Bikeways or greenways (sometimes they have other names) are routes identified on roads that are designed as safe places for cycling. But as this video shows, they can really vary. What are they like in your city?
@danieldaniels75712 жыл бұрын
I live in Phoenix. The multi-use paths along canals, the Salt River, and on green belts are great. Most are very wide and have underpasses, overpasses, or traffic lights at major stroad crossings. The bike lanes on stroads are frightening to me, though. I don't feel safe in a narrow lane with only a stripe of paint protecting me from giant trucks and SUVs going 40-50 mph. There are also several busy streets with designated bike sharrows where bikes are supposed to share the lane with cars, and those are pointless too, especially Central Avenue. However we have many residential and side streets that go through which are not marked as bikeways that are excellent to bike on because they're wide and have minimal car traffic on them. Some of the streets you were riding on seemed similar, and I was disappointed you graded them negatively.
@Bull3tBikes2 жыл бұрын
When you revisit Vancouver I hope you check out the Central Valley greenway it’s a long bike path that follows the rail line it stretches from Vancouver all the way to new Westminster with practically no hills the entire way! (Which Vancouver is full of!) there are a few short shared sections but a lot of it is a bike/pedestrian walkway it’s a beautiful ride.
@Jande297932 жыл бұрын
Hey Tom, James from Brisbane Australia here. How far did you ride on these routes? How did you pick the destination? I'd like to look at a comparison ride in my city which is good in some areas, but also has a lot of the "bikeways" that are not "bikeways" and NIMBY opposition to connections
@nigelstewart99822 жыл бұрын
@@Jande29793 Yeah, I was thinking something similar. 10ish km ride from, say, Bracken Ridge to Chermside, via Cabbage Tree Crk and Aspley. Some fairly nice sections strung together by some sketchy gaps.
@RealConstructor2 жыл бұрын
I see there is a world to win here in Canada, like we say in The Netherlands. But you are on the right path, there is kind of a cycle infrastructure. In an hour I’m going to the supermarket in the center of town to buy my weekend groceries, by bike that is. I will use a bicycle path alongside an arterial road, two residential roads with bike lanes and a destination road without bike lanes, but with maximum speed for cars of 30kmph. No traffic lights. It is safe and quicker than by car and I don’t have to search for a parking spot, although. I hope to find a free place in the bicycle racks, because there are not enough for Saturdays with sunny weather. If I can’t find any spot in a rack, I park it at the sidewalk on its own bicycle stand. And I need to get to the butcher in a neighboring town, about half n hour one way by bicycle. Through the countryside I only have bicycle paths so I don’t have to cycle on roads where the speed for cars is 50 or 60 kmph. It is very safe. I almost never use my car in the weekend. Most things are done by bicycle and public transport, weather permitted. If it rains I’m much quicker in taking the car.
@Carsonist2 жыл бұрын
City planners: "This street isn't safe for cyclists!" *Puts up a sign* "If anything, we did too much here."
@alpd76382 жыл бұрын
I'm not even joking, i read a report today about making a street safer for cyclists and the recommendation was to "add paint markings to warn of possible line of sight issues". That was it.
@ichijofestival25762 жыл бұрын
@@alpd7638 I mean, be fair, what would you have them do? _Something?_ You should just be grateful they dedicated an entire report to belittling your place in society because you choose not to encase yourself in two tons of steel and glass every time you leave the house.
@Einstein-wasnt-all-that-smart2 жыл бұрын
It's because they need to indicate that bikes can go on the road because driver's shouldn't be expected to know how to drive
@AssBlasster2 жыл бұрын
@@alpd7638 That is unfortunately the logic of many city planners and councils when adding bike "infrastructure". None of them have ridden a bike to get anywhere in their lives.
@KevAlberta2 жыл бұрын
@@ichijofestival2576 how much glass do you really think is in the cars 😂
@luishsteuer16602 жыл бұрын
You didn’t highlight the Vancouver speed bump was actually a pedestrian crossing. That should be another +1. Instead of pedestrians climbing down onto the street to cross, cars must climb UP into the pedestrian area to cross. IE it’s clearly meant to be for pedestrians
@Shifter_Cycling2 жыл бұрын
Great point. Thank you.
@martinkent3332 жыл бұрын
This freaks also blows stop signs and doesn't signal....................... Death on two wheels!
@fluuufffffy15142 жыл бұрын
Pedestrian-forward infrastructure: we love to see it!
@HolgerNestmann2 жыл бұрын
I like the sentiment though. Normal speedbumps are really bad for cyclists. If you see ways around them, they get used quiet heavily. I would like to see cutouts on normal speedbumps
@martinkent3332 жыл бұрын
@@fluuufffffy1514 Replacing the ultrafashionable civic negligence with civic ethics, would help the pedestrians consistently suffering from terror on the sidewalks and crossing streets............... Downtowns are where "Velocitized" drivers terrorize every form of street folk and are unaware of their hallucinations, Cupcake............ Cyclists are unaware of this form of cycling terror. Cause underage drinking demands street cred. This buggers up their ethics and destroys their conscience. Cuz criminals destabilze your country and then streal your bikes!
@buckwylde79652 жыл бұрын
"Actually, it was really hard to find a connected bikeway that would actually take you somewhere" Sounds like 95% of towns and cities in North America.
@Einstein-wasnt-all-that-smart2 жыл бұрын
99.9%
@AssBlasster2 жыл бұрын
My college town actually has the multi-use path go near the suburban mall, a gym, some apts, and a few strip malls. I can't actually tell if that was designed on purpose though.
@indigobunting5041 Жыл бұрын
When I moved to my current small city the only bike path was very disconnected. It started and stopped at random places. Recently the city has started adding bicycle infrastructure. I can now use a combination of a sharrow, multiuse path, and painted bike lane with a bit of residential street to get from my house to my parents' house. The multiuse path is the best improvement of the three bike paths.
@xHadesStamps3 ай бұрын
I’m glad where that where I live they’re pretty well connected, and they’re also actively working to make connections where they don’t yet exist.
@The2wanderers2 жыл бұрын
You know you're in trouble when the blue sign earns a +1. Much more generous than I would have been.
@bugsygoo2 жыл бұрын
What really gets me is the amount of space that cars seemingly have a right to. I hope that on-street parking isn't free!
@Shifter_Cycling2 жыл бұрын
You're absolutely correct, and the vast majority of the space you see in these videos is free parking. That's part of the problem, I agree.
@davidbarts61442 жыл бұрын
Once you get out of the urban core, on-street parking in Vancouver’s residential neighbourhoods is generally free and unrestricted.
@llejk2 жыл бұрын
@Garden State NJ All commuters are equal, but car owners are *more* equal. Or, “freedom” as in “you are free to risk your health here with a bicycle.”
