Getting bike lanes built quickly and cheaply

[@Shifter_Cycling]

What do you think - is there a place for "rapid implementation" bike infrastructure in your city?

[@nairbos]

Not with the current civic government of Vancouver proper. The ABC (governing body) is extremely hostile to even slow bike infrastructure let alone fast.

[@mustacherides420]

Honestly the "rapid implementation" infrastructure you showed in this video is light years ahead of the "permanent" infrastructure we have here in much of Atlantic Canada (extremely narrow painted bike gutters as well as sharrows)

[@Laurynas_LTU]

I'd take "rapid implementation" bike infrastructure over no bike infrastructure every time. As you say, we need to show car drivers that it's not the end of the world and that we can co-exist side by side, and you can't do that on paper because car drivers have no experience of cycling in traffic.

[@biber9979]

It is happening in Berlin. They are making hundreds and hundreds kms of new bike paths...each year Berlin is investing 5 times more than New York(usa government is so lame...they dont invest in infrastructure at all).

[@emma70707]

If it is rapid. I'd hate to be stuck with a potentially dangerous, ill-thought-out design for potentially years if funding falls through or community resistance to the next iteration is unexpectedly high. Then again, here in Seattle, I've been stuck with bendy "separated" bike lane markers near by apartment that cars ignore even if I'm literally in the lane behind them for years now, so I'd like the rapid prototyping of maybe adding sand bags to see if we could maybe make the posts permanent concrete...

[@tay-lore]

It's really disappointing to see just how quick and easy it is to build safe bicycle infrastructure. I want some!

[@Shifter_Cycling]

The fact your reaction was disappointment probably says a lot about the state of bike lane construction in most cities 😆

[@PeterSdrolias]

Winnipeg has improved the cycling infrastructure, but the problem is that it is so discontinuous. At some point, you will have to share the road with cars. Most people do not feel comfortable with that. We could sure use some quick action like what was done in Vancouver.

[@andyc9902]

There is no wish of usa government to use it.

[@andyc9902]

​@@Shifter_Cycling covid was a net positive for bikers see what I did there

[@Angultra]

My Toronto suburb needs some as well, the streets are certainly wide enough. Everyone rides on the sidewalk

[@TheWolfXCIX]

This sounds like tactical urbanism at an authority level. I really like the concept of go cheap first, tweak and finalise later.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Yes, this thought crossed my mind as well. It's an interesting approach.

[@blake-gl4wn]

Seems like the laws need to be suitable. If an authority changes the road design and someone gets hurt, can someone be prosecuted. Whereas, if the authority does nothing and someone gets hurts, it seems like there’s no repercussions until there’s a trend of injuries.

[@james-p]

"Tactical Urbanism" - love it!

[@Bryan46162]

That's actually really smart. Having the engagement process after something real has already happened allows the engagement process to add productive feedback to actually improve the project rather than just air ideological grievances.

[@dinar4331]

Really feels like in North America we've lost our ability to build anything anywhere. COVID was the first spark of hope I saw, but looks like things are reverting to the mean. I started going to city council meetings virtually and now I'm going in person cause damn it even if I don't end up changing anything I'm not gonna die saying I didn't even try.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

I worry about this too, which is what drove me to the ideas in The Procedural Fetish (link is in the bio). It's a big problem and will take a lot of political will to overcome.

[@Littleweenaman]

I feel the same I wanna give it a honest shot because i think it’s worth the time if we can figure it out

[@Descriptor413]

@@Shifter_Cycling I'm really excited to read that! Working as an engineer in government contracting, I have often wondered how much engineering time (and money) has been wasted on so-called cost-saving measures, not to mention opportunity costs of projects being delayed for months/years due to procurement hurdles. It's maddening.

[@turboseize]

You are not alone. Germany is even worse...

[@danessip]

Bike infrastructure is much cheaper and easier to build than car infrastructure, so it doesn’t make any sense that both take the same time to build in some places.

[@joelv4495]

bUt CyClIsTs DoNt PaY tHeIr ShArE!! 🤡

[@AB-wf8ek]

Longer in most cases. In my city there was a bike path project between the river and tracks proposed in 2006. It's 2024 and they're still working on it. Meanwhile there was an overpass that got wrecked by a truck last year that got rebuilt in a week. I remember venting my frustration about the path to an older guy (who was also on a bike). His reaction was, whelp, things cost money. It's such BS, even many people who ride bikes have no concept of a city that invests little more than nothing.

[@tylerfrederick7662]

There is a book called “The lean startup” with methods that are basically what you stated in your first example. Build something, get feedback, implement feedback. I wish more officials would use this type of method to implement change instead of wasting so much time discussing things. Taking action is key.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Thanks for the book reference. Sounds like an interesting example from other industries.

[@nunyabidness3075]

I just wish less software companies would try this. They inevitably start with the intent of rewriting the first implementation, but instead keep adding too it. The result is an unrepairable mess.

