Bike lanes for Everyone
Goal: To increase the people riding bicycles as a normal part of every day life
People riding bicycles as a normal part of every day life Regardless of age, gender, and social / economic / ethnic background
Eventually we do need a grid of bikeways with a permanent physical separation between cyclists and motor vehicles
If we want to promote cycling for everyone If the goal is to substantially increase cycling
Consider Vulnerability
From the point of view of mobility, the most vulnerable are: People walking People riding bicycles Public transit users People in cars
From the point of view of age, the most vulnerable are: Children Older Adults
IF Bike way NETWORK is good enough for children and older adults (8-80 Cities), those who do not drive, then it will be good for everyone else.
Otherwise it s nothing more than infrastructure for a small interest group and should be improved
If everything that we do for bicycle infrastructure the indicator is that it must be great for 8 and 80 year olds, then it will be good for everyone else.
Ideally every city promoting cycling should move in the direction of Copenhagen
NETWO Not a bikewa
Today 38 of every 100 trips are done on bicycles AND there is a process of Continuous Improvement The Best Bicycle City in the World Aim for 2015 More than 50% bike to work 50% reduction of accidents 80% feeling safe bicycling
The Best Bicycle City in the World Aim for 2015 More than 50% bike to work 50% reduction of accidents 80% feeling safe bicycling The Best Bicycle City in the World Aim for 2015 More than 50% bike to work 50% reduction of accidents 80% feeling safe bicycling
Although Copenhagen probably has the best cycling infrastructure of any large city, based on connectivity, safety and use, they are constantly improving and making it even better.
Easy, Fast & Convenient and Safe for ALL
Sydney, Australia and many others are moving in that direction
Sydney and many others changing painted lines for protected bikeways
Is painting lines on the pavement good enough?
Painting lines on the pavement benefit the existing cyclists, but does not increase by much the people riding bicycles
If you do not have the funding or political will, is it an initial first step?
Is it better than nothing?
Attitude We ll improve in the future
If you fail, you might not have a second chance
If people do not use the arterial streets with painted lines, it will back fire and the enemies of cycling will claim that your city does not have a bicycle culture
Even former political supporters will not want anything to do with promoting cycling once they ve had a political cost
You must do it right from the beginning.
The difficult part is to get the space for a grid of bike lanes approved!
Now you need to do it right and make sure they are used as much as possible.
Do not just do a grid of bike lanes.
Create: Bike lane +
Create: Enhanced Bike lane
The name is not important Create you own city model (as others are doing it)
The separation can be temporary with painted buffers AND plastic bollards or others as shown BUT YOU NEED TO FOLLOW THE SAME BASIC PRINCIPLES
BASIC PRINCIPLES: Must have: Must have: Nice to have: 1. Connectivity 2. Consistency 3. Comfortable
1- Connectivity: An enhanced bike lane is nothing; you need a GRID of enhanced bike lanes that connect places of origin with destinations
1- Connectivity: The grid of enhanced bike lanes should use main streets, where people want to be and to go; usually it s the shortest distance and most direct route
1- Connectivity: ALL neighbourhood streets should follow the recommendations of the WHO and EU Parliament and have a maximum speed for cars of 30 Kph / 20 Mph, including setting barriers to make this happen On these streets you do not need to have protected bikeways
2- Consistency: The enhanced bike lane is next to the side-walk and to the right of parked cars
2- Consistency: On arterials, Uni-directional. Always. Safety: impact of a coalition is many times greater if the bicycle is head-on to the car than if it is on the side. In parks and beaches, NOT on arterial roads, it can be bi-directional
2- Consistency: Cyclists know pedestrians are always to their right and motor vehicles to their left. Car drivers also know cyclists are always to their right.
