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  • How motorists cause major delays for bicyclists

    Stop sign in Motown

    Bicyclists have heard the complaints from motorists if not the police. In short: Get off the road, you’re slowing me down.

    But as we wrote about a couple years ago, the amount of traffic delay caused by all bicyclists is insignificant compared to all the other delays.

    So, what about the delay motorists cause for bicyclists? Is that insignificant, too? No, it’s not.

    Motorists on the roads is the number one source of delay for bicyclists — and here’s why.

    Bicyclists began riding on Detroit streets in 1879.

    By 1900 there was one main rule of the road: a speed limit. Bicyclists and other road users were limited to 12 miles per hour and just 8 miles per hour in corners. Given the city’s poor roads, this sounds fairly reasonable.

    There were no stop signs, traffic signals, or cross walks.?These came about when the increase in motorists introduced significant public safety problems.

    Detroit installed its first stop sign in 1915 and the world’s first modern traffic signal in 1923.

    And today, stop signs (notably 4-way stops) have routinely been misused for traffic calming in an attempt to slow speeding motorists.

    These stops slow bicyclists and restarting from them requires much more energy that maintaining a steady speed.

    There are other travel delays created due to motorists, e.g. one way streets, Michigan lefts, and congestion. Also, with Metro Detroit’s general lack of Complete Streets, many cyclists are compelled to ride out of their way to avoid them.

    Yes, motorists cause bicyclists to pay a heavy price in terms of time and effort, not to mention safety. To put the blame on cyclists for negatively affecting traffic is absolutely absurd.

    Rolling stop law

    One reasonable step towards reducing this burden is the rolling stop law as implemented in Idaho. With this law, cyclists can legally treat stop signs as yields. We’d like to see this in the city of Detroit, if not all of Michigan.

    To be clear, we don’t want the “Same Rules” as motorists. We want better rules that get us closer to the rights cyclists had and fought for over 100 years ago.

    Making cycling easier and faster is a sure way of making it a more competitive transportation choice — and that should be a priority.

  • Oakland University keeps pushing Wallmart bike sharing

    Oakland University in Rochester Hills is expanding their on-campus bike share program.

    According to the Oakland Press:

    The pink bikes purchased by the university this year are part of the Bike Share program that allows any student to ride one of the bikes from and to any part of the campus for free, said Greg Jordan, director of OU’s recreation center and the Bike Share program.

    Students are on the honor system to keep the bikes on campus for the next student to pick up and go on his or her way.

    Jordan said: “What I am proud of is that the students of OU have chosen to make this an honor system program,” from among the many kinds of bike programs on campuses throughout the country, such as rental or signing them in an out for a certain period.

    Will it work? From what we’ve seen first-hand and read about elsewhere, this is an unsustainable approach. The unlocked bikes eventually get stolen or damaged.

    As Joel Batterman commented on college honor system bike sharing when we first covered this story in 2009, “…typically only succeed at very isolated rural campuses.”

    In addition, there is the issue of durability. The OU bikes are sold by Wallmart for $89. At that price they probably aren’t very durable for a single-owner when stored inside a garage.

    This 26″ Women’s NEXT La Jolla Cruiser Bike is styled in a classic design, with an extra-low dropped top tube for maximum comfort. Its full aluminum frame reduces the weight to an incredible 28.5 lbs., and makes the 26″ NEXT women’s bike easy to handle… Play it safe! Always wear a helmet and safety pads when you ride.

    OU’s Greg Jordan did tell the Oakland Press that “one of our challenges with the program is as heavily used as it is, is keeping up with maintenance and wear and tear on the bikes.”

    What’s odd is these bicycle apparently do not have baskets or a rear rack for carrying items.

    What about bike facilities?

    OU’s roads are fairly poor for biking. They’re not Complete Streets. It seems investing in those while encouraging Rochester Hills and Auburn Hills to do the same would be a first step to increase bike commuting.

    Michigan State University has been making those investments and building more bike lanes. They’re seeing big increases in bike commuting. They’ve received a Bicycle Friendly University award as well.

    And MSU does rent (and even sell) bikes. Those renting do place a deposit on the bike and are responsible for their return. The bikes come with locks and can get free maintenance through MSU Bikes Service Center. Go Green!

    Bike Share video from Oakland Press

  • More Detroit bike apparel

    Last week’s Dally in the Alley was crowded with vendors selling Detroit-branded goods — many of which promoted Detroit biking. Is that a sign of our growing bike culture?

    One vendor was Ducky Detroit, who had bike t-shirts and stickers. While they are not yet selling their product on their web site, they are at the Ferndale DIY Street Fair this weekend.

    Ink in Bloom is another vendor with their Revolution bike shirt, which is available on-line. They also sell curtains with bike wheels — with chimps or without. There products are available around town as well as at the Eastern Market Artisan Village on September 20th, 24th, and 27th.

    We have not tried their locally-sourced salves for helping cope with longer rides in the saddle.

