How Cities Can Get Drivers Biking

[marmar]

from YES! Magazine:



How Cities Can Get Drivers Biking
How can planners attract the 60 percent of Americans who say they would bike more if they felt more secure? The answer could be cheap and simple.

by Jay Walljasper
posted Jul 27, 2012


You can glimpse the future right now in forward-looking American cities—a few blocks here, a mile there, where people riding bicycles are protected from rushing cars and trucks.

Chicago’s Kinzie Street, just north of downtown, offers a good picture of this transportation transformation. New bike lanes are marked with bright green paint and separated from motor traffic by a series of plastic posts. This means bicyclists glide through the busy area in the safety of their own space on the road. Pedestrians are thankful that bikes no longer seek refuge on the sidewalks, and many drivers appreciate the clear, orderly delineation about where bikes and cars belong.

“Most of all this is a safety project,” notes Chicago’s Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein. “We saw bikes go up from a 22 percent share of traffic to 52 percent of traffic on the street with only a negligible change in motorists’ time, but a drop in their speeds. That makes everyone safer.”

Klein heralds this new style of bike lane as one way to improve urban mobility in an era of budget shortfalls. “They’re dirt cheap to build compared to road projects.” ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/how-cities-can-make-biking-safer

[onehandle]

1. Proper bike lanes make streets safer for cars.

Proper means total a total separation. Rails, curbs, posts, whatever. It has to be physical.

Just painting lines and calling it a bike lane does little for anyone.

[Gormy Cuss]

11. Painting bike lanes in a solid, bright color is a step in the right direction though.

Right now if we're lucky enough to have a bike lane it's separated from the regular travel lane by the same solid white lines used for other traffic movements. They're not terribly distinctive, especially when the bike lane is only a widened shoulder rather than a double striped lane.

What I hate are Class III bike routes, where there are signs on the side of the road and/or painted on the pavement but no lane definition. The county planners claim that Class III have an extra wide lane but you'd never know it from the way some drivers react to bikes on such roads.

I agree with you though that having physical separation is the best in some situations.

[Lizzie Poppet]

20. Portlander here, and by and large our painted lanes work well.

But that's also partly a function of just how many cyclists there are here: drivers are used to seeing us. A physical separation is less necessary if the drivers are bike-aware. The bright green painted "bike boxes" on the pavement at intersections also help reduce the number of time cyclists get "right hooked" (a car turning right, across the bike lane, into your path...happened to me last year).

Portland also has a lot of off-arterial bike routes. They mark certain side street networks with bike route logos on the pavement and some signage, and try (mostly) to make sure that these routes tend not to have too many stop signs. They also install a few "choke points: where bikes an pas but cars are blocked of, so that the car traffic doesn't get bad on these (usually residential) streets from people looking to bypass the actual arterials.

[xchrom]

2. Du rec. Nt

[Bluenorthwest]

3. Here's what we have:

42 miles of shared-use paths,
81 miles of on-street bicycle lanes,
35 miles of signed bikeways, and
5 bicycle/pedestrian bridges spanning the Willamette River
2 bicycle/pedestrian bridges spanning major roads or highways
http://www.webikeeugene.org/

[SHRED]

4. I live in San Diego north county coastal

What is sad is this San Diego area has some of the best weather in the world and some of the worst (hazardous) bike commuting in the world.


--

[raouldukelives]

5. As always, better education. For drivers & cyclists.

I've felt for a long time the testing requirements to get a drivers license are woefully inadequate and the enforcement of proper driving techniques are just as lax.
I've had police cars cruising next to me with someone driving 3 feet from my bumper at 50mph. They don't blink an eye. Heck, even the police drive like idiots these days. I can't recall the last time I saw one use a turn signal. And these are the people we are supposed to look to for public safety. You would think they, at least, would adhere to proper driving rules.
It's one big free for all out there. I had some jerk the other day in a black Mercedes pass me on the right shoulder doing 60mph in a 25mph zone. Blew my mind. There was a cement truck in front of me, I was leaving the usual 20 feet or so I try do so they can see me from their mirrors and this jerk passes both of us on a blind hill where I have seen kids biking since there is no sidewalks. Passes us both on the shoulder. Nuts.
It requires stronger education and stronger testing. Both of which will never happen. They want as many cars on the road as possible. That's all I can assume after seeing people with 6 DUI's still allowed to drive.

