The cost of green paint

Horrid said :

Assuming that Liberal policy in opposition will be implemented if they ever form government, green cycle lanes and maybe other safety features will disappear. Cyclists have been reminded(again)that voting Liberal is voting for their own death.

WTF?!

Anyway.. I like to ride too but why do we have to ride on the road?!

I’d rather have a dedicated bike path, some distance from the danger and pollution of the road – and it appears that laying down the path itself could be cheaper than painting on the road (and without consuming lane space, which makes it more dangerous for cars in ever more narrow lanes)

Maybe looking at alternative solutions wouldn’t be such as bad idea..

Horrid said :

Coe …has placed himself in a position where he is perceived to have nothing positive to contribute, and where his only remaining strategy is to conduct a Howard-like minority targeted campaign of hatred against cyclists, hoping that it meets approval with the most bigoted and ignorant elements of the electorate. Meanwhile as he focuses on his narrow search for mere thousands of dollars allegedly wasted on cyclists, millions of dollars of genuine waste goes unchecked.

Assuming that Liberal policy in opposition will be implemented if they ever form government, green cycle lanes and maybe other safety features will disappear. Cyclists have been reminded(again)that voting Liberal is voting for their own death.

What a load of hysterical nonsense. Just because people are not cyclo like you doesn’t make them cyclist haters.

Horrid said :

Assuming that Liberal policy in opposition will be implemented if they ever form government, green cycle lanes and maybe other safety features will disappear. Cyclists have been reminded(again)that voting Liberal is voting for their own death.

I certainly won’t be voting for Alistair in particular, even if the rest of the liberal party’s policies at the next election make me decide to vote for the rest of them. The kid doesn’t know what he is talking about.

#18 Assuming that Liberal policy in opposition will be implemented if they ever form government, green cycle lanes and maybe other safety features will disappear. Cyclists have been reminded(again)that voting Liberal is voting for their own death.

Well said.

It is sad to see Coe go down this path of marginalising himself outside of mainstream debate. No-one wins, except for Labor and the Greens.

He has placed himself in a position where he is perceived to have nothing positive to contribute, and where his only remaining strategy is to conduct a Howard-like minority targeted campaign of hatred against cyclists, hoping that it meets approval with the most bigoted and ignorant elements of the electorate. Meanwhile as he focuses on his narrow search for mere thousands of dollars allegedly wasted on cyclists, millions of dollars of genuine waste goes unchecked.

Assuming that Liberal policy in opposition will be implemented if they ever form government, green cycle lanes and maybe other safety features will disappear. Cyclists have been reminded(again)that voting Liberal is voting for their own death.

johnboy said :

Two things: *snip*
2) We all die.

I’m talking about those that die prematurely, in this case in an accident that could have been averted. Of course if you’re talking about some guy pissed as a parrot at 2am on a Saturday trying to catch a taxi home in the pissing rain but decides instead to ride his bike home and gets hit, well… that’s a separate RiotACT stat. 😉 jb=0, car=1.

Skidbladnir said :

If you’re using an ‘average’ value for contributions to economic value and applying it to the whole population, your modelling is stuffed.

I get your point, but I’d call my figure a “ball-park” rather than stuffed. We can drop several zeros from my rough estimate, but that’s still comparable to the savings from dumping green paint.

Again, if it’s just green paint that is expensive and there are cheaper alternative, then by all means, which I hope is what the shadow minister Alistair Coe is getting at.

Nonetheless it seems pretty self-evident that overall productivity is higher when more of us are out working than recuperating in a hospital bed.

farq said :

johnboy said :

1) 90% of health funds are spent on the last six months of life.

Got a source for that stat johnboy?

Nothing I can link to but numerous health bureaucrats have confirmed it to me.

Well no, if you’re going to try and express policy in terms of “I haven’t done the hard calculations, but it seems like a nice idea and I’m getting a vibe that there will be savings somewhere, so will start advocating about how wonderful it will be now. Let the hamtouching freaks of RiotACT do the numbers and get back to me.”, your policy is in deep trouble when it comes to Estimates.