@RohitSharma-yr7li2 жыл бұрын
As an avid cyclist and motorist, I disagree. This is not a cars vs bike issue. It’s literally an infrastructure issue. There’s a time for cars, and a time for bikes, and the infrastructure should reflect that, just like when a new bridge or on-ramp is required for road access for cars, and entire pieces of land can literally be excavated, moved, and manipulated, the same should be done with cycling infrastructure. The issue is, not enough people care to do anything about it, and there’s little monetary incentive to probed said infrastructure.
@bugsygoo2 жыл бұрын
@@RohitSharma-yr7li Saying that there is a time for cars and a time for bikes is kind of meaningless. No fair minded person would say that cars or bikes don't have their place. The point is about the amount of space cars take up, which I would argue is way too much. So, yes, it is an infrastructure issue in that the overwhelming amount of money spent on infrastructure in paces like the US, Canada, Australia, is on cars. Cyclists get a miniscule amount of that. Also, when you says 'cycling' do you mean for sport or commuting? I do both, but this isn't about sport.
@chrisc11402 жыл бұрын
I get the frustration felt by a car stuck behind a cyclist moving at half or less of the speed limit...but you'd think this would get commuters to push for *more* bike infrastructure! Just to get us out of their way! Course it also makes us safer but that doesn't seem to be a factor for many people, so might as well focus on what they DO care about. That said, I tend to stick to the road anyway, because I like to push hard and go fast which isn't always safe in bike lanes.
@davidbarts61442 жыл бұрын
The greenways in Vancouver generally: are posted at 30 km/h, have regular speed humps, and allow only one lane for car travel (with parked cars on each side). So one can’t easily drive a car faster than a bike on one, which eliminates this sort of conflict.
@Shifter_Cycling2 жыл бұрын
I agree. If motorists hate having bikes on the road, why aren't they the first ones arguing in favour of separated routes?
@Korina422 жыл бұрын
@@Shifter_Cycling I've taken to using that reasoning on anti-bike infrastructure people. I also remind them that every bike is a car not clogging up their street.
@HolgerNestmann2 жыл бұрын
I took my roadbike out today. There was a cycle lane on the other side of the road, where families and elderlies were using + it was up and down the curbs, which aren‘t fun on super skinny tires. The bikelane is optional (there are enforced ones in germany too) and while there was no traffic and I was easy to overtake, I heard the horn from some SUV drivers
@justinoz15262 жыл бұрын
@@Shifter_Cycling In my experience, it is because the motorists who really don't like cyclists, *really* don't like cyclists, cycling or anything on two wheels. It's basically being spiteful.
@jessiegeorg84382 жыл бұрын
I actually have a small disagreement to make with what Tom said about how things like the concrete islands makes things less comfortable for cars. I'm a car driver and frankly I barely even notice them. They slow me down, but I don't feel like they are "inconveniencing me" or really impacting my journey at all. Which is great because it makes roads safer to ride on as a cyclist, without really affecting the driving experience. Bravo to this sort of thing!
@Korina422 жыл бұрын
This. We're not trying to make drivers feel uncomfortable, we're trying to make drivers feel comfortable driving in a way that's safer for everyone.
@justinoz15262 жыл бұрын
Those island are described as "traffic calming" and if they don't bother you, like they don't bother me, then it is probably because you aren't an aggressive or impatient driver. People I know who hate them are also the kind of people who drive over the speed limit, take unnecessary risks, etc.
@1988dgs2 жыл бұрын
@@Korina42 the problem with thinking your “calming” traffic is people have places to go, ie people going to the doctors leave their travel time plus a little extra for traffic. If they are suddenly cut to half the speed limit for a bit of their journey they have to make up time somewhere else and where do you think they are going to make up time? That’s right, the quiet street where 10 to 20 over the speed limit “won’t be noticed” (unless someone gets hurt), another example, a delivery driver has (say) a half hour slot to deliver groceries and suddenly has part of their journey at half speed, if the delivery doesn’t get made on time, who gets yelled at for missing a time slot by the customer and possibly fired? Or do you plan every journey at 10mph and arrive everywhere very early when your not held up? Would you be happy if you book a taxi that suddenly travels to your destination at 10mph while your watching the meter go up? People have places to go and for a driving test here you have to demonstrate you are comfortable getting to within 10% of the speed limit. Would you like to be told you have failed because you drove perfectly but weren’t able to demonstrate that you are confident travelling close to the speed limit
@randomdogdog2 жыл бұрын
@@1988dgs but traffic calming and reduced speed limits don't happen suddenly. They exist before you begin the journey, and thus you can plan around them.
@1988dgs2 жыл бұрын
@@randomdogdog they use the arguments here that coming across a bike on your journey will “calm” the traffic. They are trying to put travel back to the late 1800’s without coming straight out and saying it, putting all the onus on the traveller to still hit 21st century deadlines with 19th century means and pace of life
@fallenshallrise2 жыл бұрын
This video hit close to home, literally you rode right past my building in Chinatown. Vancouver is getting so much better lately and I think the lesson is how little they had to do to fix the conflict zones on these routes that were formerly just green lines highlighted on a map. A couple of traffic blockers with some jersey barriers and it's actually really nice now. That one quick left right where the ping pong table is used to be a pretty scary blind left turn into a through street in either direction. Didn't take much but it did take someone to actually see the route in person, highlight the problem areas and fix them.
@yeyeTF22 жыл бұрын
i moved to vancouver last year from a small strode town in the usa. have to say i havent even gone back to visit my parents yet. love the bike support here. not quite amsterdam, but probably one of the best cities to bike anywhere ive seen on north america
@dazzershell2 жыл бұрын
When he said "... So thats - 2", i ask "Why!" Clean, wide and quite streets without traffic, its a dream.
@Greg-zr4wm2 жыл бұрын
The single file sign on the share all most drivers assume it is referring to cyclist. They need to either be more specific or don't bother with the signs. Commuting by bicycle in Calgary you have 2 choices, either you have your experience trying to find your way and even if you do the routes take km's out of your way or you brave the roads, cut the km's down considerably and get to where you are going in decent time. If you don't get hit
@ImpactWench2 жыл бұрын
They can't very well just come out and say "drivers, do not overtake cyclists!" because that would be singling every single driver out personally and communism.
@ronaldraygoon2 жыл бұрын
The UK has a sign which is very clear. "Narrow Lanes. Do not overtake cyclists" makes it very clear to everyone that there's not enough space to legally and safely overtake a slower road user.
@jonathanlovelace5212 жыл бұрын
I "love" narrow, highly curved roads in hilly areas that have signs that say "share the road" along with a picture of a bike. If you ever want your family to be able to collect on your life insurance policy, biking one of those is the way to do it.
