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Old 02-01-22, 08:47 AM
  #51  
livedarklions
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Originally Posted by mr_bill
I spoke of the brief period of time when there were advisory bike lanes on Scott Street, and how the local residents "HATED IT," "LOATHED IT."

I was very unfair. I was describing the most vocal residents. Ironically they were probably among the most educated. (They work around the corner at a very old University.)

Anyhow, I loved the advisory bike lanes that were there, but I also love the big green sharrows that are there now.

However, on another road in Cambridge, the advisory bike lanes live on and are actually well liked by most.

Images from Streetview, showing a "pass":



I LOVE LOVE LOVE that the driver of the SUV doesn't want to drive in the door zone either. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE that the driver of the Prius just casually takes the parking lane.

Now as far as statistically meaningful bicyclist safety data about these, there is next to none. Just like there is next to no statistically meaningful bicyclist safety data about taking the lane on stroads. That's a *DATA* problem.

What we have are more descriptive. There were no reports of people on bikes getting injured on Lakeview before the change. (Why? Because few people on bikes used Lakeview.) There are now many more people riding bikes on Lakeview, but still no reports of people on bikes getting injured. (Why? Probably because it's a pretty safe way to share a road.) But it's added another much needed lower stress link to getting around by bicycle.

Finally, a white paper that discusses Scott Street (pre-rebellion) and Lakeview Ave in Cambridge, along with implementations in about a dozen other locations. Among them, Valley Rd in Hanover New Hampshire, still loved. (So please don't stereotype Ivy professors.)

-mr. bill
That's interesting--if your impression that bike traffic is up on Lakeview, it suggests that the primary function of these advisory lane might be to "advertise" that cyclists can safely use the road which, by itself, might be reason enough to employ them. I think you can conclude that increased bike traffic without injury on Lakeview means that the arrangement is safe, but I don't think you can safely conclude anything about its safety as compared to the prior existing arrangement (or lack thereof) or sharrows as there is no way to tell whether there would have been increased injuries if bicycle traffic had increased on the same road under those arrangements.

I think increasing the bike traffic on these less MV-trafficked roads is a good thing in itself, so I'm curious to know if your impression is they might be more effective at this than a sharrow system. Is bike traffic not increased on Scott St. as well?
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