[@TANOCA17]

The actual method is called "design thinking"

[@kebien6020]

@@nunyabidness3075 I think that it's fine as long as everyone involved commits to actually throw it in the garbage and start from scratch. Usually devs are the first ones to be eager to throw their own abominations in the garbage.

[@icingfeestbeest]

Yes, this is 100% the way forward. It's also the method used in Paris. Put down some temporary barriers, slap on some paint and test things. Afterwards you can implement what works permanently, but all the rest is already there, not perfect but THERE. I don't want a spick and span bike lane in 3 years from now. I want room to cycle without fearing for my life right now!

[@Robin_Goodfellow]

This feels remarkably similar to "rapid prototyping" processes in software development. It's the same basic principles: build a cheap, easy prototype, get client feedback, tweak and rebuild. It's a good way to do things across many different industries. Also, very excited for a pilot project my hometown is doing for some cycling infrastructure downtown, I hope it goes well!

[@andrejmarich1061]

This content needs to be shared to all local municipalities!! "Done" can be better than "perfect". Here in St Louis, a 1.4 mile bike path has been in the "planning" process since 2016. That's almost as long as it took to land someone on the moon after the first person was sent to space! Too often the desire for perfection and endless community listening sessions will derail a potentially great project.

[@emma70707]

On the flip side, bad bike lanes can be worse than nothing, making pain points incredibly dangerous and also cars stop expecting bikes in their lanes and/or are actively hostile to bike who choose not to use the dangerous bike lane. If temporary ones and tweaking will actually be done, then I agree this would be ideal. But if you're stuck with something more dangerous for potentially years while the next iteration is debating, then it's hard to say what's better.

[@dominiccasts]

At that point it just sounds like the city council has zero intention of ever implementing bike lanes and just figures throwing them into planning hell will stave off complaints

[@papa_gowon]

They did this in Sydney (Australia) during COVID, called pop-up cycleways. I wish they didn’t listen to the “community” feedback because there’s always a loud group of hostile motorists that complain, and the city council actually listens to them. Now the bike lane that goes past my home that I use every day is going to get removed because the council weren’t willing to take out a lane of parking to do it properly. My opinion is that every bike lane is precious, even if it’s not perfect, and we need to continually fight for our space.

[@thurstonkuriata7929]

They did the same thing here in Melbourne, including in the City of Port Phillip. Erected poorly designed 'bike lanes,' refused to remove parking or make any changes that would inconvenience motorists, and have now announced that they were a failure, after months of complaints (some of them well founded). The cynic in me believes it was intentionally terrible from the outset so that they could pretend to have made an effort.

[@greevar]

I think the biggest hurdles to overcome are car dependent people and NIMBY's. The counter to their opposition is, "This will save you so much money on your taxes. Fewer cars on the road means less spending on road maintenance and lighter traffic."

[@ClaytonGrahamLovesThings]

Here in Tulsa, Oklahoma the new bike lanes have been very useful! I dislike all the buttons they want me to hit to turn on warning lights (that drivers take as a challenge in my opinion). I agree that it isn’t perfect but it’s done. If you ever wanna come ride a bike in the old oil capital of the world with more interstate and parking than New York City. I would love to send you more information on our local cycling groups.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

What are these buttons you refer to? Are these beg buttons? You hit a button to cross a street on a bike?

[@Marsk1tty]

@@Shifter_Cycling In my town, we have some beg buttons that aren't attached to a traffic light. Instead, they have flashing yellow warning lights and traffic is *supposed* to stop to let you cross the busy road.

[@GirtonOramsay]

Those are still way better than a crosswalk and red flags that we use in Idaho

[@ClaytonGrahamLovesThings]

@@Shifter_Cycling absolutely some of them will cycle the light but the majority just do the flashing lights.

[@hngldr]

What awesome examples of Strong Towns & Tactical Urbanism approaches! I feel like the biggest takeaway from the Strong Towns book that is so often ignored in these videos is that changing the process to be like this is FAR more important than exactly what you build, and that if we try to chase sustainability with the same bad processes that led to our car-dependent hell, it will most likely still go quite badly. Thanks for another great video!

[@Shifter_Cycling]

I love the Strong Towns idea that you start with the simplest, easiest thing to get done. Then you move on to the next simplest, easiest thing. And so on.

[@hngldr]

@@Shifter_Cycling Same! I saw in his book that he referenced Tactical Urbanism (another great book) on creative ways to do that, and read that next. The use of garden planters as separators I believe is in there, and is one of my favorites. It's: 1) Relatively Cheap 2) Easy & quick to install 3) Easy to remove (quelling worries) 4) Effective as a barrier (studies show actually MORE effective than concrete - possibly because it stands out more visually or because we hate to ruin pretty things) 5) Pretty and cozy, which are more important than people give credit for (see above). It's also easier to get the community involved - could have the local school art clubs paint them or florists pick the flowers, increasing community ownership & interaction. I hope they get picked up as the default barrier - both for quick setups and permanent ones!

