Slightly off topic: Are your bike lanes used much? We (Honolulu) grabbed some Fed money and put in some bike lanes - taking a full lane out of whatever street was involved. Perhaps our busiest street went from 6 lanes of car/truck traffic to 5 with one bike lane. I use that street quite often as it connects to much of what I do (shopping, doctors, CPA, etc.) Even 5 years later, bike traffic is what I would call "minimal." However, when crossing the bike lane (for instance, to enter a parking structure or lot in mid block) it is all but impossible to see bikes coming - especially from the same direction of travel. There is an on street parking lane and that blocks the view of bikes. Thus there have been close calls (do not know if accidents) but I am paranoid and simply look for a place on the street if at all possible to park rather than cross that lane. Slowing enough to adequately look for bike traffic prior to a turn then backs up traffic in your lane. So far, I would call it a lose-lose for cars and win-lose for bikes. (IOW bikes have a beautiful new lane, but it's dangerous as all get out. It "looks" safe, cause bikes "seem" to have the lane all to themselves, but, in fact, cars do still cross that lane and can not see the bikes.)
I'm not anti-bike. But I have come to the conclusion that bikes and cars don't mix. Most bikes do not obey traffic rules. I understand not wanting to stop for stop signs and red lights once momentum has been achieved. I also understand that a big advantage of a bike is it can zip in and out of "blocked" or slowed traffic, making a bike much faster than most traffic on major streets. BUT, those practices can be problematic.
If we started from a clean slate, there might be a way to separate bikes and cars. As it is, it is dangerous for bikes and problematic for drivers. Also, it doesn't seem to reduce traffic as there are too few bikes even after 5 years of experience.
So, just wondering about other places which are doing the Fed money thing. What has been your experience as YMMV?
For a different perspective on this, spend some time in a big European city that has gone all-in on bike commuting --- I've done so in both Amsterdam and Vienna, as pedestrian and as biker.
It takes some mental adaptation, but IMO it's a fantastic system when people get used to it. As a pedestrian crossing a street in Amsterdam, you look both ways crossing multiple flows of bike and car traffic. But you can adapt, it's just a matter of tuning expectations. As a biker in, say, Vienna, the major bike lanes are flat out bike freeways, you don't stop in the lane for a second, you keep your speed up and recognize that people aren't just out for recreational biking, they're mostly
going somewhere, just like the cars.
There are a whole lot of U.S. bike lanes that aren't well thought out in one way or another, yet in general still great to see them expand. I think there can be a sort of tipping point where you have a sufficiently extensive network of such lanes and of sufficient quality that a biking culture and mentality can emerge. Do it sort of half-heartedly and you get a tepid response, and conclude thereby that "people don't want to bike".
In my area the type of "bike lane" I dislike most are the sort of pretend kind where the city seems to be just going through the motions in order to be able to claim a larger network of lanes or something.
They paint a stripe by the side of the road --- often on just one side of the road --- that's marginally wide enough for a bike but doesn't leave one feeling terribly safe as the cars zoom by very close to you. And they include in this narrow lane a pavement transition with a sort of crack and slope so that it's tricky to ride in the lane. And of course various types of road debris all gravitates into it, sometimes in substantial amounts. There's an example of this not far from me on a high traffic road where cars go at significant speed. I just ride on the sidewalk if I have to use that road, the "bike lane" is just insufficient.
Another thing about bike lanes in even very bike-friendly U.S. cities is that they can be great if they happen to get you near where you want to go, or if you're just out riding for recreation. If you're using your bike for basic transportation, however, I find they almost always come up short --- to get to a particular business or shop or service you end up on an extensive stretch where you're on a sidewalk or biking a busy road with too little space between you and the cars. Or forcing yourself out into the lane, thus annoying/angering the drivers behind you.
. Catch was that sometimes the wind would come up such that you felt like you could use some eBike support anyway !
