DIY Geurrilla Bike Lanes, Sharrows, and Separated Bike Lanes
I live in LA. One of the more dangerous or difficult American cities to be a cyclist. I commute to work by bike every day, and I’m lucky enough that it’s a relatively short ride, with pretty wide roads and/or bike lanes. (Still, I did manage to get hit by a car in the 1 year and 4 months I’ve been doing this commute.)
LA is Busted, and the City Ain’t Gonna Fix It
Even though LA’s cycling community seems to be growing exponentially as evidenced by the 1300+ cyclists showing up for the Midnight Ridazz bicycle rides, you don’t see the city doing a whole lot to provide safer streets for folks on bikes. In a town where the Department of Transportation’s deputy mayor drives a Hummer, LA is happy to fork over the money for helicopters and police presence during Ridazz or Critical Mass rides, but why are so many daily commuters still getting hit?
From this LA Times opinion piece on LA bike lanes:
Of Los Angeles County’s 6,400 miles of surface streets, only 481 miles have bike lanes (320 inside the city limits — five fewer miles than much smaller Tucson). In milk carton terms, if L.A.’s total street mileage equaled half a gallon, bike lanes would constitute a sip of about 4 ounces.
If traffic is one of the city’s biggest issues, I see the bike as a primary solution. But if perception is that riding in the city is not safe (and rightly so), then current drivers aren’t going to opt to ditch their car in favor of two wheels. And if the city isn’t stepping up and putting serious effort into what I see as an urgent issue, then we just have to take things into our own hands!
Do It Yourself Urban Planning and Bike Lane Creation
City won’t give you a bike lane? Make one yourself! That’s what folks around LA and other cities like Portland and Toronto have been doing. These cyclists sneak around their cities with self-made stencils and spray paint bike-related symbols onto the roadways, claiming bike lanes themselves where the cities won’t provide them.
Bike Lanes and Sharrows - Pros and Cons
It’s important to note that bike lanes and Sharrows — shared use arrows, bike icon with two chevrons above it — do have their issues. Bike lanes tend to be placed right next to parallel parked cars so that riders are exposed to getting doored by the parked cars — one of the most common causes of injury for cyclists.
I’ve also noticed that cars tend to crowd you when you have an explicit bike lane, I’m not sure why, maybe they think that painted white line comes with an invisible force field as well. More likely, they’re busy blabbing into their cell phones and have no idea what’s going on around them, “oh my gawd, did you see Top Chef last night?!”
Cars also like to accelerate past you, only to cut you off by turning across the bike lane. That’s a nice move I’ve seen countless times.
Sharrow - photo by Todd Boulanger, full photoset on Flickr.
Separated Bike Lanes
The ideal solution in my opinion would be completely separated bike lanes. This provides the most protection without impeding drivers — which I think would also result in a healthy improvement in drivers’ attitudes towards cyclists. Unfortunately, the guerrilla cyclist can’t create a separated bike lane on their own, but still, I think this video (YouTube) about the “Case for Separated Bike Lanes” in NYC is worth watching, there are some really great ideas here and examples of successful implementation of separated lanes in some European (and even American) cities. Dream big! Maybe we’ll get something like this one day.
August 23rd, 2007 at 9:59 am
When I was in Germany I noticed that they had whole swaths of sidewalk made of a different color brick. I didn’t notice it was a bike lane until a little old german lady blew by me on her 3 speed screaming… something.
August 23rd, 2007 at 10:03 am
What’s with all the goofs riding their bikes on the sidewalk in LA? Why doesn’t the police start handing out tickets to them?
August 23rd, 2007 at 10:18 am
@huphtur: I assume you’re being sarcastic. (It’s hard to tell on the Internet.) I’ve ridden on the sidewalks in Boston sometimes, but only when the road was horrible and the sidewalks empty.
August 23rd, 2007 at 10:20 am
Huphtur, can you expand on that? I try to not ride on sidewalks, but as long as someone is going slow and being safe around pedestrians, what are the arguments against riding on the sidewalk?
August 23rd, 2007 at 11:53 am
Ok here we go… I was gonna post this on my own blog, but now you’re gonna have to deal with my rantings on here. It’s a bit scattered and all over the place, but I think y’all get the idea. (Note that I am only talking about riding bikes in/around LA, I dunno situations in other US cities)
California Bike and Bicycle Law 21200 says “Every person riding a bicycle upon a highway has all the rights and is subject to all the provisions applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this division etc etc” So by LAW we have to be on the road, you can’t drive your car on the sidewalk either. It’s called a sidewalk, not a sideride!
Most people in LA think bikes belong on the sidewalk because they see them on the sidewalk all the time. So they get pissed off when they see a bike on the road.
If more and more bikes were on the road, cars would have to pay more attention to them. Yes, there will be a lot of accidents at first (and yes, there will always be asshole drivers) but eventually it will work out that road users (both cars and bikers) understand they have to share the road. That’s how it is in Holland, where I was born and raised, cars pay attention to bikes.
