More RLJ work on Cheltenham Road

We're going to credit this cyclist coming up Bath buildings and crossing Cheltenham Road for actually looking and only going out when it is clear to do so, and waiting at the traffic island for a gap in the other lane.

Again, being a bit fitter and climbing up the mild incline on Bath Buildings would have saved time, and if you can't climb that when what faces you straight ahead, Arley Hill, is going to hurt. Looks more like this RLJ-er is going to right turn onto the Gloucester Road bus lane though.

Not so suicidal to be called a ghost-rider, just, well, pointless. The taxi in the ASL isn't going to run him over when the lights change as the cars blocking the hatched junction remove the option to pull out fast. Why then?

Discussions with the BSM and other Bristol Driving Schools

We always have a special place in our coverage for driving schools, as they have to teach beginners the hard art of driving and parking in a city which, excluding Clifton, is anti-car.

Here, up in Filton. Evolution WM10YHO show that the way to park is up on the pavement.

In front of it, a shared space. This eliminates the pavement entirely, and makes for some fun high-speed chicanes.

Speaking of driving schools, our ongoing discussion with one has had a new comment. The instructor does provide some good insight into what it's like driving a bus in the city, so those commenters slagging off FirstBus drivers should really save their anger for FirstBus management.

He also raises the issue of which laws should be ignored first:

I completely agree with people should not park on double yellow lines or zig zags or to close to junction corners all of which cause a danger to other road users but I do not count parking 2 wheels on the pavement in a very narror street that was never meant for parked cars in the first place as the same level of offence.

We don't bother with making decisions about which action is more defensible than others. We ignore them all, hence save time thinking about which action is more right than others.

We also note that we haven't seen that particular driving school in our database. The driving school that most pops is the British School of Motoring. The BSM may have more market share, but they are to be commended for something else: they are the only driving school that we have documented teaching people how to park in Montpelier. The other schools, they pick you up, then take you somewhere safe to learn to drive. The BSM actually hold their lessons in Montpelier.

In-town, in Richmond Road, Montpelier, we have a heartwarming sight. No, not the cyclist going up the hill with the Sainsbury's bag on the handlebars -it's the BSM instruction car WV60WJF.

We don't think driving and parking in Monty has its own test yet, so we're assuming it's a lesson. As Richmond Road is one of the hardest to drive and park on, we congratulate the BSM for showing their pupils the way forward -or at least the way up on the pavement without damaging your wheels, hitting the wall or paying the wingmirror tax on the way up the road.

So far, nobody from the BSM has got in touch with us. However, we are pleased to have video coverage of a discussion between some under-employed tax-dodger and the BSM car WR60CUY, which can be seen driving into the ASL on the red light: the bicycle doesn't get their green light until Shaldon Road is on red, so the car has had five seconds of red before it comes to a halt.

When queried about what the driver thinks the penalty for driving into an ASL is, the driving instructor comes back with the correct answer: anyone who cares about such things doesn't have a life. We actually think this summarises the entire country's cycling activist groups: they only do it because they don't have real lives.

Congratulations to the BSM for putting this tax dodger in their place!

Friday Afternoon Quiz

A typical scene in Stokes Croft. Click to enlarge.

What might be wrong?

Waste

Advance Stop Lanes, or ASLs, are a waste of space.

They are a sop to cyclists, who, we read, are an articulate and vociferous minority.

To the general motoring public, however, they are a waste of good road space. They increase the length of our traffic jams, and contribute substantially to our waiting times at traffic lights. They lessen the length of our 'platoons' that can get through on a green, yellow or red light. They are rubbish.

Which is why we're heartened to see that the two major providers of rubbish disposal in our great city are fiercely competing to get rid of this wasted space.

SITA have the inside, VIRIDOR have the outside. Between them they have the wasted space covered.

And look, not a tax-doging cyclist in sight.

So much for re-cycling.

Safe passing

A lot of people on their bicycles complain about being passed badly by cars. Yet in Bristol, many of us, even though we are important -and show it by driving big cars- still pass our fellow citizens safely, even when they are poor and can only afford bicycles. Here is an example on Lower Maudlin Street, heading towards the BRI. This is one-way, with a contraflow for tax-dodgers heading downhill.



