Blog: The Bigger Bikeway Bluff

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𝄞: “Last Christmas I gave you my heartfelt opinion about the Big Bikeway Bluff.”♬
𝄞: “This year, to save us from tears I’ll tell you something more special.”♬

The Big Bikeway Bluff

Last Christmas I told readers the story about the City of Davis and its bike lane network. These lanes in 1967 could have changed American cycling forever. California Governor Ronald Reagan signed bike lanes into law. Caltrans then defined Bikeways as “facilities that provide primarily for bicycle travel” and came up with two classes:

Default: Shared Roadway (No Bikeway Designation). Most bicycle travel in the State now occurs on streets and highways without bikeway designations, and this may continue to be true in the future as well. (CA Highway Design Manual)
Class I bikeways, such as a “bike path,” provide a completely separated right-of-way designated for the exclusive use of bicycles and pedestrians.
Class II bikeways, such as a “bike lane,” provide a restricted right-of-way designated for the exclusive or semi-exclusive use of bicycles but with vehicle parking and crossflows by pedestrians and motorists permitted.

The bluff about these two bikeways is easy to spot. All around the Bay Area, Class I bikeways are pedestrian-first and bicycle-second. While that should be the correct order of things, that also means that Class I is not a facility “to provide primarily for bicycle travel.” If class II bikeways permit vehicle parking, then bicycle travel becomes primarily impossible, doesn’t it? If there aren’t sidewalks, pedestrians are supposed to use Class II Bikeways as well. Basically, in California, bicycles are playing second or third fiddle on both bikeways – which is one big section of the Big Bikeway Bluff in the Bay Area.

So these aren’t exactly the greatest bike facilities, but California Democrats always find ways to make things worse around here …

“The British Are Coming, The British Are Coming”

In the middle of the last century, when the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany were experimenting with bike lanes, the UK did not. It just happened to be that British’ bicycle elitists (I’m serious) didn’t like bike lanes. These “advocates,” in fact, treated cycling as an elitist sport for ‘athletes only’ and a way to make money by selling gear and magazines. So, they lobbied against bike lanes. And which city engineer wouldn’t love to do less AND still be praised for their commitment to bicycling? How cool is that?

In America, The League of American Wheelmen (now the League of American Bicyclists) wasn’t (still isn’t) precisely an inviting organization either. Once the movement reached America, the nickname for these bicycle elitists and athlete-wannabes became “Vehicular Cyclists” because these guys liked to ride with cars. These guys wanted to ride 25 mph to 30 mph and did not want to be stuck behind children or old people on bike lanes. And the moniker “Vehicular Cycling” was born. And they have been selling books, videos, and training sessions ever since.

It isn’t hard to see that riding 25 mph – 30 mph isn’t really working for people with disabilities or children, parents with children or cargo bikes, older citizens, or basically anyone other than the 1% “Strong and Confident.” And, of course, these guys also lack the empathy needed to advocate for bike lanes for children or people with various abilities. And so did two Bay Area cyclists from Britain: Berkeley’s John Forester and Palo Alto’s Ellen Fletcher. Both John Forester and Ellen Fletcher were used to riding their bicycles in London, so they must have thought riding with cars was expected, and that US children didn’t deserve more than the British kids did.

So in 1980’s Palo Alto John Forester – who didn’t want bike lanes – and council member Ellen Fletcher – who wanted to protect residential car storage – “compromised” on something they called a “Bicycle Boulevard“. Like British traffic engineers – who liked not having to find space for bicycle lanes – US engineers from AASHTO or Caltrans liked that too, and the “Class III Bikeway” was born.

Class III bikeways, such as an on-street or off-street “bike route,” provide a right-of-way designated by signs or permanent markings and shared with pedestrians or motorists. (CA St & Hwy Code § 890.4)

Got It! Bicycles are the primary mode of transportation and are afforded the right-of-way, then pedestrians, then motorists. Cool.

A Quick Look At Ellen Fletcher’s Bicycle Boulevard

Let’s repeat the formula given to us by Palo Alto and Caltrans: Bicycle Boulevard = Bicycles are the primary mode of transportation and afforded the right-of-way, then pedestrians, then motorists.
And now, we apply that formula to this photo of the “Mother of All Bicycle Boulevards,” “Home of the Transportation Clown,” and “Doom Project of American Cycling.”

