11042 replies to this topic

[Mattjvd]

Hey Nagel,

 

This form tends to be unhappy with the current bike lanes, so it's nice to have your comments here to provide some balancing perspective.

I think there is a general sentiment in favour of improving cycling infrastructure, yet unhappy with the execution of the Pandora and Fort lanes. (could be wrong, that's just my perception)

 

I used to cycle from Gordon Head to Esquimalt daily, without the Goose that would be a nightmare! I was happy to hear about the proposed Pandora Lanes, but I'm not too happy about the cost overruns and how narrow they've made the car lanes (especially between Douglas and Blanshard). Occasionally the 27/28 bus doesn't even bother trying to stay in one lane and just straddles the centre line so it can actually fit. I'd like to see some of the other bike routes come to fruition, but not if they are going to ignore the BC Transit's warnings and exceed their budgets by so much.

[rmpeers]

Good points. I suspect/hope most motorists do not actually hate their 2-wheeling brothers and sisters. Frenemies, maybe.

[DustMagnet]

I was happy to hear about the proposed Pandora Lanes, but I'm not too happy about the cost overruns and how narrow they've made the car lanes (especially between Douglas and Blanshard).

For reasons my dentist is on Oak Bay Ave and had to drive the truck (car was on the mainland) there this week.  I was returning along Pandora Ave in the right lane when a cube van clipped my (admittedly large factory tow) mirror with his on his way past in the left lane.  No damage was done but it was a surprise.

I would have just ridden my bike to the dentist if I wasn't concerned that it would be stolen while I was there.  There's the downside to 20-pound vehicles.

[Bob Fugger]

Some of the anti bicycle lane posts border on parody.

 

"I totally support bicycle lanes as long as they don't inconvenience a single person and as long as they don't take up any space on any street, and as long as they are free to build. And by the way did I mention that I hate having to look at overweight 45 y.o. men in overly tight Lycra. And why aren't cyclists licenced because more government programs are ALWAYS great."

 

I can't imagine why the pro-bike lane cohort here doesn't elicit more sympathy than they do.

[mbjj]

I walk on Fort St quite a lot and I certainly feel less safe trying to cross by Brown's the Florist. I feel like I'm going to be surprised by a cyclist coming the opposite way from the vehicle traffic and even though I've looked both ways I have to keep on looking, just in case. But then there might be a bike coming from the Douglas St. end of things.

[Rob Randall]

^You would not believe the pedestrians that walk right into the bike lane there without looking.

[Nparker]

^You would not believe the pedestrians that walk right into the bike lane there without looking.

It can't be any larger than the number of cyclists who zoom through the mid-block pedestrian crossings as though they don't exist at all.

[Brantastic]

What's funny is whenever I stop on my bike for a pedestrian downtown, they appear confused, stop and wave me though. Nearly every time. I've already stopped for you! Just go!

But yes, the amount of pedestrians who cross the bike lanes without even looking one way or another is insane. I've even had a number of occasions where people use them as a walkway instead of the sidewalk.

[Bingo]

The bane of drivers and cyclists are pedestrians who saunter sort of through the crosswalk against the don't walk sign while texting.

[Greg]

^You would not believe the pedestrians that walk right into the bike lane there without looking.

 

 

It can't be any larger than the number of cyclists who zoom through the mid-block pedestrian crossings as though they don't exist at all.

 

 

The bane of drivers and cyclists are pedestrians who saunter sort of through the crosswalk against the don't walk sign while texting.

 

Let's stop the fighting amongst the cyclists, drivers and pedestrians, and unite against out common enemy - mobility scooters.

 

/seriously, people behave badly often and it is pretty much irrespective of their mode of transportation.

[blazer]

Most messages to this forum are expressing preferences likes and dislikes re the separated bike lanes. For the hundreds of blind bus riders and thousands of severely visually/ mobility compromised seniors having to cross these bike lanes in order to use public transit is a real safety hazard. Does the safety of these folk in our community not matter?

 

Tom

[Mike K.]

Oh it does, for sure. The lanes are the subject of a court challenge backed by the CNIB, I think?

[LJ]

Let's stop the fighting amongst the cyclists, drivers and pedestrians, and unite against out common enemy - mobility scooters.

 

/seriously, people behave badly often and it is pretty much irrespective of their mode of transportation.

It's not the mobility scooters that are going to do you in, it is the electric two wheeled cycles that will kill you, 

 Being in mainland China the electric scooters are ubiquitous. They get 5 feet behind you and then honk their horn to let you know they are coming through, sometimes you have enough time to get out of the way.

Hong Kong on the other hand has no cyclists or scooters, just a great metro system, and drivers for the most part follow the rules.

[Mike K.]

And we’re seeing more and more of these scooters in the lanes and on the Goose moving at 30-40km with impunity.

[jjmac]

There was a police bike patrol issuing tickets on the goose yesterday at the Tillicum lights. Third time I've seen that and I've been riding on the goose almost daily for 4 years.

[Jackerbie]

Oh it does, for sure. The lanes are the subject of a court challenge backed by the CNIB, I think?

 

I believe so. They're challenging the design, which is widely used around the world, including multiple Canadian cities. I don't see it going anywhere, as the issue isn't so much the design as it is the users. It's really no different than a crosswalk. Drivers largely behave as they're supposed to at marked crossings, but every now and then someone doesn't and a pedestrian gets hurt.

[blazer]

Rob Randall writes: You would not believe the pedestrians that walk right into the bike lane there without

looking.

 

Can't expect the fully blind and the partially sighted to do the "looking".

[FogPub]

As pedestrians, people generally don't consider a moving bicycle to be anywhere near as much of a threat to their safety as they do a moving car, and so they don't bother watching out for them.  Add to that the 2-way bikes on 1-way streets and yeah, it's a recipe for a mess.

[DustMagnet]

So U-Bicycle is giving up on the leave-it-anywhere model in Victoria... https://www.vicnews....irtual-parking/

[Bingo]

So U-Bicycle is giving up on the leave-it-anywhere model in Victoria... https://www.vicnews....irtual-parking/

As long as they don't leave them on the boulevard like a mouldy old chesterfield that nobody wants.