot or public transport.

Some might say six bikes for 100 cars doesn't sound like a lot. But when you consider that this is on one of the most car-congested, least bike-friendly streets in the city, it's a remarkable figure. The results broke down as follows: a third to half the cyclists were riding on the sidewalk (depending on direction), despite the hassles of getting stuck behind pedestrians and dodging between signposts. The rest were out amongst motor traffic, sucking fumes and picking their way between parked cars and moving ones. The number braving the 4-6 tram tracks turned out to not be a significant number, less than 1 percent.

Over the entire day, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., 1,741 cyclists were counted on the körút. Why do they do it? Based on my own experience, I'd guess it's because the city provides no better alternative. Designated bike routes tend to be along out-of-the-way sidestreets and up on sidewalks, and they aren't worth bothering with.

Traffic planners argue it's not safe to put bike paths on main arteries such as the körút because it would put cyclists in danger's way. But the traffic count proves the futility of this approach. Even without a path or lane, thousands of cyclists risk life and limb on körút week in, week out.

So what if accommodation was given? You might assume it would just put MORE people in danger's way. But the studies show just the opposite: the more cyclists on the streets, the fewer accidents there are. The reason is that motorists can see groups of cyclists more easily than they can spot the odd, individual cyclist. It's also because when space is clearly demarcated for cyclists, all road users -- motorists, pedestrians and the cyclists themselves -- know where the boundaries are.

This month's traffic count provides important empirical support for an argument that the Hungarian Cyclists' Club and Critical Mass organisers are making with increasing urgency: Budapest needs bike lanes on the körút!