As you can see the Important Pickup moves safely into the contraflow to pass the bicycle, and then cuts left, so giving the bicycle room to share the ASL with them.

Isn't that generous?

Bad timing

The van BK58CNV chose a bad day to park on the double yellow lines on the ASL on Bath Buildings, hence the ticket on the windscreen.

The road was closed while a 30T load got delivered by HGV, and PCSOs were manning the junctions to make sure nobody tried to turn into the road. With the police by the van for a number of hours, eventually one of them was bound to notice it and ticket it.

Unlucky!

Dighton Street: An update

We are busy watching the Walthamization of Dighton Street -all is going well, at least according to this video.



this time not only is another car parked outside Pizza Go-Go in the bike lane, showing how bike lanes benefit takeaways by providing somewhere to park, we see the minicab AE04NDG, taxi #2525, taking full advantage of those cycling facilities.

First, it's stopped part on the pavement, part on the road -but note how no wheel is actually in the bike lane. Then it pulls out -no need to indicate, it's a quiet day, and drives forward, where an ASL provides somewhere for the vehicle to wait for the light to change.

Such use of the cycling facilities of this part of the city ensures that the residents of Bristol do get some use of them. Note how our tax dodging cycle camera person (sorry!) opted to use none of them on this part of the journey. If they aren't going to use such features, well, we motorists may as well!

Firstbus update

Muller Road is now even less of a destination. The bus terminus there is closed.

This is good for us motorists, as it means less pedestrians trying to cross this important road.

Apparently it also means there will "temporarily" be less buses in the timetable. This will obviously benefit us drivers across the entire city. But who else wins?

Well, we can't see any of the cyclists mourning less firstbus buses driving into ASLs on red lights, such as here on Stokes Croft, even if the bus S721AFB here is a 'green' chip-fat bus. Presumably it pulls in at Slix or Rita's to fill up.

What about the pedestrians, will they suffer?

Judging by the way this FirstBus bus WX59BZF drove over the ASL and into the pedestrian crossing area on a red light -and not a recent one, as traffic from Ashley Road had the green light- they'll be safer too.

Assuming the cut-back buses are the low-profit bits of the schedule, we don't imagine FirstGroup will be in a rush to replace the drivers -they like their margins.

(update reposted images. thank you bsk!)

Training for errant cyclists

We hear a rumour. We hear that the council will soon be offering errant cyclists caught cycling on the pavement a choice between the on the spot fine, or some training courses to get rid of their fear of cycling on the road.

We are against this, because (a) everyone should be fined for riding a bicycle, regardless of where it is, and (b) we don't want anything to encourage more cyclists on the road. That's why we drive the way we do, cut them up closely, drive right behind them to intimidate them. Anything else would encourage more of them out there.

We are also worried that if the police/PCSOs start hanging round junctions, like the Cheltenham Road/Bath Buildings junction, they might look at other issues, such as this tax SF51LDU driving into the ASL on a red light.

We do not to be penalised for doing things like that, and if the police start waiting to spot troublemakers, we might be the victims.

Neither we, nor city taxi 623, want that.

Now, some people may just dismiss this as an idle threat, but we've read the real press release, rather than just the EP coverage, which has the bad news

If the scheme is deemed to be successful it will also be rolled out to include motorists who drive or stop in cycle zones (eg parking in cycle lanes or purposely stopping into advanced cycle lanes).
Life Cycle UK will be designing a cycle awareness course for motorists. Again they will have the chance to attend rather than pay the fine.

Scary.  Punishing innocent taxi drivers like SF51LDU by making them sit through some presentation about why cyclists matter, or pay the fine. We'd go for the fine, ourselves.

Bristol ASL Chic

With summer, the women in their summer dresses come out, in the bike paths, bike lanes and the Advanced Stop Lanes, which you are only meant to enter on a red light if you are a bicycle.

Trouble is, here on Bath Buildings, that bike-only ASL is exactly the size for a vehicle. So of course you drive in, the better to see what is going on on Cheltenham Road. And so the people on Cheltenham Road can see you.

Here on this weekday evening, the driver and passenger of H163TEP have not only driven into the ASL on the red light to enjoy the summer, they've driven past it, to participate in the Cheltenham Road "scene" even better. It also helps discourage cyclists from trying to get past, who will only hold you up when the lights turn.