@birchtree58842 жыл бұрын
Fun fact: "Adanac", the Vancouver street you were on, is "Canada" spelled backwards
@Shifter_Cycling2 жыл бұрын
I did not know that. Thank you 🙏
@HweolRidda2 жыл бұрын
@@Shifter_Cycling really? I kind of assumed most Canadian cities have an Adanac St somewhere, but a search for one Calgary failed.
@brushlessmotoring2 жыл бұрын
What makes a lot of the Vancouver routes safer is that they are used, thousands of city tax payers who choose bicycles use the route, so city tax payers who choose cars will generally avoid the route and choose a main arterial. Let me know if you want footage of Ontario street, water to water.
@nunyabidness30752 жыл бұрын
Thank You. A residential road labeled as a bike way or bike route only works if cyclists use it. This trains drivers to avoid it, and those who must use it to watch for bikes. Also, it should be getting signage or roundabouts that reduce braking. Stop whining! I know you are about to gripe. Don’t. DO THE MATH! That ONE spit on the windshield, cars don’t own the road SOB that ignores the bike route and blocks a 45 mph lane on a major thoroughfare instead, you know - that guy, aggravates hundreds of drivers (or thousands). The three or four bad drivers on the bike lane aggravate less than a dozen cyclists. We live in a Democracy people. DO THE MATH. We gotta be MUCH better behaved to win. And patient, too.
@morganvaughn8632 жыл бұрын
This reminds me of Portland Oregon. Lots of neighborhood Greenways, and difficult to interpret signage. It is still nice to be on low car volume streets, though.
@davidbarts61442 жыл бұрын
The Union-Adanac route is part of my commute to the office (it’s an all-greenway commute, because they interconnect and I live on a greenway street). Regarding those crossings of busy arterials, superblocks and multilane arterials are Vancouver’s dirty little secret, and part of the reason why Vancouver has been able to get away with keeping freeways out of its urban core. (Vancouver has significantly more multilane arterial surface streets than either Seattle or Portland, the other cities I have cycled in extensively).
@dustinbranham97462 жыл бұрын
How would you compare these three cities as a commuting cyclist? I've ridden *some* in Seattle and Portland. Felt like Portland does a nice job with bridge crossings over the river, as well as neighborhood greenways. Meanwhile, Seattle feels like it has a lot of protected infrastructure, and also really good traffic-calmed neighborhood greenways up around Ballard/Greenwood/Phinney Ridge. Haven't visited Vancouver yet. But we are thinking about all three of these cities as potential next homes.
@davidbarts61442 жыл бұрын
@@dustinbranham9746 Seattle has improved in recent years but still trails its neighbours to the north and the south.
@docfornix2 жыл бұрын
Having cycled around 40km today in the area around Rotterdam in the Netherlands, roughly 75% of the route not even seeing cars, but cyclists all over, storks sitting by the road, birds all over, even seeing a few deer.... this video is just saddening. These cities feel so lifeless, barren. As if you set foot into some weird post apocalyptic world with the only moving things left are ugly metallic objects. Vancouver had some better infrastructure, but still it just felt so desolate. Where are all the people?
@bjf102 жыл бұрын
The overwhelming majority of them can't afford to live in the city.
@1kevintron2 жыл бұрын
This is shot in the wintertime. In Vancouver at least, these paths look and feel very different in the warmer months.
@Nicholas-f52 жыл бұрын
America only worships profit and money
@bindingcurve2 жыл бұрын
I'm sick and tired of people comparing the Netherlands to ANYWHERE else when it comes to biking. You live in one of the most established river deltas in the world.
@billstuart93942 жыл бұрын
@@bindingcurve like new orleans ....
@syd68942 жыл бұрын
This is what I keep telling people. I'm new here and I'd love to ride my bike to class and wherever I want to go but I hate riding on the road and multi use pathways appear and disappear so I'm forced to go to the sidewalk and piss off the pedestrians. Plus there are barely any direct routes
@Shifter_Cycling2 жыл бұрын
Ugh. Missing connections are a huge problem.
@Optopolis2 жыл бұрын
The Calgary Route literally feels like the Canadian version of Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA based on your footage. In our case in Cheyenne, the "bike routes" are green Bike Route signs, but they usually do the same thing; they refer to residential streets with no bike infrastructure primarily with the occasional separated bike path or mixed use pathway.
@Shifter_Cycling2 жыл бұрын
Yes, and then the signs just vanish on some routes, so you really have no idea where to go.
@cwmoo2 жыл бұрын
These are all over the united states. There's a local greenway near me that dumps cyclists on a 40mph road with no shoulder / bike lane and a "Share the Road!" sign and painted arrows
@Optopolis2 жыл бұрын
@@cwmoo Wow but that doesn't surprise me XD Got several bike lanes here that dump you either into a sharrow or into a normal street or stroad.
@matthewgladback89052 жыл бұрын
It's probably a bad sign that, on the "better" version there was still only one other bicycle parked at your destination. It could be an issue with the destination itself and its huge parking lot, signaling it's a place hostile to non-drivers. However, it could be all those stroad intersections on the greenway keeping people from using it despite all the actual amenities.
@chengyanboon2 жыл бұрын
I bike this route sometimes and it's definitely very busy, but the Lowe's is like 45 minutes plus by bike from his starting point, it's like one block away from the municipal boundary into the suburb, so I'm not surprised that all the cyclists already turned off by that point to other destinations. There's also a big hill up Adanac that makes me really consider whether I want to travel east past Commercial Drive by bike, but that doesn't stop me from using the bikeway all the way up to that point and enjoying it.
@tconnolly98202 жыл бұрын
Actually I can't recall any other cyclists at all. In either city. Reading your comment made me think of it but I'm not sure without rewatching the video again. But certainly even outside of peak commuting times a long way to go to get numbers up. Although motorised traffic was pretty light too to be fair.
@johnhodge58712 жыл бұрын
Just to speculate, but the lack to other bicycles in the parking area may also be due to the nature of the destination itself. Lowes is a hardware and building supply store (ooops, sorry, "Home Improvement"), so much of what may be needed from that store would tend to be large, bulky, and/or exceptionally heavy. Apparently this location is some distance from where the population is concentrated (I have zero clue about the geography of the area), so if you put all of that together, there may be a quite a disincentive to ride regardless of the infrastructure. The only ones who might be inclined to ride under such circumstances may be mostly the employees, and I sincerely hope that any employees who do ride have a much better place to park their bikes than in a rack out in front of the store.
@matthewgladback89052 жыл бұрын
@@johnhodge5871 All of my own trips to Lowe's have been for a handful of things I could definitely carry out in a bike-style storage (basket, etc.) The last trip I made, I got one wrench IIRC. I recently moved out of an apartment, and I just wanted some packing tape, but my car was already hitched up to a trailer. If only I could have just walked or biked to a hardware store ... The small town I grew up in had an old-school small hardware store (about the size of a Dollar General if you're familiar with those) that people definitely could have walked to. It opened directly onto the street! I bet people went there all the time, just for a light bulb or something.
