Bicycles

Interdyscyplinarna studencko-doktorancka konferencja naukowa: Roweratura. Rzecz o rowerze w literaturze i kulturze

Na warsztat, a nie jak zazwyczaj – do warsztatu, bierzemy pojazd zupełnie (nie)zwykły – rower. Proponujemy wieloaspektowy oraz interdyscyplinarny namysł nad machiną istniejącą w zasadzie od niedawna, funkcjonującą jednak na wiele sposobów, w kilku formach i w niemałej ilości przestrzeni znaczących/interpretacyjnych.

"The bicycle is the noblest invention of mankind (…). Who say so? I say so" – William Saroyan, pisarz i rowerzysta obłędny. I tym mocnym słowem, stanowczym i prawdziwym gestem chcemy rozpocząć. Choć, rzecz jasna, jednego początku tu nie ma; trudno o niego, gdy sprawa zasadza się na kole, więcej – na dwóch co najmniej kołach. Dlatego zależy nam na odczytywaniu – wielokrotnym, dynamicznym – przede wszystkim literackich i kulturowych kontekstów roweru.

Data konferencji nie jest przypadkowa. 19 kwietnia to tzw. Bicycle Day, święto powstałe na pamiątkę pewnego specjalnego, ekstremalnego wydarzenia. Otóż 19 kwietnia 1943 roku dr Albert Hofmann pierwszy raz przyjął LSD i postanowił wtedy zbadać się na rowerze. Jazda – dziwaczna, szaleńcza, niezwykła – to pole do badań, więcej – do autoanalizy. Taki więc chcemy mieć ten Bicycle Day: uwikłany w różnorakie i nieoczywiste konteksty, jakie przywozi ze sobą skądinąd rower.

Poruszać będziemy się świadomie, choć nierzadko w szybkim pędzie (intelektualnym). Będziemy pytać, po wielokroć. A czy rower, ten niewiele ważący pojazd, może być emblematem współczesnej kultury? Czy będzie symbolem grup wykluczonych czy jedynie znakiem kultury alternatywnej? Pytać też chcemy, gdzie jest miejsce roweru w kulturze i literaturze: na poboczu czy w mainstreamie, może gdzieś pomiędzy? Gdzie i którędy wjeżdżał i wjeżdżać będzie rower, jeśli pozwolimy sobie stwierdzić, że wjedzie na salony współczesnych dyskursów? I jeśli tak, to którymi drzwiami?

Rzecz jasna, rower to nie monolit. Co zatem wyjdzie, gdy rozłożymy rower na części? Dłonie jakiej istoty umażą się w smarze, pielęgnacja jaka okaże się prze-trwaniem? W rowerze – by wyabstrahować niektóre części – mamy dwa pedały, niezłe szprychy, jest oczywiście i rama (modalna) – ta, która tworzy oś roweru.

Opieka naukowa:
prof. dr hab. Przemysław Czapliński
prof. UAM dr hab. Katarzyna Kuczyńska-Koschany

Organizatorki konferencji:
Katarzyna Kończal (Zakład Antropologii Literatury, WFPiK UAM)
Zuzanna Kołupajło (Genderowe Koło Literaturoznawcze, WFPiK UAM)

En Holanda hay más bicicletas que personas. La tercera parte de los viajes urbanos que se hacen todos los días se hacen en bicicleta, así que esa gran cantidad de bicis no están guardadas para ser utilizadas los domingos. Por eso, en este país el uso de la bicicleta no es asunto exclusivo de ciclistas profesionales o gente joven; niños, adultos mayores, oficinistas, estudiantes... todos usan la bicicleta a diario como su principal medio de transporte. Pero, ¿qué tienen de diferente Holanda y los holandeses para haberse convertido en el país más ciclista del mundo? ¿Es sólo un asunto de infraestructura para bicicletas o hay algo más?. Esta exposición retrata las diferentes transformaciones históricas, políticas y de infraestructura que se combinaron para que Holanda se convirtieran en un símbolo del uso cotidiano de la bicicleta a nivel mundial.

Our exhibition is called “Op de fiets” and it aims to portray the historical and cultural processes, policies, and infrastructure that transformed the Netherlands into a worldwide symbol of everyday cycling.
Although there is a long tradition of competitive and everyday cycling in Colombia, and we are improving our cycling policies.  / We hope that local visitors get inspired by Netherlands´s history and urban planning policies.
We have divided the exhibition in four sections. The first part shows the importance of cycling in Holland’s history, especially the citizen-led action and positive government reaction that transformed the country’s infrastructure.
The second part exhibits the main urban innovations . We focus on explaining how their public transport system works and the relevance of well-designed cycle lanes and clear traffic signals.
Third part relies on an infographic piece in order to explain how the referred transformations affect everyday life of Dutch citizens.
And, finally, the fourth one depicts the main types of bicycles and traffic signals used on a daily basis. At the end of the exhibition we take a quick look at the bicycle culture in Bogotá, and we ask our visitors to reflect on what can we learn about the Dutch bicycle culture, and what knowledge or practices can we share to improve the urban cycling experience around the world.