[bhikkhu]

51. Maybe including cycling rules with driver education?

Pretty much every cyclist has a car, and most people have bikes anyway so it might be a good idea - and I know there seems to be no end to cyclists with no apparent idea of the rules of the road.

[raouldukelives]

58. Absolutely.

All of the cyclists I know are pretty good about it. I myself treat my bike just as if I was in a car. Four way stop? No cars visible in any direction? I come to a complete stop. Some of my fiends think I'm nuts as they usually sail right through them.
The people I see who generally give cyclists a bad name are either new to it because they have lost their license and ride on the wrong side of the street. Homeless, who may be suffering from mental illness so I can't really fault them for trying to get somewhere in this mad world and weekend warriors who are most likely business professionals who put on a $400 outfit and hop on a $3000 bicycle and feel like they have free reign over all traffic laws.
I live in an area lousy with cyclists. Wine country and all that. I really can't recall being inconvenienced by someone on a bike for more than a few seconds in my driving. But then, I generally look with favor upon people who are actually getting out of their cars and making a difference in the pollution killing us all. Even if its only for a weekend.
And yes, education for all is the problem. Not just in traffic but in almost every facet of modern life.

[taterguy]

6. In my state the most extensive bike lanes are on the Outer Banks

It's a necessity because there isn't physical space to build new roads or widen existing ones, so it's the only way that traffic can be manageable.

At some point the whole country will be like that and it would be much easier to start planning now, but what are the odds of that happening?

[xmas74]

7. If there's enough interest in a state like Missouri

for meetings to discuss the issue, then the interest is out there.

http://mobikefed.org/

(Meetings in August in a few towns in Missouri, along with a big seminar in Jeff City.)

My county is in talks to possibly extend a multi-use trail from 1.5 miles outside of our city limits (where it ends now) all the way to the state park and even to the local air force base-about ten miles from the original end. In the past this wouldn't even enter public discussion but with the public asking for it and the success of the Katy Trail the interest is there all over the state. People want safe biking trails/multi-use trails.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katy_Trail_State_Park

[SHRED]

8. Just painting a stripe

It's incredible to me that city and county planners and traffic control engineers feel it's okay to create a bike lane with a painted stripe.

They must not ride bikes.

[taterguy]

9. Of course they don't ride bikes, the roads aren't safe

It's a bit of a vicious cycle.

I've gone to bike planning meetings at locations where there weren't any bike racks, and I was the only one to complain.

[cliffordu]

13. LOL....

You are SUCH a kidder!!

Just keep pushing the little pedals in your cage and chirp as loud as you can!!

[datasuspect]

21. the cops think the hipster bums are assholes too

they don't go too hard on you for rubbing an unearned beard here and there.

due to my supernatural driving skill (ancient driving secrets), i can get within a fraction of inch of ANYTHING on my passenger side.

i don't have to look and i don't check.

but when i pass it, it's still there and i have a mirror.

[Fumesucker]

14. Teach dumbasses how to drive..

Far, far more bad drivers in the USA than bad bike riders.

I'd bet the majority of Americans can't even drive a car with a clutch any more.

[datasuspect]

16. i'll pull mine out if you pull yours out

how many miles you drive per year, cowboy?

i'm a rootin tootin road king, son.

[Fumesucker]

18. How many miles do you bicycle, sweetie?

[datasuspect]

22. i have too many responsibilities as a grown up

to have much time for fooling with a bike. it's like it says in the Bible, 'there comes a time for a man to set aside his childish things' or something to that effect.

when i was in college, i was the bike king.

i would humiliate most people with my bike riding prowess, sugar booger.

[Fumesucker]

24. I just bet you would, dearie..

I didn't realize it took a college education to be a rootin tootin road king.

