Physically Separated Bike Lanes

Brilliant ! Looking at all the differing videos restores hope when cars have given one a really bad day !

I find this film funny. I drove an 18 Wheeler thrugh Brooklyn. It seems even in this big City, where my family from New jersey won't even drive to NYC, they'll Take New Jersey Transit. I drove a 10 speed with a 53 ft trailer. Well it was fun to tell people, to get out of my way. I remember this Delivery Truck that was double park. Well I couldn't go around him Unless the cars going the other direction stoped. It was fun to see my trainer, to tell me go, go, around him. I also have to make these wide turns and all I did was simply blocked traffic. I knew If I got a ticket, oh well, but fuck the fact that I was going to let those 4 wheelers get in my way. lol
As a cyclist too, i understand this all to well in San Antonio and other Cities I Rode in.

The concept of a seperated commuter bike lane is intriguing. I think there are possible applications in urban centers that would have synergistic benefits of reduced vehicular travel speeds, safer pedestrian crossings, as well as a safer bicycling experience. The one area I would suggest needs further exploration is how to accomodate bus transit-rich areas and the segregated bike lane. Bus Stops are place at sidewalk curbs in most cities. Would we have to design new bus stops with pedestrian refuge islands on the travel way? Might there be a way to do this without give up too much on-street parking?

I wish they had this where I live. I almost got hit by a car yesterday!

Great ideas!

this is a very good and in depth video. i am in my junior year in highschool and i am working on a quality of life reasearch project. i chose this topic because one, i am nyc bicyclist, and two, i face problems such as these and would like to make change

Great, now if in Madrid we could just get those "lame" painted lanes instead of nothing, it would be awesome.

I am against discriminatory bike lanes that prevent pedestrians, bicyclists and cars from intermingling. How can methods of transportation evolve if it can't communicate with other forms of transportation? In San Francisco, we have decided not to ask the government for separated bike lanes because ANY bike lane is better than no bike lane - contrary to the opening comments in the video. We feel that we should be natural people weaving in and out of lanes, mashing up against cars and kicking them away in a natural manner when they cross into our bike lane. Either that or we should get rid of all cars on all roads in the city. No compromise.

Anybody that doesn't believe that these bike lanes can work need to come to the Netherlands and become a believer. Do your research, you might even like riding your bike down city streets or the countryside. Trust me I live in the Netherlands and I certainly would not want to ride a bike in NY with all the dooring and pushing by cars. But in the Netherlands I often ride my bike. You can also check youtube what cycling in the Netherlands is like.

I do think it is important to make a distinqtion, on slow traffic lanes we do not have separated traffic lanes(20 mph), but on faster lanes (30 mph and above) we do have separated lanes. We also have bike lanes without any car lanes in the coutryside, just for commuting between towns. Kind of like a bike highway.

Some people are right intersections are problems, but on busy intersections we have either bike traffic lights, a roundabout with clear signs on which has priority(mostly cyclists) or an underpass/overpass for cyclists.
It is clear to everybody that the intersections are the most dangerous place, thus everybody is checking if everybody is following the rules. This makes it more safe. Accidents do happen, but very rarely and almost always with cars or bikes running red lights. It is always wise to check that everybody is following the rules before crossing and to follow the rules yourself. But in the Netherlands cycling is as safe as walking down the street. I my opinion cycling in NY, DC or LA would be great if only their were good facilities. If it is fast people will use it, because cycling has a lot of benefits, like it is cheap and can be faster than a car in a city.

Montreal is slowly upgrading to physically separated bike ways on it's cycling network:

A fully built-out separated way http://www.flickr.com/photos/99887786@N00/4173079715/

A quick-n-easy separated bike way (the lines designating the former car parking spaces are still visible!):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/99887786@N00/4173075269/

Now what if more streets around residential neighbourhoods had these?

why not have a look at what have been done in China for bicycle lanes. We have green buffer in between bike lane and vehicle lane. 

Americans...hoping you all are supporting and will urge your congressman to co-sponsor U.S. H.R. 4722, the Active Community Transportation Act.

Our Boston suburb area in particular has had over a 60% increse in bicycling since 2000. Some of you may know there are plans taking shape to have bicycle sharing(similar to Montreals system) installed in Boston thks to Mayor Menino... it's great idea but my fear is that navigating Boston can be a dangerous proposition for your average uninitiated bicycle rider until proper bike lane infrastructure is put in place.

We need this legislature to get the ball rolling. In places where bicycle commuting and riding has flourished, infrastructure has been put into constant focus. Until Boston does some of these things the bike sharing initiative will literally be cart before the horse and be asking for accidents to happen which will endanger the initiative. Please ask Congress support this bill which asks for $2Billion in funding, the construction can also be a great stimulus for our communities and will only benefit and inspire so many people in urban pollution zones who have have the opportunity to commute, and would do so if safety were better. Electric bicycles are coming to America as well... but we need safer roads for them, lest this good thing becomes just a lucrative feeding ground for lawyers.

Saw the short video here about Copenhagen...it is fantastic.

This situation really is a field of dreams scenario, build the infrastructure and they will come...our comunities will benefit and become a better and safer place to get out and enjoy. Spring is coming...write your congressman today!

Jay

Hopefully, your video will get lots of city planners considering more options. The comments here are also real food for thought.

Fort Wayne, Indiana has a few painted bike lanes - with no buffer - on some streets. The downtown lanes look like they will only tempt cyclists who want to play Russian Roulette with the long line of parked-car- doors. We really don't have many cyclists in our city, considering it's size.

Fortunately, we do have an attractive and extensive Rivergreenway Bike Path system ( http://bikepath.eftisland.com/html/ picture_galleries.html ) that runs for 20+ miles along the banks of 3 rivers out of sight of auto traffic. And there are other bike path projects in the works.

parked cars are a physical separator, but don´t solve the problem of drivers opening the doors without looking for passing bicycles before ...

great post

Wow! This can be one particular of the very best blogs I’ve ever occur across on this subject. Merely Magnificent

Bicycle lanes are a tremendous problem in my town. Every driver parks his car on the bike lane, and you have nowhere to go except the street, with all the cars.

sorry, misplaced link

http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/AboutSydney/ParkingAndTransport/Cycling/TypesOfCycleways/default.asp