[@CapitulationTrader]

‘Is it perfect? No. But it got done’ -you. I sure long to hear this phrase repeated over and over in our communities all over North America. Thanks for the short, informative, and fun video. Cheers

[@galenkehler]

This is really interesting. It's a great point, that you can't really expect a good discussion if people don't have a frame of reference. Cars are so entrenched that the public can't imagine it any different.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

This is a great point -- some people really have trouble seeing things beyond the automobile world they've lived in their whole lives. This gives them a chance to se how it can work.

[@rileynicholson2322]

And many of the people who care enough to oppose bicycle infrastructure aren't just lacking a frame of reference, but actively working from a position of militant hostility and bad faith. When there is no real project, it's easy for them to create "plausible" hypothetical scenarios where the project is a nightmare. Having a real world project with real world outcomes forces these people to engage with reality or embarrass themselves so they no longer need to be taken seriously.

[@briansteeves980]

Used to cycle commute along that Burnaby stretch - it was a awful - so much better now. Last fall I rode from Port Moody to The Vancouver Aquarium with my then 6 year old (30 odd km’s) and when we got to that stretch we were cheering! Later on the ride as we went around the False Creek sea wall signs appeared saying no biking on the sea wall and we were directed up to Pacific Avenue. I was prepared to turn around, no way was I taking my 6 year old on that!! And then we saw the dedicated bike lane on Pacific Ave (as show in this video) we were high 5’ing each other and continued our adventure to the Aquarium. Repeated the adventure with my now 7 year old and my 5 year old last month - My 5 year old rode his bike to the top of Burnaby Mountain last Monday. We drove to school (1.5km) all winter because the morning drop off traffic is insane.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

This is the most heartwarming comment I read today. Thank you for sharing.

[@rpvitiello]

Jersey City, NJ had a 10 year plan to phase in bike lanes. Then COVID happened and they implemented that plan as a rapid build bike network within 6 months. Within a year the city went from typical North American car focused city, to looking like a city in the Netherlands with how extensive the bike lanes were. Now 2 years later the city has reached zero road fatalities on city streets, and they have been upgrading the rapid build stuff with permanent infrastructure. (They managed to make the city so desirable, it’s now even more expensive than neighboring Manhattan, NYC.)

[@barryvandertas2234]

That is exactly how it should be done. Walkable and cycleable cities is what we need.

[@tallonhunter3663]

From a design and implementation standpoint this is the superior approach. You (the designer) now have usable statistics. Maybe nobody uses the lane because it is out of the way and/or goes nowhere. Relatively low cost and ease of change allows for rapid prototyping and iterative design. Doing so before opening to feedback means businesses get a chance to see the uptick from cycle traffic before reflexively quashing it. Etc. Etc. Etc. Big thing is it gets done.

[@humanecities]

6:08 It’s not just bike lane projects. It’s everything. We get worried about change and then quickly, we just adjust. With recently doing away with plastic bags in Canada, people were so annoyed. But, turns out, we all already have reusable bags and now we’re actually remembering to bring them in with us. Same goes for paper straws. I hardly hear anyone complain about them, because they’re not actually that bad…

[@jamesphillips2285]

No I still oppose the plastic straw ban. It is more about optics than actual effectiveness: and actively harms disabled people. See "Banning Straws Hurts People // The Last Straw! [CC]" by Jessica Kellgren-Fozard. And all these fast food places went from serving cold drinks in wax paper cups with plastic straws to stunningly clear polypropylene cups and paper straws. make it make sense. Also behind the scenes plastic waste in the supply chain is still allowed. Only customer-facing packaging is not allowed to be plastic.

[@humanecities]

@@jamesphillips2285 I agree, it’s very much optics. And I didn’t know about how it harms disabled people, thanks for sharing that. My point is still that we just tend to get used to things.

[@rileynicholson2322]

Not a great example, since banning plastic straws and plastic bags was an optics experiment that did fuck all for the environment. Our "reusable" bags really aren't anymore environmentally friendly and paper straws are still essentially useless as straws. If you really care about plastic waste, industry and commercial fishing should be your targets. In contrast, bicycle infrastructure actually improves people's lives in a meaningful way. If anything, you example proves why we should use this strategy very carefully, since people get used to bad/pointless changes just as easily as they get used to good changes.

[@humanecities]

@@rileynicholson2322 You’re right! It’s really only a good example of people getting used to things, rather than anything great for the environment.

[@thegrowl2210]

This is a really important video and point I think! Initially when I first started cycling, I always thought that the lanes in London with cones were nothing more than a load of nonsense, so councillors could say they were taking action. But over time with the pace of new infrastructure being proposed and experimented with, changes being made, etc, I've come to realise it's still valid infrastructure, I certainly feel doubly as safe within a wanded lane, rather than out on the open road, and you certainly see a lot more cyclists on these sorts of routes, rather than being the only one. The main danger is while it's easy to implement these lanes, it's also easy to remove them. Another great video, thanks Tom.