But then perhaps it does for some people.

[datasuspect]

25. didn't you ever see roadhouse darlin?

ROADHOUSE!

[The Midway Rebel]

49. Is John Wayne in that movie? nt

[MineralMan]

32. The ability to coordinate a clutch with a manual shit transmission

is not a measure of how well a person drives. Today, most people have never been in a car with a manual transmission. They're going the way of the buggy whip. That said, my new car has a 6-speed manual, but I'm 67 years old, as of today, and drive such a car without even thinking about it, as does my wife. It saved us about $500 on the purchase.

Most people born after the 60s likely have never driven a manual transmission. That does not make them bad drivers. It just means that they've had no need to learn that skill.

[Fumesucker]

35. No, most *Americans* born after the 60's likely have never driven a manual transmission.

Manual transmissions are far more prevalent in Europe and other places outside the US.

We had a carjacker here a few years back who forced a couple out of their car at gunpoint and jumped in but couldn't drive it, the car had a clutch and he couldn't even get it in gear..

One of the reasons so few American adults ride bikes is that kids bikes for the most part don't have gears here and people never learn how to use those gears properly. I used to see them all the time on the bike trail where I lived before, either spinning their legs at a brazilan rpm and going nowhere slowly or their legs are barely moving and the veins are popping out on their foreheads with the effort of pushing the pedals.

Knowing how to use gears on a bike makes a huge difference in ease of pedaling..

[MineralMan]

41. OK, then, Americans.

Still, that has nothing to do with whether a driver is a good, safe driver or not. Manual transmissions can be a source of distraction for many people. Those who use them all the time don't really even think about it, but automatic transmissions are actually safer to drive for most people. It's just one less thing to be doing while you drive.

One of the things I've noticed with this new 6-speed transmission in my car is that I shift more often, even at highways speeds. Where an automatic transmission will downshift, as needed, for passing or other such maneuvers, the two top gears in my car are highway gears. Sixth gear is great for fuel economy, as is the torque converter lockup on most automatic transmissions, but the downshift isn't automatic for a manual transmission, and selecting fifth gear makes a huge difference in high speed acceleration. So, there's a bit more rowing of the gearshift than there used to be in the old 3 or 4-speed transmission. It's sorta fun, I suppose, and feels a little sportier, but when you have a little 1.6 liter engine, it's also necessary.

[Fumesucker]

44. Shifting down costs you gas mileage..

I realize you don't drive enough for it to be a big issue but that's the tradeoff, acceleration for gas mileage.

Someone who lacks the very concept of changing gears to match engine speed with road speed is going to have a hard time riding a bicycle on anything but the very flattest of terrain with no headwind. The human body is a remarkably peaky engine, if you're not in just the right gear out of twenty or so you're not getting the most out of your legs..

The attitude displayed even here on DU by some is the major reason you won't get many Americans on bikes, there are just too many drivers who have an amazingly hostile attitude toward bikes and those who ride them, you really have to be prepared to take some crap if you ride.

[MineralMan]

54. Actually, not necessarily.

If you remain in a higher gear and attempt to accelerate, you'll probably end up flooring the accelerator. If you shift down a gear, you can accelerate more easily. The fuel consumption will probably be about the same. It's all in how you use the gears and why.

[Fumesucker]

56. Yeah, that's what I used to think too, it's intuitively obvious..

However this is one of those cases where the intuitively obvious answer is the wrong one for a couple of different reasons, those reasons are internal engine friction and pumping losses..

Both internal engine friction and pumping losses rise non linearly with rpm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_efficiency

An engine has many parts that produce friction. Some of these friction forces remain constant (as long as applied load is constant); some of these friction losses increase as engine speed increases, such as piston side forces and connecting bearing forces (due to increased inertia forces from the oscillating piston). A few friction forces decrease at higher speed, such as the friction force on the cam's lobes used to operate the inlet and outlet valves (the valves' inertia at high speed tends to pull the cam follower away from the cam lobe). Along with friction forces, an operating engine has pumping losses, which is the work required to move air into and out of the cylinders. This pumping loss is minimal at low speed, but increases approximately as the square of the speed, until at rated power an engine is using about 20% of total power production to overcome friction and pumping losses.

