Cycle Tracks/Protected Bike Lanes: Safe?

[Christopher Castillo]

My city recently installed a protected bike lane (also known as a cycle track) next to a busy street, and I've been using it on my daily commute for about 8 months. Based on my experience with this cycle track, it seems to be generally unsafe for multiple reasons, where it's got to the point where I will not go over 15mph in the cycle track and am actively looking for alternate routes.

I've read a few articles about bicycle infrastructure vs. vehicular cycling and the general trend (with a few exceptions) is that vehicular cycling is safer because cars can see you, but is biased towards fit men who can ride aggressively. It's been said that advocsting vehicular cycling will not increase the commuter share above ~1% and is the reason why women and the elderly are not drawn to cycling. On the other hand, protected bike Lanes are physically separated from traffic by parked cars, a curb, or even large planters. It's said that protected bike lanes increase the share of bicycle users because it makes cyclists feel safer. However, some say they are more dangerous, mainly because the physical separation does not allow cars to see you, so when you get to an intersection, a car that wants to turn across the bike lane will not know you're coming, increasing the likelihood of collision.

The cycle track in my city has a number of problems. For one, it is a two lane cycle track next to a one way street. That is, bikes are going in two directions while cars are going in only one direction. This causes a problem because cars are only looking in the direction of oncoming cars when they are turning into the bike lane. There is an abundance of driveways between the road and local businesses, so cars are constantly crossing the bike lane. The fact that cars can not see you because of the physical separation and that cars only look in one direction creates a very unsafe environment. The intersections are also poorly designed, because while they added a bunch of bicycle traffic lights (with green and red little bikes in them), all they do is mimic the regular traffic lights, so cars are still turning across the bike lane at the same time bikes have the green light to go forward.

I've hit a car once because it turned in front of me at high speed and without warning. I was going about 20mph and couldn't stop in time. I had only minor injuries. I'm also constantly stopping on a dime because cars cut in front of me while turning into driveways. This caused an older man to fall and hit his head when he braked suddenly.

Is the cycle track in my city just poorly designed, or are protected bike lanes inherently more dangerous than riding on the road? I have no problem with vehicular cycling because I'm a fit young man riding an s-pedelec, but the pros of protected bike lanes really have merit if they can be designed safely. Bicycle infrastructure in European cities is the reason why 50% of cyclists there are women, as opposed to some dumb low number in the US.

 

[Camac]

Our bike lanes are on the road and you are separated from the cars/trucks by a 6 inch strip of white paint. In our cycling group we insist on everybody wearing hi-viz vests and plan our rides as much as possible on off-road paths.

 

[Dewey]

I have ridden on PBL's in DC and Arlington, VA, and while I agree that numerous driveways is a problem requiring a slower speed to cope with unexpected driver behavior I found physical separation cut down on the number of delivery trucks parking in the bike lane. I also agree separate signaling for cyclists at intersections only works if it is programmed to begin in advance of the cars to give you a fighting chance to get ahead, maybe that's something you can lobby to have changed?

 

[Over50]

Well, I'm beginning to think its just me and my riding style so I'm running these incidents past you folks for some honest feedback: in my last few commutes I've had more than my normal share of close calls. Few have been with vehicles and almost all have been with joggers, pedestrians, skateboarders and bicyclists. Most of these have been in our new protected bike lanes which is why I'm posting in this thread. One particularly close call was in my residential neighborhood with casual bikers. Perhaps e-bikes will not be allowed in our PBLs eventually but they haven't posted any signage yet and all of these incidents have been on my class 1 Haibike. Since the PBLs are new, and the area has heavier traffic and pedestrian usage, I've been keeping my speed at 15 mph or less.
1. at 6am a jogger suddenly decides to leave the sidewalk and jog in the bike lane - he never looks back to see if a bike is coming (and I was) - he has headphones and doesn't hear me yell - near collision - lock up situation
2. repeat of above at 6pm different jogger
3. young lady crossing against the light looking at her phone - I am approaching intersection with a green light and I keep thinking she is going to look up and yield - she doesn't and also doesn't hear my bell - I lock up and skid - near collision and scared the heck out of the young lady
4. 2 young ladies waiting for a bus standing in the bike lane - after rapid fire on my bell and a shout they panic and like squirrels can't figure out which way to move when they could have easily just stepped onto the sidewalk - partial skid and lock up
5. skateboarder using the PBL pylons for slalom - has headphones - he exits PBL back to me so I go to pass in the PBL while he is in the street - he suddenly reenters PBL - near collision
6. various wrong-way cyclists have caused me to slow and proceed with extreme caution but no serious close calls yet