@andrewbird572 жыл бұрын
I recently discovered Shifter as a source about urban biking. I live in Sacramento, CA, next to a 32-mile long paved bike trail along the American River Parkway. I have a drop bar road bike, but I have moved off of riding it lately (I'm 65 yo) in favor of a '68 Schwinn Racer, an upright riding experience with swept-back handlebars and a three-speed Sturmey-Archer hub. With a little bit of work, which I did myself, this bike is amazingly smooth and solid and easy to ride. I ride it almost 20 miles daily on the bike trail. I also ride it to buy groceries, go to restaurants or to occasionally to go clubbing in East Sacramento and Midtown Sacramento. I can use the bike trail for part of the distance on the sojourns, and mostly quiet neighborhood streets for the remainder of the trip(s). I want to plug these old vintage Schwinn three-speeds - built practically by hand in Schwinn's legendary factory in Chicago - as great urban bikes. They were so well-made that there are still a lot of them around, and they can be bought for cheap (in the U.S. anyway) from Craigslist. They are very heavy and as such may not be for everyone, but I've found my Racer to also be a great fitness bike. It takes a lot more endurance to peddle this bike 20 miles, compared to my road bike. I go slower - but not that much slower - and at my age the ride is more enjoyable than on my road bike.
@DaveBasener12 жыл бұрын
A nice comparison, Shifter, thank you. In my city, in the States, all we have are small signs beside the street that tell you this is a "Bike route"; there is no infrastructure at all, not even sharrows. Trafic-light intersections have beg buttons for pedestrians, if I want to use them I either have to ride on the sidewalk or walk my bike over. Even Calgary looked great to me. We at least have a couple of rails-to-trails routes that pass through the city. Thanks for another great video.
@ecopennylife2 жыл бұрын
Need to add another +1 for Vancouver for having bike racks at the shop at the finish, something still rare in Australia or if they have one it fits 2 or 3 bikes max ...
@EricErs222 жыл бұрын
I don't know if you (can) do something like that, but it would be interesting if you'd interview the people who are in charge of planning these routes and get their thought process. Greetings, big fan from Germany.
@lyssasletters32322 жыл бұрын
Love this idea!!
@Shifter_Cycling2 жыл бұрын
This is a great idea!
@henkki10002 жыл бұрын
"Which route would you bike on?" The road any time. The road is much more predictable. Maps show where it goes while bikeways can go anywhere or just end for no reason. Also roads need to be safe for cars, bikeways dont. So bikeways can have very large holes and cracks all over the place. Bikeways also have unpredictable pedestrians, children and dogs.
@kenhayward32572 жыл бұрын
Biking in van is so nice! Whole reason I was able to move to car light life is translink+ebike
@derekso4250 Жыл бұрын
So cool that I found a calgary-based bike channel. I am starting to bike to work. This channel is so helpful for a new cycler like me.
@adnamamedia2 жыл бұрын
I do love how in Vancouver street signs for roads with bike lanes have a little bike icon on them! super helpful when navigating around and seeing which streets are safe to bike on
@roelkomduur80732 жыл бұрын
Seeing your videos make me realize how privileged i am to live in the Netherlands, Thank you! Keep up the good work!
@james-p2 жыл бұрын
If I wanted to ride my bike from from the Vermeer Centrum in Delft to the Mauritshuis in Den Haag, it is a lovely ride with pleasant scenery and protected bike lanes. For comparison, it is the same distance from my home in Hollywood (CA, USA) over to the Neon Museum in Glendale (the next city to the east). There is not one bike lane. It's all on roads, with cars. And I must say, the Neon Museum does not quite compare to the Vermeer Centrum or The Mauritshuis lol. I so envy the Dutch!
@lordfubar12 жыл бұрын
Riding a bicycle in Central Florida is either very scary to super safe and beautiful. I read that one trail I used to sort of like was made complete. I tried it out a few days ago and they did a wonderful job connecting the two trails into one. I have always felt safe on the many bikes trails I have been on, but off the trails can be dangerous or risky at best. A lot of drivers think that green means go no mater where they are and that painted area across roads isn't a crosswalk, it's a finish line where you must be first to cross at a red light. Secure parking sure would be a plus. Thanks for another informative video.
@AssBlasster2 жыл бұрын
Like in Orlando? I'm from Kissimmee and have seen them making improvements over the last decade with building segregated bike trails. I just avoid all on-street bike lanes on the insanely fast stroads and even arterial roads with 30 mph limit and use the plentiful sidewalks.
@tom.jacobs2 жыл бұрын
It starts with one street, then a broken route, adapted into a real route then an alternative route appears, and by then all streets are bike-friendly. Even here (NL) we have stretches that need better bike infra, as long as things are moving the right way it's something. As bike person I can imagine the frustration about the speed of changes, so let's be the dreamers ;-)
@Shifter_Cycling2 жыл бұрын
I agree. My city has made great progress in recently years, so I'm hopeful. That's partly why this channel exists!
@DougGrinbergs2 жыл бұрын
greenway: a corridor of undeveloped land preserved for recreational use or environmental protection
@Altema222 жыл бұрын
Coming from a community with NO bike infrastructure, both of these routes are an improvement! We can legally ride on sidewalks in Michigan though (pedestrians have right of way), so there's that one advantage. It's almost enough to forgive 20 businesses sharing one rusty bike rack at the far end of a complex. Thank you for the video!
@toxecteamer86742 жыл бұрын
Thanks for your videos Tom! Living in Burnaby now and moving to Calgary in June/July. I kind of like sharrows in Vancouver because, there are so many of them on a bike friendly street and in my mind, at least, they serve as a good reminder for car drivers that this is a city bike route and the cyclists did a right thing by choosing this route as opposed to choosing a stroad or just a busy street.
@siat_gab2 жыл бұрын
Great video as allways! Keep it up. Here in Brazil my city is filled with those fake bikeways, an absolute shame to know that this is a constant around the world :(
@Bull3tBikes2 жыл бұрын
A couple features on the Adanac greenway are actually pretty recent , that first speed bump by Benny market was just put in , so was the (shortcut) at 10:59
@bigJovialJon2 жыл бұрын
Where I live (the other Vancouver), bike routes are often through streets with sharrows. I often prefer parallel residential streets a few blocks away from them, because there are fewer cars (more frequent stop signs, but my state allows Idaho stops).
@Shifter_Cycling2 жыл бұрын
Oh, to have Idaho stops.
