

Bicycle Boulevards Are Awesome [video] - MikeCapone
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/bike-boulevards-video-streetfilms-cycling-bicycles-bikes.php

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dasht
Dang, that's nice. Depicted in the video are several shots of Berkeley, CA
where I live. I gave up owning a car a few years back and use a bike for most
everything. I make pretty heavy use of our Bicycle Boulevards.

FWIW, here are some observations of things that commonly go wrong with these
systems:

One of the most important Bicycle Boulevards (hereafter, B.B.s) in Berkeley is
shared by spill-over traffic from a car boulevard because of the absence of
traffic-calming diverters. The absence of diverters occurs because the self-
same street is the main car route to the high school and to City gov't
offices. One of the huge negative side effects is that, because of the heavy
car traffic (no matter how polite the cars and bus traffic is) the pavement is
perpetually in horrible, life-threatening shape for cyclists. Either that
street needs diverters or the B.B. needs pushed aside one block.

Another weird problem with the B.B. concept is that on the one hand we teach
drivers that cycles are subject to the same rules of the road as cars.... and
on the other hand, B.B.s create situations where, for example, bikes can turn
left but cars can not. In my experience, this upsets and confuses a small but
significant subset of drivers. In one recent encounter a couple (otherwise
quite nice, I'm sure) went out of their way to menace me with their car, roll
down their windows, and shout at me about traffic law after I made an
otherwise perfectly safe and legal turn.

In a similar incident, I was once balled out by a driver for not using the
"bike lane" on a B.B., for one block, where there was distinctly no bike lane.
I probably delayed her trip by about 15 seconds. She doubled that in the time
she paused to chew me out. More commonly, there angry drivers who will
tailgate and menace cyclists on B.B.s, looking for a chance to edge around the
cyclist and cut them off at close quarters. If I could afford it, I would
probably ride with a video camera mounted on my bike to have these folks
cited.

That said, the B.B. situation in Berkeley mostly works and I want to give some
of the other side of the story:

One phenomenon that really, really hurts the B.B. infrastructure yet is far
too common are Idiot Cyclists who, themselves, abruptly cut off cars, blow off
stop signs or red lights, and menace pedestrians. The I.C.s have what's coming
to them but its the fall-out impact of them on responsible riders that really
bugs me.

One trick I've learned that sounds ever so obvious in retrospect yet that not
enough people do? If you are a cyclist, LEARN AND USE HAND SIGNALS and BE
LIBERAL WITH FRIENDLY NODS / WAVES OF THANKS TO CONSIDERATE DRIVERS. Many,
many (maybe most) drivers seem to greatly appreciate the cyclist who is both
unsurprising and appreciative of common courtesy. If you think cycling in
urban environments is important, go out of your way to socially reinforce good
car driving.

Another trick I've learned is that, when it matters for your safety (really
matters) - don't be shy about "taking the lane". Sometimes, shoving yourself
towards the side of the road is far too risky compared to putting up with an
annoyed driver behind you for a block or two.

Another trick - amazingly under-practiced by cyclists in Berkeley - is RIDE
WITH AMPLE LIGHTING AND REFLECTION from dusk to dawn. The number of
uncomfortable near accidents I've had with cars is comparable to the number of
uncomfortable near accidents I've had with Idiot Cyclists who speed, ignore
stops, dress in dark clothes, and ride in poor lighting with no lights.

Also, wear a damn helmet!

