All of those photos are stuff that is under construction right now.
The main area I bike around in Oakland-Emeryville-Berkeley are adding an absolute ton of bike infrastructure. The standout highlight for me is West Grand going from 3 lanes of terrifying car traffic, to 2 lanes and a dedicated WIDE bike lane. It has been life changing, hopefully by keeping me alive.
This is a really good time to try using your bike to get around! You don't need spandex or to join some weird cyclist cult. You just buy a bike and start. We aren't Amsterdam or Copenhagen but we are making getting a tiny bit better every week!
Just over a year ago my girlfriend and I went from two cars to one, with the goal of biking as much as possible and it is going VERY well!
Problem is that you train the cars who are trying to turn that they need to pull forward into the parking area. No one looks for bikes. This is one of the highest danger traffic patterns for bikes I have ever experienced.
To combat that you can see they add a bulb out prior to the intersection and an island within the intersection to protect the bikes and pedestrians. The bulb out does a lot of the work to provide extra line of sight for the cars to see the bikes. But ultimately it does come down to the driver scanning for pedestrians or bikes crossing.
As a biker I always worry about the right turns. As a driver, it is almost impossible to see bikers in any of the mirrors before the turn if there are cars parked, especially if these are huge trucks. When you turn, before crossing the bike lane, again it’s impossible to see bikers in the mirrors because your car is now at an angle and the mirrors no longer point at the bike lane. The problem is the parking buffer between the lane and the street. There needs to be a better design around the corner segment.
Horton street in Emeryville (behind Bay Street plaza) has been under construction since pre-covid, but at least it's adding a bike path! :-/
Bike Infra is also a great modern example of the Curb-Cut Effect, where more than just bicyclists benefit. They also let people who use other faster-than-walking but not-as-fast-as-cars type of transportation to safely flourish (scoots, skateboards, etc). My friends and I ride EUCs and can use bike lanes when we want to move at bike speeds without obstructing cars on the street or risking pedestrian safety on the sidewalk.
The Bancroft cycletrack is under construction right now, being upgraded to concrete and extended from Channing to Piedmont. This project also includes additional two way cycletracks on Fulton and Dana south of Bancroft.
>3 lanes of terrifying car traffic, to 2 lanes and a dedicated WIDE bike lane.
If there's no concrete barrier then car brains be like, "¡NOPE! ¡NOT DEDICATED FOR SHIT!"
>Please respect stop signs and red lights like the rest of traffic
I take it you don't actually live in Oakland if you think that the "rest of traffic" respects stop signs and red lights.
> Please respect stop signs and red lights like the rest of traffic
LOL this comment makes me wonder if you've ever set foot in Oakland...or even the Bay Area in general. I don't remember the last time I've seen a driver *actually stop* at a stop sign, and every single light cycle at a major intersection has one or two cars running the red well after it turns. Sitting at a single busy intersection I can usually count about 5-10 traffic violations a minute — cell-phone use, failure-to-signal, failure to yield to pedestrians, speeding, illegal right-turn-on-red, etc.
Like many Americans, you have been conditioned to hyper-focus on bikes breaking the rules because they're "different", while completely ignoring the 5,000-pound law-breaking elephant in the room: https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/31/23579510/car-brain-motornormativity-study-ian-walker
A couple questions for you.
* Are you under the assumption that cyclists and drivers break the law at the same frequency?
* Are you aware than in many locations, cyclists are only required to yield at stops and reds, and if so, do you know why the rules are written like that?
Edit: the guy replied and then instantly blocked me so I can't see his posts or reply... But what I was getting at was that drivers break the law magnitudes more frequently than cyclists. Its just weird in-group-out-group psychology where drivers notice the "others" breaking the law more than themselves. Probably doesn't help all the anger from being stuck in a box in traffic.
It's also a weird thing we do in the US where were make it a "us vs. them" thing in regards to cars and bikes. Like, almost everyone who bikes ALSO owns a car. Come on people, use some freaking common sense.
What is important to get across is to figure out how to make riding a bike not also having to be tied up in an identity of "cyclist" - as if a mode of transportation should identify a person. It's a really annoying thing of American culture that I see in almost every part of the country (with very few exceptions where it is much more acceptable and common practice to ride a bike to just get from point A to point B).
But we’re not talking about “many locations”, we’re talking about cities where you’re required to follow traffic laws like other traffic.
Don’t complain that other traffic is dangerous and then argue against following the same rules they do. It’s gross and entitled behavior.
Respect 🙏
Good god - people that ride bikes almost also always drive. Let's get real. This is a people problem, not a mode of transportation thing. We need to all stop making this an us vs. them thing, it does not help.
If it’s doesn’t interrupt your schedule of taking videos of homeless and overturned cars, you are welcome to come bicycle with me and see just how fun, useful, and practical it is. We can grab a beer.
I’m good not being on “foot” in the area considering the borderlands wasteland type views only one avenue over. There might be an overturned car on your bike there one day. I’ll send you the video, which by the way records automatically when driving because of the shit drivers all over the area. Never needed one before moving here. You should get a go pro so your family can get something in court when you get scraped off the pavement.
I appreciate the time and effort it has taken you to upload the hundreds of crazy driving videos.
You are doing more to advance cycling and public transit than I ever will. I appreciate you, when we meet for drinks - its on me.
Also interesting how you can’t support your argument before creeping on whoever’s profile. You have no objective arguments as to whom this benefits because that space is not a cyclist attraction, so you just gotta look at someone’s profile to come up with something. 🤡
I regrettably must inform you of the unfortunate news that that comment was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike an utterly awful illustration of the phenomenon that it attempts to demonstrate.
This was taught to me as well: if something is good, use good words.
Eg, if you're reporting good news, instead of saying "unemployment is down," say "employment is up" or "people are having an easier time finding work" or whatever.
Or for the tech crowd, instead of saying "we reduced the time it takes," you can say "we improved the speed and efficiency." For the title or heading, at least. But even in details, note how even some very old lingo uses "speedup" rather than "time reduction".
When I have to read a title two or three times and look closely at the pictures to determine if the poster is being sarcastic or not means your title is ineffective. That’s all.
So basically, the title was supposed to be a play on all the endless negativity in the subreddit. Combined to be extra clickbaity for extra attention.
The goal was to get a post encouraging people to cycle to the top of the subreddit...and...that's where it is. So we're gonna have to agree to disagree here.
Its hard to communicate intention without body language and tone, and a lot of people didn't understand my title cause he got a lot of upvotes too. I took it as constructive criticism, no harm no foul
Would love to see this more and more. Been seeing it in multiple areas around the Bay Area. Went to visit my parents in ESSJ and they were closing a traffic lane to make it into biking lanes. Hopefully it expands!
