PatrickGSR94

Many times those bike symbols with arrows are there to help less informed cyclists understand which side of the path they should be on, such as riding to the right in countries that drive on the right. The presence of a bike symbol does not prohibit its use by pedestrians.

DunderXIII

In Quebec if it has the diamond in front of the bike it means its a restricted bike lane. You can't walk on it for fun, its bikes only. But paths on bridges are rarely restricted and are most often multi-user. That's when learning the "shove as you pass" move gets in handy (kidding!)

People that walk on restricted bike lanes **** me off. But what can I do? I just live with it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_lane

no motor?

I find that wearing bright colors and using some bright flashing lights makes it harder for pedestrians to see me and generally pull to the far right and stop when I encounter an oblivious pedestrian. When they do notice me they usually have a look on their face of "how did I miss seeing him".

noglider 

I watch everyone I can watch, and I try to predict how each person is going to behave. If I think they're going to do something dumb, I slow down as if they are toddlers. It can be good to ring my bell from a distance so they're not startled as I pass.

Clyde1820

Safely?

1. Go an appropriate speed for conditions. Conditions including the type/speed of impediments around me, of course, and that includes pedestrians, dogs, whatever.
   
2. Use a bell, something clearly part of a moving vehicle. Combined with "passing on your left" it seems to work reasonably well.
   
3. Of course, these days, lots of folks have their headphones on and their synapses otherwise engaged, and so occasionally it's clear that no amount of noise is going to grab their attention.

Which brings me back to technique #1 above, again.

caloso

What FBinNY said.

Darth Lefty 

If I think it's going to be a tight space or a problem, I call out "Hello hello!" and slow down if needed. There's one particular spot on my ride where there's often anglers walking down the same hill I'm riding, and though I'd like to go fast, I definitely don't want a pole in my spokes and hook in my eye from a startled reaction, and they have a perfect right to be there too.

Like I've said in other places, when I've had a bell, I typically forget I have it until the moment is past.

fietsbob

Being courteous and riding slowly , and a ding with your bell seems civil,
and has worked for decades at home and on tours,

Just had one admonishment, in England "The pavements are for people and their dogs"

Pavement being british for sidewalk..

PatrickGSR94

I've never seen such a sign. Is that only in Canada? I don't think that's a MUTCD official regulatory sign.

Leebo

Ride at an appropriate speed, loud bike bell too. Big fan of bell when I'm back a bit, and then a loudly " passing left" or "passing right" for whatever is correct for your path.

mb2112

Then there's this:

no motor?

The other thing I do when I'm on a MUP in the forest preserve and encounter people fixated on their phones in my path is to say "please pay attention". It usually has the desired effect of getting them to look up from their phone without becoming enraged at me.

Classtime 

Riding along with a fellow commuter, we were sharing stories of bike/ped encounters. His strategy was not to telegraph his next move because they will block you. Funny but it kinda works. Of course, slow down and give them room when they are obviously flopping around like a fish on the riverbank. The annoying ones are those that walk/run right down the middle. wtf?

Daniel4

First, let mother nature clear the path for you. Ride in the rain.

You already know that bells don't work for people wearing headphones. But Airzounds or loud horns might give the impression you're just a road rager. So use your voice and yell out "BIKE!" and let them decide to go right or left.

If still no response, ride pass them (carefully) while sounding your horn.

DunderXIII

I don't know, the wikipedia link says US & Canada. Here it's everywhere; restricted bike lanes, restricted bus lanes, restricted car-pool-lane, restricted bus lane, restricted bus&bike lane, alouette!

jon c. 

Solving the problem one pedestrian at a time. It's a slow process, but if we all work together success can be realized.

kickstart

YES! its so simple, why is there any question about it?



And lets not forget, time management is an important bike commuting skill.

johngwheeler

This was possibly justified, depending on whether the path was clearly labelled as shared MUP or not - although even then you might find some people fundamentally object to bikes being ridden on the same path! Generally, they are just frightened by the thought of a 30kph bike going past them or their dogs/children , an arms length away.

In many Australian states (but not all), it is illegal to ride on the pedestrain pavement/sidewalk unless you are under 12yo, or an adult accompanying a child on a bike. This is why lots of previously ped-only paths are now MUPs, to encourage bike commuting. Some of them are clearly after-thoughts and not very wide.

johngwheeler

That was hilarious! But I'd also be pretty frustrated if there was a dedicated bike lane (as this seemed to be) with such a mass of people in it. In which city was this filmed?

At least my ride into Sydney is nothing like this - I may have to avoid maybe 20-30 people in my whole 14km ride. This poor guy had about 300 people to dodge only going about 500m by the looks of it....

FBinNY 

IMO the key to riding on shared paths is very simple.

Keep this thought at the front of your mind at all times. ------ Bicycles are to pedestrians as cars are to bicycles.


So, as you ride, think about how you want motorists to treat you, and let that guide how you treat pedestrians. If at any time, you find yourself annoyed by pedestrians who get in your way, slow you down, or act erratically, remember how you feel about drivers who think this way.

FBinNY 

Needs orchestration.

Joe Minton

Much good advice above.

However, when I encounter someone with their cell phone in their ear, their iPod buds in ears, who are texting while they are on and usually obstructing a MUP (perhaps with their 'leashed' puppy stretching across the way, I sharply yell "HEY!" (I can yell really loud) and then pass them while they are recovering. I once had a woman drop her cell phone in reaction.

I am courteous and slow when approaching other folks, but --- I have no patience with thoughtless, selfish people.

Joe

canklecat

I've begun using bells that ring continuously while riding the local multi-use path. Just a couple of holiday jingle bells of different sizes and pitches that ring against my bike's top tube (which itself emits a slight ringing tone due to the thin tubing and oval shape).

I don't need to choose when to ring the bell, unless the pavement is so smooth it doesn't jostle the bells enough. Then I'll slap or jostle the bells, depending on how urgent the situation is.

I've been experimenting with this for several weeks, after seeing demo videos for a few different mountain bike trail bells that ring continuously.

In practice most pedestrians and joggers do notice the fairly gentle continuous jingling and move over, nudging their partners, kids, etc. It seems to give them plenty of time so nobody is rushed.

Of the dozens of people I've seen respond to the continuously ringing bells I've heard only two comments that could be interpreted as complaints -- mostly along the lines of "What the heck was that?" or "I wondered what the heck that noise was!" But in both cases the person was speaking to his/her walking/jogging partner, not to me.

The only times it hasn't worked was with pedestrians and cyclists who use ear buds and drown out external sounds. To cut through their aural buffer zones I'd need a bell so loud it would be disturbing to most folks. So I just watch for folks with ear buds and give them more room or slow down and pass more carefully.

Overall I'd call it successful. I wanted to experiment before buying a continuous trail bell because some of them are pricey ($20-$40). Or I may still use my own and experiment a bit more with three bells of different pitches and a more convenient way to disable the bells when I'm not on the MUP.

RidingMatthew

that is a good idea
I like that phrase.

PatrickGSR94

Yeah I've seen the diamond symbol for restricted use lanes on interstates, and possibly for bus lanes, but never for referring to a bike lane. I don't believe it's a standard MUTCD-approved regulatory sign in the US. But I had someone else tell me that they're all over Canada.

So what happens if pedestrians use that "bike only" lane? Are they ticketed by police?