[@sebastianjoseph2828]

I like this- there are so many areas I drive or ride past where I think "Hmm, with a can of paint and some concrete blocks I could make a ped/bike path out of this shoulder/lane". A key part of this though is how long the lane stays in place. My county put a bidirectional bike lane (University Blvd in Silver Spring MD) in by taking one of 3 vehicular lanes. But it didn't go much of anywhere, and ended before the school and the metro/mall which might be good destinations to link. Enough people complained that it got removed after the summer. People are hesitant to try something new but they get used to the results if they're made to stay in place for a year.

[@koharumi1]

Am planning to send this to people who know other people in my city council to see if they will implement this sort of tactic.

[@aidanknight]

Similar story over here in Saanich (municipality in Victoria BC): We call the machine that lays the temporary cement barriers The Curb Plunker 🥰

[@MultigrainKevinOs]

Great video! We know we can build bike lanes quickly we did it in covid all over and no one cared or cried. I love that you note that good bike lanes need to have a feedback loop too good or bad. I also think cyclists can be our own worst enemy too when certain folks only accept perfection, it's all a work in progress and any progress is better than nothing.

[@thomasguillo3595]

They've done a lot of important bike infrastructure in Paris this way in the recent years, and I think it worked pretty well

[@blortmeister]

Great. Just friggin' great. Now I have to add an entire new chapter to the urban resiliency guide I've been working on for months. Thanks a bunch. (no, really. Thanks a bunch! This will go in front of council next month.)

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Ha. Sorry not sorry to create more work for you.

[@BradFonseca]

Thanks! You've made another thoughtful video. Iterative design and build really allows everyone to see if new bike lanes actually make bike commuting easier and safer. They also defuse the car lobby when citizens see that their commutes aren't actually that impacted. If things need to be improved it's easy to do. This strategy allows the city to show rather than tell.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Thanks so much Brad. You're the best! And I agree these projects can defuse the perception of conflict that seems to arise when these ideas are pitched.

[@macsnafu]

This is great. They get something done rather quickly, but with easily adjustable, low cost materials for further development and improvement.

[@Matt-ln1zl]

This can be hard. My city tried to do this in an underprivileged neighborhood and were met with huge pushback before they even started construction because the community felt like there were being ignored

[@Shifter_Cycling]

It's never going to be easy. Good communication and engagement is critical. And they aren't all going to work.

[@rileynicholson2322]

I mean, as they should expect. Many of these hurdles exist specifically to protect underprivileged neighbourhoods and this approach is actually needed in historically privileged areas. If your city's first idea when they try to implement something like this is "lets ignore locals or experiment in underprivileged neighbourhoods", I think the hostility is most likely warranted.

[@AB-wf8ek]

It basically feels like, we'll just experiment in this neighborhood because they obviously don't matter, even if it's with good intentions. They should build bike infrastructure where the most people will use it, and at the very least communicate with the neighborhood, get them on board before making changes to their environment in which they already feel their voices are not being heard.

[@jacobbrooks9414]

We did this with our local safe streets non-profit organization. The street was to be resurfaced, so we saw an opportunity for a demonstration. We put in temporary buffers and even fake trees; all with the blessing from the city. The next day all our trees were run over and the place was in shambles. The NIMBYs came out in full force, and the city backed down. BTW this was in front of an elementary school next to a wide road that is known for speeding. It was needed. Some of the feedback was they didn't want to lose parking stalls and that they didn't want to door cyclist as they were coming out of their passenger side (even tho there was a buffer). Also, some cyclist don't like protected bike lanes because they feel "trapped." I'm not sure what could have been done. It sounds great on paper but unless you have a city with a back bone nothing will get done.

[@Ladadadada]

A similar approach was tried in Seville and worked extremely well. The similarity was getting something done quickly and cheaply rather than spending years planning but never building. They didn't have an explicit consultation and feedback phase after the initial construction but they did have an implicit one in the form of an election. There are a couple of articles on how it happened, one titled "How Seville transformed itself into the cycling capital of southern Europe" where they talk about the political side of it and another titled "How Seville Became a City of Cyclists" where they talk about the phases of the programme and how the lanes must be connected to form a network in order to actually achieve growth in cycling.

[@RJ-tr8vt]

Vancouver is such an awesome city! I visited this February, and it lives up too the hype.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

I've been impressed on my last couple of visits at Vancouver's progression as a bike city. They are doing a good job consistently closing gaps and constantly improving things. In many other cities, mine included, bike infrastructure feels very piecemeal and inconsistently implemented.

[@anarchel]

Sounds like someone at the Vancouver city read the Manifesto for Agile Software Development: -Individuals and interactions over processes and tools -Working software over comprehensive documentation -Customer collaboration over contract negotiation -Responding to change over following a plan

[@Shifter_Cycling]

I hadn't thought about the parallels with agile development until you and a couple of people in these comments mentioned it, but it's a great example. Thanks for sharing.

[@twgood5882]

Your point about procedural fetishism of government making even small infrastructure projects, like bike lanes on pre-existing roads, long and costly is well taken. Ryan Chapman "Why Does The Government Waste So Much Money?" covers that topic from many angles.