3- Comfortable: Many of these are nice to have elements which make cycling More comfortable to existing cyclists but which do NOT get many additional cyclists in absence of the must have Connectivity and Consistency Public bicycle systems Bicycle parking
3- Comfortable: Many of these are nice to have elements which make cycling More comfortable to existing cyclists but which do NOT get many additional cyclists in absence of the must have Connectivity and Consistency Bicycle racks on buses Public bicycle systems
What do Regular un-safe Bike lanes look like?
What do Enhanced Bike lanes look like?
Mexico City
Mexico City
NYC under great leadership has done much to change minds in North America about protected bikelanes
NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan
NYC Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden
Visited Copenhagen Not to copy & paste but TO ADAPT Commisioner for Transportation: Janette Sadik-Khan Commisioner for Planning: Amanda Burden
9 th Avenue Manhattan
NYC s 9 th Avenue - Before
NYC Gets Its First-Ever Physically-Separated Bike Path NYC s Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said bicycles will be separated from auto traffic. "It represents the kinds of innovative ideas that we can explore to make the streets more livable" New York Times, September 20, 2007
NOT 30 months later NOT 30 weeks later In just 30 DAYS
From this
It s not financial or technical, it s POLITICAL
Portland, USA, has the best infrastructure of painted lines in the world. And they did increase from 2% to 6%, but then it flattened.
Portland, USA, recently did a major study to see how to increase cycling in the city. The conclusion was that different riders have different needs.
Different Riders, Different Needs Population Bar ALL residents
Different Riders, Different Needs Interested but concerned No way no how Strong & Fearless Will ride regardless of facilities. Often ride long distances. Enthused & Confident Comfortable in traffic with facilities i.e. Bike lanes Interested but Concerned Not comfortable in traffic. Prefer low-volume, low-speed. Bike boulevards. On arterials, grid of bikeways physically separated from cars and pedestrians. Who do you want Bicycling?
Who do we want cycling in our community? We also want the 98%+ who are NOT currently cycling in North America, Especially those who are not doing it Because of lack of SAFE facilities
Portland, USA, now are building protected bikeways in order to substantially increase numbers with additional people riding bicycles
Chicago, USA has learned from NYC and Portland. Now they are building a network of 100 miles / 160 kilometres of enhanced bikeways in 20 months!
Creating a NETWORK of Enhanced Bike Lanes
It s not a financial issue
It s not a technical issue
It s a POLITICAL issue
3 Legged Stool for Change
3 Legged Stool for Change Elected Officials Municipal, Prov., Federal, Board Edu.
3 Legged Stool for Change City Staff Transportation, Health, Planning, Environment, Edu., Econ. Dev. Finance...ALL
3 Legged Stool for Change Community Activists, Media, NGOs, Business, ALL
Community Activists, Media, NGOs, Business, ALL Sense of Urgency Elected Officials Municipal, Provi., Federal, Board Edu. City Staff Transportation, Health, Planning, Environment, Education, Finance...ALL
3 Legged Stool for Change Sense of Urgency
3 Legged Stool for Change Elected Officials Municipal, Prov, Fed., Board Edu. Sense of Urgency Community Activists, Media, NGOs, Business, ALL City Staff Transportation, Health, Planning, Environment, Education, Finance...ALL
The ducks are in a row
It was about doing things right
But what if the ducks are walking in the wrong direction? Like painting lines on the pavement, even if they are beautifully painted?
Now, in addition to doing things right We need to do the right things!
Video resources: General cycling videos: www.8-80cities.org/cycling.html The case for physically separated bikeways http://www.8-80cities.org/videos02.html Cycling in Copenhagen and Amsterdam www.8-80cities.org/videos14.html Chicago s Kinzie street & San Francisco s Innovative Solutions www.streetfilms.org/category/bicycles/
Thanks! Creating SAFE cycling infrastructure in Cities For ALL: From 8 80 Gil Penalosa, Executive Director, 8-80 Cities May 2012 For more information and/or to receive our free monthly newsletter: www.8-80cities.org Penalosa_G -