Business as Usual in Stokes Croft

Summer arrived in Bristol on Saturday.

Which meant that the first ever Stokes Croft Street Festival went well, if you like that sort of thing. We prefer driving down to Cabot Circus for a bit of shopping, of course.

This was not your ordinary festival, though, as it was done without closing roads. Which allowed us to drive up and down, checking out what the Great Unwashed get up to (and there were many of them, yuk...).

Here we see Turbo Island filled with street drinking revellers, or we would do if the 4x4 in the ASL hadn't stopped in the view.

In fact, ASLs seemed a very popular as a viewing area for the "festivities", as RF55AMO demonstrates.

And here, WR57WZE, checking out the activities taking place in the Canteen in Hamilton House.

In fact, the ASLs proved so popular that they even attracted visitors from abroad, as Polish BMW KTT86LT demonstrates.

It wasn't all about stopping and looking, though. For instance, the driver of car L14OUT parked up on the pavement was there for the sound system near the TO LET shop. Outside "Feed The Children".

Which may be why, just opposite, the food outlets were still open for business, as GY53FGO parked on the double yellow lines in the cycle lane illustrates, whilst the driver nips into Slix for a quick burger and chips whilst ignoring the hand-made BBQ offering from the Canteen.

All in all, though, the festival took place without interfering with the traffic. Which we liked.

Unfortunately, the organisers needed one real intervention which was ad-hoc crowd control to limit pedestrian access to the Bear-Pit.

Here in North Street this was, in true PRSC creative fashion, done using a white van, KV07KJK, which doubled as a delivery vehicle for the Blue Mountain Club. Outrageous!

Anarchists, all of them, apparently.

Based on our observations, we'd recommend our readers to avoid Stokes Croft until they stop having these sorts of festivals (unless Tesco manage to open a store there, of course).

ASL: Advanced Sprint Lane

A lot of the cyclists think the red bit behind the lights, the ASL, is for them -the Advanced Stop Lane. They are misguided. If bicycles could get there, they would end up in the way of vehicles in a hurry. No the ASL, the Advanced Sprint Lane is either for vehicles stuck when the lights changed, or for anyone in a hurry, be they car, motorbike or bus. It is safer for cyclists to stay behind these vehicles, or get off the roads entirely.

Here in Gloucester Road, the VW Golf KE51UWM has pulled into the ASL, ready to sprint forward the moments the lights change. Sadly, there was an equally agressive car coming up from the arches, so the whole goal of the operation -turn right onto Zetland Road without waiting- was not met.

To pull these tricks off, you need a car with good acceleration, and you need good traction. That means either 4 wheel drive, or two wheels and wide tyres in good condition -and a good road surface.

This is why the council-funded Sita street cleaning vehicle GN07UZA has pulled into the Stokes Croft ASL on a red light.

By cleaning the road here they can keep it clear for cars in a hurry. They will also sweep up bits of broken glass, which should stop the cyclists complaining.

Wessex Connect

One of the reasons we are in favour of the Zetland road anti-bicycle facility is that it will discourage bicycles from using the A38 to and from town.

Yes, there may be a bike lane and bus lane most of whole way, but that just creates bus/bike conflict, as well as bike/parked car conflict.

Here on Stokes Croft, for example, this Wessex Connect Bus T875HGT has been forced to drive into the bike ASL and park here while the light is red. If bikes were encouraged to cycle here the inter-vehicle conflict could not only be dangerous, it could impact bus schedules.

A time of celebration

The nice thing about Xmas is that with less people about, you can celebrate empty streets and a chance to park in ASLs unimpeded.

Here in the city centre, tainted by the council's plans to put in a Bus Rapid Transit halt. Soon, the anti-car city will stop us being able to drive into these ASLs on red lights, by banning cars entirely.  Y874KHT have a right to be happy, a right to be proud: they are standing up to this oppression!

Nearby, at Stokes Croft, you can get your whole landrover into the ASL unimpeded. Some people may whine at this, but note how N805YND is stopped for the red light.

A bigger issue with both these vehicles is that they are eligible for replacement under the cash-for-old-cars scheme, yet they are still on the road? Do these people have no concern about the economic plight of car-importers?

