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Pop-up bike lanes show that demand exists

bicycletimesmag.com

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Re: Pop-up bike lanes show that demand exists

#51

Post by jblok »

London has been doing a great job lately at improving cycle infrastructure. There is a new concept of a "cycle superhighway" - sometimes that means a segregated bike path, like CS3 that goes from The Tower Of London, straight through to Westminster, sometimes it is paint on the ground. However it is much clearer to motorists as they paint the entire line bright blue.

What I've noticed too is you get increasing returns the more you build. Given a scenario where a chosen route is covered 50% by acceptable infrastructure, it makes you think if it's worth taking a bike. Improve some strategic junctions and roads, and the coverage of acceptable infrastructure may increase to 90%, at which point it's a no brainer taking the bike.

Re: Pop-up bike lanes show that demand exists

#52

Post by Tommyixi »

coldpie wrote: post #48
Tommyixi wrote: post #45

I'm a biker in Boston; I cycle 5 miles to work and 5 miles home on a daily basis. I think the city is doing an amazing job with what they are given but so many of the roads are just too narrow for dedicated bike lanes. Most streets have "sharrows" which is great but honestly what it comes down to is a lack of understanding on how to share the road. I'm constantly honked and shouted at for commanding full use of the d…

It is pretty frustrating to be forced to go 10 MPH on a 30 MPH road. The roads also aren't designed for traffic to go 20 MPH slower than it ought to be, traffic starts to build up, causing more delays and frustration. I think we should be more accommodating of bikers, but asking them to share the road and be treated the same as cars is not the answer.

I mean, if we're talking about Boston then the roads weren't originally designed for cars either: they were created for horse drawn carriages. http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dcr/pe/historic-parkways/4d72bd...

They have been engineered to accommodate cars, so now they're undergoing a renovation for bikes.

Re: Pop-up bike lanes show that demand exists

#53

Post by jnty »

usrusr wrote: post #23
awjr wrote: post #7

The arguments for segregated cycle tracks (physical barriers) rather than cycle lanes (paint) can be answered by one question: "Would you let your child cycle here?" https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jun/15/urban-planner... However the argument against cycle tracks focuses on resident car parking and becomes extremely political. So a key part of developing a good end to end cycle network, given that a network i…

Please don't design cycle infrastructure for children. Bikes can be toys, but they can also be so much more. Designing for children locks bikes into the toy-role. Do I have to arm myself with a car to be treated like an adult?

Do you object to using sidewalks which are also suitable for children to walk on?

Re: Pop-up bike lanes show that demand exists

#54

Post by coldpie »

Tommyixi wrote: post #52
coldpie wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is pretty frustrating to be forced to go 10 MPH on a 30 MPH road. The roads also aren't designed for traffic to go 20 MPH slower than it ought to be, traffic starts to build up, causing more delays and frustration. I think we should be more accommodating of bikers, but asking them to share the road and be treated the same as cars is not the answer.

I mean, if we're talking about Boston then the roads weren't originally designed for cars either: they were created for horse drawn carriages. http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dcr/pe/historic-parkways/4d72bd... They have been engineered to accommodate cars, so now they're undergoing a renovation for bikes.

> so now they're undergoing a renovation for bikes.

Good! Renovate them to accommodate bikes. That's great, do more of that. But "sharing the road" is a terrible solution, which leads to the honks and dangerous situations the OP described. Neither the biker nor the drivers in the OP's post are in the wrong. It's just a really terrible situation that really should not happen.

Re: Pop-up bike lanes show that demand exists

#55

Post by Jacqued »

coldpie wrote: post #54
Tommyixi wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, if we're talking about Boston then the roads weren't originally designed for cars either: they were created for horse drawn carriages. http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dcr/pe/historic-parkways/4d72bd... They have been engineered to accommodate cars, so now they're undergoing a renovation for bikes.

> so now they're undergoing a renovation for bikes. Good! Renovate them to accommodate bikes. That's great, do more of that. But "sharing the road" is a terrible solution, which leads to the honks and dangerous situations the OP described. Neither the biker nor the drivers in the OP's post are in the wrong. It's just a really terrible situation that really should not happen.

Wait, you mean drivers deliberately hitting a biker with their car are not in the wrong?