I've verified this in considerable driving with an on board instantaneous MPG meter, the engine gets the best gas mileage in the highest gear it will pull without lurching or bogging down.. Indeed the Ford Expedition I first learned this with actually got considerably better mileage at 50mph than at 40 mph because it was an automatic with overdrive and wouldn't go into overdrive until 45 mph at which point the gas mileage increased markedly despite the fact that air resistance is considerably greater at the higher speed.

Pumping losses are minimized by two things, low rpm and a wide open throttle, low rpm also minimizes engine friction.. Lower pumping losses are one of the reasons a diesel engine is more efficient than an otto cycle engine, the diesel is usually optimized for low rpm torque and it has no throttle at all so it's wide open all the time..

[madinmaryland]

50. I wish they actually made cars with "four-on-the-floor".

[Logical]

15. 50% of the "bikers" I see ignore stop signs and lights if no traffic is around. Then they....

complain about drivers. Annoying.

[Fumesucker]

17. 90% of the drivers I see ignore speed limits unless a cop is visible..

[Logical]

19. Well, I doubt 90%. But bikers break the law more than any driver I know. The guys I ride with....

also think it is annoying. Hurts the cause. They whine about cars but are just as bad.

Also, I never see a car run a stop sign without slowing down. Bikes do it all the time.

[Fumesucker]

23. Hmm.. at 70 in a 55 zone I pass almost no one and am passed by practically everyone..

I think my estimate is not far off..

Not to mention the car that slows for stop sign without stopping is probably going the same speed through the stop sign as the bike that never slowed.

[bhikkhu]

45. Nobody stops at stop signs if there isn't cross traffic

...not drivers, cyclists, pedestrians (if they don't have to), police, etc. And the safe speed to go through a stop differs between cars and bikes; a car is a few thousand pounds of metal that takes a long time to slow down, where a bike weighs next to nothing. When I go through a stop its at a safe speed, where I can stop or turn within 5 feet or so.

So I don't get too worked up when I see cars do their "sort-of" stops all day long, and I try to keep everything safe and respectful on the bike as well.

With that said, I'd agree that there are plenty of stupid cyclists around. I think it has to do with never learning the rules of the road, and I would support "cycling registration" that required learning how to do it in the same way drivers have to learn. My pet peeves are cyclists (over age 10) on the sidewalks, and cyclist on the road riding against the flow of traffic. And then cyclists who breeze through stop lights, which I won't do myself and cars almost never do.

on edit - on a bike if I screw up I know I'm the one going to the hospital, and being able to stop, accelerate, and turn much quicker than cars also puts much of the responsibility on my own shoulders in traffic. At a slow roll - 8 mph or so - I go through stops about the same speed as most cars, and retain the most maneuverability and control. At a full stop on a bike one has the least control and ability to respond.

[kestrel91316]

33. Hmmm, less than 5% of the cyclists I see ignore stop signs

and lights. However, probably 95% of the DRIVERS here ignore speed limits, and easily 30% are extremely reckless or inattentive, and 75% ignore stop signs or try to slip through after merely slowing down.

[Logical]

37. LOL, sure they are. Your city must be really different than mine.

[kestrel91316]

39. This is Lost Angeles. We have the worst drivers in the world.

[Gormy Cuss]

40. 100% of the percentages in this subthread are pulled out of thin air.

[taterguy]

26. It's true that most people who know me think I'm an asshole

But that has nothing to do with how I choose to get around.

[datasuspect]

28. if you're an asshole

i'm fred astaire.

i love your postings whats got words in them.

[Gregorian]

12. Bicycles! BICYCLES! This is heresy. Damn you all to hell! Bicycles just cannot be.

The word bicycle provokes anger in Americans. That is my conclusion after many years of being irritated enough by cars to start removing myself from the car crazed culture.