[@Mike-vd2qt]

It took me one and a half years to get 200 yards of just bike lane paint installed in San Diego, CA. Engineering study, Approval, Budgeting, Scheduling. I offered to paint it myself with a friend, six months after that it was finally painted.

[@kevjay-med1225]

Good on you! I wish I knew more about how to get involved adding bike lanes to my community

[@Mike-vd2qt]

@@kevjay-med1225 City Streets Dept, City Hall, County or State Highway Road Dept, when you call for info always take notes, names, date and time. When you call back repeat who you have spoken with and the date. They know you serious and organized when taking names and dates. They might then do something.

[@vwmullen]

@5:37 is so accurate! The feedback always feels like it is only the finishing touches to the plan they already came up with. (Not to mention the number of projects that accept feedback and then never even happen at all)

[@alpd7638]

6:15 - that hit really close to home. My town did a (poorly designed) pilot project of a "quiet street" on a residential north/south corridor. The ultimate design would allow vehicular traffic to go only one or two blocks before being forced to turn and a reduced speed limit. The pilot traffic count data was very positive. The project was canned because of negative resident feedback worried about having to change their driving habits. 🤦🏻‍♀️ The town is not very big, 7km or so from side to side. And the next road to the east of the pilot is a main collector.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Yes, this is certainly a risk, but this kind of opposition can exist no matter which process a project uses. Good engagement is important no matter how it rolls out. Thanks for sharing.

[@rickfarny]

Here in Adelaide, we had a proposal for a single protected 2km east-west bikelane rejected after years of deliberation. The main reason: objection from the Greek Orthodox church on the proposed path, who were worried about reduced parking spaces. So the 6 million dollar (I know, ridiculous right?) project was canned despite: 1. the "lost" parking spaces made up only a small percentage of the parking available within a five minute walk, 2. only a tiny percentage of the Church's congregation size. 3. they only use those spaces for two hours on a Sunday 4. because they're a church, they don't even pay council rates so don't actually pay anything towards the infrastructure they're using 5. the new bike lane would have improved access to the church for people choosing to ride instead of drive Cue councillors saying things like "Adelaide's too suburban for cycling" and "We're not Copenhagen". - Well not with that attitude! If they'd used the Vancouver approach, people would have very quickly realised that this wasn't the grave threat that they thought it was, and it might have been completed in half the time for half the cost. The tragedy is that Adelaide would be the perfect cycling city with a few tweaks; big wide boulevards with space for great infrastructure, great climate and largely very flat. And yet only around 1% cycle to work!

[@PhilipSalen]

Thanks! Vancouver looks almost as nice as Calgary. Thanks for another great video about bicycle commuting!

[@Shifter_Cycling]

You’re the best Philip! Thank you once again.

[@humanecities]

3:44 This is something I think we should do much more of. Make the changes when we already have plans to fix up an area (or build it in the first place). A lot of new developments are being build without decent cycling infrastructure… even though the city knows it’ll add that in eventually. Why don’t we add it in in the first place, instead of waiting? I’d say the same goes for transit. Why wait until everyone gets used to using a car? Why not build transit into the plan? You know, the plans the city has to approve in the first place…? 🤦‍♂️

[@oowvow]

I’m so glad to ride my bike on this seaside route to work everyday. It’s one of the thing that make me happy everyday.

[@Cycling_In_London]

Test & learn should absolutely be the strategy for implementing active travel. In theory, it should allow for quick implementation and corrections to take place based on feedback. Unfortunately what you see are NIMBY or anti-cycling groups from all over organising and either harassing councillors, or filling out consultations to remove bike lanes with bad faith and inaccurate information to get it removed. In the end it takes twice the amount of work to filter out non-local (to even the country) or false responses.

[@nate_wil]

Perfection is the enemy of good. Don't strive for perfect bike infrastructure that will never get there. Start with something good. Anything. And keep improving on it!

[@soccerdad93446]

People are not that imaginative, they need to see how a bike lane would work before they will accept change. This try it out method is awesome!

[@sh1pme2themune9]

Effective, timely, and unintrusive. Beautiful.

[@lafamillecarrington]

This is such a sensible idea for areas where new pathways away from traffic are not possible. I sent the link to your video to my local planning department in Cambridge, UK, and just got a very positive response - although they did point out that Cambridge Roads are probably significantly narrower than Vancouver ones!

[@enthusiast7659]

Great video. I also consider myself a patient and optimistic person, and I've seen my city make some baby steps... would love to see it continue. It would probably be very difficult to convince our City Engineer to implement any of the quick builds shown here but I love having more resources to share with neighbors!

[@mattday2881]

Brilliant, practical idea. Shared in Somerset, UK, where the pace of progress on cycling in glacial. Thanks for sharing.

[@Droidman1231]

Vancouvers temporary solutions are honestly on par or better than my city's permanent ones RIP

[@lars1588]

This is great. I'm on a bicycle/pedestrian committee for my city and I will be bringing the paper you cited (the TransLink Vancouver one) to our next meeting. I read the whole thing and it has some excellent data and ideas that are accessible even for smaller municipalities like mine.