@ryanarmishaw33052 жыл бұрын
Calgary: Overall it is clear that they don't truly care about making it a bike friendly city. They are doing the minimum possible to say they've done something. @2:20. neighbourhood bikeways. What a joke. That is over the top laziness on the city's part. Literally just a road. @3:50 obviously built with only pedestrians in mind. So skinny. I don't think you could get by an oncoming bike or pedestrian even if you walked your bike. @5:40 - it would be easy for the city to install those bumps with a small section cut out for bikes so that we pass through easily without the bump. @6:17 - they need to include "DO NOT PASS" on those Single File signs. And a fine amount. Vancouver: Damn - they have their SH*T together!
@RealisticMgmt2 жыл бұрын
Come down to Lethbridge! We have a great “bike boulevard” on 7th Ave South. Features Roundabouts, Barricades, bike-sensitive traffic lights, and connects downtown, the coulee bike paths, and a popular park! Plus, we just go a bike/scooter sharing app!
@rwiersema2 жыл бұрын
As a Dutch person I'm actually fairly impressed by Vancouver. They seem to really make an effort. It would be nice to know how long both Calgary and Vancouver have been working on improving their bicycle infrastructure.
@Shifter_Cycling2 жыл бұрын
Vancouver is definitely a few years ahead of Calgary, but I think the real difference is that Vancouver has been making incremental progress every year, whereas Calgary had a big push about five years ago and has since stalled.
@void_presence2 жыл бұрын
when you pulled out a map, i had to make sure this video wasn't 15 years old :D
@tinakam85572 жыл бұрын
I live on a greenway in Vancouver, for those that were asking, greenways in Van are meant to be routes where pedestrians, bikes, anyone including the less physically able can travel safely. On our street, which runs along a hill, they added multiple bump outs with greenery and even places to sit, pedestrian controlled lights, reduced the speed from 50km to 30. Our street went from a fast, busy cut thru for commuters to a huge increase in use by pedestrians and bikes. We used to have all these spots where cars could whip around corners which resulted in cars hitting trees regularly in the winter when they lost control and endangering kids, bikes etc. They also thought out the greenways for bikes in that they picked routes where you could get up hills without killing yourself, Vancouver is quite hilly. Now I only wish they would improve more of the traffic lights to keep pedestrians/bikers safer. We still have next to no left turn signals at incredibly busy intersections and the number of pedestrians killed each year is terrible and preventable. Other solutions like multi-cross intersections at busy spots would help too.
@trwashere5906 Жыл бұрын
At 3:49 is an example of a bike route that is worthless or even calamitous for recumbent trikes. Same deal at 6:56 and 8:04. I find it best on my trike to stick to the streets, following best-practices.
@freedomseekr2 жыл бұрын
In my city here in Germany there has been a push to make more space for bicycles and it's been going solid so far, although some people are pushing against it because this is Germany and we're strangely enamoured with cars. A bridge here that just got finished now has way more space for cycling and while it's the "painted gutter" approach, it feels great to be given this much space on a rather significant bridge that connects my part of the city with another. Bike routes aren't always perfectly clear though - we do have signage with kilometres but it can be weirdly uncommon, you can bike south and only see a few signs that show you where to go, especially if you don't cycle along major arterial roads (which I don't) and I often find myself cycling by using my general sense of direction and knowledge of the area and the other issue is that cycling space feels very "tacked on", i.e. sometimes you have to cycle on the road, sometimes it's the painted bicycle gutter other, sometimes it's a path (that can be split from the regular sidewalk just barely so get ready to use that bell) and sometimes it's a pedestrian sidewalk that allows for bicycle use (which is probably my least favourite, especially if the sidewalk is super narrow). On another positive note, false parking is being taken increasingly seriously (again, to the chagrin of some including members of a major political party) and it seems to reduce cars parking on the sidewalk, but we're still not quite there yet. All that said, that bridge at around 4 minutes is something *I* would give a -100 to because it would trigger my acrophobia real bad. ;)
@Korina422 жыл бұрын
Good on your city for making an effort! Remember to thank the relevant people, and keep pestering them for more!
@andyhasapencil2 жыл бұрын
So many great eateries, breweries, coffee shops, parks etc. along Union-Adanac bike corridor! Beers and tacos at Woodland Park and Pasteis de Nata with espresso at Union Market. Episode idea - Businesses that prosper along bike routes.
@javedakhtar Жыл бұрын
I live on the Union-Adanac bikeway near Nanaimo Street. It was one of the major selling points when I looked at the house, and I use it nearly daily to access downtown, and it links to lots of other routes including Lakewood, Pandora, Central Valley, and 10th Ave. And easy access to the seawall at False Creek!
@desert.mantis2 жыл бұрын
Without some centralized planning, bike routes (here I include, bikeways, trails, bike lanes) bike infrastructure become a token to the bike community. Sharrows are just confusing to all vehicles. We need to mobilize the community to speak up and demand safe interconnected infrastructure.
@Amanda-C.2 жыл бұрын
I'll agree with the +1 for the push-button crossing. Living in a smallish city in the U.S. with a bunch of loop-sensor traffic lights that can't detect non-cars, just having the same kind of push button that pedestrians get to use would make my life easier with very little cost to the city. I'm tired of riding up onto the sidewalk just to cross the street. (Now if they could also let me turn left...)
@Korina422 жыл бұрын
You have better luck with the loops if you wait on top of the wire rather than in the loop. Supposedly.
@petersilva0372 жыл бұрын
loved the video... you seem to be riding in the door zone.... too close to parked cars....
@pacificostudios2 жыл бұрын
Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota might have some of the best bicycle infrastructure in North America. The city parks are interconnected -- part of the original park design, with bike trails running through them. The "Midtown Greenway" in Minneapolis is a converted railroad right of way that was grade-separated in the 1920s, with short ramps to the streets at periodic intervals. It is very popular.
@forivall2 жыл бұрын
I used to commute downtown via the union-adanac route, up to commercial/Victoria. It's a nice route. And yeah, the Lowe's used to be a Rona until 2018
@Bull3tBikes2 жыл бұрын
Ahh yes I remember that Rona! they used to give out free popcorn in there the staff there was friendly too, Lowe’s is the complete opposite , the staff will just pretend you aren’t even there.
@williamharris83672 жыл бұрын
I left Calgary last Fall, but I still enjoyed the tour -- especially when it ended in my (former) neighborhood. I used to visit the Westbrook Mall several times per week.
@agntdrake2 жыл бұрын
I used to ride the Adanac bike boulevard every day back in the mid-90s from North Burnaby to Downtown. This bikeway is what got me into urban cycling. It was the first bikeway in Vancouver, and at the time there still wasn't any bike infrastructure downtown so your trip from the VAG would have been absolutely harrowing. It's great seeing all of the improvements that have been added in the last 25+ years, and I think a big part of the difference between this route and Calgary is that Vancouver has been creating bicycle infrastructure for a lot longer.
@Shifter_Cycling2 жыл бұрын
I also credit Vancouver’s recent years with consistently building improvements, rather than resting on its laurels.