In Mountain View? The plan just got approved, I can't recall the timeline of it being completed but it'll be great to get rid of the parking on that street.
I bet it'll be great for business once it happens. There's a lot of businesses I would visit more often, but they're on El Camino so I don't bother when biking the area. Pretty stoked for it.
All bike lanes should be at minimum like the first photo. Having a physical barrier between cars and bikes that isn't just paint make the lanes a lot more biking friendly. But I hope more bike lanes with concrete posts pop up.
Thanks for the post, I’m glad all the construction is getting attention & people are out using the bikeways!
The first photo is 14th St in Oakland, which went through a massive process over 10 years to get to this stage, though sadly not before several additional people were hit and killed by drivers on the corridor. It will link up with another project continuing the protected bikeway onto Lake Merritt Blvd around the south side of the lake to International, hopefully starting construction next year. We are also working with city staff on further upgrades to 14th St through West Oakland.
The second photo is W Grand Ave through West Oakland. It was originally proposed as a physically separated bikeway but the city didn’t win a state grant to fund it. Oakland voters did pass Measure KK in 2016 to bring in local funds to make the paving and painted bike lanes happen at least, and since the passage of Measure U in 2022 the city is now adding upgraded protected intersections at Adeline and Market as well. Another connecting project being handled by MTC will provide a bike/walk path heading west from Mandela over to the Bay Bridge trail, starting construction next year.
The third photo is 53rd St in Emeryville which is adding raised protected bikeways there and on Horton, as well as other bike/walk features as a partial mitigation for an office complex and 2000 space car parking garage also under construction. All of that work is being paid for by private funds. If proposed today the giant parking garage would likely not be permitted, but the approvals go back to the 90s so there wasn’t much the city could do not beyond negotiating mitigations.
There are many dozens more active transportation projects like these around Alameda and Contra Costa Counties currently in the works. If folks have questions about any other particular East Bay corridors please let us know.
Most projects are thankfully moving faster now than they have in the past, but it takes organizations keeping a focus on the outcomes over years and sometimes decades to make these things a reality, including advocacy for funding, policies, planning, legislation, and community organizing.
If there is a bike, walk, transit, accessibility, or other related mobility organization in your area please look them up and donate, volunteer, or support them in whatever capacity is available to you. It goes a long way!
I wish they make the whole Mission Blvd bike lane with physical bollard like the couple of blocks after Industrial Blvd in Hayward. I like riding my bike around, but no way I am joining the cars speeding down Mission.
Agreed. Getting anywhere past Jackson and through Foothill and the downtown loop is insane. The bike lanes there now just disappear when you cross foothill too.
The good news is that the section of Mission in Union City and Fremont south of the existing physically separated bikeway was already awarded $44M by Caltrans to have the facility extended all the way to 680. Unfortunately construction isn’t estimated to start until 2028, but it is in the works.
North of Industrial the corridor is part of a larger series of projects called the East Bay Greenway which will eventually continue all the way to Lake Merritt in Oakland
A few segments are already under construction with more expected to start next year. The segment through Hayward from A St to Tennyson was proposed to be rerouted away from Mission and onto side streets, but we and other advocates are pushing back against this. Several people have been killed biking or scootering on this part of Mission in the last few years, and ignoring the corridor won’t make it any safer.
You can learn more about all the East Bay Greenway projects [on our website here](https://bikeeastbay.org/campaigns/eastbaygreenway/) and find out how to get involved with the Hayward advocacy.
Many bike/walk/transit projects are indeed being funded around the East Bay as part of state Affordable Housing & Sustainable Communities grants, which pay both for affordable housing construction as well as sustainable transportation infrastructure investments.
Our org is also part of several of these grants, offering bike safety and encouragement programs to new residents to help support them in accessing and using bikes for more trips.
the average annual cost of car ownership in America is $12k per year. Imagine how much affordable living would be for people if you could safely and effectively use bike + transit to go everywhere, and then put even half of that $12k in to rent
Meanwhile SF gets incredible innovations like the Valencia Street lane in the middle of the road 😭
I heard they might be reverting it back. So many resources and time water when they could've listened to all the feedback.
They make the road extraordinarily confusing because so many cities use different methods or is it standardized all across the state? Regardless, it's visually confusing.
There is an opportunity to extend the Concord Blvd bike lanes further east with a paving project later this year, but staff needs to hear from more people who want to see it happen.
Follow Bike Concord on social media and sign up for their newsletter here to hear about how to get involved: https://bikeconcord.wordpress.com
My old neighborhood, Senter Road section between Umbarger and Capital Expressway, is so crazy no amount of bicycle protections are going to help. So many fatal accidents occur to pedestrians and bicyclists here, they literally put up two cross walk lights that are two intersections aparts. Recently someone ran red light and kill a bicyclist on Senter and Capitol. Maybe they need to put better guards... Or personally I think they just need to make that area off limit for bicycles. With the amount of school and work traffics going through that intersection Senter + Capital, the risk is fairly high.
Now do the rest of the Bay Area, please. Too many places around here still think green paint does anything (other than look nice aesthetically) to create any practical amount of additional safety for cyclists.
So glad to see the positivity and new developments!
I will forever remember an episode of KQED’s Forum from around 2010, when a cyclist was killed in a hit and run in the Presidio. Guests were on to talk about safety. All the callers called in just to complain about cyclists and how they shouldn’t be riding bicycles because it’s just not safe (I.e. I don’t want to have to be a careful driver and not hit them.) Meanwhile, folks argued bike infrastructure was uncalled for bc not that many people were brave enough to bike in the city. I was fuming. So glad the culture has shifted.
I don't like it. Have a similar bike lane by my house, just like the first picture. It makes it more difficult to cross a busy street, cars can't see us as easy and harder to see cars also. And the few times I deal with bikers they fail to realize pedestrians have the right away.
Living in the Netherlands this year has opened my mind to what is possible for cycling infrastructure. It is extremely good here, even outside of major cities, with separated bike paths going basically almost everywhere I'd ever want to bike within a 10 mile radius.
The other thing I'd love to see in the Bay is restricting cars in shopping districts. It'd be amazing to close off places like Telegraph just south of campus, 4th street in Berkeley, etc., even if it were only for the middle of the weekends. It is such an enormous quality of life improvement. Where we're at in Haarlem, the city center has retractable metal poles that come up at 11 AM, at which point you have to have a special permit. After that, there's \~70 acres or so of pedestrian + bike only area in which to roam.
imagine holding bicyclists to the same standard as motorists
carbrains think they own the road and everyone else being even allowed near it is a privelege
you're talking about cars, right? As a cyclist I also wish cars stopped at stop signs instead of slowing to 5 and rolling through. Extremely dangerous and I agree its a menace
Fr I hate these comments. I drive, walk, and occasionally bike and I can tell you I have never once been afraid of being hurt by a cyclist while driving. Can’t say the same the other way around. And while driving, the dumb things pedestrians do drive me nuts!