[@geoffreyhoney122]

Yea! Thanks for this inspiring video Tom! I will be approaching my councillor here in Hamilton with this cool idea. The feedback is important, but sadly often these projects never get off the ground because of negative motorist nay sayers. This wacks them up fast and tweaks them after as the dust storm of emotion is settling! Well done!

[@priyasoundararajan8704]

Thanks!

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Thank you so much for the support. I really appreciate it and it helps keep this channel going.

[@ecopennylife]

Great idea. LOL the temporary implementation looks much better than any permanent cycle lanes in my town 😅

[@christill]

I agree that just having some action taking place and some learning happening is good. But I would say the most powerful tool of all is car free days, or car free mornings or whatever you can get. Because when people are given that freedom, it opens their minds to a whole different way of living. And it opens their minds up to just getting rid of the cars, which is the easiest way to get cycling infrastructure. Use what’s there already.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

This is a great point. I think both car-free days and pilot projects can give people who grew up in car cities a chance to see with their own eyes something they may have trouble imagining.

[@rishabhanand4973]

know how sometimes they say "it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission". I think that applies here. Better to get some basic bike lanes built up and get feedback from residents than to go through the red tape. It's way easier for nimbys to fearmonger about something that hasn't been built yet.

[@TwoWheeledPolitics]

Toronto did this in 2020 for 25 km of bikeways as part of ActiveTO, though one 4 km route on Brimley Road in Scarborough ended up being removed after four months and the others were made permanent. Wished Toronto would do more of these quick builds post-pandemic.

[@jonathantang6414]

Always great to see change happening with pace in my city, even if it feels like forever sometimes. I work at the bike shop where you got your rental bike, Cycle City. Sure hope to run into you in the future!

[@Amir-jn5mo]

This is beautiful. Not only you get to build it quickly and efficiently but you can constantly have engagement and tweak the design of the road or at the worse remove it to its original form. I wish Toronto did this. We are entire 5 years of Bloor bike lane pilot project studies :(

[@TwoWheeledPolitics]

Toronto did this in 2020 as part of ActiveTO.

[@Newyorker000]

Love all of this! Here in nyc I think you’re describing the JSK era when she was dot commish under Bloomberg. But now I don’t think we have much of that quick build mindset at all in NYC. Need to get into the build something, evaluate, tweak, gather feedback loop mindset here. 🙏👍

[@veziculorile]

in Duluth, Minnesota, there was a temporary bike lane put in on Superior Street (one of the main streets) and when the street was redone it was never implemented into the final design. A lot of people see it as a wasted opportunity. Many motorists continue to be upset that there aren't enough parking spots. It's downtown though so those from the suburbs will never find the parking they want.

[@nunyabidness3075]

I love that study. Anything that points to bipartisan screwups is refreshing. I’m going to see if this approach can be used on a problem road that our village board identified yet recently made worse by adding an apartment complex and subdivision on.

[@thebravesirrobin.]

In Seattle, SDOT *_constantly_* shoots itself in the foot with public engagement processes that, by definition, will needlessly delay critical safety improvements. It's infuriating. Somewhat recently they advertised a survey on twitter asking where people think bike safety should be implemented and what kind of barriers should be used. The top reply was "What if you just built in instead of wasting time?" According to an unverified source, the actual reason that the survey was held was to see if random members of the public had better barrier ideas THAN THE PAID PROFESSIONALS AT OUR F*****G DOT. SDOT desperately needs to stop screwing around. Build quick improvements to save lives, establish minimum design requirements for permanent renovations, THEN ask for feedback.

[@mklinger23]

The hard part about doing things is all the people that are so against it. We just went through this in Philadelphia with Washington Ave. They used the resurfacing to add a bike lane, but ~3 miles of it had no bike lane added because the representative in that area said that the priority is car traffic and that pedestrians and cyclists should be using other streets.

[@Littleweenaman]

Even in places where bike lanes are fully implemented there is still pushback sometimes you can’t please everyone but where it works and actually helps people makes the pain somewhat worthwhile I live in that area too

[@exmerion]

Sometimes you have to show people it works first before they become convinced. If cycling becomes more popular because of lanes being implemented in nearby areas, it's going to bleed over into their area. They'll have to deal with it either way.

[@funkymankevx]

I rode that stretch of the Central Valley Greenway last weekend and that stretch of bike lane in Burnaby is so much better..

[@bensteele5801]

This reminds me of rapid iteration or iterative development in software development. Because software can be easily updated/changed, it is generally best to spend less time planning and more time developing. Once it is developed and out there, you can get feedback and make improvements. Using these cheap and quickly deployed materials in creating infrastructure allows cities to gain the same efficiencies that software companies have recognized with this development strategy. Not only does it give you at least some amount of value very quickly, it also gives you real world feedback for improvement, which is much more valuable that discussions that take place in the planning phase. Because the materials are temporary, improvements can be made cheaply and quickly. This means you can make changes to get to an "optimal" setup for the infrastructure before committing the time and money it takes to make it permanent.