So maybe better just to not use the PBLs? If I ride in traffic I fear pissing off the car drivers who will think I should be in the PBL. Is 15 mph too fast for a PBL in an urban area/downtown/university district? Should an e-bike regardless of class 1-3 just not be in a PBL?

Non-PBL incidents both this week:
1. Downtown at 6:15 am very little traffic at that hour. I move from right lane to left lane and stop at red light. Next intersection I need to turn left. An SUV pulls up behind and guy starts yelling "hey f...ing idiot get out of the road" etc. At next stop light, since he went around me on the right and then got stopped by a red light, I go up to his window and tap on it "so what's your problem" I say calmly when he rolls his window down. He's yelling about how I can't be in the left lane and I should be on the sidewalk. I tell him state law says I'm entitled to a lane. He continues insults, epithets, cursing and adds "I don't care about no law - get that bike off the road". Driving a luxury SUV Mercedes or BMW with out-of-state plates (NY) gentleman about my age. Ok to use a left lane when preparing for a left only turn? I do it all the time. This is the second person to road rage on me on a low speed street so maybe a bike in a left lane is a greater road rage trigger?

2. My residential street. I'm cruising home at dusk at 19 mph on the class 1 Haibike. I have flashing light, e-bike bright steady light, neon green shirt. Couple leisurely riding on comfort bikes go through stop sign. I did not have a stop sign. I lock up and skid, the woman almost falls off her bike, man starts yelling at me "dude WTF you're flying!...". I said "but you have the stop sign I don't" as I started up again and rode off. Is 19 mph too fast for a bike in a residential street where car speed limit is 25? Thinking about it after, I felt like I should have stopped and made friends (if possible) and just said "sorry but I expected that you would stop since you had the stop sign".

Are people just deceived into stepping out in front of a bike w/out thinking about speed just based on assumptions/past experience with regular bikes? I'd like to think that if I were a car coming at 19 mph they would have stopped for the stop sign. I have been passed by road bikes when I've been riding around 20 mph so 19 mph on an e-bike doesn't seem excessive to me - also given car speed limit was 25 for that section. Me?

 

[indianajo]

I've gotten road rage, foul language & drinks thrown at me when I moved to left lane to turn left. Signaled the move beforehand, nobody knows what hand signals mean anymore.
When in contact with pedestrians, I limit speed to about 10 mph. They are liable to do anything, especially on the new pedes/bike bridge over the Ohio. 5 years and under, 5 mph.
Most bikers run all stop signs and traffic signals. I've had bikers on the left almost hit me after I took off after a stop, taking turns after the car on the right. The bike club here is a serious offender. I've also had cars wait forever for me at 4 way stops because they expected me to run the sign. Not what it says in the state driver's manual.
I'd say people better get used to 20 mph bikes, the batteries are getting better all the time. We don't have the obnoxious blattttt noise of a scooter either, to warn people. Not that I would ride a gas scooter, I like having decent HF hearing in my sixties.
As for original topic, we don't have separated bike/pedestrian lane here except for the Big 4 bridge. Painted bike lanes are for parking trucks in and placing construction ahead signs. Hwy 62 has four 13' car lanes and a 30" berm, I got passed by a driver texting away about 6" away at 60 mph two weeks ago. That paint line is laughable protection. I had a bright green shirt on, no help.

