what one thing would you do to make things better for cyclists?

[rando]

let's say you have one wish and *POOF* things would instantly change in your community. what would you wish for to make things better for cyclists in your community?

[chipcom]

Today? *POOF* - it's 70 degrees! :D

[bragi]

Well, since we're dreaming here, I'd wish for these things:

1. A complete ban on the use of private motor vehicles within the limits of the core city, with exceptions made for people with disabilities or those (such as painting contractors) who need their vehicles to do their jobs.
Or, more realistically:

2. Bike lanes on every arterial in town, and designed in such a way that open car doors or turn lanes pose no threat. (Please don't jump on me here about bike lanes; if you don't like them, let's just agree to disagree.)

3. A prominent section on the driver's license test that deals with driving skills needed to maneuver in the presence of bicycles and the legal rights of bicyclists as road users.

[FastFreddy]

Get the really bad drivers off the road. It’s no more than 5% that, for one reason or another, are so dangerously bad that they should be banned from driving a motor vehicle.

Some people think that it’s possible to educate them – I’m less optimistic. But any attempt to educate not backed by a rigorous testing regimen will not solve the problem.

Make it much harder to be certified to drive a motor vehicle. And back that up with serious penalties (including mandatory prison time for repeat offenders) for driving without a license.

The benefits to cyclists – not to mention pedestrians and other motorists – would be huge.

[Bikepacker67]

The price of gasoline reflected its true cost.

[MrCjolsen]

New and enforced speedlimits:

Freeways: No limit. Let them drive as fast as they want.
Any road other than freeways: 40 mph
Any road without a bike lane or shoulder: 30 mph
Any residential or downtown street: 20 mph

Registration fees based on weight of vehicle so that one aging Ford Excursion pays every year as much as five or six Lamborghinis.

Undercover traffic police that look like ordinary cars until the lights start flashing.

Camera equipped undercover bicycle police disguised as ordinary cyclists and serve the same function as those "red light cameras."

Three strikes for motorists. After third reckless driving or DUI, license is permanently revoked in every state. Person can no longer register any vehicle in their own name and any vehicle the person is caught driving will be permanently impounded.

[rajman]

more cyclists

[chipcom]

Free pie at work for all bicycle commuters. :)

[galen_52657]

Enforce existing traffic regulations

[bigpedaler]

a nationwide conscientious mindset; in other words, everyone realizing they don't know it all and have to respect other people, and thus DO so. (am i a dreamer, or am i a DREAMER?)

[rando]

If I HAD one wish, I would probably turn all the right lanes on the major arterials into bike-only lanes. that would still leave 1-2 lanes for cars each way! man, would THAT be unpopular.

[bbunk]

Today? *POOF* - it's 70 degrees! :D

Careful, you over POOFED Arizona! It is 84 already with a high of 92. :eek: :D

Get states to include cycling laws in the driver education/tests. A lot of AZ and Utah, the places I have lived the most, don't know the laws regarding bikes and how they should be operated. I was guilty of that myself at one time.

[chipcom]

Enforce existing traffic regulations

+1

[randya]

Better motorist education regarding cyclists' right to the road. Stiff fines for motorists that violate cyclists' right-of-way or harass and intimidate cyclists with their vehicles.

[hotbike]

You've all made some pretty good sugestions/wishes.

I like the idea that driver's ed courses should include _something_ about how to pass a bicycle safely.
Acknowledgement that there are bicycles on the road would be a good start.

Back in the old days, the Driver's Ed instructor would ask the newbie if he wants to go faster than 55MPH. If he said yes, the instructor would drive him to the nearest Air Force Recruiter so he could enlist in the USAF. Planes (at least the old propeller planes) can lift off the ground at 55MPH, so they can go well over things that cars have to steer around.

But to add something new, I would say that driving a vehicle over 6000 pounds in weight should require a CDL (Commercial Drivers Liscence).

Better enforcement of existing speed limits would be more practical, though.
I think that in general, bike lanes are uncalled for- When motorists start yelling and cursing, usually the bicycle is going at or near the speed limit, maybe even over. The motorist is suffering from a Delusion that he is being forced to go slow, most likely because he has a pre-concieved notion that cars are faster than bicycles. The faster the bicycle goes , the "madder" the motorist becomes.
It might actually be a good thing if bicyclists were getting speeding tickets for going 37 in a 30 zone.
Then there would be proof that the bicycle is going fast enough.
The Police don't want to shatter the lunatic motorist's delusion.
I wish I had speeding tickets for the times I went 37, 42, or 47MPH on my bike in a 30MPH zone.

More speeding tickets, please.

The problem with DWI checkpoints is they only stop the drunk motorists. A lunatic can and will do anything a drunk would do, but they always manage to pass the field sobriety test (i.e. breathalizer).