If you’re using an ‘average’ value for contributions to economic value and applying it to the whole population, your modelling is stuffed. Some people are more equal than others.
(ie: The Sultan of Brunei walks into a bar, and suddenly the average net worth of the patrons has increased by a few million dollars.)

johnboy said :

1) 90% of health funds are spent on the last six months of life.

Got a source for that stat johnboy?

Two things:

1) 90% of health funds are spent on the last six months of life.

2) We all die.

These so called cost saving numbers are a very dodgy basis for public policy.

Also the costs of injuries would be huge. In the paper on the weekend they quoted the cost of heart attacks at 200 thousand, for health treatment. I was amazed.

Snarky said :

Not commenting on practicality or efficacy, but impressed with the ingenuity and thought.

Ahh… yes… Ingenious. I’ll give you that, but not much more. 😉

Skidbladnir said :

So shouldn’t it be weighed up against actuarial-calculated risk reduction and associated decrease in CTP premiums, rather than ‘total expense of compensation’?

I’ll leave the complicated calculation to you… But I am willing to bet that one dead cyclist will nullify any cost benefit. Rought stat: GDP=$1trill, employed=10mill, single person avg. contrib. to GDP = $100,000, over their remaining working life (e.g. 20yrs) = $2mill.

Snarky said :

… and just to show that there are others out there thinking about the problem of cyclists, safety and cycle lanes have a squiz at this.

BYO cycle paths – whatever will they think of next.

Skidbladnir said :

Dammit, Watergate was not about water.
(Whatever)-gate is just lazy reporting.

and very funny.

why doesn’t tams use a green dyed material like rubber to create a permanent surface for these areas, similar to softfall used in children’s playgrounds? if it was concrete, it would be dangerous. paint possibly is dangerous as well, as it would create a smooth area that would be a nightmare for cyclists and drivers alike. Perhaps Tams should look at a far more durable surface that doesn’t flake or peel off and is able to handle cold and hot weather? if it costs $100 to repaint, wouldn’t there be better and cheaper solutions?

RE: burden on the economy due to vehicle-related injury, isn’t that the point of CTP?
Your greenslip:
Provides for compensation for people killed or injured in a motor vehicle accident. This includes pedestrians, passengers, cyclists, motorcyclists and drivers of other vehicles.

So shouldn’t it be weighed up against actuarial-calculated risk reduction and associated decrease in CTP premiums, rather than ‘total expense of compensation’?

… and just to show that there are others out there thinking about the problem of cyclists, safety and cycle lanes have a squiz at this. Not commenting on practicality or efficacy, but impressed with the ingenuity and thought.

Chip seal of course being the cheapest road surface to put down – how does it compare in cost to other, better road surfaces?
Where they re-seal the road in 5 years because chip-seal sucks, will they need to redo the “green paint”, or just do the car lanes as per usual?

How many square meters is needed for the average bike lane? 50 square meters? $5000 is a drop in the bucket for road works isn’t it?

I’d more be asking if they are effective in providing the safety they aim to produce. If it is, then I’d say $5000 is being spent well if it’s saving lives. (preview edit, beaten to my point already)

On a serious note…

I guess the question is whether these green painted cycling lane serves its purpose e.g. whether it saves lives of cyclists.

These green paints are a saviour, especially when located at a leadup to an intersection. Some motorists forget that there is a cycling lane and do not look in their side mirror for a cyclist, and the green paint that stands out is a good reminder. Of course, given that green paint is quite expensive, if there is a cheaper alternative with the same effect then it should be considered. But green paint shouldn’t just be disregarded because it is expensive, as a serious injury to cyclist, or even death, would be a much more burden on the Canberra economy (after the fact that it would be tragic to all involved).

Dammit, Watergate was not about water.
(Whatever)-gate is just lazy reporting.

Get Grech involved, then it will be…………..

Is it worthy of being a gate yet.

Paintgate….tamsgate… greengate ?