 

[Sonoboy]

The experiences above mirror those of my own. I only have to go about 1/4 mile to reach a pedestrian/bike path that parallels the road, but it too, is crossing driveways and subdivision entrances, so you must constantly be on the lookout. I usually duck into closed subdivisions and cul-de-sacs to get my exercise milage in a relatively safe area. I think people are less likely to be viewing their cellphones on a twisty road; this may be a fault assumption. It has become clear to me that the bell that was standard on my bike is woefully inadequate. Most users of the multi-use path are wearing earphones. I now leave my headlight on all the time; milage be damned. The Stromer video that Court posted in the last day or so from Interbike shows an electronic horn on one of their models. I think it might need to be standard on all future bikes.

 

[vincent]

this is interesting reading

since i mainly ride for exercise and fun no matter where we are riding i always assume the car is going to pull in front of me or hit me
and that the pedestrians will walk in front of me etc

also my bikes are lit up like xmas trees and no one rides one without neon yellow or pink safety reflective vest, leg straps and bright colored helmets

although it will most likely be the cars fault i always ride like they are going to screw up
and crawl by pedestrians on the loop or any kind of walking/bike path

but riding like this if you are commuting etc would be a hassle
for me slowing way down to pass people walking is no big deal but if i had to get work sure things would be different

 

[Christopher Castillo]

Wow, a lot of similar experiences to what I've had, but I get nowhere near as many conflicts with pedestrians and other cyclists. Maybe it's your riding style, or maybe you just have more pedestrians who think the PBL is for them. When dealing with pedestrians, you really have to switch to a certain state of mind, because they could literally do anything. Some pedestrians will just freeze up if they see a bicycle coming towards them, and some will actually try to jump right in front of where you're going at the last minute. The problem is, that when we are approaching a pedestrian, we create a path to avoid them in our minds, but the pedestrian doesn't know about this path, so they will freeze up out of fear or jump in front of you at the last minute because they don't know you're going to swerve to avoid them (I guess they assume all bicycles are trying to run them over). Only some pedestrians will just go in a straight line at a constant speed, the ideal situation for planning ahead in your mind to go around them. I find that it's usually the old people in the poorer areas of where I live who do this. The ones who freeze up or jump in front of me tend to be more affluent looking, from my experience.

If you are expecting all pedestrians to just get out of your way or you're gonna run them over than I would say that you definitely have the wrong state of mind.

I don't think 15mph should be too fast for a PBH and road bikers could easily go that fast. However, I tend to avoid my PBL just because of all the cars that are in it. Luckily I have a s-pedelec so I can ride on the street without too many cars getting angry at me. I actually wish it could go faster. Now that I think about it, what I wish I had was an electric moped/scooter, but there aren't really any good ones in production except maybe Bolt Motorbikes. I'm a daily commuter and that's what I think e-bikes are best for.

"Vehicular cycling" is most definitely safer than riding at high speed in a PBL (an opinion formed from my own experience) so that now I prefer to ride in the middle of a regular lane even when there's a PBL or side bike lane right next to me. I've only been yelled at once, but I find that having obnoxious SUVs pass me at high speed in the next lane over is much safer than having the same obnoxious SUV pass me at high speed only inches away from me. The problem with "vehicular cycling" is the obvious road rage that comes with it. We have a very anti-bike, car-centric culture here in America (can depend on where you live). Bicycles are often viewed as low-speed invaders onto the high-speed realm of roads for cars. Anything that tries to help cyclists is viewed as anti-car. This seems unnecessarily polarized, like a lot of things in America are.

 

[E-Wheels]

Well, I'm beginning to think its just me and my riding style so I'm running these incidents past you folks for some honest feedback: in my last few commutes I've had more than my normal share of close calls. Few have been with vehicles and almost all have been with joggers, pedestrians, skateboarders and bicyclists. Most of these have been in our new protected bike lanes which is why I'm posting in this thread. One particularly close call was in my residential neighborhood with casual bikers. Perhaps e-bikes will not be allowed in our PBLs eventually but they haven't posted any signage yet and all of these incidents have been on my class 1 Haibike. Since the PBLs are new, and the area has heavier traffic and pedestrian usage, I've been keeping my speed at 15 mph or less.
1. at 6am a jogger suddenly decides to leave the sidewalk and jog in the bike lane - he never looks back to see if a bike is coming (and I was) - he has headphones and doesn't hear me yell - near collision - lock up situation
2. repeat of above at 6pm different jogger
3. young lady crossing against the light looking at her phone - I am approaching intersection with a green light and I keep thinking she is going to look up and yield - she doesn't and also doesn't hear my bell - I lock up and skid - near collision and scared the heck out of the young lady
4. 2 young ladies waiting for a bus standing in the bike lane - after rapid fire on my bell and a shout they panic and like squirrels can't figure out which way to move when they could have easily just stepped onto the sidewalk - partial skid and lock up
5. skateboarder using the PBL pylons for slalom - has headphones - he exits PBL back to me so I go to pass in the PBL while he is in the street - he suddenly reenters PBL - near collision
6. various wrong-way cyclists have caused me to slow and proceed with extreme caution but no serious close calls yet