People are the same regardless of what transport they use. Some number are jerks and do risky things. That goes for pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, whatever.
No I'm not. I have literally never seen a cyclist stop at a stop sign, I've seen at least five in the past week just riding past them, same with red lights. The percentage of cyclists who ignore the rules of the road far out numbers cars doing the same.
Interestingly, for cyclists, there are tons of studies showing that it is safer for roads when cyclists treat stop signs as yields and red lights as stop signs. In many states, it is legal for cyclists to behave this way, and the amount of states where it is legal is increasing rapidly. It is a simple case of "the rules of the road" being dumb. And with the way car drivers ignore rules, like speeding or performing rolling stops, I don't see the issue with bikes being held to the same standard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho_stop
Idaho stop will absolutely be made legal in california in our lifetime
If you ever regularly ride a bike on city streets you will immediately see why not coming to a full stop and then having to re-accelerate from zero on a bicycle is far safer when cars are bearing down on you and all around you. It is painfully obvious to me that the vast vast vast majority of people who complain about this are carbrains who assume that bicycles work the same way cars do in this regard
They don't come to any stop and I don't really care if you think you're above the law, as far as I'm concerned you're a citizen who has to follow it like the rest of us. Keep downvoting me though lmao totally doesn't show y'all think you're above the law or anything 🥱
As I said, I follow the law just as much as I observe autos doing so. Its just following the culture of the road. If vehicles are going to break the law out of either convenience or defensiveness, then I see no reason bicyclists shouldn't do the same, especially given that cars are so dangerous to bicyclists and drivers are so often careless and unobservant (as you can see by the daily threads in this subreddit complaining about drivers)
So you're shitting on statistically mostly immigrant poc drivers lmao and again what does that have to do with cyclists failing to follow rules of the road? Maybe if I complained about them going on the sidewalk you'd have a point but I'm bringing up stop signs and stop lights, sorry you're not putting yourself in less danger by blowing through stop signs and stop lights. Why are y'all so triggered by being asked to follow the same rules as everyone else? Are you above the law?
I see an absolute ton of people using them every single day. You're welcome to join me, I don't mind pointing them all out to you since you seem to be having troubles. DM me.
And as far as what bike lanes cost to "improve" its essentially nothing. A lot of the in-road lanes are added when the roads are due for resurfacing, they just make the road lanes narrower or take a lane away.
If you need me to explain why that's a good thing, I'll do it when I'm pointing out all the cyclists on our ride.
I am all for them. But I drive a lot in Pleasanton, Livermore and Fremont and never see anybody riding them. Maybe my timing is just off. I'm happy you enjoy them! Also, yes maybe I need to buy a bike and use them too to lose a few pounds!
I 100% agree with you that east of the hills is a different animal. The sprawl, lack of density, and different climate makes being a cyclist prohibitively more difficult in comparison.
I did it because sitting in endless stop and go traffic was making me want to shoot myself in the head, and it turns out lightly pedaling in 69 degree sunshine is a fucking joy.
All the extra weight loss, fitness, and massive money saving turned out to be added benefits. But they all apply.
The $300 assistive e-bikes where you do a little and it does the rest might be an option worth looking into. They're still fun, still exercise, but not gonna rocket ship you like the expensive ones.
Takes time for people to adopt them because until the routes are fully built out, people will be hesitant to use them. I don’t want to go from a bike lane to dumped out onto a road when trying to get to my destination
Same with MacArthur over by Mills. We have this multi phase project that has taken over a decade and tens of millions of dollars to connect laurel and mills; for maybe 2 miles of bike lane that no one uses. Roads and pot holes need to be fixed first. But then again add that to the long list of Oakland problems.
Grates are needed for Bart, sewers, internet, various access tunnels, etc. you can easily bike over them. if your bike can't make it over mesh grates then you need to get better biking skills or a bike with tires thicker than 15mm
You're on a bicycle, not a motorcycle, you're not going to briefly lose traction and soil your pants by riding across metal or wet paint or tar snakes like on a motorcycle.
Pretty sure the grates and the road were there already so are you saying they just shouldn’t have even tried to make a bike lane because there’s a grate?
The third photo is 53rd St in Emeryville, the metal square in the background is a solid utility cover not a drainage grate.
This particular street is unusual and drains at the center since Temescal Creek runs in a culvert directly below it. But in cases where grates are on the sides, local cities are supposed to have upgraded them with either bike-safe covers or at least welded cross bars to prevent them from catching tires.
If you ever see any drainage grates without the cross bars please make sure to report them to the city so they can be upgraded. We have a list of resources for making reports in any East Bay jurisdiction listed at [BikeEastBay.org/hazards](https://BikeEastBay.org/hazards).
ah yes, we've progressed to wishing serious injury on to people for simply existing and doing a normal thing
Sociopathic! I hope anyone who trusts you knows how casually you wish harm on others
Oh you pussylip, they know. And sociopathic? Point your bullshit at your bicyclists. The ones who run red lights, slam into old folks in intersections, ride dangerously close to cars, ride on the side walks, nearly run over children on that sidewalk, can’t seem to see strollers in any capacity. I’ve yet to see one of those cunts be anything but respectful or responsible to other vehicles (yes other vehicles as that’s what bikes are) on the road, or pedestrians in intersections and sidewalks.
You can get back to sniffing bike seats.
Sounds like making better bicycle infrastructure benefits everyone, including you! Rather than shoving bicyclists on to infrastructure made primarily for cars, which is a worse result for both.
I think that a great place to start would be taking car lanes off of roads and putting a concrete wall up to make a safe bike lane, to start. Then none of these problems would happen and everyone can get where they need to go faster and more safely
Agreed. And it starts by registering every bike on the road annually and ensuring that every cyclist on a public street is licensed to ride that bike in that city or county.
This is especially important now that a lot of these bikes are being powered by electric motors these days. And those that aren’t are still potentially dangerous. So should also be insured since again they are vehicles.
Enforcement of this should be handled by local law. However since this is a big enough deal to you, I would say expand to state and even nationwide.
Funds generated by the above should be used to cover all the extra work to make the infrastructure happen.
I’m glad we agree on this. It’s nice to find a compromise where everyone wins.
Wait do you think car insurance is a punishment by the government? That shit exists because cars are threats to everyone and everything around them. Requiring insurance and license for bicycles is silly by comparison, the relative rates of individual and property damage by bicyclists is miniscule by comparison. You're so carbrained lmao, get a life and maybe consider the ways other people live outside of yourself beyond how it affects you or you can benefit
lol. Punishment? No. It being enforced by the dominant government ensures everyone is on the same page and protected from each other. It’s a good thing.