Re: Pop-up bike lanes show that demand exists

#56

Post by justinph »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #11

Easily the biggest problem in the US with biking is that the infrastructure is, nearly without exception, absolutely atrocious. Nobody would accept having only 'painted walk lanes' on busy streets to get around, much less having them appear and disappear from the road seemingly at random, and yet that's the default state of bike lanes in nearly all US cities. If biking had as much infrastructure as even walking -- me…

Minneapolis, MN is one of the exceptions. The city has invested in good bike lanes and as a result, people do bike in big numbers. Some folks bike year round, even when the temperature is well below freezing.

The city benefited greatly from some disused rail right-of-ways and turned them into completely separated bike highways. Many of the on-street bikeways that have been set up use plastic divider posts to signal to drivers separation. It's much cheaper than building grade-seperated lanes, but gives a real sense of protection to the bikers.

Re: Pop-up bike lanes show that demand exists

#57

Post by throwaway2016a »

Ironically (perhaps?) I think in the US the cities are often doing a good job but suburbs are awful.

At least where I live, I can bike in my own neighborhood but to get from my neighborhood to the commercial districts where the actual jobs are I need to essentially go on a highway and share the road with 40 MPH cars.

When neighborhoods are spread out it makes biking hard. Where I am at least, neighborhoods tend to be connected to main (high speed) roads like Christmas lights. Thing is they aren't even far away... work to my house is 5 miles. An easy bike ride. Except part of that ride is a highway that I'd need a death wish to bike on and there are no back roads.

Re: Pop-up bike lanes show that demand exists

#58

Post by fps »

coldpie wrote: post #48
Tommyixi wrote: post #45

I'm a biker in Boston; I cycle 5 miles to work and 5 miles home on a daily basis. I think the city is doing an amazing job with what they are given but so many of the roads are just too narrow for dedicated bike lanes. Most streets have "sharrows" which is great but honestly what it comes down to is a lack of understanding on how to share the road. I'm constantly honked and shouted at for commanding full use of the d…

It is pretty frustrating to be forced to go 10 MPH on a 30 MPH road. The roads also aren't designed for traffic to go 20 MPH slower than it ought to be, traffic starts to build up, causing more delays and frustration. I think we should be more accommodating of bikers, but asking them to share the road and be treated the same as cars is not the answer.

In Boston city traffic, bikes move faster than cars. The city speed limit is 25 mph, and most narrow roads with sharrows the typical traffic speed is much lower.

Source: Bikes daily in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville on a bike share bike. Passes cars the entire way.

Re: Pop-up bike lanes show that demand exists

#59

Post by landhar »

coldpie wrote: post #54
Tommyixi wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, if we're talking about Boston then the roads weren't originally designed for cars either: they were created for horse drawn carriages. http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dcr/pe/historic-parkways/4d72bd... They have been engineered to accommodate cars, so now they're undergoing a renovation for bikes.

> so now they're undergoing a renovation for bikes. Good! Renovate them to accommodate bikes. That's great, do more of that. But "sharing the road" is a terrible solution, which leads to the honks and dangerous situations the OP described. Neither the biker nor the drivers in the OP's post are in the wrong. It's just a really terrible situation that really should not happen.

> Neither the biker nor the driver in the OP's post are in the wrong

In the OP's situation, the drivers that exhibit aggressive and dangerous behavior are clearly in the wrong. You could argue that their frustration is understandable, but their behavior is certainly wrong.

Re: Pop-up bike lanes show that demand exists

#60

Post by kingbirdy »

coldpie wrote: post #54
Tommyixi wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, if we're talking about Boston then the roads weren't originally designed for cars either: they were created for horse drawn carriages. http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dcr/pe/historic-parkways/4d72bd... They have been engineered to accommodate cars, so now they're undergoing a renovation for bikes.

> so now they're undergoing a renovation for bikes. Good! Renovate them to accommodate bikes. That's great, do more of that. But "sharing the road" is a terrible solution, which leads to the honks and dangerous situations the OP described. Neither the biker nor the drivers in the OP's post are in the wrong. It's just a really terrible situation that really should not happen.

Honking and running your car in to someone because you're mad at them for legally using the road is hardly in the right
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