[@anarchel]

I think "reminds me" is an understatement: - Working software over comprehensive documentation ^Making a working makeshift bike lane, over the extensive research - Individuals and interactions over processes and tools - Customer collaboration over contract negotiation ^Listening to feedback of actual users and residents - Responding to change over following a plan ^Taking out the makeshift bike lane if it didn't work out

[@sven_ftw]

Wonderful video - thank you sir!

[@katherandefy]

It is really a multimodal tweak not just bikes. Walking and cycling are close siblings and I love what bike lanes do for walking.

[@shloidain]

This is what Sydney Australia is lacking in their bikeability implementation. Recently a street built a bike lane, similar to the ones in the video, had a barrage of complaints on issues of: tripping on the barriers (in Sydney the barriers are a lot smaller and easy to trip on if getting out of the car), car doors hitting cyclists (due to parallel parking existing next to the bike lanes) and visibility. Instead of making changes to the bike lane which could have easily occurred, they removed a $20,000 dollar bike lane. And this is partly because of how there is no "trial run", making it harder to make changes after they have been concreted.

[@rauli386]

Getting something done is better than waiting for perfection

[@cubeofcheese5574]

This is really cool. Thanks for sharing

[@michaelpawliszyn5754]

Gall's Law at work. Incrementalism works.

[@indigobunting5041]

There was overreaction in the planning stage of adding a bike lane to a main road in my town. The plan called for taking one lane of traffic on both directions to add bike lanes and a center turn lane for cars. Many people, including myself, thought this plan would badly back up car traffic. On implementation, it turns out traffic runs quite smoothly. The bike lane though is not much used. I've only used it a few times, preferring the parallel sides streets with much less traffic that I was already using before the bike lane was put in.

[@TTRTIM]

Next time you're in the Vancouver area you should come down to Delta to see the absolute trash fire of a cycling project they just built. It's awful and your platform is a great one for showing how new infrastructure isn't necessarily better than simply improving the existing infrastructure

[@Nyannnnnnnn]

Thanks for making another awesome video

[@jgroenveld1268]

The consultation process here in my city can take years of planning that the money used for consultation process (basically the city showing designs/concepts) takes a huge chunk of funding that this alone scares off potential support for said project in the first place.

[@ttopero]

In my central Denver neighborhood, we have had a “temporary” demonstration bike lane of 5 blocks on a major stroad for almost 7 years! The paint has worn away; the plastic bollards have been bent over (often into the bike lane) or removed. 6 years ago we approved the bond measure to fund fully building out the bike lane to the Cherry Creek trail, but dumping the bike lane in auto traffic in the other direction. Engineering plans were finished pre-pandemic. Today, construction is FINALLY happening, but FIRST they had to improve the conditions for cars and drivers, spending 20X as much on the car improvements than what will eventually be spent on the bicycle lanes, which will still not be safe and comfortable, as the lanes are in the gutter, next to the door area and no one looks as they cross to their car. Dumping people on bicycles & micromobility devices into traffic because there’s another unfunded project that’s supposed to take care of that safety situation is a common failure of governments. They need to make sure the transitions out of the project area is as safe and comfortable as the project area itself. Also, the idea that a project has to be built to a finished state eliminates a lot of the opportunities for incremental improvement that we need in our cities and neighborhoods. The idea that any project has to go through many stages of bureaucratic processes and be so finished that nothing can change after implementation is a failure of the bureaucratic process. Then the commitment of maintenance is often ignored because the project is “done” so we can take our focus off the project and shift all resources away from it. This is my biggest concern as the city paints thousands of miles of line markings (only about 150 miles of actual lanes) after a very long process. They have demonstrated that they resort to deferred maintenance for existing infrastructure, making the spaces even more unsafe and uncomfortable than originally because now there’s confusion over what is actually there to follow. Deferred maintenance demonstrates the city’s real view of any infrastructure not for vehicles as unimportant.

[@Simqer]

at 3:36 someone graffitied over bubly with buble. That is honestly how I say that every time I say it for some reason. Glad I'm not the only one.

[@gilbster]

We had a project here in Kansas City, Mo. It was a traffic calming project on a stroad, Truman road. But they decided to do a protected bike lane and the community push back was pretty rough. Mostly one car repair guy put up a big fuss and had them make costly adjustments. Perhaps this type of semi-permanent infrastructure would have helped. I would love to see a video about when the bike lanes don’t go as planned or how to improve their perception with car centric folks. They are perceived as just rich people exercising it not a mode of transportation

[@HweolRidda]

I agree with the point about endless consultation where half informed people muddy the waters. But I have also seen quick implementation of unsafe infrastructure that became permanent. I can think of several places around Toronto where quick implementations missed the fact that existing posts are in the middle of a cycle track's route. In one case this was "solved" with a jog around the post. That jog can be navigated safely at jogging speed. My feedback that reflective markings on the post are a minimal requirement seemed to be inappropriate because the project was considered completed.

