wphamilton

Those guys are just doing their job, trying to make a living. It's annoying but not enough to make their life harder over it.

On the Greenway I see everything from gasoline motor carts to large utility trucks. Emergency service vehicles now and again. Tow trucks, police cars. I just go around with a wave and good morning, or just wait in the case of EMS, and things go easier for all of us.

Digital_Cowboy

Rachel,

Sadly, I encounter that far too often here as well. Only instead of parking on MUPs, but I have encountered people, usually lawn care crews, parked in bike lanes.

I encountered a driver from AAA parked in a bike lane and when I pointed out that he was parked in a bike lane he tells me to shut up. The irony is that directly across the street from where he was parked was designated on street parking. . .

Digital_Cowboy

I don't know about what the law is there in Michigan, but at least here in the Bay Area if not the State of Florida in order for someone to park in the roadway they have to apply for a permit. No permit, then it is NOT legal to park so as to block the the roadway.

Digital_Cowboy

While I agree with you that it was a good thing that they had pulled over to use their cell phone instead of continuing to drive and use it. It was out of a sense of entitlement that they choose to park in the bike lane. As sadly it seems like the vast majority of motorists do not have the slightest bit of respect for either cyclists or pedestrians. This is reflected in the fact that so many motorists will stop so that they are blocking the sidewalk or MUP when pulling out of a driveway. And that when they pull up to an intersection that instead of stopping behind the stop line they'll pull up and stop in the crosswalk and then look at pedestrians as if they're the one's who are doing something wrong for not wanting to cross in front of their car.

Also think about most of the commercials for cars. What do they emphasis the most? Answer SPEED, I mean think about the typical Mazda commercial. And what is their "catch phrase?" It's "zoom, zoom." Then we have insurance commercials like "The General," and "Good2Go," that mock and poke fun at people who for whatever reason do not drive. One shows a woman who talks about how her shift is over, but her day isn't over, because she has to take the subway, and the bus and then I think walk home. There's another with a woman with children who is complaining about having to walk to the grocery store with her children. Then there's the one where the office worker rode a bike to work, and his co-worker shows him "The General's" web site. They end the commercial with the co-worker saying, "Now can we lose the bike and put on some pants."

In this country we are WAY too dependent on privately owned automobiles. Cities, counties and states NEED to invest MORE money in public transportation. Making the routes so that they are convent for the average person to use, as well as making the fare so that it is affordable for the average person to use.

I spend three days a week at one of the two local VA facilities. It takes three buses one-way for me to get to the VA (if I was to take the bus), regular fare ONE-WAY is $2.25. That's $6.75 for the three buses, just one-way. And that's $13.50 round trip and that is for just ONE day. For three days, it's $40.50 and for the month of just going to and from the VA it would cost, figuring an average of four weeks per month $162.00.

My local bus system used to have a daily pass, but looking at their web site it looks as if that might have been discontinued in favor of a three day pass which costs, $18.00, but if I am not mistaken it is only good for three days in a row of unlimited rides. Then we have a seven day pass that costs $25.00, but again if I am not mistaken it is only good for seven days in a row and not any seven days. The best option for someone in my position would be the 31-day unlimited pass, which costs $35.00. Here in the Tampa Bay area both HARTline and PSTA have an agreement, and they have an additional bus pass that is valid on both sides of the bay, but it costs $85.00. It should not cost more than twice a normal monthly pass to have one that is valid on both sides of the bay. But the "catch" is that the express bus that runs between both counties does not run on the weekend.

Sadly, far too many people treat both having a drivers license and driving a car as some sort of "god given right," and NOT the privilege that it is that can be revoked for any reason. And sadly, it is NOT revoked often enough.

Maybe IF more people permanently lost their drivers license it would finally sink in that owning one and driving a car is a privilege and NOT a "right."

Digital_Cowboy

The real irony is that not only do they not want us on "their" roads, but when they decide to become a pedestrian they all of a sudden do not want us on "their" sidewalk/MUP either. So we're "d@amed if we do, and d@med if we don't."

Digital_Cowboy

Rachel,

I've run into the same thing with private lawn care crews. The one that I spoke said "explained" it as saying that their trucks leak oil, and whatnot and that they do not want to make a mess in their customer's driveways. I guess it never occurred to him that if their trucks are leaking and they're now parked in the bike lane that they are creating a hazard for every cyclist that is going to be using that bike lane.

