Comments on: Vehicular cycling versus bike lanes: why they are both right, both wrong and why bike boulevards matter

By: M1EK

M1EK — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 18:43:37 +0000

Honestly, using any of these European cities to defend VC’s ideological position is just stupid – because these cities have effectively turned all their normal streets into bike boulevards already (i.e. you don’t have suburban arterial roadways with 6 lanes and 45 mph speed limits and 60 mph design speeds to work with/around).

By: bicilibre (Txarli Eintxels)

bicilibre (Txarli Eintxels) — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 02:44:28 +0000

RT @austinon2wheels: @jamesdosborne @theurbancountry I too wrote about this. VC is legit only in response to bad bike infrastructure http://bit.ly/6oWxLU

By: austinon2wheels (Austin On Two Wheels)

austinon2wheels (Austin On Two Wheels) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 20:30:08 +0000

@jamesdosborne @theurbancountry I too wrote about this. VC is legit only in response to bad bike infrastructure http://bit.ly/6oWxLU

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:38:01 +0000

correcting #28–elliott: In #20 you say “Under VC theory, to get everyone biking, you do nothing to change the roads and educate everyone. Yet in Copenhagen, no one takes vehicular cycling classes and the cycling infrastructure is 1st class, bar none.” Nothing could be further from the truth.
First, good cycling infrastructure follows high cycling rates; it does not cause it.
Second, in Copenhagen, the rest of Denmark, and in many other places in Europe, vehicular cycling education is extensive and mandatory.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:08:20 +0000

Following from #28: http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/images/uploads/MakingCyclingIrresistible.pdf
Training and Education. Dutch, Danish, and German children receive extensive
training in safe and effective cycling techniques as part of their regular school
curriculum. Most children complete such a course by the fourth grade. It includes both
classroom instruction and “on the road” lessons, first on a cycling training track just for
children, and then on regular cycling facilities throughout the city. Real police officers
test the children, who receive official certificates, pennants, and stickers for their bikes if
they pass the test. Since many children get to school by bike, training in safe cycling is
considered essential to ensure their safety (German Federal Ministry of Transport, 2002).
But it also gets kids off to a lifetime of safe cycling skills. And since all schoolchildren
are included, it means that girls as well as boys start cycling at an early age.
Another crucial element in cyclist safety is training motorists to be aware of
cyclists on the roadway and to avoid endangering them. In general, motorist training in
the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany is far more extensive, more thorough, and more
expensive than in the USA. Motorists are legally responsible for collisions with children
and elderly cyclists (German Federal Ministry of Transport, 2002; Netherlands Ministry
of Transport, 2006), even if they are jaywalking, cycling in the wrong direction, ignoring
traffic signals, or otherwise behaving contrary to traffic regulations. The priority legal
status of non-motorists puts motorists on the defensive and forces them to drive with
special attention to avoiding endangering cyclists and pedestrians.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:07:07 +0000

elliott: In #20 you say “” Nothing could be further from the truth.
First, good cycling infrastructure follows high cycling rates; it does not cause it.
Second, in Copenhagen, the rest of Denmark, and in many other places in Europe, vehicular cycling education is extensive and mandatory. See http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/images/uploads/MakingCyclingIrresistible.pdf
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By: AustinCyclist (AustinCyclist)

AustinCyclist (AustinCyclist) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:19:40 +0000

@T_Starry VCinfo: http://bit.ly/6oWxLU This guy is basically on a road w/ shoulder like 360 or Parmer but riding in the traffic lane.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:02:19 +0000

elliott and Ninety5rpm–I too find citing Copenhagen instructive here: ‘The city of Copenhagen, published the study Road safety and the perceived risk of bicycle facilities in Copenhagen. The study found that “cycle tracks” (sidepaths) led to “an increase of 9-10% in accidents and injuries has taken place.” The largest accident increase occurred to women. Cycle lanes (bike lanes) “has resulted in an increase in accidents of 5% and 15% more injuries.” Ironicly, a survey of Copenhagen cyclists found that they perceived greater safety on the segregated facilities even though these facilities are actually less safe. http://www.labreform.org/blunders/b5.html and http://www.trafitec.dk/pub/Road%20safety%20and%20percieved%20risk%20of%20cycle%20tracks%20and%20lanes%20in%20Copenhagen.pdf

This was the best possible kind of study–comparing the same roadways before and after bicycle infrastructure was installed.

By: elliott

elliott — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:00:44 +0000

Ninety5rpm, One other thing about whether bike lanes increase bike usage. During the period that Austin has built bicycle infrastructure, we have seen an increase in bike usage, especially in the urban core that correlates with this infrastructure. In Portland, the same correlation of infrastructure and bike use occurred. This is at the same time bike usage in cities like Dallas without infrastructure remained flat. There is some evidence recently from Portland that there are limitations to this relationships between infrastructure and bike use. Bike infrastructure is certainly not the only issue that gets people using bikes for transportation, but its contribution can not be ignored.

By: elliott

elliott — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:49:25 +0000

Ninety5rpm,
First, I agree that making automobile use more difficult and expensive is part of the equation. I’m in complete agreement on that, and it was certainly something they did in Copenhagen. But we must also create the infrastructure to support moving all those people to cycling. If you don’t, you just get an angry public who are upset you made car use more difficult without providing a legitimate alternative. VC theory tells everyone they have to become experts and ignores the safety concerns of novice rider.

As for the history of vehicular cycling, you are right is hasn’t been 20 years, its been more like 35. John Forester coined the phrase in the 70s and influenced much of LAB’s outlook on bike infrastructure in the 70s and 80s. His book Effective Cycling was first published in 1984. If building bike lanes was so prevalent, why are they only showing up in most cities in the last 5-10 years? Frankly, until recently most road engineers probably barely thought of bicycles in design but when they did, bike lanes generally were not built.