Whenever I have a car pass me and it kinda slows down, all my spidey senses start tingling, who knows it might take a right turn without taking me into consideration. So what do we bikers do to avoid that? We drive in the middle of the road. That’s not sharing either. In Holland, cars know that when they turn right, they have to look out for bikers by looking over your right shoulder (they teach you this in Dutch driving school)
Villeragrossa should keep his hands off other women, go on local TV, tell people to start sharing the road and that police will fine people who ride on the sidewalk.
August 23rd, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Hey Huphtur, thanks for taking the time to write back. The LA bike laws say this about riding bikes on the sidewalk: Pedestrians always have the right of way on walkways. By Los Angeles Municipal Code, you must not ride on the sidewalk in Los Angeles with “willful and wanton disregard for safetyâ€. So, you can ride on the sidewalk, you just have to be careful about pedestrians.
That said, I do agree about your point about motorists seeing bikes on sidewalks and therefore assuming that bikes are supposed to be there rather than on the street. I think that alone is a great argument for never riding on the sidewalk. I’ve had drivers yell at me “get on the sidewalk!” and I’m thinking “what?! but I’m supposed to be on the road.” So, thanks again for writing back, you brought up a really good point that I never considered before.
August 23rd, 2007 at 1:40 pm
99% of the time I see bicycle cops, they are themselves the sidewalk-riding perpetrators.
August 23rd, 2007 at 1:52 pm
…and fat! Hahaha!! Fat bike cops look like circus bears!
August 23rd, 2007 at 2:33 pm
We’re all guilty of riding on the sidewalk. I always make sure to ride very careful when there’s people walking. I often apologize to them and tell them that I know I should be on the road.
When I’m walking on the sidewalk, and I see someone on a bike coming at me, I never step to the side and tell them to get on the road.
Regarding cops on sidewalks: “Any peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, operating a bicycle during the course of his or her duties is exempt from the requirements…”
August 23rd, 2007 at 2:47 pm
That’s true that they are allowed to ride on the sidewalks, but that doesn’t mean they should be doing it all the time. More importantly, they shouldn’t be doing it in their huge groups and in the opposite direction of traffic like I see quite often on Sunset and Hollywood.
Gargh, once going down Fountain there was a pack of a dozen of them coming down the wrong side of the road on the street AND the sidewalk. I almost got mowed down because I didn’t have anywhere to go.
Sorry, just venting. But bike cops should be setting a better example
August 23rd, 2007 at 3:27 pm
NWA said it best…
August 23rd, 2007 at 5:51 pm
We’ve got these bike lanes in some parts of Melbourne now.
http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/info.cfm?top=70&pa=1154&pg=3476
Hazaah!
August 23rd, 2007 at 9:09 pm
Hey Lucas! Cool!!
August 24th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
LA is definitely the worst for cycling. San Jose (and surrounding areas) are scary hit/miss. For example, San Jose itself is terrible when it comes to bike lanes, but Sunnyvale and Cupertino both have very well maintained bike lanes (complete with breathing room and no street parking to eliminate getting doored).
As for cyclists on the sidewalk, I remind them we’re on vehicles, and it’s actually safer for us off the sidewalk. I’ve seen someone go over the hood of a car because they were on the sidewalk (and not visible) when a driver made a right turn.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Yeah, drivers also pull out of driveways across the sidewalk way too quickly. There’s the occasional fisheye mirror that helps you see whether or not a car is approaching, but usually not. I can’t help but think of how many joggers get hit that way — they’re running across a driveway or alley and a car pulls right into them.
August 28th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Heya, great discussion going here. A couple thoughts:
I’m beginning to think bike lanes, at least in LA, are more dangerous to ride in than regular traffic car lanes. Why? Right turning cars and parallel parkers. Both times I’ve been hit I was in a clearly marked bike lane, and both times the drivers were turning right and “didn’t see” me. They were really surprised someone was in the bike lane. And although I haven’t been doored yet, I’ve had some close calls. It seems like bike lanes often end up being a strip of asphalt surrounded by doom. At least in a traffic lane people see you because they have to look into the flow of regular traffic.
And regarding sidewalks — count me as one of the peeps more worried about cars pulling out on driveways than pedestrians. They definitely can’t see you and you’re almost asking to crash into a front fender if you’re not going really slow.
August 30th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
i’ve learned that people tend not to hear me anymore since i’ve gone fixed, no clickety click of my coaster i suppose. as far as i know, in va bike riders are both cars and pedestrians. i used to ride street only in richmond, got hit 3 times and started riding sidewalk only and got hit twice more (who comes out of a one way alley the wrong way?!) i was younger then and less apt to looking around and anticipating, so it’s mostly my fault for barreling down hills with no brakes on a bmx bike. these days, i ride every day to work on my fixed roadie and i’ve yet to get hit once, but i tend to hop on and off curbs and ride like a maniac so everyone pays really close attention to me. i know i probably should stick to one or the other, but half the time i’ve got crazies with dogs popping around blind corners on cell phones and the other half ive got crazies in cars weaving through traffic on cell phones so, i figure the best defense is a good offense and i just try to make sure i’m out of everyones way.
i dunno, sometimes i feel like that if there’s not going to be a lane for me, i’m gonna make my own. the dc area has a lot of bike trails tho, so thats ok… but they’re mostly scenic as far as i know?
anyway, getting hit sucks!