@magdabaker59832 жыл бұрын
I lived in Calgary for years and now live in Vancouver- some thoughts - I lived in sunulta and my mom lived by westbrook so I biked it often- it’s the choice between what you did or a very, very steep trail past the train tracks and up the hill, in the right side of bow trail. Both options suck, but going on the north side generally makes more sense than the south side of Bow. And now I’m Vancouver- I am too scared of Vancouver drivers to have bikes much but the transit is much better and I admire all the bike and pedestrian infrastructure in place
@HermannKerr Жыл бұрын
In Vancouver there are lots of bike ways/routes on side streets. The cool thing is there are controlled lights at every point these cycle way/routes cross major roads and many of the routes have traffic control methods built in. You past the Union Market, you needed to stop there, it is a must do, and sit with the locals and celebs (like yourself) and have a cappuccino and a Croissant and a chat +10. Some of the cycling infrastructure across the lower mainland can be a bit nightmarish at times but some of it is surprisingly good. Where I live (Salmon Arm) we have designated bike routes but some carry a lot of traffic but they have just put in a separate paved bike/pedestrian route on the west side of the city but that is the only one except for a highway underpass (bike and pedestrians) on the west side of the city. I don't mind Toronto too much just because they have the water front trails and couple of other car free routes that I have ridden there. I found that crossing through the core wasn't too bad but I got the feeling that some of the drivers would love to kill me. Montreal is pretty good and friendly the last time I was there, though I didn't do much cycling there except to mostly pass through. Easily getting through a city is a big thing. You gave some rave reviews of cycling in Victoria. I do like their commuter architecture for cycling. I cannot say I like Calgary as it struck me it as built for cars, not cycles or people though I do like Kensington. Edmonton doesn't fair much better but I took a long way around to avoid it nearly in its entirety (via St Albert.and #15). Saskatoon sucks but I found some pretty views in the city. Winnipeg scares me but I have been there quite a few times so I was able to navigate through its centre. They have a few cycle routes but they don't seem to go anywhere. I found very little cycling infrastructure in the Maritimes except PEI but it was easy to navigate avoiding busy roads.
@snoopyloopy2 жыл бұрын
I like those cut-throughs on the second route.
@robertcrawford7182 жыл бұрын
I liked the button placement. In most places, the cyclist needs to get up onto the sidewalk to press the cross button. Those were well placed for bicycles.
@Cubestone2 жыл бұрын
Nice video. Cities need to see lots of those. Many of the "fake bikeways" around Denver and the western suburbs are spaces hacked out of roadways by installing a line of paint. The surface quality will jar your fillings out if the debris kicked over by car tires doesn't dump you first. You have to ride up on sidewalks and really reach for most crosswalk buttons. Our geography runs down hill from mountains to plains. Consequently the best multi-use trails run East/West, following drainages. North/South routes are mostly shared with traffic. Many streets with painted bike lines have traffic on the left of the bike lane and parked cars on the right. Of course, the bike lane is so close to parked cars that someone could easily clock you with their car door. The burbs near Denver could really take a lesson from Boulder, a much more bike friendly place.
@sirenamber2 жыл бұрын
Oof that Calgary route wasnt even proper cycling infrastructure. Scary. Vancouver was... barest minimum. Clearly I've been spoiled by seeing all the amazing infrastructure in the Netherlands...
@davidbarts61442 жыл бұрын
Vancouver’s cycling infrastructure is good *by North American standards* (one hell of a weasel phrase).
@chengyanboon2 жыл бұрын
He actually skipped past a few of the limited permeability features - there's one at nearly every arterial and some in between, so cars are really discouraged from sticking around. There are some wide sections and there should be more protected intersections, but I think this one is pretty good, and the biker numbers do mostly reflect that.
@microcolonel2 жыл бұрын
Should have -2 for each stop sign on those neighbourhood streets.
@sarahpercifield904 Жыл бұрын
I would love those bike buttons on lights. I have to send one of my kids to push the pedestrian cross button then hop back on the bike when there aren’t cars to trigger the sensors. Those longer speed bumps are amazing. There’s one road that has them where I live. It feels so much safer biking because drivers aren’t going 10 to 20 over the speed limit.
@mtbboy19932 жыл бұрын
13:20 these racks might fit mountain bikes, I am not sure on the width, but might scratch the bikes, but you can install protective tape on the bike.
@mtbboy19932 жыл бұрын
Routes in Norway have cherry red signs with name of the route, but the routes sometimes go on neighbourhood streets too, but those have 30km/h speed limit and are quite save as long as no crazy race track style driving driver comes along. it happen once a taxi almost wiped me off the road. Only happen once.
@Reaperman47112 жыл бұрын
5:03 maybe I'm misunderstanding these shared lanes and stop signs.
@adrienrenaux62112 жыл бұрын
It would be interesting to compare the route you took along that bikeway compared to what you would have done if you weren't gonna take a route like this. A lot of these routes tend to take weird and twisty ways and not connect to many destinations because the direct route with destinations is solely reserved to cars. Also a possible improvement for the Vancouver one would be to have a road that has more traffic calming, that is narrower, and add a rule that you can't overtake cyclists. For the residents, it would only marginallly lengthen their car trips while making a much quieter neigborhood that's much more pleasant while having a even better experience for cyclists
@ruan13o2 жыл бұрын
I used to think London (UK) was very average for this but compared to these two examples London is a heaven for cyclists! Tom, you probably got any plans to visit London soon and Shifter probably doesn't have the budget to send you over but if you do one day come to London it would be interesting to see what you think of it and see your views on how it could still improve for the future.
@ShotgunLlama Жыл бұрын
Where I live, there are also a lot of bike routs that go on and off in terms of being useful. Here though it is legal to bike on the sidewalk. Also watching this led me to look at a map and discover a multi use path I didn't know about
@HolgerNestmann2 жыл бұрын
Beg Button, love that.
@talkingebikes2 жыл бұрын
Calgary is my home city too. There is a dire shortage of safe direct bikeways in most directions for commuters. However, the recreational network is fairly good.
@Lamefoureyes2 жыл бұрын
I biked the Adanac / Union bikeway many days on the way to work. The cars along those streets know to look for cyclists; I've had my near-misses in other parts of the city, but that route is pretty great. Schools of cyclists use it every day.
@MD-vy9jb2 жыл бұрын
For me the 1st one is not that bad, considering how low the traffic is. I am also not sure why you go over the fact you have so nice bike lanes along the main roads in downtown - it is great and worth a point! I believe a lot is a matter of your perspective, my expectations are way lower :)
@hendman40832 жыл бұрын
He was rating the greenways, not the downtown bike infrastructure.