[galen_52657]

If I HAD one wish, I would probably turn all the right lanes on the major arterials into bike-only lanes. that would still leave 1-2 lanes for cars each way! man, would THAT be unpopular.

Actually, that is a reasonable idea and has been done (Ocean City, MD where Ocean Highway is six lanes wide) with the exception that the right lane was also for buses and right turns.

[ken cummings]

At first I wished that we "Kill all the lawyers". Then I realized some of them help unreasonable people settle their differences. AHA! I wish all people to be reasonable.

[bragi]

Free pie at work for all bicycle commuters. :)

Make mine blueberry, please.

[genec]

New and enforced speedlimits:

Freeways: No limit. Let them drive as fast as they want.
Any road other than freeways: 40 mph
Any road without a bike lane or shoulder: 30 mph
Any residential or downtown street: 20 mph




Amen! This is exactly what I was thinking! Add to this strict enforcement of these limits.

I was just driving (yes driving) back from a boat race and in the left lane of a two lane road (that I was just biking on last weekend) I was doing exactly the speed limit and along on my right a young lady was starting to speed right past me. Funny thing though, right up ahead was a police car parked on the side. She suddenly slowed down to the speed limit and maintained that speed the whole way down the road that we were together. The point is, SHE KNEW SHE WAS SPEEDING just prior to seeing the cop, she was just trying to get away with it. That tends to be the biggest issue out there... people just trying to get away with "it." Whatever "it" is. The probably know they are cheating, and just don't care, unless there is some chance they will be caught.

Enforce the speed limits.

[genec]

Better motorist education regarding cyclists' right to the road. Stiff fines for motorists that violate cyclists' right-of-way or harass and intimidate cyclists with their vehicles.

Man I like this one too. It is the very rare motorist that knows cyclists have the same rights to the road as they. Nearly every motorist I speak to, for one reason or another, feels that bikes have no rights to the road. Only a couple of very young drivers (my son, and a young intern at work) have ever told me they know that cyclists have the same rights to the road as any other driver. BTW that intern also cycles...

[goinfs]

I'd wish that the 5% of selfish and idiot cyclists would start sharing the road in a respectful manner so they wouldn't give the other 95% of us such a bad reputaion with motorists who also have a 5% population of selfish and idiotic people who give them a bad reputation with us.

[donnamb]

Since we're talking about a wish here... A comprehensive driver's education curriculum that all people who want a driver's license must take. Begin preparing at a young age with good pedestrian and cyclist education in grade school. Mandatory written and road tests every 5 years required in order to renew driver's license.

Hey, anyone have a magic want I could borrow? I've misplaced mine. ;)

[John E]

I think you collectively have hit all of my favorites, which include enhanced accountability, standards, and education for all road users. I would add improved public transit, which would make judges and juries more willing to suspend or revoke driving privileges. I would also like to see an end to the huge hidden subsidy enjoyed by American motorists -- let them learn the true cost of driving a car.

[sbhikes]

A comprehensive network of bikeways, lined with natural vegetation, so you can ride anywhere you want in peace and quiet or listen to your headphones and actually HEAR the music, and see hawks flying above, critters skittering below, hear birds, watch ducks in the creek or dolphins in the ocean, smell flowers, see and FEEL the changing of the seasons.

[genec]

Since we're talking about a wish here... A comprehensive driver's education curriculum that all people who want a driver's license must take. Begin preparing at a young age with good pedestrian and cyclist education in grade school. Mandatory written and road tests every 5 years required in order to renew driver's license.

Hey, anyone have a magic want I could borrow? I've misplaced mine. ;)
:beer: :beer: :beer:

+100. I have said just this in many posts in the past.

[Roughstuff]

let's say you have one wish and *POOF* things would instantly change in your community. what would you wish for to make things better for cyclists in your community?

Well...there are many things ya can do. To me one thing to do is set a good example when you are in your car. Reasonable speed, passing with caution and giving as much space as possible, and treating cyclists as if they were legimitate road users.

Similarly as a cyclist, I try and be as aware of the road around me as possible; ride as carefully and courteously as I can.

roughstuff

[CTAC]

$10/gallon gas for private vehicles.

[hotbike]

A comprehensive network of bikeways, lined with natural vegetation, so you can ride anywhere you want in peace and quiet or listen to your headphones and actually HEAR the music, and see hawks flying above, critters skittering below, hear birds, watch ducks in the creek or dolphins in the ocean, smell flowers, see and FEEL the changing of the seasons.

Let's not overdo the "natural vegetation" . It's already too easy to hit you head on a tree limb, or get your eye gouged out by a branch.

But I guess since your riding a recumbent and wearing Oakleys, that doesn't concern you.

[Az B]

Real driver education and training. Graduated licensing with difficult tests. In areas of the world where this is practiced, it makes a much bigger difference than multiple air bags and traction control.