Half-man Half-car

Just moments after recording the appalling Jay Walking incident in Bristol's famous Gloucester Road, our roaming reporter managed to snap this incredible photo of a new mode of transport.

Our team of investigative journalists tell us this vehicle was developed in secret by the CIA in collaboration with Firstbus, and that this is the new hybrid "Manvan" (tm). We're not so sure.

However, this radical new vehicle (part human, part cabriolet, part something else) could be the solution to all our urban traffic problems and the ultimate transport salvation of inner city Bristol.

Half Man, Half Car. Genius.

Early adopters 'Trade Link Retail Services" are seen here testing the concept on an ASL on Gloucester Road, probably because the vehicle is, at this early stage of development, apparently only pedal-powered (for legal reasons).

But... a wider roll-out is expected next year following further testing of the prototypes.

If the extensive trials currently taking place on Bristol's red tarmac prove successful a motorised version of this van, and even cars, buses and lorries, may then become upgrade options.

Can't wait.

Jay Walking

I really have had enough.

It's not just the cyclists on the pavement, now it's the pedestrians in the road!

Look at this clown: apparently unable to use the proper crossing, he's also on a mobile phone whilst using the road (that's illegal isn't it?).

ASLs -make cyclists use them

This is the Stokes Croft/Ashley Road junction, one where someone heading in the opposite direction went under a lorry, one of our correspondents heading north had a bit of an encounter with a driver apparently working for A&M Motors. Here, though, it's a peaceful evening.

Can anyone see what's wrong with this picture?

That's right. The cyclist on the left of the shot has cycled past the stop line on the ASL. This means that the FirstBus #73 bus will not be able to pull away from the lights first, and will instead get behind a slow moving bicycle.

As this road is a showcase bus route, it is important to FirstBus that buses get priority over not just cars, but bicycles too. With heavy outbound traffic, only the bus lane will be free for the bus, and if the bicycles get in the way they will force the bus down to their speeds.

If the bicycles respected the bicycle zone of the ASL, they would be waiting behind the bus, but in front of the cars. This would give them a safe zone while not slowing down bus traffic.

The Incredible Vanishing Cycle Lane

York Road heading into Bedminster on my morning commute. Nice to see several weeks of roadworks are coming to an end with the road being widened. But hang on a minute - where's the cycle lane which should be where the plastic fencing is?. Have the workmen forgotten to put it back or will it be reinstated?. The double yellow lines are back. Technically, the Advance Stop Line should have a feeder lane so that you can ride into it. This is very inconvenient. How are motorcyclists supposed to get into the ASL without a feeder lane?. Honestly- it's bad enough for them when those pesky cyclists occupy the box. Now they'll have to ride all the way down the right hand side of the traffic jam and barge into the box, scattering those no-good, liberal, non-polluting tree hugging lazy hippy cyclists.

Shaldon Road Advanced Suicide Lane

This is Shaldon Road. Behind the camera is a path leading to the Farm Pub Path -Shaldon Road is the main route from that path to Lockleaze and hence UWE. As and when the "new" North Fringe route gets rolled out there will be one less steep, but it will still suffer from the problem of getting over Muller Road, of which this is one of the junctions.

What is that bus in? That's right, an Advanced Stop Lane.

Now, some people, and Crap Cycling & Walking in Waltham Forest spring to mind, would fault this bus for endangering cyclists. We do not. Not just because we view cyclists as tax-dodging troublemakers, but we don't think bicycles should be using this ASL on safety grounds. Remember, the primary route on this road for a bike is straight on, towards Ashley Down, Horfield, St Andrews and St Werburghs. No cyclist planning of surviving their commute back from UWE should use the bike stop lane. They should hang back.

Here is a video showing why, taken from the other direction.

Note how buses turning left swing round to completely scrape clear the ASL of bicycles? And while someone could try sticking to the far right of it, vehicles turning from Muller Road into Shaldon Road will get them there.

Once upon a time, this ASL was actually wider, yet its right hand side was removed to eliminate the illusion that this was a safe place to loiter. It would seem to us that painting out the rest of the ASL would benefit everyone.

Bristol ASL Chic 2

Not sure if this counts, but snapped today on the trusty iPhone...

RF58GNZ was definitely being piloted by a small blond woman...

Probably not Sandy Toksvig.

Definition of Danish? A bit like a Dan.