@redesignforall65772 жыл бұрын
This is a great idea. We often focus on main streets as areas to implement cycling infra but often I wonder if we should be focusing more on routes like this as a priority. We can achieve so much more with so much less. Of course, it needs to be a real effort, like you showed here. I have been thinking about doing a video of the great work with Shaw St. in Toronto but I wasn't sure what format. The Plus 1 Minus 2 might be a good way to do that.
@wheels71752 жыл бұрын
Love your videos man you have taught me so much in the little time I have been following you!
@Arjay4042 жыл бұрын
The sections of the route that go through the residential areas are technically fine, even if some of them are a bit too wide. The problem is that just having regular residential streets as part of a main bike route doesn't work that well, because it doesn't like it's a main bike route. Main bike route roads need to visually and physically be different from regular roads. There is a section of main bike route near my house that goes towards downtown, the whole length of the street is red asphalt, there are a bunch of speed bumps, the speed is lowered (both through sign/type of road and physically because it's narrowed), the street is a priority road and some sections of the road is one way for cars (which makes it mostly unusable as quick route for cars to take.).
@christill2 жыл бұрын
We have had a main “route” into the town centre here in Worthing UK for years. It’s a bunch of blue signs directing you to the town, that you can easily miss. And while it’s not a terrible route, it’s not all quiet, and it hasn’t increased cycling at all. No proper cycling infrastructure to speak of, aside from some very worn paint on some very broken up tarmac. I think the Vancouver methods of just blocking off certain streets to cars (LTNs as we would call them) is what everyone should be focusing on. It’s so much faster and cheaper to implement than trying to copy the Dutch, and we can get everyone on bikes really quickly. You could do this in no time.
@Shifter_Cycling2 жыл бұрын
I like the point you make about how signed routes will do nothing to increase cycling numbers. Thanks for sharing.
@rileynicholson23222 жыл бұрын
I don't know if you mentioned it in the video, but most of the Vancouver route was noticeably narrower. That made it feel safer immediately, since if slows down cars and forces them to be more careful when passing. Furthermore, there just weren't as many cars because of all the porous intersections on the route, looked like pretty much only local residential traffic. The beg buttons weren't ideal, but it still much better than just a stop sign and "figure it out cyclists". My city also has some bike routes and some "bike routes".
@jasonschubert68282 жыл бұрын
There were a couple of things here I didn't necessarily agree with: 1. Speed humps - I would have agreed at an earlier time, until someone pointed out to me that people are buying bigger and heavier cars in the city just so they can drive easily over these humps. 2. Roundabouts - Living in a suburb (of Melbourne) that has roundabouts at almost every intersection, I consider them the most dangerous of all intersections for cyclists. Cars will not give way, will not see you even if you are directly in front of them, and will perform any form of manoeuvre to pass you between two roundabouts, whether there is room to do so or not. Add this to the fact they are almost impossible to cross during peak times with traffic all going in one direction, you need to merge back with traffic that you can't see to navigate through them, and pedestrians are given _no_ right of way, and I would be close to considering them the worst type of intersection full stop. I was surprised you did not mention how much Lowe's car park you rode through to get to the half dozen bike spaces added as an afterthought! 😂
@veloaa-montreal69242 жыл бұрын
I'm planning on flying to Calgary this summer for a bikepacking race in the Rockies and riding from the airport to the start of the race. The route that I'll have to take to traverse the city is just mind-blowing. It looks like a child scribbled on the map, and it will certainly require GPS navigation.
@johnshellenberg13832 жыл бұрын
Edmonton: Stroads, stroads and more stroads. Bikeways here? Any street, road, or stroad. "Hey be thankful you're not on a freeway!" Our downtown has a few separated bike paths and some multi-use paths. I don't ride anywhere I'm sharing space with cars, people are raging lunatics, so mostly illegal riding on sidewalks. Better to be breaking the law than dead. Also, police here only enforce speed violations, so no ticket worries. I did have a bicycle cop try to flag me down once, but I thought he was waving "hi fellow cyclist" to me, and I didn't stop. He was sorely unfit and only caught me when I stopped for quite a while. He wanted to tell me how unsafe it was that I was riding with earbuds in. Not illegal, just unsafe. But, didn't say a word about riding on the sidewalk, as he had just done for a few kms to catch me. Even cops break the law to stay alive!
@Devsterinator2 жыл бұрын
I'm glad it's legal to ride bikes on the sidewalk here, there are a lot of crazy sections of road I wouldn't attempt otherwise. I do mostly stick to backroads and residential neighborhoods when I can, but main streets are unavoidable sometimes
@statelyelms2 жыл бұрын
Even what you showed of Calgary has more dedicated bike infrastructure than my city.. which has a 4m mixed use rail-trail and that's it. All other bike infrastructure are just painted gutters which - you guessed it - become a buffer between the snowbanks and the "real" road in the winter. And get filled up with water, soaking your back with grit. And this is if you're fortunate enough to get the painted bike lanes.. Currently, even though our city has a fair bit of bicycle commuters and cyclists for its size, the most they've done in recent years has been adding a couple traffic islands and then they're GOING TO finish the cross-town trail (before you had to go around the entire town.. because they sold off the inner city rail grounds.. great for sustainable transport, of course!)
@peterj.teminski68992 жыл бұрын
First time in my life I have ever heard of a sharrow and their meaning. So that is what those chevrons mean. Maybe a SingleFile sign with a Sharrow would help. Let's get together and design a new sign. Great video. Thanks..
@maxsievers82512 жыл бұрын
That narrow bridge is prone to accidents. And what do you do when you approach another bridge user? That bridge should be deconstructed.
@antred112 жыл бұрын
And that part at 3:49 ... boy, if that ever freezes over you're going right off that path and onto that driveway way down there. 😮
@YousefDana2 жыл бұрын
Hey, getting a lapel mic would increase the audio quality of this video and decrease wind/car noise. Sometimes I watch these video's as "podcasts" and I assume others do too. Otherwise great video!
@Shifter_Cycling2 жыл бұрын
I had no idea people just listen to these videos, so thanks for sharing. Anybody else do that?
@savannaha50382 жыл бұрын
There's one of these bikeways in my city, I do use a stretch of it on my way to uni because it has roundabouts (so much easier and safer on a bike than intersections!) and these little bike signal things that you can press to make a red light on a couple slightly busier than average streets so you can cross. Still, there's 2 roundabouts and 2 bike signals on the route, along with signs that say share the road and a couple of sharrows, so it seems a little weird to call it a "bikeway" when it's more like a teensy bit of bike-friendly infrastructure here and there.
@mtbboy19932 жыл бұрын
In Norway and all Nordic countries it's legal to ride on the side walk as long as it's not crowded. You can also ride on every hiking path too. unless landowner has a sign saying otherwise.