So maybe better just to not use the PBLs? If I ride in traffic I fear pissing off the car drivers who will think I should be in the PBL. Is 15 mph too fast for a PBL in an urban area/downtown/university district? Should an e-bike regardless of class 1-3 just not be in a PBL?

Non-PBL incidents both this week:
1. Downtown at 6:15 am very little traffic at that hour. I move from right lane to left lane and stop at red light. Next intersection I need to turn left. An SUV pulls up behind and guy starts yelling "hey f...ing idiot get out of the road" etc. At next stop light, since he went around me on the right and then got stopped by a red light, I go up to his window and tap on it "so what's your problem" I say calmly when he rolls his window down. He's yelling about how I can't be in the left lane and I should be on the sidewalk. I tell him state law says I'm entitled to a lane. He continues insults, epithets, cursing and adds "I don't care about no law - get that bike off the road". Driving a luxury SUV Mercedes or BMW with out-of-state plates (NY) gentleman about my age. Ok to use a left lane when preparing for a left only turn? I do it all the time. This is the second person to road rage on me on a low speed street so maybe a bike in a left lane is a greater road rage trigger?

2. My residential street. I'm cruising home at dusk at 19 mph on the class 1 Haibike. I have flashing light, e-bike bright steady light, neon green shirt. Couple leisurely riding on comfort bikes go through stop sign. I did not have a stop sign. I lock up and skid, the woman almost falls off her bike, man starts yelling at me "dude WTF you're flying!...". I said "but you have the stop sign I don't" as I started up again and rode off. Is 19 mph too fast for a bike in a residential street where car speed limit is 25? Thinking about it after, I felt like I should have stopped and made friends (if possible) and just said "sorry but I expected that you would stop since you had the stop sign".

Are people just deceived into stepping out in front of a bike w/out thinking about speed just based on assumptions/past experience with regular bikes? I'd like to think that if I were a car coming at 19 mph they would have stopped for the stop sign. I have been passed by road bikes when I've been riding around 20 mph so 19 mph on an e-bike doesn't seem excessive to me - also given car speed limit was 25 for that section. Me?

No Over50 it’s not you
Your post pretty well sums up my experiences with commuting....although you forgot to mention the dog owners who let their dogs run loose causing a nuisance or the ones who have their dogs on one of those retracting leads with way too much line out so as both the dog and owner block both sides of the path

 

[Dewey]

jogger in the bike lane...waiting for a bus standing in the bike lane....wrong-way cyclistsShould an e-bike regardless of class 1-3 just not be in a PBL?...Is 19 mph too fast for a bike in a residential street...Are people just deceived into stepping out in front of a bike w/out thinking about speed just based on assumptions/past experience with regular bikes?

The one section of PBL on my ride home is currently adjacent to utility roadworks so is being used as a de facto sidewalk and the surface has been torn up for a four block section, the PBL was only put in this spring but has been unuseable for the past month and will remain so until it is repaved so cyclists have to ride in the traffic lane. I've encountered Joggers running against the traffic in the PBL and it is frustrating because the barriers make it difficult to ride around them. Regarding misperception of ebike speed at intersections this was reported as a problem in a recent German study (Petzoldt, 2017) that found ebikes have twice the risk of conflict approaching intersections compared with pedal bicycles because of the speed diferential and "other road users might still need time to adapt to this relatively new type of vehicle". The speed difference between ebikes and pedal bicycles is relatively small, another recent German study (Schleinitz, 2017) recorded a mean average speed differential of 2 kmh between pedelecs (Class 1 ebikes) and cyclists but 9 kmh between speed pedelecs (Class 3 ebikes) and cyclists. That's apparently enough to confuse others so I think the advice is to ride an appropriate speed for the road/trail conditions i.e. slow down around people and try to be a PAL (Predictable, Alert, Lawful) approaching intersections.