[@manubisbee1]

So true! Love the content ❤

[@pedrofernandez8729]

In my county, they recently widened a heavily traveled main street and instead of adding bike lanes they made the median extra wide, the dumb part of this is that this is the only road leads to a recently completed bike lane on a major road that the state spent good money on. So now there is no safe way to ride your bike to get to it.

[@TomK32]

About those roads with temporary cycle paths, it might be worth monitoring the road in regards to speeding and accidents. I wouldn't be surprised if the average speed of cars is now lower and accidents will be less. I do like the ask-for-improvements-later approach, in my city they tried something of that kind but killed it after a single day because the traffic police insisted on redirecting traffic and thus causing chaos...

[@DiegoSinMiedos]

Solo deben existir la vía diferenciada. Un conductor de automóvil cuida su vehículo muchísimo. Por lo que poner topes, murallas, saltos, etc. Mantendrá al conductor fuera de la ciclovía y salvará vidas. Saludos desde un país en vías de desarrollo.

[@Soundbrigade]

In the very centre of our town (Vänersborg, Sweden) were bike lanes. In one direction it was a separated lane (that still was popular for parking cars …) and in the other just painted lines outside the parking spots. But half a year ago, those painted lanes were gone and a pretty good bike lane was made, separated from the street by flower beds. The work took maybe three months and is perfect. However, even if this is a progress this is just in the centre, elsewhere the biking conditions aren’t that perfect. If I had video editing facilities I could show the best and THE WORST there is, like the “Corner of Death”.

[@test40323]

Huh, interesting perspective. People in the Netherlands have been building bike lanes for thirty years, why not bring some consultants over and find the low hanging fruits?

[@EBikeBuilder_]

Done is better than perfect 👍

[@markw.schumann297]

Last year the new Mayor of Cleveland said "hey let's just put a bunch of cheap temporary speed tables on the streets that have the most speeding and see how it goes." There was extremely little public process behind it. It was great. The City collected feedback and now... ...oh geez, I don't even know. It looks like it got stalled right there. Dammit.

[@An-Ma]

Something got done! Yeah!! 👍👍🌷

[@joshaalders3029]

Love love love this! ❤

[@definitelynotacrab7651]

That's a really clever way to do it, motorists also getting to see it be used, especially by others than fit white males, could really help quash arguments against them

[@ThalassTKynn]

Ugh I wish my town would do this. Instead of maybe having sidewalks and sharrows on my street some time in the next 15 years.

[@123a-o5d]

It's so hard to make a perfect design on paper, this way is much better.

[@TheWhiteDragon3]

Yes, it's all about starting somewhere. My city has also been throwing together some bike and pedestrian infrastructure, and although it's not the best and although it'll definitely be modified in the future, Step No. 1 is a helluva lot better than Step No. ZERO

[@82melmar]

We need to stop fighting city-by-city. Need to fight provincially for them to mandate that cities provide safe bicycle networks

[@Shifter_Cycling]

This is a good point about Canadian politics.

[@exmerion]

need to stop fighting neighborhood by neighborhood first. A lot of these projects get held up by a small group of people in a small area.

[@spencerjoplin2885]

I wonder if this prototyping can meet the “existing infrastructure” or “planning” exemptions common to impact study requirements, e.g. NEPA or CEQA.

[@chuck2453]

Great video

[@mk-oc7mt]

This is very similar to how Oakland redesigned Telegraph ave. It’s not perfect, but the city just got it it done efficiently, and is now making adjustments based on feedback.

[@jacobcowan5969]

This is awesome!

[@ThePadraigmac]

Hey Tom! Were you aware of the whole Stanley Park bike lane kerfuffle when you were here? I'd be interested in your take on that. Rapid implementation, followed by a change in city council who voted to remove it followed by some of it not being removed due to the cost. Maybe not a great fit for THIS video since it's mostly political but worth a look at some point.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

I was aware of it, but didn't really grasp the politics of the decision. It's too bad to see automobiles take space back in one of the country's iconic parks.

[@geoff5623]

​@@Shifter_Cycling It was also iterated from just cones for the entire route, to partial concrete barriers for some of it, ramps were added in locations to allow entry/exit from the existing seawall path, and redesigning some of the vehicle access to parking lots where vehicles cross the lane (though I wish they continued to iterate on some of the signage to prevent people from cycling the wrong way, especially to Third Beach, and a few points where cars still occasionally drove in the bike lane). One of the contentious points was that while I always interpreted "temporary bike lane" as a step towards permanent infrastructure - and the addition of concrete barriers was an indication of that - opponents used "temporary" as a reason that the bike lane should be removed and was never intended to remain (despite the new council insisting that they do want a bike lane, just not one that will take road space away from cars [just ignore the millions of dollars it would cost, the years it would take to plan and implement, and how many trees it would require cutting down...])

[@ThePadraigmac]

@@Shifter_Cycling It really is. I'm hard pressed to believe the necessity of having two lanes for cars (with 30km speed limit) going through that park. I always took the lane anyway, but it sure was nice not to have to do that!