Commuting - video: awesome bike lane

This looks like a tense place to be riding. I believe it is in NYC somewhere.

http://www.transalt.org/e-bulletin/2005/Dec/6thavebikelane.html

Welcome to NYC. 6th Ave is nothing special. We get crap like that everywhere.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Having a bike lane there that is that narrow is pointless.

What we have going for downtown Boston is a lack of bike lanes, narrower streets, and streets that change direction every 3 blocks. Traffic is usually so slow, you're best off just pulling into traffic.

That's awesome. I am so glad I live in the sticks.

I love the pedestrians even getting in there, trees, boxes, etc. Maybe people think that lane is made just for them, to unload things and open their doors without worrying about cars.

I'm very lucky to live in Chicago I guess.

That's it? "Come on!" That's all he said? What is happening in NYC?

That is a week's worth of obstacles in 6 blocks.

That is just like my commute down 2nd ave here, during rush hour.

That clip is beautifully absurd. I don't know how that can be considered a bike lane.

I don't want the bikelane vs nonbikelane vultures swooping down on this thread but I have a question for you NYCers that try to use lanes like that one:

Do you find that the painted line helps in anyway? What would happen if it were not there? In this particular situation, does it increase or decrease the danger to cyclists?

Thanks to those with experience in lanes like the one shown who respond.
And thanks to those who have opinions on bikelanes but no experience like that shown, who don't respond. :)

That clip is beautifully absurd. I don't know how that can be considered a bike lane.

I don't want the bikelane vs nonbikelane vultures swooping down on this thread but I have a question for you NYCers that try to use lanes like that one:

Do you find that the painted line helps in anyway? What would happen if it were not there? In this particular situation, does it increase or decrease the danger to cyclists?

Thanks to those with experience in lanes like the one shown who respond.
And thanks to those who have opinions on bikelanes but no experience like that shown, who don't respond. :)

In this very specific case, it dramatically increases the danger to cyclists - but only because of our mayor and his police force. NYC cyclists are generally pragmatic enough to use bike lanes when they're safe and to ignore them when they're not - and for obvious reasons, that lane along 6th Ave is often ignored. Some of you will remember recent arguments on these forums when the NYPD launched arrest and ticketing blitzes against cyclists. Some forum members asserted that those ticketed deserved it because we're too aggressive here or interfere too much with traffic or are all anarchists or too liberal or... any number of endless reasons.

The section of 6th Ave in that video is one area where police aggressively ticket riders for leaving the bike lane - a "crime" which is not against any law in NYC. To stop cyclists, they often knock them down. That 6th Ave bike lane is clearly unsafe to ride in - and 6th Ave is obviously not a safe place to be knocked off your bike in traffic. And THAT, in a nutshell, is why so many cyclists here are pissed off at the NYPD and the mayor so much of the time.

I don't want the bikelane vs nonbikelane vultures swooping down on this thread but I have a question for you NYCers that try to use lanes like that one:

Do you find that the painted line helps in anyway? What would happen if it were not there? In this particular situation, does it increase or decrease the danger to cyclists?

My experiences with on street marked bike lanes in NYC is pretty negative. Cars and trucks routinely double park in them, many of them are right in the door zone, most have no buffer zone on the traffic side and are narrow to boot, some of the offical bike paths/lanes lead you to really dumb intersections where peds and cyclists literally have to fight the cars to get to the other side... Some cyclists go the wrong way down the on street bike lanes, joggers sometimes use them... the list goes on... I give up. I'm just sick of the traffic congestion, its stench and all that goes with it. NYC has such a great mass transit system, is relatively flat (great for cycling), yet we have all this traffic. Such an opportunity to set a precedent in this country and drastically reduce non-commercial vehicle usage in the city to improve the air, traffic congestion and quality of life, and we're wasting it... rant mode off...

On the other hand, some of the off street MUPs are nice, like a bike highway at times. :)

What a Rush! Lets do that again, at night!

When traffic is that slow, I tend to ride in the middle of a car lane, not in the bike lane. I've ridden on roads with painted bike lanes that are that narrow a lot and my main issue with the painted bike lane stripes is that they give some people the impression that it's safe to ride in the middle of the painted bike lane. When there's a bike lane like that, I think it's safe to ride at about a jogging pace in order to "filter forward" through stopped traffic, but no faster. When car traffic is moving faster than 6mph, I'd say the best thing to do is move where the parked cars' doors can't reach you (no further right than the left bikelane stripe) and start going the same speed as the cars.

Haha! I thought I was playing a video game watching that video. A door opens; a pedestrian walks towards you; boxes are piled up in the lane; etc. WTF - how do you stay out of the door zone? Does anyone claim NYC to be "bicycle-friendly?" Why don't they just rip out a couple of lanes in NYC and force everyone to take public transportation?

A bike lane on the left side of the road will put you more in harms way. I would not expect to be passed by a bike on the left on a one way so I probably wouldn't be as conscious of them.

Whole thing is just wrong!

A bike lane on the left side of the road will put you more in harms way. I would not expect to be passed by a bike on the left on a one way so I probably wouldn't be as conscious of them.

Whole thing is just wrong!

I prefer bike lanes on the left on one ways. It's easier for drivers to judge passing clearance, and you're less likely to be doored on that side.

This looks like a tense place to be riding. I believe it is in NYC somewhere.

http://www.transalt.org/e-bulletin/2005/Dec/6thavebikelane.html

Somebody needs to call the NYC Bike Lane Liberation Clown Brigade!

Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-280393034713184585&q=bike+lane
Info: http://www.times-up.org/clown.php

I prefer bike lanes on the left on one ways. It's easier for drivers to judge passing clearance, and you're less likely to be doored on that side.

Plus, fewer buses on the left.

I am going to show that clip to the Mayor and the Chair of the Toronto Bike Committee when I meet with them in a week simply to demonstrate what our lanes could look like if we don't get our fingers out of our butts and start changing the attitudes of everyone: motorists, pedestrians and cyclists. That scene is so pathetically absurd and ridiculous, the Mayor of New York should be sued for willfully and purposefully endangering cyclists. :eek:

I've ridden in that bike lane and it's a PITA. Riding in the bus lane on the right is marginally better so if I can, I just skip riding up 6th Ave.