Is bike-sharing making conflict more pronounced?

USA Today had an article this week that makes the claim that

The battle between car drivers and bicyclists is becoming more pronounced as bike-sharing programs spread across the country.

But then the only assertion they back up is that bike-sharing programs are spreading across the country. The only bit of evidence they give to support the above claim is that

In Miami Beach, city officials say they have heard complaints from city residents about novice riders using the city's one-year-old DecoBike program

One uncited, anecdotal data point is hardly proof.

There's a DC tie-in

"There is a conflict," says Lt. Nicholas Breul of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., which launched a bike-sharing program two years ago. "The motorists want to be able to drive down the road, the bicyclists want to be safe, and the pedestrians want to be able to cross the street. Everyone's complaining about the behavior of everyone else."

"There are still people that use their cars to intimidate and harass cyclists," said Greg Billing of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. "They're upset with the change in the status quo of who's using the roads, and that's not acceptable."

Which is how's it's been for as long as I remember. And Billing's statement could even be read that things are getting better.

Gomez points to evidence that there are more crashes since bike sharing started

Washington's Capital Bikeshare program began in September 2010, has grown to include more than 1,500 bicycles and recently recorded its 2 millionth ride. At the same time, bicycle-related accidents have increased on city D.C. roads.

Bicycle-related accidents have increased from 312 in 2009 to 601 in 2011, according to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. Pedestrian-related accidents also rose from 657 in 2009 to 935 in 2011.

Capital Bikeshare didn't start until late 2010 (and bikesharing in DC was minuscule before then), so that would be a better starting point. In 2010 there were 436 crashes, which still shows an uptick, but also that the rise started well before CaBi. And the increase in pedestrian crashes makes it apparant that there is something else at play here

Breul doesn't blame those increases solely on the expansion of the bike-sharing program.

Does Breul blame any of it on bike-sharing? It doesn't seem like it and I doubt it. And he'd be wrong if he did becasue as pointed out later

Chris Holben... said only 24 Bikeshare crashes have been reported to police since the program started.

So at worst, CaBi is responsible for only 1 in 7 of the new crashes in 2011.

[Bruel] says Washington has seen an influx of people living in its urban core, meaning more people are walking around the city. The city also added about 50 miles of bike lanes in the past decade, which led more residents to use their bicycles to commute. According to the Census Bureau, the percentage of Washingtonians who ride to work on their bicycles increased from 1.2% of the population in 2000 to 3.1% in 2010.

"With the larger mass of humanity, you're going to have more conflicts," Breul says.

Bruel's answer that more people are walking and biking makes far more sense. As does the possibility of better reporting, but blaming it on CaBi is ridiculous.

The article even mentions the safety in numbers argument and that Chris Holben says that cycling has gotten safer since bikesharing started. So that undermines the bikesharing argument, which is only loosely supported by an uptick in crashes anyway.

Then there 's this

"In certain cities, where they're very bike-friendly, you often see bikers asserting themselves maybe more than they should," says John Bowman, a spokesman for the National Motorists Association, a drivers' rights advocacy group. " Bicyclists need to look out for cars because they're most vulnerable," Bowman says. "In any type of conflict between a car and a bike, the car always wins."

First let me fix this

"Drivers need to look out for cyclists because they're most dangerous," is what Bowman should have said.

And we don't get any idea how much asserting, or what type of asserting is "more than one should." But at least he ends with a subtle threat. 'Look out cyclists, we can kill you at any moment.'

Comments

[charlie]

Things are far better than when the bike messengers ruled.

However, the fix of offenders is very different.

I was driving north on 16th street under the tunnel last night -- maybe around 10 PM. Dark out. Lady is a beach cruiser -- no lights or reflectors that I can see -- decided to pull a U turn right at the tunnel exit with two cars coming in. We both slam on our brakes -- if there was anyone behind us it would have been an accident.

Generally, I see new CaBI users doing incredibly stupid things but not that offensive.

As a pedestrian, the hassle factor of bikes has gone up a lot in two years. As a biker, I'd say most drivers in the area are getting better (not lurking behind you as a "safety" measure) but with the amount of tourists in the area you can't count on driver education either.

[TurbineBlade]

I don't have any werid, random story about someone's bad behavior to relate here --

I don't see any conflict, just the same old stuff. I agree that if anything, things are probably getting better.

[dasgeh]

It's a good point that pedestrian-bike conflict has probably gone up, but I think that's because the numbers of both pedestrians and cyclists have gone up, and in lots of places the infrastructure hasn't improved. (E.g. most of the MUPs haven't gotten wider) So more people sharing the same space leads to more conflict (if not always collisions).

[JeffB]

On a positive note getting any kind of mention in the general press has a good aspect to it.

I see it as meaning that bike sharing has made a dent in society's consciousness and is no longer an obscure "alternative thing".

[Crickey7]

Reliable statistics about cultural phenomenon usually trail by a couple of years. But my Mark-1 eyeball survey suggests bike ridership in the DC area has increased substantially in the last few years.

[todd]

What's with all the reasonable comments by MPD these days? Good for them. I appreciate the recognition that everyone (drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, pogo stick commuters) can be whiney pricks.