Az

[bigpedaler]

death penalty for bike thieves.
by lethal anal-probe injection.
i'm thinking the WWE's leftover barbed-wire-wrapped baseball bats....

[Brian Ratliff]

I would like some real research into how to design roads to accept multimodal traffic (cars, bikes, peds). So far, most the efforts have been somewhat of a cross between "rule of thumb", guesswork/experience, and hit-and-miss. I say this because the most common complaint is "well cyclists have only themselves to blame for getting hit - the road just isn't built for bicycles, it is the realm of cars..." or something to that extent. So, why not start building roads to accept of all forms of transportation.

But some real money should go into this, starting at the university level and working its way up to implementation on the street. It is a real engineering problem, mixing cars and bikes, and cycling must, at some point, be depoliticized and get some real, ol' fashion, nuts and bolts research. We have too many amateur "experts", too many "general purpose" advocates, and way too little research and development going on.

[Helmet Head]

I would like some real research into how to design roads to accept multimodal traffic (cars, bikes, peds). So far, most the efforts have been somewhat of a cross between "rule of thumb", guesswork/experience, and hit-and-miss. I say this because the most common complaint is "well cyclists have only themselves to blame for getting hit - the road just isn't built for bicycles, it is the realm of cars..." or something to that extent. So, why not start building roads to accept of all forms of transportation.

But some real money should go into this, starting at the university level and working its way up to implementation on the street. It is a real engineering problem, mixing cars and bikes, and cycling must, at some point, be depoliticized and get some real, ol' fashion, nuts and bolts research. We have too many amateur "experts", too many "general purpose" advocates, and way too little research and development going on.
Just to be clear, by "multimodal" you mean trimodal (cars, bikes, peds) as opposed to bimodal (vehicular, peds), right?

It's not an engineering problem. It's a basic math problem. Assuming you want to provide continuous segregated routes, as much as possible, for each mode, it's the intersections that are the problem. The intersections are a problem for just a single mode problem. The engineering problem is that we're trying to do this on essentially a single plane. That means you have to stop certain flows across an intersection to allow another through (stop signs, traffic signals). The alternative is much more expensive; grade separation.

When you add a second mode to the problem, that complicates the problem. Others understand this, and so seek to eliminate cars, for example.

But adding a third mode, that's really impractical. You either have impractically expensive multi-grade solutions at intersections, or you have to allow mode-specific flows at intersections, adding delay for everyone. Again, this is already a problem in just a bimodal system (consider how many peds are killed per year).

Adding a third mode to bimodal transportation system complicates everything by probably an order of magnitude. That makes it impractical.

[chipcom]

Here we go. Do you really have to correct peoples wishes too? :rolleyes:

[randya]

Multi modal should also include transit such as busses, street cars, light rail, etc. Plus freight, which is a separate category from passenger vehicles.

[Keith99]

I'd wish that the 5% of selfish and idiot cyclists would start sharing the road in a respectful manner so they wouldn't give the other 95% of us such a bad reputaion with motorists who also have a 5% population of selfish and idiotic people who give them a bad reputation with us.

How novel. realizing it is a small percentage of jerks driving either kind of vehicle. A great dream.

Near the other end is what I'd wish for. Well maintained streets. Helps both cars and bikes.

[Helmet Head]

Here we go. Do you really have to correct peoples wishes too? :rolleyes:
Brian's "wish" seemed serious... and problematic...

[Helmet Head]

My wish: fix the pot holes and the sensors that don't detect cyclists.

[chipcom]

Brian's "wish" seemed serious... and problematic...

See if I share my letters to Santa with you - stay away from my grandkids at Christmas, k? :p

[Brian Ratliff]

Trimodal? No. Multimodal, in the sense of Randya's post above.

Is the problem difficult? Of course. Does this mean we shy away? No. Otherwise we would never have FEA and CFD designed bicycles weighing 17 lbs (who in the world would want a 17 lb bicycle, and why apply aerospace design tools on something as little as a bicycle; you know, those tools cost several $10,000 for a single seat for a single year). We wouldn't have modern cars (make an engine block out of aluminum? Impossible! Stick with steel as the design problems are an order of magnitude less. Aluminum is utterly impractical).

And I think, HH, you are mistaking my mind's eye vision. If you are thinking any thoughts revolving around bike lanes, you are wrong. I didn't color this wish with a preconcieved notion of the solution! In my mind's eye, I am just now getting my arms wrapped around the problem. I don't know the solution. But I can tell that all attempts at it so far are only partial solutions. But really, what's the fun in solving a problem if the solution is already known?

And how in the world is this not an engineering problem?

Basic math problem... :rolleyes: That talk's for quitters ;).

[Brian Ratliff]

Brian's "wish" seemed serious... and problematic...