When I was in college I rode with my friends. But yet my brain didn't make the connection that I could actually ride my bike for other purposes. As bright and aware as I was it took someone prying my hand from the steering wheel in order to get me on my bike. It's like an addiction. I'm wasting my time. It's never going to happen in America. The car is the center of the American universe.

Thanks for posting anything bike related. It is greatly appreciated. Maybe some day people will awaken from their sad car crazed lives.

[bhikkhu]

27. I'd rather have a paint stripe than plastic posts myself

and some room on the shoulders, without obstructions.

I'm lucky enough to live in an area without much traffic - miles and miles of country roads and mountain twisties without much of a shoulder, but too little traffic to make that an issue. And then through town we have bike paths that I commute on. 40k miles on two wheels in just the last 5 years, and no accidents or injuries so far.

I think the weather generally looks worse from inside a climate-controlled little glass and metal box than it does from a bike, and the world generally look more dangerous to people sitting in cars than it does to people riding bikes.

[Fumesucker]

29. Plastic poles are only a suggestion to most drivers..

A paint stripe is the most subtle of hints..

[Curtland1015]

30. How can cities get drivers biking?

Being located in Europe seems like the best answer.

[slampoet]

31. SHOWERS! Most cities don't even have drinking fountains and bathrooms.

How does anyone bike to work If their workplace doesn't have a shower?

[kestrel91316]

34. Slowly in cooler weather, and not at all in hot.

[slampoet]

47. and in 90% of US cities that means not at all for half the year.

[kestrel91316]

48. Tell me about it. I live in West Hell, Los Angeles.

[Fumesucker]

52. Maybe they work in a warehouse that's not air conditioned?

If you're going to be sweating buckets all day anyway what difference does it make if you arrive a bit sweaty in the first place?

[HappyMe]

55. That's true.

It would have to be perfect weather year round, everywhere. Distance is another factor.

[shintao]

36. When they all pay their own way, then it will be a good idea

These lanes should be used by bikes, small scooters, powered chairs & skate boards, etc. Then these owners should then be licensed to pay for these inconvenient lanes, not the motorists.

[Fumesucker]

38. Every person on a bike is one less car on the road..

And a bike takes up far less road space than does a car, which leaves more room for those who still drive..

Net gain for drivers and yet they still whine..

Not to mention that road damage is roughly to the fourth power of vehicle weight..

Bike and rider weight 250 lbs.

Car and driver weight 4000 lbs..

4000/250 = 16

16^4 = 65536

So a medium size car causes about 60,000 times as much damage to the road as a bicycle and rider..

[taterguy]

46. Do motorists pay their own way?

A substantial portion of road-building and maintenance funds come from general revenue sources.

And which cyclists should pay for lanes? Lots of them do almost all of their riding on trails or places where there wouldn't be lanes. If I had to pay a license fee I'd insist that there be a lane on the road I used to get to work, even if I was the only person who biked on that road.

[bhikkhu]

53. Proportionate to the wear and tear on the roads?

A bike lane, well made, lasts about forever with no appreciable wear. Roads traveled by cars and trucks wear out regularly.

And another side of that is that virtually every single cyclist also has a drivers license and a car, paying various fees that way. They just choose to travel often in a way that doesn't burn fossil fuels and wear out the roads they help pay for.

[Odin2005]

42. There are a lot of drivers that act like assholes towards bicyclists.

Ignorant people think bikes belong on the sidewalk when actually in most places bicycling on pedestrian pathways is illegal.

[Fawke Em]

43. Full showers at work?

Seriously, in the South, biking to work would make sweat monsters out of people. Women, in particular, wouldn't want to have to re-do their entire hair, makeup and wardrobe upon entering work.

FWIW, I can't ride a motorcycle for some of the same reasons.

[TheMightyFavog]

57. Good luck getting changes liket his passed

You know the Agenda 21 tinfoil hatters would be screaming "UN communist plot!" at every planning meeting if they decided to implement these.

Some people are just way tool stupid.