  • Pilot ride on the Lake Erie Cycling Route

    On Monday, a group of cyclists rolled out of Windsor for a pilot ride on the proposed Lake Erie Cycling Route.

    From the Windsor Star:

    The project is being spearheaded by the Waterfront Regeneration Trust, which has established a similar 900-kilometre signed route from the Niagara Region, along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, to the Quebec border. Also involved are the Share the Road Cycling Coalition, Transportation Options and the Carolinian Canada Coalition.

    The goal is to establish a mapped and signed Lake Erie cycling route that will help attract cycling tourists and encourage local bicycle use, said Marlaine Kroehler, executive director of the Waterfront Regeneration Trust. It could be completed as early as 2013.

    This new route is a mix of paved roads with some sections of unpaved rails-to-trails added — mostly the Chrysler Canada Greenway. This is one difference from the otherwise similar U.S. Bicycle Route System which keeps to paved surfaces.

    Interestingly enough, the Chrysler Canada Greenway was perhaps less scenic than the road, which ran closer to the lake.

    Some highlights along the first leg are Amherstberg and the Fort Malden National Historic Site; Ontario’s wine country; the John R. Park Homestead (no relation to Detroit’s John R. Williams); and the Point Pelee National Park. The latter is about 60 miles from Windsor.

    The Lake Erie Cycling Route connects with the existing Waterfront Trail along Lake Ontario, which also connects with Quebec’s Route Verte. Yes, you’ll be able to ride from Windsor to Montreal along these cycling routes.

    One bonus: The Bike Train means you don’t have to ride out and back. One could take the train and take the route backwards to Windsor.

    For Detroit residents, having these mostly rural bike routes (and wineries) so close to the city is a real bonus. This is much closer (and much flatter) than Metro Detroit’s rural roads and much closer than the vineyards near Traverse City. Southeast Ontario drivers seems to be rather congenial as well. The biggest issue is once again, getting across the Detroit river without needing a car.

    The Windsor Star published this follow up article with more details, including a discussion on the growing Detroit bicycle scene and the plans to build bike routes through the Motor City. Ignoring the Windsor Star’s inappropriate reference to “the poorest neighborhoods”, the article does capture the excitement of bicycling in the Windsor-Detroit area and the potential to grow the culture and cross-border tourism opportunities.

    Riding the Riverfront Trail in Windsor
    Share the Road signs were all along the route
    Excellent wine at the Erie Shore Winery
    One of the many scenic views of Lake Erie

  • Biking and Dining in Berkley

    The city of Berkley is primed for becoming more bike-friendly. It has a solid street grid pattern throughout the city. You can bike most anywhere using residential streets. Biking to downtown Berkley is relatively easy, while routes to downtown Royal Oak, Beaumont Hospital and the Detroit Zoo could be made better.

    There is room for other improvements as well. Some ideas include:

    • Redesigning the arterial streets as Complete Streets
    • Improving connections across Woodward Avenue
    • Adding meaningful bike route signs (with wayfinding) on those residential streets
    • Proving more bike parking

    Berkley did pass a Complete Streets resolution last year.

    Also, Berkley Live community magazine just published an article on biking in the city.

    “Biking is easy, especially when anything you need is within two square miles,” Berkley City Councilwoman Lisa Platt-Auensen says.

    That’s why Auensen can often be seen around town, peddling to and from the grocery store, the video store, the pharmacy, her job in downtown Royal Oak, and even city council meetings.

    “Being on a bike helps you notice things you wouldn’t, like ‘Hey, there’s a new store opening up on the corner,’ or, ‘Oh, look, the neighbors did something nice to their yard,’” Auensen says. “It just adds so much to your day.”

    Berkley Bicycle Dinner Cruise

    And on Wednesday, September 14th at 6pm, the Berkley Environmental Advisory Committee is hosting a 6-mile Dinner Cruise bicycle ride.

    Not yet ready to give up on summer fun? Then join the members of the Berkley Environmental Advisory Committee for a casual, low speed, relaxed dinner cruise for the whole family! We will follow the Berkley Bicycle Route on a short tour Berkley neighborhoods on our way to dinner at Bagger Dave’s followed by ice cream at Clarks Ice Cream.

    The ride begins at the Community Center Parking lot on Catalpa next to the Jr. High tennis courts. The rain date is the 15th.

    More information on this ride is on Facebook.

    MDOT Training Wheels

    Berkley is also hosting a highly-recommended MDOT Training Wheels program this year.

    Training Wheels is an educational course on the planning and design of on-road bicycle facilities. It will consist of two hours of classroom instruction on the AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities, followed by an on road, on bike portion. During this portion we will casually ride through the cities of Berkley, Royal Oak and Huntington Woods, analyzing types of on-road facilities available. There will be many stops to point out potential facility types, followed by a group exercise and discussion, questions from participants and a brief wrap-up.

    More information is on the City of Berkley web site.