I challenge anyone to pinpoint just one thing that would favor children on bicycles in this picture, just one. I, however would like to point out eight quick issues Ellen Fletcher didn’t seem to consider when giving her name to a contraption like this:

The dangerous right-turn lane for cars means this isn’t primarily for bike travel.
The crosswalks here tell us this isn’t exactly meant as a “Shared Space” with pedestrians.
No bike lanes mean they created no safe space for small children on bicycles.
The STOP sign means a bicycle wouldn’t have the right-of-way here.
The angled parking makes cycling here very, very dangerous.
The downtown parking garage means this isn’t a low-volume street.
The police station and police cars mean this isn’t a low-speed or low-stress street.
No lowered speed limit, so police wouldn’t hand out tickets unless speeds exceed 30-35 mph here.

Oh, and not even one form of “branding,” “marking,” or “signage” explains that this is a place primarily for bicycle travel.

Now imagine the whole scene at night or with blinding sunlight, and this area becomes a very dangerous place for cyclists. Sure enough, this area in downtown Palo Alto was named the Most Dangerous Area for Cyclists in Silicon Valley by walkuplawoffice.com.
If you drop an alien from this or another planet right into this spot, they would not know that bicycles should receive special treatment here.

White Bicycle with Christmas decoration. [courtesy: Getty]

What Palo Alto “Bike Boulevards” really are

Whenever I ride this street, I miss cyclists the most. When you ride a 4-mile bicycle boulevard, and you count more cars than bicycles, you know something is wrong with the design. And, of course, Palo Alto’s Bicycle Boulevard has little to do with bicycles. It is a basic “Share the Road” experiment that usually drives people with disabilities, children or senior citizens without cars (they do exist) off the road.

Looking at the picture above, no one can honestly say this works great. But enough about what the public thinks, what does the City of Palo Alto think?

Exhibit A) When Palo Alto tried to move their experiment just a few blocks to the East and onto Ross Road, they again failed badly. The residents weren’t happy, and there were crashes. The senior traffic engineer went to work for another city soon after.

Exhibit B) Currently, Palo Alto has a project called “The Bryant Street Bicycle Boulevard Update includes reassessing the existing bicycle boulevard segment to include sharrow roadway markings, bicycle boulevard branding signage, and considerations for additional traffic calming measures depending on community preferences.“

You could drop an alien from Palo Alto’s Ross Road onto Palo Alto’s Bryant Street, and they would not know that bicycles should receive special treatment here. If a 40 year old, well established “Bicycle Boulevard” was such a success why does it still require more “branding”, more markings, more signage, more “traffic calming”, and more “community outreach”. If a 40-year-old, well-established concept of a “Bicycle Boulevard” can’t even be replicated in the same city, other cities should avoid it.

Let the Bigger Bikeway Bluff begin

“I was always under pressure to do less.” [James Mackay, Inventor of the “Sharrow”]

Do “Bicycle Boulevards” sound like a living, breeding success, or are these traffic engineers just trying to beat a dead horse over and over again? Something that works well and people seem to like; everyone wants their product associated with that. Whatever Oat Milk, Almond Milk, Hemp Milk, Cashew Milk, or Soy Milk really is, no mammal was used in the making of that product. Those products have nothing to do with dairy. They stick to the same name because that is the value of branding. Something similar is happening with “Bicycle Boulevards”. They have not been done with people riding bicycles in mind, instead they are used to take bike lanes away from people. All over America, the Class III Bikeway, aka “Bicycle Boulevard,” has proven to be snake oil. As any good snake oil salesman would do, traffic engineers and city managers around America just keep repackaging and rebranding these car-centric projects. And remember that most of those examples look similar to the photo above. They are just regular streets with speeds of 25 mph-35 mph and little to no infrastructure.