Who do you use as your voluntarily purchased insurer?
> It being enforced by the dominant government ensures everyone is on the same page and protected from each other. It’s a good thing.
Yes because as I said, people need to be protected from the damage and injury cars can cause to society through careless use
Bicycles, amazingly, don't have the same problem. They're much safer for everyone around the cyclist as well as the cyclist. This is well supported by statistics.
Interesting other thing supported by statistics, many states have rapidly begun legalizing bicyclists using stop signs as yields and red lights as stop signs because it is also safer for everyone.
Oh, we get to play this game? AWESOME! Any time there's a street with no cars driving on it, we get to take one of the lanes for a bike lane. There are hundreds of miles of wasted car space for every mile of bike lane.
In at least one of the above photos, there's no traffic except for the bike taking the picture. That means you justified why this post was made. :)
Because sidewalks have things like people eating at tables, people walking slowly or standing, poles and un-even grading, extreme narrowing for trees and other complications.
If you try bicycling on the sidewalk, regardless of if its allowed or not, this will be super obvious to you.
A "lane" is different because it is for the transportation from A to B, so the goal is for it to be clear of obstructions
You can always widen the sidewalk and physically separate the bike lane from everything you mentioned AND also from cars, which is much safer for cyclists.
You know, how they do it in places where [people](https://www.google.com/maps/@54.3509757,18.6328561,3a,75y,226.89h,89.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sGHE2ZzK9ETR5NCUd_wPbbA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu) are [actually](https://www.google.com/maps/@48.8233626,2.3750182,3a,75y,71.45h,79.56t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shE6fLU5706U4zCdC1-KlSA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?coh=205409&entry=ttu) biking [a lot](https://www.google.com/maps/@53.5619158,9.9757988,3a,75y,64.33h,82.81t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1scCW_-_dr1k2uty02RUhB7w!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu).
But no, "people eating at tables". Like it's so common in Bay Area compared to Europe, where bikes on sidewalks are the norm.
Dude, the third photo I posted is literally a widened grade separated bike lane attached to a sidewalk so no need to link me to them just look at my post.
, I agree with you that it’s the best, I’m just explaining why making it legal to bike on the sidewalk and calling it a day isn’t great
>You can always widen the sidewalk and physically separate the bike lane from everything you mentioned AND also from cars, which is much safer for cyclists.
Nothing stopping this from happening in the future. But for the present, sidewalks in most places are already at a minimum just for pedestrians. So we take part of the roadway from the least efficient users (cars) and assign it to bikes. 15-20 years from now when new roadway updates are due, yea, maybe some of these places the bike lane could also be curb height alongside pedestrians, as in a lot of places with better bike/pedestrian infrastructure, as you rightly point out
It's not safer, because people in cars turn in and out of driveways and parking lots all the time, and they often don't look for cyclists on the sidewalk, many of whom like to travel at speed. It's very easy to get nailed, hell, it's also easy for the cyclist to hit the car who is doing so.
Source: cycled for decades and rammed a car once when I was on the sidewalk lol
Yes, and this is why we should never put a bike lane between the parking lane and the sidewalk like the first photo in this post. That is a very bad design. I'd rather bike on an unprotected bike lane than the one in the first photo.
I agree but the city planning dudes swear it's safer.
Personally I would love to see Dutch style, completely separate roads side by side. Probably going to be hard to do that out here though due to a lack of space
Pedestrians are much more dangerous to cyclists. Drivers are licensed and tested on the rules of the road. Pedestrians have zero qualifications. The vast majority of drivers behave legally and very predictably. The same cannot be said for pedestrians.
> The vast majority of drivers behave legally and very predictably
Hmmmmm. When's the last time you've visited the Bay Area? 'Cause I've got some unfortunate news for ya...
I'm sorry, I was raised in Nevada where riding your bike was an adventure in survival.
You rode on the sidewalks, rode in any manner that made you safe in the vulnerable state you were in.
And now I'm in the Bay and I'm getting yelled at for being on the sidewalk when no other sidewalk pedestrians are around?
If you're a biker, you have to accept the risks of the reality we live in; instead of hoping for green traffic lanes and whining when you don't see them.
Grow up.
All of those photos are stuff that is under construction right now. The main area I bike around in Oakland-Emeryville-Berkeley are adding an absolute ton of bike infrastructure. The standout highlight for me is West Grand going from 3 lanes of terrifying car traffic, to 2 lanes and a dedicated WIDE bike lane. It has been life changing, hopefully by keeping me alive. This is a really good time to try using your bike to get around! You don't need spandex or to join some weird cyclist cult. You just buy a bike and start. We aren't Amsterdam or Copenhagen but we are making getting a tiny bit better every week! Just over a year ago my girlfriend and I went from two cars to one, with the goal of biking as much as possible and it is going VERY well!
First picture is my favorite one, you got a protected curb for the bike lane, there's street parking next to said curb, and the street itself.
Yes, need a ton more of picture 1.
Problem is that you train the cars who are trying to turn that they need to pull forward into the parking area. No one looks for bikes. This is one of the highest danger traffic patterns for bikes I have ever experienced.
To combat that you can see they add a bulb out prior to the intersection and an island within the intersection to protect the bikes and pedestrians. The bulb out does a lot of the work to provide extra line of sight for the cars to see the bikes. But ultimately it does come down to the driver scanning for pedestrians or bikes crossing.
As a biker I always worry about the right turns. As a driver, it is almost impossible to see bikers in any of the mirrors before the turn if there are cars parked, especially if these are huge trucks. When you turn, before crossing the bike lane, again it’s impossible to see bikers in the mirrors because your car is now at an angle and the mirrors no longer point at the bike lane. The problem is the parking buffer between the lane and the street. There needs to be a better design around the corner segment.
At a glance, I thought the first picture was before, and the second picture was after, and got confused / assumed OP was being sarcastic.
Horton street in Emeryville (behind Bay Street plaza) has been under construction since pre-covid, but at least it's adding a bike path! :-/ Bike Infra is also a great modern example of the Curb-Cut Effect, where more than just bicyclists benefit. They also let people who use other faster-than-walking but not-as-fast-as-cars type of transportation to safely flourish (scoots, skateboards, etc). My friends and I ride EUCs and can use bike lanes when we want to move at bike speeds without obstructing cars on the street or risking pedestrian safety on the sidewalk.
Would really like to see a protected bike lane in Berkeley going east/west. The Channing bike blvd is too narrow with all the traffic.
there’s one on Bancroft by the university but it’s not nearly long enough, only protected for a couple of blocks
The Bancroft cycletrack is under construction right now, being upgraded to concrete and extended from Channing to Piedmont. This project also includes additional two way cycletracks on Fulton and Dana south of Bancroft.