Source

Petzoldt, T., Schleinitz, K., Heilmann, S., Gehlertb, T. (2017). Traffic conflicts and their contextual factors when riding conventional vs. electric bicycles. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 46(Part B): 477-490. doi: 10.1016/j.trf.2016.06.010

Schleinitz, K., Petzoldt, T., Franke-Bartholdt, L., Krems, J., & Gehlert, T. (2017). The German Naturalistic Cycling Study – Comparing cycling speed of riders of different e-bikes and conventional bicycles. Safety Science, 92: 290-297. doi: 10.1016/j.ssci.2015.07.027

 

[mrgold35]

Those are the issues I run into work commuting and fun riding. Too many people are either distracted, unaware, unclear on what the proper etiquette for bikes, or assuming they always have the right away. Bike paths are no different when you mix walkers (w or w/o pets), joggers, casual bikers, and Tour De France type riders. Pretty much the high speed road bikes follow the the rules of the road compared to everyone else (keep right except to pass, announce when passing, slow down when in doubt, be nice, etc...).

 

[Eric Kuyper]

I ride daily, and my commute has me on bike lanes about half the trip. Where I always have issues is cars turning into gas stations. There will be one car turning and another waiting behind, no blinker so you assume they are going straight, but no. The car with the signal turns, you proceed forward, then the second car turns without looking or warning. I no longer pass cars in a bike lane; if traffic is stopped or moving slower than I am, I go slower and make sure that I "pick" a car behind me and pace myself, feeling that the car immediately behind and to the left of me has the best vantage point to see me.

That being said, generally I prefer the bike lanes as surface streets in my neck of Southern California often times run 40mph+ and I'm not going to dance with those 2 ton wolves.

 

[Bob H]

This thread is extremely interesting and it points out what all cyclists are experiencing these days. My city has committed to developing a system of protected bike lanes in areas where bicycle commuting is very possible. They built 8 miles of bike lanes downtown in a few months and are busy building some other protected routes to link up to them. I find them fantastic but have experienced all the problems other people have detailed in previous messages. As always, whatever the laws state, we cyclists MUST drive defensively and be alert at all times. Whether we like it or not, many motorists can't be bothered learning the laws so when a conflict pops up, "Might is Right". For Cyclists, there is not much point in having "You were Right" carved on your Tombstone.

I don't know how long it is going to take in many places for Motorists to understand that bikes have both a place in the transportation picture and a right to use the roads. Public education and police enforcement would certainly help but I fear that it will be decades in North America before attitudes change.

Anyway, to everyone here on a bike, ride defensively and be safe as it's a jungle out there.

Bob Hynes

 

[Eric Kuyper]

This thread is extremely interesting and it points out what all cyclists are experiencing these days. My city has committed to developing a system of protected bike lanes in areas where bicycle commuting is very possible. They built 8 miles of bike lanes downtown in a few months and are busy building some other protected routes to link up to them. I find them fantastic but have experienced all the problems other people have detailed in previous messages. As always, whatever the laws state, we cyclists MUST drive defensively and be alert at all times. Whether we like it or not, many motorists can't be bothered learning the laws so when a conflict pops up, "Might is Right". For Cyclists, there is not much point in having "You were Right" carved on your Tombstone.

I don't know how long it is going to take in many places for Motorists to understand that bikes have both a place in the transportation picture and a right to use the roads. Public education and police enforcement would certainly help but I fear that it will be decades in North America before attitudes change.

Anyway, to everyone here on a bike, ride defensively and be safe as it's a jungle out there.

Bob Hynes

The only people who really argue about "Right of Way" are lawyers and widows. The rest of us don't have that luxury.

