[*BCM*] Bike lanes, actually

[Tom Landers]

Without a lot of education - which the Commonwealth and various cities seem totally
uninterested in - nobody knows what to do with such an arrangement as you describe.
Part of what makes traffic engineering work is consistent expectations - for example,
where other traffic can be expected to come from, and what type of vehicle or person.

Go check out Vassar St in Cambridge between Main and Mass Ave: they built exactly this
kind of bike lane on wide sidewalk.
It's tremendously UNsuccessful, you often see cyclists using the (now greatly narrowed)
street because pedestrians don't recognize they're wandering into the 'road'...
and that makes everyone mad!

If everyone knew how this works it would be kinda nice, though.


--- "Richard C. Ehrman" <rehrman at berklee.edu> wrote:

> Most of the discussion doens't resemble my experience of actual bike lanes
> in Amsterdam. These lanes are not part of the road but part of wide
> sidewalk, separate from the pedestrian part. A truly dedicated lane. At
> intersections the barriers turn into lines but there are also traffic
> lights for the bike lanes to regulate intersection. Since all the bikes
> are in this lane, it can get crowded and feel a bit unsafe from bike
> traffic, but I found watching out for bikes easier than worrying about a
> car hitting me.
> 
> Build a wide, dedicated bike lane with real barriers that recognizes the
> different speeds and amount of metal between bikes and cars, and there
> would be more biking, safer too which is what I think folks on this list
> want. I agree painting lines is inadequate but don't throw out the entire
> concept.
> 
> Richard
> 
> 
> 
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