"Frankenbike" just in time for Halloween...
October 30, 2015 3:31 PM Subscribe
Smithsonian Magazine has an article about a "Datacycle" (nicknamed "Frankenbike") created by a "tinkerer" and climate scientist that is being used by the Seattle Transportation Department and its consultants Alta Planning + Design to update their Bicycle Master Plan. Includes a fun video of the bike on local trails.
The video in the article is an oddly, if pleasingly, comprehensive list of the city's bike trails. Was only half-watching and had to skip back when I saw the Melrose connector pop up. It's only a few hundred feet long, but part of such a useful route off Capitol Hill that I end up using it every day.
You spend enough years biking around Seattle and it becomes clear we're so damn close to tying together a really useful bike infrastructure. It's maddening that connecting all these amazing trails with safe cycling routes is taking so long.
The bike's very neat. I keep hoping I'll catch sight of it one day, but given the size of the city that's a bit like hoping to spot a unicorn.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 4:47 PM on October 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
You spend enough years biking around Seattle and it becomes clear we're so damn close to tying together a really useful bike infrastructure. It's maddening that connecting all these amazing trails with safe cycling routes is taking so long.
The bike's very neat. I keep hoping I'll catch sight of it one day, but given the size of the city that's a bit like hoping to spot a unicorn.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 4:47 PM on October 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
It is long due to actually get real street data rather than just say "oh, it will take you about x amount of time to get there."
On a side note, I didn't see any actual "trails" in the video. Maybe I'm just old but in my opinion, a trail can never be paved.
posted by Muncle at 5:49 PM on October 30, 2015
On a side note, I didn't see any actual "trails" in the video. Maybe I'm just old but in my opinion, a trail can never be paved.
posted by Muncle at 5:49 PM on October 30, 2015
Citylab has further details.
(“Frankenbike” is the term that’s become locally popular; Dietrich says he prefers “DataCycle” because Frankenstein’s monster “killed its creator.”)posted by zamboni at 9:30 PM on October 30, 2015
They should split the difference and call it "Databike", as in people seeing it and saying, "is dat a bike?"
I'll show myself out
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:01 PM on October 30, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'll show myself out
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:01 PM on October 30, 2015 [3 favorites]
Great to learn about stuff like this. I just started commuting by bike this year, and while I'm lucky that my path to work is half along the Burke-Gilman, the other half is a choice of bike lane with drivers paying half attention on Dexter or a crapshoot of a trail/parking lot on Westlake. Not to complain. Just realizing I have a lot to learn. Thanks for the links, everyone!
posted by mboszko at 12:22 AM on October 31, 2015
posted by mboszko at 12:22 AM on October 31, 2015
Coming from Chicago those paths look like an absolute dream already. Our 'bike lanes' often look like the moon after a bombing campaign and half of the 'protected bike lanes' have cars or trucks parked in them. We have a few new trails but they aren't connected to anything. All of which means smart people leave.
posted by mike_bling at 9:17 AM on November 2, 2015
posted by mike_bling at 9:17 AM on November 2, 2015
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