On Bikelanes…
By Jenn (TinyChoices.com) | November 15, 2007
My folks recently returned from a trip to Hungary, where my dad snapped the photo you see there on the left. I am in love with that stoplight. Besides the fact that it’s soooo cuttteeee (“Hello bicycles! You may proceed now! Hello bicycles! Please stop now!”) it’s a sure sign that local officials and planners take bicycling seriously.
Off-street bike lanes are a great way to ensure that bicyclists can make it to their destinations alive. Here in NYC, we’re getting our first seperated bike lane! Sure, it’s only going to be 7 blocks long… but those 7 blocks, man oh man, are they going to be a fun ride. (Also, here’s a great video highlighting the wonder of these pathways).
I love these mockups from the BrooklynGreenway.org site, which are an amazing peek into the positive transformation that good city planning can have. When space is shared between cars, bikes, and pedestrians, everyone wins!
Changes like this turn urban bicycling into a viable mode of transportation, rather than a daredevil death-defying extreme sport. And in the end, I think most people aren’t after the thrill that arriving at work in one piece brings… I think that, really, they just want to ride their bike.
Talking about death-defying daredevils- check out this video of a NYC bike messenger race. Watch it through to the end… naseous yet? I had to remind myself to breath. Did you see the part where the dude trails his hand along the side of the double-long bus as he rides by? Yikes!
[Thanks to my Pop for the royalty-free use of his photo!]
Topics: Transportation | 9 Comments »
9 Comments
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My city (Madison, WI) is consistently rated one of the best bicycle cities in the US and the variety of biking options is amazing - bike paths, bike lanes, bike connectors, bike racks, etc. I’ve found that bike paths and nice wide bike lanes are really key to getting new bikers out there. The bike connectors help people commute from (or to) the suburbs and every new (or newly paved) road seems to have a bike lane. I don’t know what I’ll do when I move!
Well, you’ll probably have to move to Hungary.
:)
That is such a great thing! I hope that all cities will adopt this.
I do, too!!
When I left Vienna on bike on the way to Budapest (only made it to Bratizlava where my bike was stolen), the trip would have been entirely on bike-paths. It was glorious. Lots of those streetlights.
In the NYC area however…bike lanes are rough places to ride as bikes are now the fastest moving vehicles and the lanes (think west side) are clogged with peds, skaters, strollers etc. The area around 42nd street is a common spot for car on bike accidents & deaths :(
Not that I am frowning on bike paths. They just need to be understood by folks! And, I admit to loving the adrenaline rush of busy street riding although it is terribly unsafe.
I think one of our biggest problems is just that car drivers don’t have any idea how to deal with bicyclists- it’s not something we’re taught in driver’s ed, and generally there aren’t too many cyclists around at any one time. So I do think that if people were taught basic car/bike basics things would be a whole heap better- such as, don’t speed up to make a turn in front of a cyclist, just slow down and let them pass, then turn afterwards. Like, duh? You know?
Here in the UK I am advising on the sustainability credentials of a new residential apartment building - as part of the planning consent we need to provide cycle racks for a minmum of 50% of residents - the local councils are pushing for minimal private car use and if possible a no-car environment in all new developments
50% is really great! the new USGBC LEED standards (pilot) for neighborhood development emphasize location near existing bike networks, and specify that for non-res and multifamily buildings bike parking capacity must be no less than 15% of car parking capacity.
for new residential construction LEED only calls for storage for bikes for 15% of the total number of residents.
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