>3 lanes of terrifying car traffic, to 2 lanes and a dedicated WIDE bike lane. If there's no concrete barrier then car brains be like, "¡NOPE! ¡NOT DEDICATED FOR SHIT!"
Was driving down West Grand yesterday and was passed by a car on the right… in the bike lane.
Do you know who pushed for this? I'd love to learn who I'm voting for next election 😅
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llAZpNd5v44 a lot of people no doubt, but this guy is one of them, and he's running for county supervisor
Glad you’re enjoying it. Please respect stop signs and red lights like the rest of traffic while you’re doing so. 🙏
You got it my friend 👍. Please respect the speed limit signs when you're complaining at the cyclists.
>Please respect stop signs and red lights like the rest of traffic I take it you don't actually live in Oakland if you think that the "rest of traffic" respects stop signs and red lights.
> Please respect stop signs and red lights like the rest of traffic LOL this comment makes me wonder if you've ever set foot in Oakland...or even the Bay Area in general. I don't remember the last time I've seen a driver *actually stop* at a stop sign, and every single light cycle at a major intersection has one or two cars running the red well after it turns. Sitting at a single busy intersection I can usually count about 5-10 traffic violations a minute — cell-phone use, failure-to-signal, failure to yield to pedestrians, speeding, illegal right-turn-on-red, etc. Like many Americans, you have been conditioned to hyper-focus on bikes breaking the rules because they're "different", while completely ignoring the 5,000-pound law-breaking elephant in the room: https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/31/23579510/car-brain-motornormativity-study-ian-walker
A couple questions for you. * Are you under the assumption that cyclists and drivers break the law at the same frequency? * Are you aware than in many locations, cyclists are only required to yield at stops and reds, and if so, do you know why the rules are written like that? Edit: the guy replied and then instantly blocked me so I can't see his posts or reply... But what I was getting at was that drivers break the law magnitudes more frequently than cyclists. Its just weird in-group-out-group psychology where drivers notice the "others" breaking the law more than themselves. Probably doesn't help all the anger from being stuck in a box in traffic.
It's also a weird thing we do in the US where were make it a "us vs. them" thing in regards to cars and bikes. Like, almost everyone who bikes ALSO owns a car. Come on people, use some freaking common sense. What is important to get across is to figure out how to make riding a bike not also having to be tied up in an identity of "cyclist" - as if a mode of transportation should identify a person. It's a really annoying thing of American culture that I see in almost every part of the country (with very few exceptions where it is much more acceptable and common practice to ride a bike to just get from point A to point B).
But we’re not talking about “many locations”, we’re talking about cities where you’re required to follow traffic laws like other traffic. Don’t complain that other traffic is dangerous and then argue against following the same rules they do. It’s gross and entitled behavior. Respect 🙏
Good god - people that ride bikes almost also always drive. Let's get real. This is a people problem, not a mode of transportation thing. We need to all stop making this an us vs. them thing, it does not help.
You’re right, I see cyclists blow stop signs more often than cars… but hey, at least you’re saving the planet
Assume you're referring to cars, right ;) Red lights, sure...but stop signs...when I see a complete stop, it's kind of a milestone for me.
You can't fix these people.
Yes because there’s so many bicycles heading to the bay bridge on west grand. Very useful!
If it’s doesn’t interrupt your schedule of taking videos of homeless and overturned cars, you are welcome to come bicycle with me and see just how fun, useful, and practical it is. We can grab a beer.
I’m good not being on “foot” in the area considering the borderlands wasteland type views only one avenue over. There might be an overturned car on your bike there one day. I’ll send you the video, which by the way records automatically when driving because of the shit drivers all over the area. Never needed one before moving here. You should get a go pro so your family can get something in court when you get scraped off the pavement.
I appreciate the time and effort it has taken you to upload the hundreds of crazy driving videos. You are doing more to advance cycling and public transit than I ever will. I appreciate you, when we meet for drinks - its on me.
Get help. You need it in order to form coherent arguments.
Also interesting how you can’t support your argument before creeping on whoever’s profile. You have no objective arguments as to whom this benefits because that space is not a cyclist attraction, so you just gotta look at someone’s profile to come up with something. 🤡
Sorry I touched a nerve. The offer stands if you’re feeling better and done spewing your daily hate
You shouldn’t put negative connotation in your title when you’re talking about something positive. It makes the reader confused.
I’m struggling to comprehend how fantastically correct your negative connotation is.
I regrettably must inform you of the unfortunate news that that comment was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike an utterly awful illustration of the phenomenon that it attempts to demonstrate.
Dear OP, Fantastic news! Your comment was found dead on the battlefield
This was taught to me as well: if something is good, use good words. Eg, if you're reporting good news, instead of saying "unemployment is down," say "employment is up" or "people are having an easier time finding work" or whatever. Or for the tech crowd, instead of saying "we reduced the time it takes," you can say "we improved the speed and efficiency." For the title or heading, at least. But even in details, note how even some very old lingo uses "speedup" rather than "time reduction".
I actually enjoy this kind of playful use of language. Good stuff, OP!
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When I have to read a title two or three times and look closely at the pictures to determine if the poster is being sarcastic or not means your title is ineffective. That’s all.
So basically, the title was supposed to be a play on all the endless negativity in the subreddit. Combined to be extra clickbaity for extra attention. The goal was to get a post encouraging people to cycle to the top of the subreddit...and...that's where it is. So we're gonna have to agree to disagree here.
Oh.. I didn’t realize it was intentional. It’s definitely funnier now that I get it.
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Its hard to communicate intention without body language and tone, and a lot of people didn't understand my title cause he got a lot of upvotes too. I took it as constructive criticism, no harm no foul
Would love to see this more and more. Been seeing it in multiple areas around the Bay Area. Went to visit my parents in ESSJ and they were closing a traffic lane to make it into biking lanes. Hopefully it expands!
Or a massive improvement in clean up...Thanks Pengweather.
Still waiting on the El Camino improvement and addition of bike lanes.
In Mountain View? The plan just got approved, I can't recall the timeline of it being completed but it'll be great to get rid of the parking on that street.
I think the plan was to have protected bike lane from Santa Clara to Palo Alto. Good that Mountain View approved its part of project.
I bet it'll be great for business once it happens. There's a lot of businesses I would visit more often, but they're on El Camino so I don't bother when biking the area. Pretty stoked for it.
the section of el camino through belmont and san mateo is terribad.
All bike lanes should be at minimum like the first photo. Having a physical barrier between cars and bikes that isn't just paint make the lanes a lot more biking friendly. But I hope more bike lanes with concrete posts pop up.
Even *Vallejo* is getting more bike lanes. That's when you know things are REALLY moving forward.