Caltrain called them “Class III Bikeways” but quickly forgot about the “primary mode” thing.
Many class III streets will have a “Bike Route” sign, again no special treatment.
San Mateo County calls them “Rural Bike Route” – think King Mountain Road.
Denver invented the “sharrows” [1990s] – later the inventor called them a “brutal compromise”.
Berkeley also called them “Bike Boulevards,” but some of theirs have been upgraded with bike lanes now.
In St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Tucson, it is recommended that people do not use anything with a “bike” in it.
Portland calls them “Neighborhood Greenways,” – and because there is no green, the bike mode share has been going down ever since.
Seattle was thinking just “Greenways” but realized people might expect trails and trees.
Delaware and Louisville wanted something shorter and went with “Neighborway.”
Some “advocates” (and snake oil salesmen) contemplated “Neighborhood Boulevard”
London named them “Quietways” – the project flailed
Oakland added “Slow Streets,” as did Redwood City
Other names are “calmway,” “local street bikeway,” “local street greenway”
San Francisco maps seem to have them all, “Bicycle Boulevards,” “Neighborways,” “Slow Streets” – none is doing too well (unless it has bike lanes)

A bike lane is a bike lane everywhere because it just works. A “Bicycle Boulevard,” however, seems to be whatever people don’t want it to be – which is a street that should have bike lanes but gets a funny name instead. But even worse, the name “Bicycle Boulevard” delivers a false sense of security.

These aren’t Class 3 Bikeways; these are Class 0 – Default Streets.

“Sharrows give politicians an easy way to say they’re doing something for bicycling without making any hard decisions.” [ Noah Budnick, SFBC ]

Class III Bikeways are Snake Oil

Meat is known as carcinogenic (at least since WHO said so in 2015). Most non-meat alternatives are known as ultra-processed foods UPF (Nova classification). Both sides will try to use all kinds of false arguments to tell you theirs is better. However, the fact remains that to stay healthy, one must avoid carcinogenic and UPFs as much as possible. People on bicycles are killed when they mix with cars on regular streets. Whether that regular street is called a road, street, avenue, or bike boulevard, it makes little difference to the person on the bicycle since they are still at the mercy of drivers. Only real separation can change that formula; only bike lanes (4-8ft, preferably protected) make a difference in terms of risk and safety.

In business, if something is good and successful, it becomes a product or a brand with which everyone wants to be associated. People like cola, meat, bacon, milk and so plenty of related products hang on to the same “brand”. Every beverage company has a “cola”, there is vegan meat and vegetarian bacon, there is milk that has nothing to do with dairy, there is cheese analogues. All these products might be just as good as the original or even better for some people, but they are clearly not the same. If “Class III Bikeways” really worked and were superior in taste or function, there would not be a need for so much deception with naming. “Bike lanes” for “Class II Bikeways”, on the other hand, is the name that is just stuck.

Using Class III Bikeways as a Litmus Test

Class III Bikeways have one great feature. You can use them to separate real bicycle advocates from the pretenders. Just like Cinderella sorting lentils from ashes, it helps to figure out who your good bicycle advocates are and who will make your hands dirty. If they prefer Palo Alto-style “bike routes” over actual Davis-style bike lanes, you know which bucket to drop them. But it becomes even worse if these “bicycle advocates” support taking precious bicycle funding to finance these projects that don’t support people on bicycles. That has the smell of Astroturfing.

Time to sing our traditional Bicycle Infrastructure Christmas Song

𝄞♬ “On the twelfth day of Christmas, if your true love gives to you …

Twelve Sharrows drumming
Eleven Bicycle Boulevards piping
Ten Neighborhood Greenways leaping
Nine Vehicular Cyclists dancing
Eight Bikeable Walkways a-milking
Seven Slow Streets a-swimming
Six Walkable Sidewalks a-laying
Five London Quietways
Four Cycleways calling
Three Dutch Woonerfs
Two class Bike Lanes
and a Partridge in a pear tree”

You can keep the cycleways, the woonerfs, the bike lanes, and the partridge in a pear tree, but you should re-gift all the others immediately.

Happy Holidays!

If Santa’s bag does not include bike lanes, reward him with soy milk and cardboard cookies. [courtesy: getty]

Editor’s Note: The views and opinions expressed in all blog posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Redwood City Pulse or its staff.

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