@PinderProductions2 жыл бұрын
Vancouver looks like it has some really good elements. Also at 5:34 a motorway crash barrier in a residential zone? That makes it look high speed
@Jane-vd1ul2 жыл бұрын
I thought we called them traffic circles
@nato344 Жыл бұрын
find myself doing plus 1 minus 1 in my head every time I ride my bike now!
@daverandall20592 жыл бұрын
Lived in Calgary for 46 years - loved to ride but mostly kept to Fish Creek Park - beautiful place to ride - roads were very scary. Now I live in Vancouver and bike all over the place. So much more amenable to bikes AND motorists - not great drivers by rep - actually have a lot of respect for cyclists. Its awesome!!
@carsonho93382 жыл бұрын
The pathway in Calgary along bow river from bowness park to glenmore reservoir is quite enjoyable
@daverandall20592 жыл бұрын
@@carsonho9338 Yes it is. My main point was in agreement with the video that Van is much more amenable than Calgary and that Van has all kinds of speed control/roundabouts/bike lights etc that make it so. Still love Calgary tho!!
@carsonho93382 жыл бұрын
Good suggestions for both cities, Calgary is quite widespread and got lots of potential imo. Haha few weeks ago parked at the same rack at Lowes.
@abnerruiz40112 жыл бұрын
6:40 around when the car overpasses you. The car was wrong rule wise but streets like that would it be safe to overpass any vehicle / scooter, bikes
@andrewlindstrom95992 жыл бұрын
It's so annoying to live in Portland (OR). Really is the "best" example of abusing greenways as a way to not actually do anything. 90% of the "infrastructure" is just sharrows on neighborhood streets that are pretty hard to navigate if you aren't really familiar with the city already. They do have "good" wayfinding, but it really relies on you knowing the layout of the city very well - which can be intimidating for newer cyclists or transplants (or tourists!). Southeast Portland in particular (where I live) is really absurd. There are two good greenways (Ankeney and Clinton) that have actual traffic diversion, etc. but they both go E/W, a block or two off the main drag (Burnside, Division) with all the fun shops, etc. So if you are on a bike, you are actively discouraged from patronizing local businesses. The city even just repaved one of the main E/W business areas on SE Hawthorne and left free street parking on both sides, and a center left turn area - but left narrow sidewalks and no bike facilities. And don't even get me started about going N/S. SE Portland has pretty bad N/S connectivity (even for cars) I think due to the fact that is a bunch of old streetcar suburbs cobbled together without much thought for travel between them. But even so, cars get I5 (freeway), Grand/MLK (Oregon 99E original pacific highway route), SE 11th/12th, SE 20th, Cesar Chavez (SE 39th) with pretty much no diversions or turns. But every N/S bike route is either really hard to get to (Eastbank Esplanade right on the river, blocked by I5), twists and turns around neighborhoods (SE 30th/29th/28th), or ends abruptly with no real option (16th). All of this is to say, that despite what you hear about Portland, it really is not that nice for biking. Every route is at least somewhat out of the way, and every direct route you might want to take is completely filled with cars. And the local transportation agencies (PBOT, ODOT) have absolutely no plans to meaningfully improve things. Portland is better than 90% of US Cities, but that really is more of a indictment of the US than a praise of Portland
@Shifter_Cycling2 жыл бұрын
Whenever I think of greenways, I think of Portland. And whenever I think of the limitations of greenways, I think of Portland!
@merendell2 жыл бұрын
Eugene is a bit better. Yes most of our bike lanes are the painted but at least you can get within a block of almost anywhere following them. We also have a network of multiuser paths that give fairly good connectivity. At least keeps us out of traffic but there are lots of pedestrians to deal with. Many equiped with the name of cycleists on shared paths. Dogs on extendable leashes. Those trip wires can be hard to spot and the inconsiderate goof always let's fido roam on the opposite side of the path they are walking down.
@mtbboy19932 жыл бұрын
7:32 That's tactile paving for blind people. Good to see this is getting more common, they are not everywhere where I live yet, but in new renovated areas they are.IU live in Askim, Norway. I have documented every path I know, mapped it on open street map, and on trail forks, with pictures, swing gates, benches, and other points of interest. This is the only way to know if the path or trail is good or possible to use. I also post videos of the paths and trails I ride. Google maps is useless, and paper maps are outdated, and various maps online are too. but with Open Street Map I can use several map overlays. I can add things as they change, so the map is up to date, before there is satellite image of it.
@curtvaughan28362 жыл бұрын
When you got to Lowe's, my first thought - now your bike gets stolen while you're in the store. North America needs much more security for bicycle parking.
@thenexthobby5 ай бұрын
The bike rack at Lowe’s was worth 5 points alone … I never see that at big box stores in America. Here, we have “bike lanes” which are portions of road shoulder that randomly appear and disappear for no apparent reason.
@johnspooner14032 жыл бұрын
Yeah, Vancouver is quite good. I do Heather end-to-end as part of a commute. But then I hit Richmond for half of it. The city of Richmond has done all they can with what they have, but the original planners designed a grid of main arterials enclosing many 'protected enclaves' if you will, that have no through streets. So any direct route anywhere is on an arterial with an unprotected bike lane. There are a few other routes that are quite nice, but only a few. A case of being sabotaged before you start.
@grahambonner5082 жыл бұрын
So, the second route was a lot better than the first, mainly for the cycle cut throughs. Re- "complete route" unless I missed it, it appeared to lack destination signs informing the user where it goes and approx how long it takes to get there. Really good cycle ways not only separate you from motor vehicles, they also indicate where they go. A system I noticed in South NL which particularly impressed me for countryside or intercity routes used maps on posts showing current location and routes.
@Shifter_Cycling2 жыл бұрын
Separation from motor vehicles is absolutely the best option. This is almost an examination of the third or fourth best options!
@nimo75762 жыл бұрын
those paths are jokes, in 2022 we still need to fight for this? liked your optimism btw
@thedave17712 жыл бұрын
Dude, you're from Calgary, stop whining about the push-buttons for bikes, those are awesome. In Calgary we have lights that only turn green for cars *at all*, as a bike you can pull up in the lane and just wait forever (until a car shows up). Your only choice is to cross the sidewalk, often involving a mini U-turn as you pass the button getting to the end of the curb, then you have to get back to the road. Worse, if you're doing a left onto the cross street, there is simply no way to trigger the light, so you're left with the above, crossing in a crosswalk (which is not illegal in Calgary), getting to the next corner, pushing a button and waiting again. Vancouver has us beat, and bike-accessible buttons would be amazing here.
@Shifter_Cycling2 жыл бұрын
Take a ride into the Calgary neighbourhood of Inglewood and you'll see a couple of examples of traffic lights that are triggered by the presence of a bike.
@thedave17712 жыл бұрын
@@Shifter_Cycling so we are aware it is possible, and still just don’t bother? That’s arguably more annoying.