Cyclists have much to celebrate following the latest news from Vancouver City Hall. Council endorsed a number of initiatives to advance the bicycle agenda, including a doubling of annual spending, a new bike plan, a potential ciclovia, and more. But perhaps the most important snippet of the council report is the decision to make segregated bike lanes the new standard for cycling infrastructure in the city.
A physically separated bike lane in Montreal
It’s been well documented around the world, and is common sense to most average Joes, but the reality is that the majority of people will not cycle unless they feel safe doing so. With cars traveling upwards of 60km on most city streets, cycling alongside such fast moving vehicles is dangerous, with or without a painted white line on the ground.
Studies have shown that building a comprehensive network of traffic calmed roads and bike lanes will attract cyclists, but will usually hit a plateau around a 10% mode share. That is because, according to a report from Portland’s DoT, there are four types of cyclists:
- Strong and Fearless: <1%. Cycling is their identity. They ride no matter what.
- Enthused and Confident: 7%. Cycle thanks to the infrastructure (i.e. bike lanes, etc.). Comfortable with roadways, but prefer safer facilties
- Interested but Concerned: 60%. They like cycling, but don’t feel safe about speeding cars of intersections. They would ride, but need to feel safer.
- No way, no how: 33%. Will likely never ride due to topography, inability or lack of interest.
As you can see from the stats above, it’s that 60% of people in the Interested but Concerned group that we must start targeting if we are to ever increase our cycling mode share.
So that’s why this motion is so very important for both the City of Vancouver and the entire region. To make physically separated bike lanes the new standard for cycling routes means that we are finally putting that 60% first. We are finally reaching out to seniors, soccer moms, children, and bike newbies.
What does physically separated look like? In general, it means having a bike lane be separated from cars by something more than a white line – a concrete curb, bollards, street parking, a planted median, etc. Anything that equals a physical barrier from cars entering the bike’s lane.
A section of the redesigned Carrall Street "greenway", which features a physically separated bike lane
Montreal does it; Copenhagen does it; Amsterdam does it; London does it; New York does it; San Francisco does it.
It’s high time Vancouver did too.
Congrats to the Vancouver City Council for making such a transformational decision.
This is indeed an important and welcome development. The cycling conditions in Prince George vary from mediocre to appalling to non-existent. The roads are not exactly well-maintained on the best of days, so you need good suspension and shock absorbers or it’s a very bumpy ride. Things are improving, but you still have to ride on the sidewalks in many areas simply because of too much traffic, too many parked cars and poor roads/potholes/craters.
Great post Paul, but a word of caution: while the separated lanes are okay, they’re pretty iffy in Montréal. On the north-south streets such as Brébeuf (very long blocks) they work great (except for being exposed to dooring), but on the east-west streets such as Rachel (very short blocks) cyclists are continually exposed to sketchy intersection situations.
When crossing the path (either as through traffic or turning on to the cross street) many pedestrians and motorists don’t seem to take pathway cyclists into account. This is particularly true where cyclists are travelling against the dominant auto direction or where they are ‘hidden’ behind parked cars close to the corners.
On the north-south streets, if this is only happening once every 200-300m (eg infrequent intersections), it’s not such a big deal and these paths work pretty well, but on the east-west streets, cyclists can face a near-miss every 30-60m. This makes for a jerky, stressful ride and its often easier to take one’s chances in a more visible spot out with the traffic and away from the pedestrians.
There is progress however: the new generation east-west path on de Maisonneuve (in your photo), by eliminating parking on one side of the street takes care of the visibility issue and by virtue of its alignment on the ‘left hand side’ of a one-way street, preserves a typical street setup with respect to direction of travel. Eastbound cyclists are furthest ‘left’, while all westbound traffic – cyclists and drivers – are on the ‘right’ side of the street.
Now we actually have to build some of these – hopefully the policy gets implemented.
I applaud changes that make it safer for cyclists and other users of our roads, but really don’t see cycling ever becoming a significant mode share in Vancouver.
Personally I’ve moved from the 7% to the far end of the 60% group. I rode a bike to high school and UBC every day, but I won’t ride to work now because I’m too scared of the traffic in Vancouver.
Another fear I have on the streets is flat tires. I recall getting quite a few of them when I rode to UBC, even though much of that trip was on designated bike paths. My commute is now significantly longer than it was to UBC, is almost entirely on streets rather than segregated paths and the amount of broken glass on my block alone makes me think getting to and from work all week without incident would be a minor miracle.
The Google cycling map suggests a roughly equal time getting to and from work but I know nobody, including Lance Armstrong, who goes as fast uphill as down. The elevation change from Stadium Station to the Ridgeway bicycle route is significant and I’d be making that climb at the end of the work day.
Finally there are the issues of fitness (or lack thereof), weather, perspiration and helmet hair. Cycling to work would require a shower and change of clothes. We have the facilities at work, but that’s a major hassle that takes time out of the day better spent sleeping, being with my family or getting work done.
Grade separated bike lanes are absolutely part of the answer. Way to go on this fantastic article. One thing though – I can say from experience that London definitely does not have many grade separated lanes. Most bike lanes are shared with, of all things, buses, making any cycling incredibly scary.
Great news! I took a predominantly waterfront/bike path route from Jericho to Burrard Station yesterday, and the best part was the segregated route where it was bikes and rollerbladers in a single direction per path. I could go as fast as I wanted to as long as I kept my eyes peeled up ahead for slowpokes, and crossing pedestrians. (Now I know that old people hard of hearing don’t even hear your bell. Good to know.)
My colleague encouraged me to bike to work, a long, long way that is 1 hour by bus and, according to the UBC/Google map, 1 hr by bike… but there’s some pretty damn big hills on that route! The alternative was to bike home, which I may do if I can handle the 2nd Narrows Bridge, or use the SeaBus. I’m gaining confidence but I don’t feel great biking on busier streets, especially at unmarked crossings where I have the stop sign and can’t see the through-traffic coming without heading partway into the intersection. So they’re not all ideal, but I commend the City on their improvements!
Thanks for your thorough post, Paul. As always.
The “4 types” link was a great read. That final 33% is exceptionally vocal, unfortunately, at least based on the blogs that I frequent.
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Thank you Paul, this is very informative!
I have been cycling to school/university/work since 1980 in Vancouver (and now Richmond).
To David (June 4) regarding flat tires – this is a huge problem where I now ride, across the Knight Street Bridge (often strewn with spiky debris from passing trucks). A kevlar-belted rear tire made a HUGE difference, and I expect it will also help on the front tire (when I can afford it). At $40-60 per tire, it is an excellent investment when balanced against the time and money spent changing and patching inner tubes, not to mention arriving late for work.
The new Canada Line crossing is fantastic! – but too long unless I have time to spare.
This is a great idea. Cyclists don’t quite fit in when it comes to using the road infrastructure. Functionally they do require their own rules, but floating past stop signs is wrong.
Creating a separate road system for cyclists helps put more of an onus on cyclists to respect the rules of the road. Even if it is “their” road. Also, to prevent motorist and cyclist clashing intersections that contain such roads should have a specialized signal system that clearly outlines the right of way for each road user.
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