 

[Christopher Castillo]

Here's a video about collisions involving cars turning into driveways and hitting people on bicycles. The cars can't see the cyclists because of the parked cars in between the PBL and the road:

Here's a couple videos about collisions occurring in intersections when bicycle traffic and car traffic go across each other at the same time.
What happened to me is similar to the first one. The car turned in front of me at high speed and without a turn signal. I hit his rear wheel and managed to jump out of the saddle with only minor scrapes on my hands, but as you can see, old people are just gonna fall down on their heads:

 

[TomC]

Is the cycle track in my city just poorly designed, or are protected bike lanes inherently more dangerous than riding on the road?

BOTH!

As described, your "cycle track" is an obscenely poor design.

There are places where separate cycle paths are an appropriate alternative -- generally these would be paralleling roads where what you call vehicular cycling would be completely inappropriate.

The WORST urban strategy (in my personal opinion) is on-road marked bike paths, largely because they reinforce the myth that bicycles are not "real" vehicles and do not have the right to share the road.

Cycles are still to this day a regular component of traffic in most of the world outside the US and Canada. I doubt we will ever see a significant return to cycling-as-transportation in most of either country, but there have been a few somewhat successful initiatives in some small to mid-size cities.

 

[Bob H]

BOTH!

As described, your "cycle track" is an obscenely poor design.

There are places where separate cycle paths are an appropriate alternative -- generally these would be paralleling roads where what you call vehicular cycling would be completely inappropriate.

The WORST urban strategy (in my personal opinion) is on-road marked bike paths, largely because they reinforce the myth that bicycles are not "real" vehicles and do not have the right to share the road.

Cycles are still to this day a regular component of traffic in most of the world outside the US and Canada. I doubt we will ever see a significant return to cycling-as-transportation in most of either country, but there have been a few somewhat successful initiatives in some small to mid-size cities.

My city, at the start of this year, built 8 miles of bike paths downtown similar to those in Ottawa - like the ones we see in the above video of the van hitting the cyclist. The problem with most downtown areas is that they are already fully developed so adding bicycle infrastructure has to occur on current roads. In newer areas, busy feeder streets often have multi use paths 4 or 5 meters wide paralleling them which makes getting around pretty safe.

When they build these type of paths, there is a learning curve for motorists and cyclist alike. However, the onus is on the cyclist to protect himself or herself at all times. The video we see above can be examined to see who is legally at fault but either way, the cyclist comes out second. I've ridden many miles on these downtown paths and I would never let myself get into the position this cyclist was in. We don't get to see the 15 seconds prior to the collision so I don't want to be too critical, but riding into the intersection right beside the van is unsafe. You are putting your life in the hands of someone else and that often doesn't work out as we see here. The other thing about this type of bike infrastructure is that it is simply unsafe for cyclists to ride at high speed as there are just too many conflict points.

Bicycles have had and do have a right to use the roads. Cycling is growing everywhere but the problem is that motorists still don't believe that bikes belong on the road and have no respect for cyclists. The bike lanes built in my city at least brought the issue of cycling to the forefront. People whined about losing parking, they whined about the cost, they whined about losing a lane for traffic on some streets and they whined that the finished paths weren't always full. Some motorists whined that it was taking up to 15 minutes longer in rush hour to vacate the downtown core (city measured traffic flow and found the average delay up by 60 to 90 seconds). It will take many years for the attitudes of most motorists to change so I think more bicycle infrastructure is required. The more motorists encounter it, the more they have to deal with it and maybe even learn something about it. You can ride safely in these type of bike lanes but you must keep your speed down, be aware and drive extremely defensively at all times and when in doubt about anything, stop and give way. It's not fair but it is the only way to deal with the average motorist and stay alive. I'm guessing about 20% of motorists everywhere have the skill level shown in the video above from Honolulu where the car turning doesn't see the cyclist dead center in front of the car and causes a bad accident and then just drives away. The person driving that car should never have a drivers license.