BUT

USA Today ran a bicycle hit piece without quoting Kennedy or John Townsend??? It's called journalism, people.

[SJE]

Lt. Nicholas Breul: "The motorists want to be able to drive down the road, the bicyclists want to be safe, and the pedestrians want to be able to cross the street."
This is a good quote that captures the problem of entitled motorists. The motorists complaint is that they are slowed down. The cyclists and peds complaint is that they are getting hurt. In the hierarchy of rights, my safety trumps you going a little faster.

[T]

The fact that they quoted MPD made me laugh. Someone ought to clue the reporter in that one of their officers hit a cyclist intentionally, was caught on tape, and then it took them a year to even file the report. They don't know the law nor do they care--and partially because they have bigger fish to fry in terms of violence in other parts of the city.

I think more accidents is just because more people are biking. It's like saying accidents on the ICC went up 100% from 2010. Well, yes, of course given it didn't exist then. Accidents per capita is a better reflection and those are actually down.

I would agree with the general sentiment that bikeshare users aren't quite as road-savy as other commuters, but I think that will change with time.

[charlie]

"I would agree with the general sentiment that bikeshare users aren't quite as road-savy as other commuters, but I think that will change with time"

Given the number of tourists using the system, I think not. If anything, my ancedotatal view is it has gotten worse. Bikeshare users started as very polite and well behaved, but have inquiringly have started to salmon and blow through lights.

[alice k.]

sje:

there is no other faster mode of transport than bicycle. i am the fastest vehicle in the city. easily...

THE CARS ARE IN MY GODDAMN WAY, not the other way 'round.

if we had investigative reporting (yeah, right) this could be EASILY demonstrated...

and given the stupidity of suburban design, increasingly as fast as cars out there, too...

cars can kill me; and peds -- Lt. Nicholas Breul makes a (literally) idiotic claim that is, most definitely, indicative of the problem...one he is blind to...

i'm sure he'd also tell you, you know, that if only those blacks EOTR could behave, we'd have no crime problems in DC...

[SJE]

Alice K: Lt Bruel is not making any disparaging comments about any user of the roads, merely expressing the complaints of each group.

[washcycle]

Breul is actually one of MPD's representatives to the BAC. He wasn't there last night, but an MPD representative was. I asked him about the quote above and he assured me that Breul didn't blame bikesharing for anything. Having MPD come to meetings has been a very positive improvement.

[SJE]

Washcycle: I think Lt. Bruel's quote reflects that. Its a good sign.

[T]

Why don't they rotate who they send from MPD to the BAC meetings aside from a few assigned officers?

Some of their officers are great and actually ride themselves. So they're very keen to the law. Others have the faintest clue of cycling, let alone the related laws. It's frustrating.

[alice k.]

Breul:
"Everyone's complaining about the behavior of everyone else."

I call bullshit on this comment.

He equates the CAR with other modes of transport. It is the CAR that is the problem, and it is privileged, SUBSIDIZED, and WAAAAYYY out of proportion in the transportation "system."

dont wallow to the police washcycle and sje: theyre not our friends...they SHOULD work for us...and the "us" here is a defensible community of people, not CARS...and CARS should NOT be the sole focus of transportation policy, as they are.

i know: youre going to tell me they are not the sole focus: bullshit on that, too. DDOT cant tell me when 14th St. NW going north will be repaved. it is the ONLY ONLY ONLY route north thats sane. where is ANY OTHER ROUTE in NW? DDOT is really the District Dept. of Cars...look at the DATA, the time and resources spent on CARS, look at the MONEY spent, then calculate for peds and bikes: the result for the latter is statistically insignificant.

lastly, Breul (like the NPS and its Police) is insulting in his spectacular ignorance: MPD does not enforce traffic law for CARS in ANY ANY ANY ANY ANY meaningful manner -- AT ALL. Speeding, tailigating, parking, hands free: NONE of it is enforced meaningfully...I am happy, as are am army of academic researchers, to share our data...theyll never get in touch with us. the "american people" dont give a damn either...

CAR traffic enforcement is what is needed to ensure safety for NON-CARS., BREUL needs to CONSTANTLY POINT THAT OUT...he doesnt...because he doesnt want to criticize the establishment, and car privilege. and why would he? he's an uneducated, narrow-minded cop!!!!!!!

(Oh, i know: ive mischaracterized him...blah blah. i bet if I were to ask him about the composition of who's in jail in DC, and what the profile of the offenders are, for what kinds of crime, and asked for his insight -- HE WOULDNT HAVE ANY. Hell, the Police Chief doesnt either...theyre just not educated sufficiently...)

when FIFTY (50) percent of the CARS start obeying the car traffic laws, I'll start obeying them....

[SJE]

T: you are getting to a bigger issue. There is some tension between those who see policing as an integral part of the community, and those who see it as enforcement of laws on the community, with a quasi military mindset. The BAC is not going to benefit much from a person who sees their job entirely as riding around in big cruiser and taking down bad guys.

[washcycle]

But Everyone is complaining about everyone else. Look at any WaPo comment section on road use/safety. How is that BS?

[Brendan]

I got doored by a cabbie once. No injury to me or my bike. His door was so bent he couldn't get it closed. Bike does not always lose to Car. I won.