Originally Posted by
welshTerrier2
My bike club did the Blackstone path this past Saturday. I've never seen it so empty so that isn't really a good test case.
I'm in the process of planning a rail trail and I've been trying to figure out which pedestrian pattern is better. So far, I can't see much difference. You're either passing pedestrians coming toward you by moving left or you're passing pedestrians who are going the same direction you are by remaining right. In the latter case, don't you still need to say "passing on your right"?
The problem I see with the "pedestrians keep right" rule is that most people are more accustomed to walking on the right side. Even this past Saturday, we saw plenty of people using both sides of the path.
One benefit of the people walking towards the cyclists was that they were more likely to step completely off the path as we approached. Bottom line, though, I don't see much difference either way.
Interesting! I did think it was kind of empty. Thing is I live in Nashua, and the Nashua River Rail Trail normally has about that level of traffic, and it definitely seemed easier to deal with pedestrians who could see me coming. I find the light traffic seems to lull pedestrians into not looking out behind them when they meander around.