A mobilidade urbana é um tema complexo que abarca inúmeras variáveis que vão desde escolhas administrativas no que se refere aos investimentos em políticas públicas e infraestruturas, até o posicionamento da sociedade frente os novos desafios e quebras de paradigmas na utilização do carro e dos combustíveis fósseis. Seu principal problema encontra-se na rápida e desordenada urbanização que as cidades brasileiras apresentaram ao longo das décadas – sobretudo a partir de 1970 - no espraiamento e segregação socioespacial que aumentou ainda mais as distâncias e tempos de deslocamento entre trabalho e moradia (por exemplo), na escolha do veículo automotor individual como modal prioritário da vida urbana, entre tantos outros que trazem à tona a relevância em se discutir
essa questão. Dentro deste contexto, a bicicleta, além de ser o veículo mais utilizado do mundo, representa uma das soluções que as cidades têm buscado para o problema da circulação e do trânsito. Neste cenário, sua utilização como meio de transporte, pode ser  entendida como um ato político necessário ao debate sobre os modos de locomoção no
meio urbano, sobre a humanização e equidade dos espaços, sobre o papel que cada modal representa e a quem eles devem servir, é o que temos visto transparecer nas mudanças provocadas pela pandemia do novo coronavírus. O presente trabalho escolheu como objeto
de análise a mobilidade por bicicleta, no entanto, é preciso entender que esta discussão não deve ser feita senão no âmbito de integração entre os modais disponíveis em determinada localidade - neste caso, o município de Maringá-PR. Esta cidade nasceu sob a lógica da
colonização planejada do norte paranaense, que se deu inicialmente pela companhia inglesa Paraná Plantations Ltd e, desde sua concepção, as ações dos agentes produtores do espaço urbano estiveram presentes de modo muito intenso, especialmente na forma da especulação imobiliária impulsionada por ações do Estado. Em parte, esta característica de empreendimento imobiliário é o que implica a maneira como se desdobrou o planejamento urbano municipal em suas várias nuances, com o advento de leis, políticas públicas e
infraestruturas que vêm - não raramente - ao encontro de interesses privados. Apesar de ser uma “cidade moderna” e planejada, com grande potencial de integração e diversificação de modais, ainda segue a velha lógica do carro como meio de transporte primordial, sendo
pensada para este fim desde o primeiro esboço de plano de construção da cidade durante a década de 1940. Suas avenidas largas e arborizadas, com amplas faixas de circulação e  canteiro central com espaço suficiente para a implantação de ciclovias, receberam, antes de
qualquer outra medida, um sistema binário (composto de vias de mão única e sincronização semafórica chamada de “onda verde”), confirmando mais uma vez, a prioridade do modo privado de locomoção como centro dos investimentos públicos. Orgulhosa de ser uma
cidade cujas instituições públicas e privadas se debruçam sobre planos estratégicos numa projeção de décadas à frente, o Plano de Mobilidade, determinado pela Política Nacional de Mobilidade Urbana - PNMU, ainda está em fase inicial de discussão em Maringá, sendo que a primeira audiência pública aconteceu em dezembro de 2019 e ainda não é possível avaliar com exatidão os desdobramentos do mesmo. Assim, pode-se indagar sob qual perspectiva caminha este município: A quem a mobilidade urbana pretende atender na prática? Estariam as bicicletas dentro dos planos da cidade?

The purpose of this study was to explore barriers and facilitators to using CityCycle, a public bicycle share scheme in Brisbane, Australia. Focus groups were conducted with participants belonging to one of three categories. Group one consisted of infrequent and noncyclists (no bicycle riding over the past month), group two were regular bicycle riders (ridden a bicycle at least once in the past month) and group three was composed of CityCycle members. A thematic analytic method was used to analyse the data. Three main themes were found: Accessibility/spontaneity, safety and weather/topography. The lengthy sign-up process was thought to stifle the spontaneity typically thought to attract people to public bike share.
Mandatory helmet legislation was thought to reduce spontaneous use. Safety was a major concern for all groups and this included a perceived lack of suitable bicycle infrastructure, as well as regular riders describing a negative attitude of some car drivers. Interestingly, CityCycle riders unanimously perceived car driver attitudes to improve when on CityCycle bicycles relative to riding on personal bicycles. Conclusions: In order to increase the popularity of the CityCycle scheme, the results of this study suggest that a more accessible, spontaneous sign-up process is required, 24/7 opening hours, and greater incentives to sign up new members and casual users, as seeing people using CityCycle appears critical to further take up.

On the lines of the huge and varied efforts in the field of automation with respect to technology development and innovation of vehicles to make them run on electric power and moreover autonomously, this paper presents a research and innovation applied to a bicycle. A normal daily-use bicycle has been modified at low-cost such that it runs autonomously, while maintaining its original form i.e. the manual drive. Hence, a bicycle which could be normally driven by any human and with a press of switch could run autonomously according to the user's needs has been developed.

Traffic engineers rely on the calculation of saturation flow assuming homogeneous traffic conditions and stable Passenger Car Unit (PCU) conversion ratios. However, bicycles and e-scooters are more and more present on the road network and infrastructure requirements are changing. Furthermore, Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) have the potential to greatly increase road safety for heterogeneous traffic conditions and vehicle certification processes rely heavily on traffic simulation, necessitating further development of this field. This article presents a new methodology for the calculation of saturation flow and to better account for narrow vehicles (bicycles and e-scooters). The calculation method's core focus is to remain consistent with existing calculation methods, enable the transfer of information between various modelling scales and characterise traffic conditions for cyclists and e-scooters. The calculation makes use of a new vehicle unit, BiCycle Unit (BCU), equivalent to the Passenger Car Unit (PCU) metric, but with an added speed parameter, to account for the impact of speed differences. This research was undertaken as part of the OmniCAV project, part-funded by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles and is part of the preparation of a background traffic model for the Aimsun Next CAVs simulator. Aimsun Next already contains a method for outputting saturation flows using vehicle headway output file. This method was further developed using Aimsun Next's API to allow the vehicle's type to be output in addition to the vehicle headway. This allows the user to separately monitor the PCU and BCU in a model. The next research stage will require the identification of suitable sites to collect BCU saturation data and calibrate the fitting on parameters.