"Encouraging more people to get on their bike, whether pedal or powered"

In my opinion, this is a very insightful position by London Mayor Boris Johnson.

“One of the ways we can ease congestion is by encouraging more people to get on their bike, whether pedal or powered, and I believe they should be able to share our bus lanes successfully and safely. At the end of the trial period I will listen carefully to the views of all our road users and then make a decision about whether this should be a permanent arrangement.”

Source: Date set for London bus lane access

Motorbikes Rule Jungle Town

Very interesting article from Brazil. What if these were all fuel efficient motorcycles or scooters, maybe even electric motorbikes - please remind me why we all need to drive cars in the US?

This article also makes a good argument for using motorcycles as a form of economic development as they are considerably more affordable than automobiles. "The ease of acquiring a motorbike has helped fuel the growth of the city, which has doubled in population in the past 20 years, surging past neighboring Leticia, which has about 35,000 residents and about 10,000 motorbikes. "

That Roar in the Jungle Is 15,000 Motorbikes
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
TABATINGA, Brazil — This sweltering Amazon outpost is a border town on the move — on two motorized wheels, that is.
During the afternoon rush hour, Tabatinga’s main avenue is a sea of scooters and motorcycles. Whole families pile onto a single scooter, even families of five: husband, wife and three children. Mothers breastfeed infants while fathers navigate a road nearly uncluttered by traffic signals.
With more than 15,000 motorbikes and only 47,000 people, Tabatinga resembles a small version of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, another chaotic place where cars take a distant back seat as the preferred mode of transportation.

For rest of article see link: nytimes

Bicycle Infrastructure = More Bicyclists

Imagine that, safe bicycle infrastructure brings more bicycle commuters! This same logic would prove successful for scooters and motorcycles. With evidence mounting, you would think that DOTs across the country would take a serious look at EMLs?

See article from NY Times: Commuter Cycling is Soaring, City Says.

Why motorbikes and vehicles have nothing in common

This article (Why motorbikes and vehicles have nothing in common) makes some great points. Especially the argument that motorcycles are not cheaper than cars when you factor in the cost of the funeral and cremation. The article also makes the obvious statement that both cars and motorcycles are viable forms of transport. However, that motorcycles are only treated as a hobby form of transport - at least in Britain and other Western, developed countries.

Why are motorcycles only a "hobby form of transport"? My answer is because they do not have safe infrastructure to travel on.

"If you build it, they will use it..."

This article from Portland shows that, with regards to bike lanes, " if you build it, they will use it..." I bet that this same logic would apply to EMLs.

.......Remarkably, the results showed that although only 8 percent of city streets are equipped with any kind of bike infrastructure, 51 percent of trips were taken on them. To Dill, this means that most riders are seeking out such routes, even if they are not the shortest. “People are going out of their way to use bike infrastructure,” Dill said. Roger Geller, the city’s bicycle coordinator with the Portland Office of Transportation, is excited by Dill’s findings. “Basically it confirms the story we have been telling — if you build it, they will use it,” he said.

http://www.portlandtribune.com/sustainable/print_story.php?story_id=122402296838932000

Exclusive Motorcycle Lane in Vietnam

Here is a picture of an EML from Vietnam that shows scooters, bikes and small motorcycles adjacent to a highway with cars and trucks. EMLs are found primarily in Asian countries where large numbers of motorcycle riders already exist. However, as gas prices rise and road congestion worsens, the benifits of commuting via motorcycle/scooter/bike are being realized throughout the rest of the world.

The following link from the The International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) shows costs and benefits of EMLs, including a 40% crash reduction: http://www.irap.net/toolkit/default.asp?p=treatment&i=86.

As gas prices rise, so do 2-wheeler deaths.

As gas prices continue to rise, more and more people across the country are turning to motorcycles, scooters, and bikes as a form of transportation. Unfortunately, this trend has also led to a dramatic increase in 2-wheeler deaths. In my home state of North Carolina, motorcycle fatalities have tripled in a decade - it seems like every time I open up a newspaper there is a new story of someone being killed on a motorcycle or bike.

If motorcycles, scooters, and bikes had their own, exclusive lanes, most if not all of these deaths could have been avoided. In my opinion, the best way to curb this disturbing trend is by bulding a network of EMLs. No matter how careful of a rider you are, you can not prevent what would only be a minor fender bender accident between two vehicles from turning into a fatality if one of those vehicles is a motorcycle, scooter, or bike.

USE OF MOTORCYCLE LANES IN MALAYSIA

A preliminary analysis of EMLs along the federal highway F02, Shah Alam, Malaysia from the Overseas Centre Transport Research Laboratory Crowthorne Berkshire United Kingdom shows that EMLs dramatically improve motorcycle safety.

It is my premise that if EML commuter routes were provided in the US, the number of motorcycle, scooter, and commuting bicyclists would significantly increase due to the increased safety of these modes. Vespanomics has also commissioned similar studies that show the positive impact that a mode shift to scooters would have on the environment and congestion.

With $4/gallon gas on the horizon, shouldn't we be considering EMLs?