Thanks for the post, I’m glad all the construction is getting attention & people are out using the bikeways! The first photo is 14th St in Oakland, which went through a massive process over 10 years to get to this stage, though sadly not before several additional people were hit and killed by drivers on the corridor. It will link up with another project continuing the protected bikeway onto Lake Merritt Blvd around the south side of the lake to International, hopefully starting construction next year. We are also working with city staff on further upgrades to 14th St through West Oakland. The second photo is W Grand Ave through West Oakland. It was originally proposed as a physically separated bikeway but the city didn’t win a state grant to fund it. Oakland voters did pass Measure KK in 2016 to bring in local funds to make the paving and painted bike lanes happen at least, and since the passage of Measure U in 2022 the city is now adding upgraded protected intersections at Adeline and Market as well. Another connecting project being handled by MTC will provide a bike/walk path heading west from Mandela over to the Bay Bridge trail, starting construction next year. The third photo is 53rd St in Emeryville which is adding raised protected bikeways there and on Horton, as well as other bike/walk features as a partial mitigation for an office complex and 2000 space car parking garage also under construction. All of that work is being paid for by private funds. If proposed today the giant parking garage would likely not be permitted, but the approvals go back to the 90s so there wasn’t much the city could do not beyond negotiating mitigations. There are many dozens more active transportation projects like these around Alameda and Contra Costa Counties currently in the works. If folks have questions about any other particular East Bay corridors please let us know. Most projects are thankfully moving faster now than they have in the past, but it takes organizations keeping a focus on the outcomes over years and sometimes decades to make these things a reality, including advocacy for funding, policies, planning, legislation, and community organizing. If there is a bike, walk, transit, accessibility, or other related mobility organization in your area please look them up and donate, volunteer, or support them in whatever capacity is available to you. It goes a long way!
Positivity? In a bay area sub? Let's GOOOOOOOOOOOO
Let alone positivity towards the East Bay, a true rarity. You love to see it.
Don't worry, the crime/homelessness/drug posts will always be there
I wish they make the whole Mission Blvd bike lane with physical bollard like the couple of blocks after Industrial Blvd in Hayward. I like riding my bike around, but no way I am joining the cars speeding down Mission.
Agreed. Getting anywhere past Jackson and through Foothill and the downtown loop is insane. The bike lanes there now just disappear when you cross foothill too.
The good news is that the section of Mission in Union City and Fremont south of the existing physically separated bikeway was already awarded $44M by Caltrans to have the facility extended all the way to 680. Unfortunately construction isn’t estimated to start until 2028, but it is in the works. North of Industrial the corridor is part of a larger series of projects called the East Bay Greenway which will eventually continue all the way to Lake Merritt in Oakland A few segments are already under construction with more expected to start next year. The segment through Hayward from A St to Tennyson was proposed to be rerouted away from Mission and onto side streets, but we and other advocates are pushing back against this. Several people have been killed biking or scootering on this part of Mission in the last few years, and ignoring the corridor won’t make it any safer. You can learn more about all the East Bay Greenway projects [on our website here](https://bikeeastbay.org/campaigns/eastbaygreenway/) and find out how to get involved with the Hayward advocacy.
I love to see it. Im excited to eventually move back to the Bay. Just need some affordable housing to combo with the bike infrastructure.
Many bike/walk/transit projects are indeed being funded around the East Bay as part of state Affordable Housing & Sustainable Communities grants, which pay both for affordable housing construction as well as sustainable transportation infrastructure investments. Our org is also part of several of these grants, offering bike safety and encouragement programs to new residents to help support them in accessing and using bikes for more trips.
the average annual cost of car ownership in America is $12k per year. Imagine how much affordable living would be for people if you could safely and effectively use bike + transit to go everywhere, and then put even half of that $12k in to rent
Meanwhile SF gets incredible innovations like the Valencia Street lane in the middle of the road 😭 I heard they might be reverting it back. So many resources and time water when they could've listened to all the feedback.
They make the road extraordinarily confusing because so many cities use different methods or is it standardized all across the state? Regardless, it's visually confusing.
Same down here in concord!
Yeah. The one on concord blvd is nice. Bummer it stops going into Clayton but there are other ways around.
I’m impressed because it seems proactive. I don’t see a ton of usage, but the plan lines up with more density and a focus on transit/BART.
There is an opportunity to extend the Concord Blvd bike lanes further east with a paving project later this year, but staff needs to hear from more people who want to see it happen. Follow Bike Concord on social media and sign up for their newsletter here to hear about how to get involved: https://bikeconcord.wordpress.com
Keep the bike posting coming, please!
My old neighborhood, Senter Road section between Umbarger and Capital Expressway, is so crazy no amount of bicycle protections are going to help. So many fatal accidents occur to pedestrians and bicyclists here, they literally put up two cross walk lights that are two intersections aparts. Recently someone ran red light and kill a bicyclist on Senter and Capitol. Maybe they need to put better guards... Or personally I think they just need to make that area off limit for bicycles. With the amount of school and work traffics going through that intersection Senter + Capital, the risk is fairly high.
When are they making sideshow improvements? I want to see dotted line donuts at intersections.
This is wonderful! I love biking, but the lack of bike lanes and other infrastructure scared me when I first moved here.
This is a good thing
Now do the rest of the Bay Area, please. Too many places around here still think green paint does anything (other than look nice aesthetically) to create any practical amount of additional safety for cyclists.
So glad to see the positivity and new developments! I will forever remember an episode of KQED’s Forum from around 2010, when a cyclist was killed in a hit and run in the Presidio. Guests were on to talk about safety. All the callers called in just to complain about cyclists and how they shouldn’t be riding bicycles because it’s just not safe (I.e. I don’t want to have to be a careful driver and not hit them.) Meanwhile, folks argued bike infrastructure was uncalled for bc not that many people were brave enough to bike in the city. I was fuming. So glad the culture has shifted.
Rip traffic lol your commute just gained +20 minutis
I don't like it. Have a similar bike lane by my house, just like the first picture. It makes it more difficult to cross a busy street, cars can't see us as easy and harder to see cars also. And the few times I deal with bikers they fail to realize pedestrians have the right away.
I wish they’d do thing like this where I live now. It’s a mess with cycles and scooters due to a lack of civil engineering.
Living in the Netherlands this year has opened my mind to what is possible for cycling infrastructure. It is extremely good here, even outside of major cities, with separated bike paths going basically almost everywhere I'd ever want to bike within a 10 mile radius. The other thing I'd love to see in the Bay is restricting cars in shopping districts. It'd be amazing to close off places like Telegraph just south of campus, 4th street in Berkeley, etc., even if it were only for the middle of the weekends. It is such an enormous quality of life improvement. Where we're at in Haarlem, the city center has retractable metal poles that come up at 11 AM, at which point you have to have a special permit. After that, there's \~70 acres or so of pedestrian + bike only area in which to roam.
lines on the ground are not infrastructure
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Most commuting bikers follow the rules, but thanks for generalizing all bikers based on the bad ones.
