hooray for bike lanes!
Thread started by
bicigol at 10.19.06 - 10:33 am
last night it wasn't there, and this morning it is!
nice freshly painted bike lane on santa monica between sepulveda and avenue of the stars
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Not to be a pooper, but this I lean toward this take on bike lanes:
http://perc.ca/PEN/1998-05-06/s-code.html
I may be wrong.
Joe Borfo10.19.06 - 1:24 pm
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pros and cons:
http://bicycleuniverse.info/transpo/bikelanes.html
Joe Borfo10.19.06 - 1:29 pm
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Now when you get out of the bike lane you'll here the screams of, "Get in the F**KING bike lane!"
Mr. Raymond10.19.06 - 1:36 pm
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Having moved from a city that has no bike lanes whatsoever, to here, it is my experience that a city with designated bike lanes is WAY better to get around by bike than one without.
Signs, such as "Bike Lane", "Share the road" and "Bike Route", etc may be ignored by many motorists, but it is night and day between the way cyclists are treated here vs. cities that spend little or no money at all on Bicycle signage.
There are good points for debating pro and con, but IMHO they help considerably.
Hooray for Bike Lanes!
I want more of them.
BillyB10.19.06 - 2:11 pm
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Howdy. What I like about bike lanes is that they put drivers on alert and justify your right to at least some space on the road where often times that right seems to be in major dispute if there are no bike lanes at all. No matter what signage is available drivers don't give a fuck. Maybe with the exception of sharrows.
What I don't like is that the bike lanes put you in danger of getting doored by ignorant people parked and getting out of their cars.
My solution is to ride on the outer left edge of the bike lane. At times I will ride just outside the left edge of the bike lane in the car lane. This usually gives me enough room to avoid getting doored and leaves me still with a cusion to the left for which cars drive more to the right to avoid me and don't quite find it justify-able to harass me. Of course if I do get harassed best believe I will catch them at the next light. Best believe they get an earful and some.
I actually believe more in the idea of sharrows than bike lanes. But I'll take what I can get. Sharrows are easier to get put in and they look and feel kind of like a bike lane which puts drivers on alert and also leaves it to the bicyclists disgression as to what postion is safe.
Mr.PotatoHed10.19.06 - 3:48 pm
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Bike lanes have been a huge can-o-worms ever since they came about. Sometimes I like them and sometimes I don't. It's truly a situational thing with me, depending on location and current conditions.
Jeronimo10.19.06 - 4:25 pm
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I guess that's what it comes down to Jeronimo.
I also like how sharrows work.
Joe Borfo10.19.06 - 5:02 pm
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extra space is better than no space at all
adrian10.26.06 - 9:24 am
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sharrows are large painted arrows with bicycle icons painted on the road. they don't have an enclosing lane line but rather are just painted in the same area that a bike lane would be... there is a lot of argument for these instead of bike lanes because they are much easier to get put in.....
this article argues against them:
http://www.svbcbikes.org/crank/nov-dec-04/sharrows.php
I kind of like the idea of them but have never gotten to ride on a street marked with them....
Roadblock10.26.06 - 9:43 am
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I have never seen one of those, on any of the streets I ride on.
panic10.26.06 - 9:47 am
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Yeah, I really like how sharrows remind cars to share the road with cyclists. Also how it gives moore room to the cyclist for avoiding car door openings. It's just less restrictive than those tight "bike lanes".
http://www.cicle.org/cicle_content/pivot/entry.php?id=279
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0831/p14s02-ussc.html
http://www.bicycle.sfgov.org/site/dptbike_index.asp?id=28372
Joe Borfo10.26.06 - 9:57 am
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HEY what the hell is with the BUS driving in the bike lane on Venice Blvd heading east between La Cienega and Fairfax?!!!
i see the busses drive for a half mile in the 10 ft wide bike lane!!! all the time...watch out.. the drivers are asshats... one time one almost hit me and another forced me into traffic
has this happened to you?
Watch out!
i see busses do this other places, is it legal or something?
j3r3my10.31.06 - 10:14 pm
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I have dealt with the 33 and 333 on Venice Blvd a ba-jillion times.
Yeah, they ride in the bike lanes - but only when they have to swoop into a bus stop to pick up passengers. If you know what's coming you can prepare for their maneuvers.
Basically, you will end up riding around the bus in the traffic lane. Practice looking over your shoulder and moving into car traffic. Yay.
I should note: I kick the buses' ass by at least ten minutes when I ride out of downtown to Venice. Once you pass that sucker at Pico Union you won't see it again unitl Western - and after that, they'll be stopping at every major intersection. If you make the lights, the bus is history.
The most dangerous thing I deal with on Venice are the freeway onramps and offramps and the intersection at San Vicente. Watch your ass headng west at that San Vicente intersection. Hollywood types in convertibles going 50 don't give a shit about mowing you down to save 2 seconds in the course of their right turn onto San Vicente.
More Venice Blvd. tips - make some friendly eye contact with people turning left and give a police siren shout to people turning right ont Venice. Once they know you're there - they're likely to give you some space.
I've had a bunch of friendly mini conversations with people in cars on Venice at the stop lights. You've just got to hold your own, and be confident. The bus ain't no thang.
ubrayj0211.1.06 - 11:32 am
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i see the 33 and 333 busses breaking the law all the time during rush hour...its not only when they need to make a stop either... its their job to drive safe...if you need to file a compaint you can do it here online...http://mtaweb6.mta.net/cc/cc.asp
i find my commute from eastside downtown to santa monica is faster than the bus too... even faster than a car...i beat my car driving friends everytime during rush hour. its kinda cool when you beat them to the party on a bike!~
:)
j3r3my11.12.06 - 9:58 pm
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ha.
yeah its a sense of relief.
i tend to ride in the street even if theres a bike lane. its less restricting... at least when possible.
ilikemybike11.16.06 - 12:49 am
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guess its better then not having them. but damn, I wish they had some way of letting non bikers LEARN that were entitled to the ROAD as much as they are. uh oh.. venting...
deep breaths...
sup?
(Hey MR, RAYMOND! It was cool meeting you or re-meeting you. get a hold of me if you want to ride with Trent Way Bike Gang holmes!
Joe DOT Borfo AT gmail DOT com
Joe Borfo11.16.06 - 1:37 am
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I am running for my neighborhood council to try and slow down car traffic. I think that bike lanes are o.k. - but that the real problem is the massive speed difference between cyclists and pedestrans vs. automobiles.
If cars drive slower, everyone benefits (except the dude in the car trying to drive too fast): biking is safer, walking is safer, business in commercial areas get more revenue (people driving slowly tend to stop and shop at slower stretches of road).
Our transporation money is wasted on highway widening, when we can move more people by bike for a fraction of the cost of road construction. In certain areas of L.A. it makes sense to slow down car traffic and invest in making the streets safer for cyclists vs. pedestrians - because who needs a bike lane if cars are only driving 15 mph down the street anyway?
ubrayj0211.22.06 - 9:30 pm
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