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Many of the great cities in the world have dedicated and isolated bicycle lanes. These provide space for bicycles, making this entirely sustainable and pollution free transportation option safer and more appealing to a broader array of residents. My idea may at first sound radical and expensive, especially to those accustomed to automobiles as a fact of life. But cars are killing pedestrian and cyclists in our city, and polluting our air. What I’m proposing is legislation that whenever roadwork is done in SF, isolated bicycle lanes are budgeted in and built. Sound expensive? Consider the cost saved in human life. Consider the appeal to visitors, especially from Europe and other bicycle-friendly societies. Why should money be spent so liberally constructing a car-centered city and so penuriously for a sustainable-transportation one. But we’re making new bike lanes already! Here are just some of the problems with them:
Drivers frequently don’t look before they pull out into the bike land, or open their doors. This can mean serious injury or even death for a cyclist.
They put cyclists in the way of buses, and vice versa. Very dangerous, anxiety provoking and inefficient for both cyclists and bus-drivers.
They often simply become auxiliary parking for drivers, who disrespectfully double park.
Demonstrating the SF is ahead of the curve in sustainability and forward thinking urban design translates into dollars for the city and its businesses.
There is no excuse to settle for status quo, 20th century city planning. We are one of the most wealthy cities in the world. Let’s spend our money wisely and bring human-powered transportation from the margins to the center of our transit strategy.
Thank you,
Ben Furstenberg
Permanent SF resident since 1990.
- : 7.0
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April 27th, 2007 at 3:50 am
As someone who supports, generally, encouragement of non-car-based transportation, I have to ask: What city do you live in? Bike lanes are ALL over the place.
I for one think the bicyclists have gotten completely out of control and critical mass is one example of this. Until the bicycling community can grow up and act responsibly, we should be punshing ALL of them.
I know I know, you say it’s just a few bad apples… well there are a lot of them and It’s outrageous that the whole community is pushed around by the bicycling community just because they are the loudest and most self-righteous.
Punish them until they can behave.. they’ve already been given too much and they’re too full of themselves.
Complaining about car drivers is outrageous. There may be a lot of car drivers not paying attention, but 90% of all bicyclists I see in this city blatantly ignore the rules of the road because they think that they don’t apply to them. OUTRAGEOUS that ANYONE can ask for a more bike-friendly city with the way most of the bicyclists behave.
July 6th, 2007 at 9:52 am
Bicycling is a healthy, fun, convenient, and environmentally friendly way to get around town. Better separation between cars and cyclists helps drivers get to where they’re going without interference from cyclists, and helps keep cyclists safe.
True, there are quite a few roads in this city with bike lanes, but these are very poorly kept, with potholes, glass, nails, and worst of all the double parkers and loading vans who force bicyclists into car traffic.
I ride about once or twice a week, and have been hit by cars on my bicycle twice in the last two years: once by a driver making an illegal turn on market, another time by a driver running a stop sign in the inner sunset. Bicyclists deserve safe routes around town, and no amount of citation will fix this without increased awareness and consideration on both sides. We also need investment from the city government in roadways that make sense (unlike Market and Octavia or Fell and Masonic intersections).
December 5th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
I’ve been using a bike as my primary means of transit in SF for the last 6 years. Car drivers are a big problem, they pull into the bike lane without looking or, even worse and more frequently, throw open their driver-side door without looking. Isolated, built-in bike lanes are a great start.
I also think that Market St. should be closed to vehcicle traffic other than muni trains and bikes and converted into a pedestrian mall. This would be great for bikes and mass transit and help revitalize the area between Powell and Van Ness.
San Francisco is definitely ahead of the curve in terms of bicycle-friendliness but it has a long way to go!