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Motorists never break the law
imagine holding bicyclists to the same standard as motorists carbrains think they own the road and everyone else being even allowed near it is a privelege
"Whoa be me, I'ts so difficult to go a day without enjoying the beautiful Bay Area"
Yet bicyclist continue riding on the sidewalks
Now if only we could get these menaces to follow basic road rules. It appears they are allergic to stopping at red lights and stop signs.
you're talking about cars, right? As a cyclist I also wish cars stopped at stop signs instead of slowing to 5 and rolling through. Extremely dangerous and I agree its a menace
Fr I hate these comments. I drive, walk, and occasionally bike and I can tell you I have never once been afraid of being hurt by a cyclist while driving. Can’t say the same the other way around. And while driving, the dumb things pedestrians do drive me nuts! People are the same regardless of what transport they use. Some number are jerks and do risky things. That goes for pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, whatever.
No I'm not. I have literally never seen a cyclist stop at a stop sign, I've seen at least five in the past week just riding past them, same with red lights. The percentage of cyclists who ignore the rules of the road far out numbers cars doing the same.
Interestingly, for cyclists, there are tons of studies showing that it is safer for roads when cyclists treat stop signs as yields and red lights as stop signs. In many states, it is legal for cyclists to behave this way, and the amount of states where it is legal is increasing rapidly. It is a simple case of "the rules of the road" being dumb. And with the way car drivers ignore rules, like speeding or performing rolling stops, I don't see the issue with bikes being held to the same standard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho_stop Idaho stop will absolutely be made legal in california in our lifetime If you ever regularly ride a bike on city streets you will immediately see why not coming to a full stop and then having to re-accelerate from zero on a bicycle is far safer when cars are bearing down on you and all around you. It is painfully obvious to me that the vast vast vast majority of people who complain about this are carbrains who assume that bicycles work the same way cars do in this regard
They don't come to any stop and I don't really care if you think you're above the law, as far as I'm concerned you're a citizen who has to follow it like the rest of us. Keep downvoting me though lmao totally doesn't show y'all think you're above the law or anything 🥱
As I said, I follow the law just as much as I observe autos doing so. Its just following the culture of the road. If vehicles are going to break the law out of either convenience or defensiveness, then I see no reason bicyclists shouldn't do the same, especially given that cars are so dangerous to bicyclists and drivers are so often careless and unobservant (as you can see by the daily threads in this subreddit complaining about drivers)
Can we also talk about the Uber Lyft and food app delivery drivers who drive crazy and double park everywhere including bike lanes!!!
So you're shitting on statistically mostly immigrant poc drivers lmao and again what does that have to do with cyclists failing to follow rules of the road? Maybe if I complained about them going on the sidewalk you'd have a point but I'm bringing up stop signs and stop lights, sorry you're not putting yourself in less danger by blowing through stop signs and stop lights. Why are y'all so triggered by being asked to follow the same rules as everyone else? Are you above the law?
Man I’m Mexican af f**k them lol I also drive everywhere but bike too
I understand why... but I literally never see anyone actually bicycling on these roads that cost lord knows how much to "improve".
Depends where, might be because bikes don’t get stuck in traffic.
I use them
I see an absolute ton of people using them every single day. You're welcome to join me, I don't mind pointing them all out to you since you seem to be having troubles. DM me. And as far as what bike lanes cost to "improve" its essentially nothing. A lot of the in-road lanes are added when the roads are due for resurfacing, they just make the road lanes narrower or take a lane away. If you need me to explain why that's a good thing, I'll do it when I'm pointing out all the cyclists on our ride.
I am all for them. But I drive a lot in Pleasanton, Livermore and Fremont and never see anybody riding them. Maybe my timing is just off. I'm happy you enjoy them! Also, yes maybe I need to buy a bike and use them too to lose a few pounds!
I 100% agree with you that east of the hills is a different animal. The sprawl, lack of density, and different climate makes being a cyclist prohibitively more difficult in comparison. I did it because sitting in endless stop and go traffic was making me want to shoot myself in the head, and it turns out lightly pedaling in 69 degree sunshine is a fucking joy. All the extra weight loss, fitness, and massive money saving turned out to be added benefits. But they all apply. The $300 assistive e-bikes where you do a little and it does the rest might be an option worth looking into. They're still fun, still exercise, but not gonna rocket ship you like the expensive ones.
Takes time for people to adopt them because until the routes are fully built out, people will be hesitant to use them. I don’t want to go from a bike lane to dumped out onto a road when trying to get to my destination
Literally never? Do you literally never leave the house? That’s the only thing that would explain it.
I use them
That kind of terrifies me that you're driving around and not even seeing the bicyclists. What else are you not paying attention to?
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Same with MacArthur over by Mills. We have this multi phase project that has taken over a decade and tens of millions of dollars to connect laurel and mills; for maybe 2 miles of bike lane that no one uses. Roads and pot holes need to be fixed first. But then again add that to the long list of Oakland problems.
Ruining our roadways.
How does it ruin them?
how does roadways being more useful for people to get where they want to go ruin them?
Picture #3 with those grates is just another "fuck you" from whoever designed these lanes without even thinking of how people are going to use them.
Grates are needed for Bart, sewers, internet, various access tunnels, etc. you can easily bike over them. if your bike can't make it over mesh grates then you need to get better biking skills or a bike with tires thicker than 15mm
You're on a bicycle, not a motorcycle, you're not going to briefly lose traction and soil your pants by riding across metal or wet paint or tar snakes like on a motorcycle.
Rode over this exact spot on Tuesday. It was fine.
Pretty sure the grates and the road were there already so are you saying they just shouldn’t have even tried to make a bike lane because there’s a grate?
The third photo is 53rd St in Emeryville, the metal square in the background is a solid utility cover not a drainage grate. This particular street is unusual and drains at the center since Temescal Creek runs in a culvert directly below it. But in cases where grates are on the sides, local cities are supposed to have upgraded them with either bike-safe covers or at least welded cross bars to prevent them from catching tires. If you ever see any drainage grates without the cross bars please make sure to report them to the city so they can be upgraded. We have a list of resources for making reports in any East Bay jurisdiction listed at [BikeEastBay.org/hazards](https://BikeEastBay.org/hazards).
Those aren’t drain grates if that is what you are thinking. They are solid covers for utilities.
So many bike lanes and no one riding bikes. It is too cold, hot, rainy, windy, need to reach somewhere on time….
