Wednesday Afternoon Commute - Tubing

Weirdest headline of the day "Aaron Hernandez arrested in murder probe; cut by New England Patriots"

• Turn out at the Montgomery County bikeshare meetings has been low "Although only about a dozen residents attended a meeting in Silver Spring Tuesday evening, a few asked county officials to consider moving a few of the nine stations to alternative locations." A final list of station locations could be out by late July
  • Once the locations are chosen, Montgomery County officials will work on infrastructure improvements to get ready for Bikeshare. It will include studies to determine where "sharrows," also known as the road markings that show when motorists need to share the path with bicyclists, could be placed. Councilmember Roger Berliner, who chairs the Transportation and Energy Committee, has championed the sharrows as an option.
  • "We don't have a lot of stripped dedicated bike lanes, but we are going to implement more. We are looking at roads where Paul DeMaio feels most of the cyclists will use to get between stations, and we'll determine whether the locations are better for sharrows or whether we can re-engineer the road to get a dedicated lane," he said.
• Cindy Sheehan is riding her bike from her son's gravesite in California to Washington, DC as part of the Tour de Peace. "Sheehan said her Brookeville visit was one of the final stops, after leaving California on April 4. The Tour de Peace cross-country bicycle ride concludes in Washington, D.C., with a ride from Arlington National Cemetery to the White House on July 3."
• The new signs in McLean are just the start. "McLean is the first place in Fairfax County to receive the signs. Foust said he expects they will be installed in Tysons Corner as it redevelops, as well as other areas." Next on the agenda for McLean - bike racks.
• A list of some of the more unique and fantastic pieces of bicycle infrastructure in the world. 
• And they didn't stop a single stoplight the whole time. [we could try this on the Anacostia, but it would take you months to get to work] I hope they wore helmets.

Comments

[Jacob]

I am going to keep repeating this until I am blue in the face: Sharrows are not bicycle infrastructure.

or in the words of the Dutch, sharrows are "just useless paint":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=m2THe_10dYs#at=177

[washcycle]

Jacob, the Dutch are wrong (and I guess that means you are too).

A FHWA study and another one done in San Francisco shows that sharrows decrease sidewalk cycling, move cyclists from the door zone, get drivers to pass cyclists with greater distance and even encourage drivers to give more space to parked cars.

So, it's probably better to repeat the science until you're blue in the face.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/pedbike/10041/10041.pdf

[david johnson]

Ride inside the sharrows and get doored in the face.
Science ? Science that contradicts first hand experience is not science at all.
I trust the Dutch before any American source.
Best thing America could do is to quit trying to reinvent the bike route and learn from their betters.

[washcycle]

Experience? This has happened to you? You were riding in sharrows and got doored in the face? Or did this happen to someone else you know? Who's experience?

[Early Man]

I know a Dutchman with some tulip bulbs he'd like to sell

[david johnson]

@ washcycle

Yes I have more experience biking the streets of DC then almost anyone .

I have biked as a commuter starting in the 60's to and from summer jobs.

I biked during my time in Europe in the military. I biked delivering blueprints downtown and I worked for western union as well.

I was a courier when the industry started when there were only 2 currier companies in town. I was a union organizer and was a part of the only NLRB recognized courier union to exist in DC and of unit of late in the USA

I return to courier work around 1994 and retired about 4 years ago. During my last stint as a courier I was elected by the couriers to be "team leader". I wrote the manual at WEX for bikers and was paid for doing so by the company. As team leader I went to the aid of anyone one of the 60 or so couriers then in the fleet. So yes I dare say I have some experience. I got some 30 or more years as a courier alone. That 6 to 8 hours a day at least 4 days a week. Problem with experience is it often come with though making mistakes.

"wisdom is the ability to learn from other peoples mistakes"
There is much Americans can learn from the Dutch. Yes you can learn from my mistakes or you can just make your own.

http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/...
http://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/201...

Yes I have had many car doors thrown open in front of me . I recall a few years ago on Capitol hill and man was killed after being doored and knocked the line of an on coming car.

Further a proper bikelane a least like the one of 15th st. takes no more space then the sharrows if the divers respect them.

But the way not just do away with the parking?

We have no duty to provide parking for those stink bombs. We got to take back out streets.

http://youtu.be/CDJJ-O-rUh4

[washcycle]

Well, I wasn't really looking for your resume. I was asking for a very specific type of experience. Let me ask the question again more explicitly. I'm looking for yes or no answers only.

Have you ever been doored in the face while riding in a sharrowed lane?

Have you ever seen this happen?

Have you ever heard of this happening?

[david johnson]

@washcycle
Yes I have read of a man killed on Capitol as the result of being doored. Myself I learned , thoug many near misses to stay in the lane not only to avoid being doored but to prevent close high speed passes i.e. I ignore the painted lines and do what I have to protect myself. In the same fashion I all but ignored the Sharrows question for the greater question. What is best for the over all safety of the cyclist and do we not have as much right to demand roads for us as anyone else GM and it's slaves i.e. car owner's?
Your question calls for more then a specific answer, you already have more then enough answers, it call for education. However those persons who do not want to learn as is the case most often with Americans well so be it don't get doored see how you like it.
The links in my previous post are there to provide you with just that.
The whole idea that bike ought to share the rod with cars is unacceptable in high traffic areas.
Separate bikeways are the only proven way to insure the safety of all such that families , children , old folks etc. can cycle safely.

I fully expect the city to be sued for producing a hazard.

[washcycle]

Do you mean East Capitol? None of the Capitol streets have sharrows.