August 30th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
p.s. dan, i got doored once on a skateboard and it was a very displeasing experience, i hit the edge not the inside, but i had time to put my arm in from of my face, so i got a 6 inch gash down my right arm and a bruise on my chest and the force of the hit rolled me off tot he left (drivers door at a stoplight on a one way st) and into a parked car where i slid across the side of the car and over the hood doing quite a bit of damage to the parked car. i can only imagine what would have happened if i had been on the other side of the st and been tossed into traffic.
August 31st, 2007 at 9:57 am
Thanks greg, you’ve sparked a few ideas for potential future posts that I’ve been wanting to put up here on Fixpert for a while, but reading your comment re-inforced my desire to write about: taking your own lane (sometimes that’s the only way to ride safe), anticipating danger while riding, cell phones affect on cyclists’ safety, how to handle dogs when you’re on a bike, and maybe what to do if you get hit. Look for more posts soon! Thanks for your comments!
September 20th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
i commute daily on my single-speed in boulder. we are lucky to have numerous bike lanes in and around town- yet as you know car doors are still a danger. i started scanning the driver’s side mirror-quickly looking to see if theres a drivers reflection that could warn me of a possible encounter with either a door or moving car (though brake lights usually signal the moving car). It has saved me many a time.
as for sidewalks- i never ride on them. way too dangerous between peds, gates, building doors, streets, and driveways- nobody can see you quick enough to stop. plus bikes belong on the street. ride strong!
September 21st, 2007 at 1:26 am
Hey Jen, thanks for the comment. I’ve been wanting to do a post for quite some time now about looking out for doors — stuff like what you said, looking at the side and rear view mirrors to see what’s going on.
Thanks again!
October 4th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Here in germany we have the situation, that almost all of the bike lanes are separated from the road by being part of the sidewalk, that means a part of the sidewalk is made of a different material so you can see where to drive with your bike. Studies conducted in germany have come to the conclusion, that riding on this separated bike-lanes (which mostly are in a terrible state) is actually more dangerous (slightly more and most importantly more severe accidents) than riding on the street. Most accidents here take place on crossings or driveways, espacially on left-side bike-lanes, because drivers tend to focus on the street and pay less attention to the sidewalk and the bike-lane (which seems to be the problem that you face in L.A.). I notice myself that, when riding my bike on the street, car drivers tend to dirve carefully around me and i have experienced less situations where i had to avoid an imminent accident. So it seems to be more a problem of awareness in other traffic-participants - maybe bike-lanes on the streets themselves should be ommitted altogether and more space be left for cyclists - if you drive offensively (demanding your rights that you have - just because you are less motorized doesn’t mean that you have less rights in the traffic!) on the outside and defensively and carefully on the inside (anticipating, watching the traffic carefully), car-drivers are going to respect that (just like jen said above, ride strong!).
greetings from germany
October 4th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
p.s. the only accident i had in the 15 years that i am riding a bike happened on a separated bike-lane when a car driver coming from the side didn’t see me and crashed into my right side, knocking me off my bike - luckily i only suffered some bruises, but my bike got stolen when i was in the hospital for x-rays…
interesting site btw.
October 4th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Hi Jonas! Wow, thanks for the great comments! This is really interesting to me. I’m going to try and do more research into these sidewalk bike lanes that you have described.
Sorry to hear that your bike was stolen while you were getting X-Rays, but I’m glad you’re ok!
October 17th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Jen, another Boulder commuter here. Both times I’ve been hit has been at bike path/right turn late intersections. Never had problems when riding on the street, though I’ve almost been doored a couple times. Also, the bike path by campus is a nightmare after about 9, when it’s swarming with drunk college kids; while not the best idea in terms of politeness or safety, it’s great fun to brush them with my bag as I fly by at night. Yelling at people to get out of the way just makes them freeze and stare. What a waste.
Separate bike lanes cause trouble at intersections, but on street bike lanes cause some problems with traffic. Pick your poison.
November 16th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Re Jake’s and Lucas’ posts:
When I returned from a visit to Bavaria in 1997, my town (Alameda, CA) was in the process of redoing the bicycle master plan. I went to some meetings on it and when I suggested the German way, of having bike lanes on the sidewalks, separated from the cars, people really did not want to take this idea seriously. It seemed as if the bicycle activists were more interested in having more bike lanes on the streets and could not even think of how this might work with pedestrians. I protested that it worked very well in Germany, once one was attuned to not standing or walking in those bike designated areas, but to no avail. I am glad to see that this idea is being discussed.