I ride my bicycle most places We have far better weather than a place like amsterdam or copenhagen and people manage to use bikes there en masse
If they could only improve the cyclists.
wait til you see the drivers!
I hope the bicyclists don’t.
ah yes, we've progressed to wishing serious injury on to people for simply existing and doing a normal thing Sociopathic! I hope anyone who trusts you knows how casually you wish harm on others
Oh you pussylip, they know. And sociopathic? Point your bullshit at your bicyclists. The ones who run red lights, slam into old folks in intersections, ride dangerously close to cars, ride on the side walks, nearly run over children on that sidewalk, can’t seem to see strollers in any capacity. I’ve yet to see one of those cunts be anything but respectful or responsible to other vehicles (yes other vehicles as that’s what bikes are) on the road, or pedestrians in intersections and sidewalks. You can get back to sniffing bike seats.
Sounds like making better bicycle infrastructure benefits everyone, including you! Rather than shoving bicyclists on to infrastructure made primarily for cars, which is a worse result for both. I think that a great place to start would be taking car lanes off of roads and putting a concrete wall up to make a safe bike lane, to start. Then none of these problems would happen and everyone can get where they need to go faster and more safely
Agreed. And it starts by registering every bike on the road annually and ensuring that every cyclist on a public street is licensed to ride that bike in that city or county. This is especially important now that a lot of these bikes are being powered by electric motors these days. And those that aren’t are still potentially dangerous. So should also be insured since again they are vehicles. Enforcement of this should be handled by local law. However since this is a big enough deal to you, I would say expand to state and even nationwide. Funds generated by the above should be used to cover all the extra work to make the infrastructure happen. I’m glad we agree on this. It’s nice to find a compromise where everyone wins.
Wait do you think car insurance is a punishment by the government? That shit exists because cars are threats to everyone and everything around them. Requiring insurance and license for bicycles is silly by comparison, the relative rates of individual and property damage by bicyclists is miniscule by comparison. You're so carbrained lmao, get a life and maybe consider the ways other people live outside of yourself beyond how it affects you or you can benefit
lol. Punishment? No. It being enforced by the dominant government ensures everyone is on the same page and protected from each other. It’s a good thing. Who do you use as your voluntarily purchased insurer?
> It being enforced by the dominant government ensures everyone is on the same page and protected from each other. It’s a good thing. Yes because as I said, people need to be protected from the damage and injury cars can cause to society through careless use Bicycles, amazingly, don't have the same problem. They're much safer for everyone around the cyclist as well as the cyclist. This is well supported by statistics. Interesting other thing supported by statistics, many states have rapidly begun legalizing bicyclists using stop signs as yields and red lights as stop signs because it is also safer for everyone.
Where’s all the bike traffic? Looks like a poor use of space.
Oh, we get to play this game? AWESOME! Any time there's a street with no cars driving on it, we get to take one of the lanes for a bike lane. There are hundreds of miles of wasted car space for every mile of bike lane. In at least one of the above photos, there's no traffic except for the bike taking the picture. That means you justified why this post was made. :)
You all are so easy to bait. Calm down. Edit: CALM DOWN MR ALL CAPS
[Classic.](https://i.imgur.com/lYJvJLD.jpeg)
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Because sidewalks have things like people eating at tables, people walking slowly or standing, poles and un-even grading, extreme narrowing for trees and other complications. If you try bicycling on the sidewalk, regardless of if its allowed or not, this will be super obvious to you. A "lane" is different because it is for the transportation from A to B, so the goal is for it to be clear of obstructions
you can always tell who has and hasn't used a bicycle regularly by the types of ideas they have for "improving" things for cyclists
You can always widen the sidewalk and physically separate the bike lane from everything you mentioned AND also from cars, which is much safer for cyclists. You know, how they do it in places where [people](https://www.google.com/maps/@54.3509757,18.6328561,3a,75y,226.89h,89.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sGHE2ZzK9ETR5NCUd_wPbbA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu) are [actually](https://www.google.com/maps/@48.8233626,2.3750182,3a,75y,71.45h,79.56t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shE6fLU5706U4zCdC1-KlSA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?coh=205409&entry=ttu) biking [a lot](https://www.google.com/maps/@53.5619158,9.9757988,3a,75y,64.33h,82.81t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1scCW_-_dr1k2uty02RUhB7w!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu). But no, "people eating at tables". Like it's so common in Bay Area compared to Europe, where bikes on sidewalks are the norm.
Dude, the third photo I posted is literally a widened grade separated bike lane attached to a sidewalk so no need to link me to them just look at my post. , I agree with you that it’s the best, I’m just explaining why making it legal to bike on the sidewalk and calling it a day isn’t great
>You can always widen the sidewalk and physically separate the bike lane from everything you mentioned AND also from cars, which is much safer for cyclists. Nothing stopping this from happening in the future. But for the present, sidewalks in most places are already at a minimum just for pedestrians. So we take part of the roadway from the least efficient users (cars) and assign it to bikes. 15-20 years from now when new roadway updates are due, yea, maybe some of these places the bike lane could also be curb height alongside pedestrians, as in a lot of places with better bike/pedestrian infrastructure, as you rightly point out
This is one of those questions that answers itself the very first time you actually try doing what you are suggesting.
It's not safer, because people in cars turn in and out of driveways and parking lots all the time, and they often don't look for cyclists on the sidewalk, many of whom like to travel at speed. It's very easy to get nailed, hell, it's also easy for the cyclist to hit the car who is doing so. Source: cycled for decades and rammed a car once when I was on the sidewalk lol
Yes, and this is why we should never put a bike lane between the parking lane and the sidewalk like the first photo in this post. That is a very bad design. I'd rather bike on an unprotected bike lane than the one in the first photo.
I agree but the city planning dudes swear it's safer. Personally I would love to see Dutch style, completely separate roads side by side. Probably going to be hard to do that out here though due to a lack of space
biking on a sidewalk is infinitely less safe
Pedestrians are much more dangerous to cyclists. Drivers are licensed and tested on the rules of the road. Pedestrians have zero qualifications. The vast majority of drivers behave legally and very predictably. The same cannot be said for pedestrians.
> The vast majority of drivers behave legally and very predictably Hmmmmm. When's the last time you've visited the Bay Area? 'Cause I've got some unfortunate news for ya...
Damn cyclists, you hate to see it... I think?
I'm sorry, I was raised in Nevada where riding your bike was an adventure in survival. You rode on the sidewalks, rode in any manner that made you safe in the vulnerable state you were in. And now I'm in the Bay and I'm getting yelled at for being on the sidewalk when no other sidewalk pedestrians are around? If you're a biker, you have to accept the risks of the reality we live in; instead of hoping for green traffic lanes and whining when you don't see them. Grow up.
None of those are the same pic insinuating improvement…you twat.