And do not even get me started about all of the morons who think that it is okay to jog, walk, roller skate/blade, run, skateboard in the bike lane.

Colnago Mixte

If anyone thinks they get no respect while riding on the road, try riding on the sidewalk sometime. Sidewalk riders are hated by absolutely everyone:

-Walkers
-Joggers
-People Pushing Baby Strollers
-Blind People
-People in Wheelchairs
-Other People Riding Bikes on the Sidewalk
-People Walking Dogs
-Cars Making Right Turns
-Cars Making Left Turns
-Cars Pulling Out of Driveways
-Cars Pulling Into Driveways
-Passengers in Cars Glaring Out the Window at You

If you wanna become Public Enemy #1, just try riding on the sidewalk sometime, it's a freaking nightmare.

jefnvk

No clue, but I seriously doubt that is law here. Hit it three times this morning, like most annoyances in life I deal with it and move on.

Digital_Cowboy

Rachel,

What I have to laugh at is that most of these people would rather inconvenience cyclists and pedestrians instead of applying for the proper permits to park in the road. As it would be too much to inconvenience their fellow motorists.

Digital_Cowboy

That does NOT give them the "right" to block the MUP, sidewalk, crosswalk or whatever right of way that they feel like blocking. As I am sure that in most cities, counties, states that there is a process to go through in order to get the proper permits to park in the street.

While we are at I am also NOT a fan of on street parking, particularly on narrow roads.

Digital_Cowboy

That may be, but it still does not give them the right to block the bike lane.

02Giant 

Do you feel better now?

jimmie65

Am I the only one who sympathizes with the OP?
A private landscaping company has no right to block the bike path when there are other options (i.e., park at one of the clients!)

Robert C

In the town I work in, the police Community Resource cycling class instructs riders to be on the sidewalk whenever possible. This is for both children and adults.

mr_bill

No you are not. Thought experiment - imagine a private landscaping company blocking an entire ROAD.

-mr. bill

jefnvk

I've mentioned it before, it happens regularly around me. I don't have to imagine it.

The road behind my employer is regularly obstructed with trucks prepping to load or unload at the factories next to us, when there is a giant disused parking lot right there that they would just rather not deal with pulling into. Is it annoying? Sure, but getting that worked up over it is simply not a rational reaction.

mr_bill

COMPLETELY obstructed? The trucks can't get past the trucks? A car can't get past the trucks?

-mr. bill

jefnvk

If you want to be deliberately obtuse to the fact that the ways one can can easily get around that truck, or the fact that there is a very large difference in the maneuverability of a pedestrian or a cycle compared to a car, it is simply not an argument I am going to be drawn into. Nor do I believe if the truck was only blocking half the trail, that the outrage would be any less in A&S.

KD5NRH

And of course, everybody on a bicycle is just out playing. Nobody would use one to try to get to or do a job.

coominya

Somehow those two statements look diametrically opposed.

wphamilton

When I said that I see utility trucks, police cars, emergency vehicles, and other working vehicles on the Greenway, in the mornings, it is on my way to work. I haven't used the car to get to work in years. I don't get why your sarcasm, or why you think it makes a difference whether a person should be upset or not.

OBoile

I don't think anyone is arguing that they have a "right" to do this.

But rather that it simply isn't a big deal and not worth making an issue over it.

Myosmith

Don't get your spandex in a knot unless you find out why the vehicle is where it is. Utility, service, construction and delivery vehicles routinely block lanes of traffic, parking lanes, sidewalks, paths, etc. often with legitimate reasons to temporarily do so. Far more irritating, than a random utility vehicle on a path, are inconsiderate drivers who think the bike lane is just extra parking.

mr_bill

That’s not a “random utility vehicle.” It’s an inconsiderate driver who thinks bike paths are just extra parking.

-mr. bill

Digital_Cowboy

+1,000,000

I agree Jimmie, like I said in the past when I've asked why they're parking in the bike lane, I've been told it's because their trucks leak and they don't want to get their clients driveway messy. But apparently they have NO problems whatsoever in creating a dangerous situation for cyclists. . .How asinine.