Of course it is serious. How is calling for more research into a very real problem problematic? Do you think the DOT's around the country puts roads in willy nilly without a single iota of research backing the road design?

I have yet to see a serious and well funded attempt at researching the problem of putting bicycles and drivers on the same road in a frictionless way.

[Helmet Head]

Trimodal? No. Multimodal, in the sense of Randya's post above.

Is the problem difficult? Of course. Does this mean we shy away? No. Otherwise we would never have FEA and CFD designed bicycles weighing 17 lbs (who in the world would want a 17 lb bicycle, and why apply aerospace design tools on something as little as a bicycle; you know, those tools cost several $10,000 for a single seat for a single year). We wouldn't have modern cars (make an engine block out of aluminum? Impossible! Stick with steel as the design problems are an order of magnitude less. Aluminum is utterly impractical).

And I think, HH, you are mistaking my mind's eye vision. If you are thinking any thoughts revolving around bike lanes, you are wrong. I didn't color this wish with a preconcieved notion of the solution! In my mind's eye, I am just now getting my arms wrapped around the problem. I don't know the solution. But I can tell that all attempts at it so far are only partial solutions. But really, what's the fun in solving a problem if the solution is already known?

And how in the world is this not an engineering problem?

Basic math problem... :rolleyes: That talk's for quitters ;). I didn't think you were thinking bike lanes.

But no research is required to understand the basic problem. We know what it takes to add another mode to an existing transport system. Look at any railroad system. Or how about a subway... that's right, use a separate plain (I've long called for the undergrounding of all motor vehicles - wouldn't that be nice?).

There just aren't that many categories of choices. You either spend inordinate resources to handle the new mode entirely separatedly (like a railroad, and just as limited in terms of source, destination and route), or the freeway system, you put it on a separate plain (like a subway, or the Disneyland monorail), or you (and everyone else) takes the hit (literally) at intersections, either with multi-grade/multi-mode facilities, or with added delays.

There is no other way.

[mostatebears]

I wish most cyclists considered themselves to be vehicles and not do things like.....riding at night without lights, ride on the sidewalk, pass on the right then yell at the motorists who almost turns right into them etc.

[Brian Ratliff]

I didn't think you were thinking bike lanes.

Good.

But no research is required to understand the basic problem. We know what it takes to add another mode to an existing transport system. Look at any railroad system. Or how about a subway... that's right, use a separate plain (I've long called for the undergrounding of all motor vehicles - wouldn't that be nice?).

There just aren't that many categories of choices. You either spend inordinate resources to handle the new mode entirely separatedly (like a railroad, and just as limited in terms of source, destination and route), or the freeway system, you put it on a separate plain (like a subway, or the Disneyland monorail), or you (and everyone else) takes the hit (literally) at intersections, either with multi-grade/multi-mode facilities, or with added delays.

There is no other way.

You have some understanding of the problem then. That's the first step. You know the old adage about bicycle components, that you have cheap, light, and durable, choose any two? Engineering is about having all three. Nobody said the solution was easy or obvious.

[rando]

there was a picture in my "Amsterdam" thread of a median bikeway in Bogota. maybe that's a concept to pursue. there's always going to be challenges and problems. there's not going to be a perfect system, ever.... but I think it's time to try some new things. the old ways sure haven't worked, and won't work for anything but an autocentric society.

[randya]

there was a picture in my "Amsterdam" thread of a median bikeway in Bogota.
There are also a number of median bikeways in Barcelona, Spain.

[bigpedaler]

OK, people, let's get back on subject -- impossible dream wish list, not a discussion of bike-friendly road facilities! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

(some of you could kill the buzz of a hummer....)

[UmneyDurak]

Free pie at work for all bicycle commuters. :)
Before I support this statement I must know that kind of pie.

[SingingSabre]

Since we're talking about a wish here... A comprehensive driver's education curriculum that all people who want a driver's license must take. Begin preparing at a young age with good pedestrian and cyclist education in grade school. Mandatory written and road tests every 5 years required in order to renew driver's license.

Hey, anyone have a magic want I could borrow? I've misplaced mine. ;)

I have a magic...er...

I mean...

I agree with education beginning at a very young age. The founder of the children's theatre I volunteer for believed that if you taught children kindness at a young age, they would go up practicing it. I am a very strong believer in that.

If children grew up with tolerance and respect to cyclists, when they became adults, they would likely be more open to A) cycling, B) research into cycling friendly facilities.

[Da Tinker]

I have a dream...

For all operators of all vehicles to behave as if they have a heart & a soul, to drive like their safety and the safety of others is important. For all operators to know, understand and obey the laws. To have kindness and courtesy become commonplace once more.








But I ain't gonna hold my breath on this one.

[skanking biker]

bike service at the McDOnald's drive through