Bob H

 

[Over50]

...I've ridden many miles on these downtown paths and I would never let myself get into the position this cyclist was in...
People whined about losing parking, they whined about the cost, they whined about losing a lane for traffic on some streets and they whined that the finished paths weren't always full. Some motorists whined that it was taking up to 15 minutes longer in rush hour to vacate the downtown core (city measured traffic flow and found the average delay up by 60 to 90 seconds)...

Agree on all points. We are adjusting to the new PBLs on my commute and I'm always expecting the right hook at intersections. So I have to be very alert and just with driving, I do everything I can to stay out of a driver's blind spot.

As for the whining: Great point about the city's findings on the impact to the commute. I work in a busy downtown area where most of my coworkers drive in from the suburbs. They whine about any change to the downtown area that they perceive might add a minute to their commute. The thing is, there are a lot of people living in the city within close proximity of downtown (downtown, midtown, hospital districts) who really benefit from the changes. So I always retort when I hear their complaints (about a particular change): "yeah, but isn't it great for the people that live down here". My downtown commute has seen the addition of new PBLs (reducing space for cars) and areas where the city has closed to traffic or limited traffic in order to create spaces for gathering and for food trucks etc. I hear such a dichotomy of views: the folks living close to downtown appreciate the changes. They bike and walk more often and in a safer manner. My suburban coworkers who want to get in and out as fast as possible pretty much just whine.

 

[TomC]

Riding in a city of about 200,000... Major urban through road - four lanes each way, left and/or right turn lanes added at each intersection as appropriate, speed limit 50KPH (31MPH), cruising in the rightmost through lane at the speed limit on a long downhill curve, I glance down and notice that the right front corner of a Mercedes is visually in line with the left end of my handlebar (that puts him not quite under my handlebar) -- I'm annoyed, but not worried; the driver is closer than he should be, but probably didn't realize that my handlebars were that wide until he got close enough to actually see them. The Mercedes slows slightly and moves a bit to the left giving me adequate clearance (as long neither of us does anything stupid). A few moments later I hear a quick tap of the two-tone horn that the Polizei use. Glancing back I see the Mercedes being pulled over and I'm pretty sure that having gotten that close to me is going to cost him 40 marks (about $12 at the exchange rate then).

As I approach the bottom of the hill, I signal and change lanes to reach the left turn lane at the next light where I will be turning left. The next section of the day's run will be north along a bike path paralleling the Lech River.

Needless to say, this would not have been possible in a US city of similar size.

And, oh by the way, that was on a conventional bike, not an ebike.

 

[Bob H]

As for the whining: Great point about the city's findings on the impact to the commute. I work in a busy downtown area where most of my coworkers drive in from the suburbs. They whine about any change to the downtown area that they perceive might add a minute to their commute. The thing is, there are a lot of people living in the city within close proximity of downtown (downtown, midtown, hospital districts) who really benefit from the changes. So I always retort when I hear their complaints (about a particular change): "yeah, but isn't it great for the people that live down here". My downtown commute has seen the addition of new PBLs (reducing space for cars) and areas where the city has closed to traffic or limited traffic in order to create spaces for gathering and for food trucks etc. I hear such a dichotomy of views: the folks living close to downtown appreciate the changes. They bike and walk more often and in a safer manner. My suburban coworkers who want to get in and out as fast as possible pretty much just whine.

What you describe above is spot on for my city as well. The downtown core in my city consisted of office buildings where folks from the suburbs worked. These folks want a few places where they can buy lunch and if there isn't an office building on a lot, they want gravel spread and want it made into a parking lot. They want to be able to drive in and out of the core quickly and they promise no one will be left downtown after 6:00 pm. Things are now changing and it isn't being received well in those quarters. The city is encouraging residential construction downtown so condos are popping up all over the place. A particularly sad area of the downtown is in the midst of a large redevelopment led by a sports facility recently built there. As more people live in the downtown, they want things like better transit, better bike and walking infrastructure. They also don't want a gravel parking lot across the street but would rather have a park like everyone living in the burbs have. Also, many people moving into the downtown are embracing a car free or at least a single car existence so alternatives to the car are important. Even though some people are fighting it, this trend is permanent and will bring big changes which I believe are much for the better. My city was a little more backward for a bit longer so these changes are happening later than in most cities.

Bob H