Seattle Biking: Best & Worst of 2023

Join me as I talk about 5 good things and 5 bad things about biking in the greater Seattle area in 2023.
Intro 0:06
Bad: Seattle Waterfront 0:29
Good: West Marginal Way 1:07
Bad: Lake Washington Blvd 1:42
Good: WSDOT Closure Communication 2:28
Bad: Port of Seattle 3:03
Good: South Seattle Projects 3:41
Bad: War on People 4:17
Good: Rainier Valley Bike Bus 4:53
Bad: E-Bike Shaming 5:30
Good: Regional Trail Connections 6:08
Outro 6:41
Credits 6:59
Images taken by me used my iPhone 12 camera.
Videos taken by me used my GoPro HERO12 Black camera.
Images & graphics were created & modified using Affinity Photo.
Voiceover recordings were created using Rode Wireless GO II microphones, Blue Yeti microphone, and Audacity software.
Final video including overlays and animations was created by me using Wondershare FilmoraPro.
Music is licensed through Soundstripe app.soundstripe.com/
“Don’t Stop Now”
Written by Adrian Dominic Walther - Performed & Produced by Dr. Delight
“Parmesan Crust”
Written, Performed, & Produced by Sam Barsh

[@noahfranks984]

Love the the late 90s career core format

[@BestSideCycling]

Nice list! Time for some collabs in 2024 :)

[@bobco85]

Definitely in the plans for 2024! We've got the East Link ride(s) and hopefully more!

[@nat_wanders]

As avid bike rider and walker I am doing what I can and feel passionate about to improve human transportation in the PNW and beyond.

[@tedbellWRV]

Bob, thanks so much for another year of bicycle videos! My wife and I have followed your channel for 2 or 3 years now. You are right on in this year’s good and bad lists. We no longer live in Seattle, but visit several times a year and cycled in Seattle for 40 years - so we love to follow Seattle’s bicycle progress and road safety. Glad to see your comments on e-bike shaming, as an e-bike keeps me going at age 66 with physical limitations to overcome.

[@readyplayer2]

Well said! I own both. For fun trail rides, I typically ride my "acoustic" bike. But I use a Class 1 e-bike for commuting so I can flatten the hills and make my 18 mile round-trip urban commute more pleasant and efficient. The motor and battery gives me wired, bright lights without the need for a dynamo, and I don't worry about the weight penalty of full fenders as well as a sturdy rack and panniers to carry my gear or groceries. I also don't need to shower when I arrive to work. I sing the praises of e-bikes to anyone that will listen!

[@bobco85]

Thank you for the kind words! I have tried to be more vocal about my support for e-bikes, especially as a ride leader for Cascade. For me, it's just about having a good ride :)

[@sameoldcircus]

Always good to see cars respecting the speed limit on LWB /s

[@coopersy]

Thank you for the e-bike comment. I “acoustic” commuted in Seattle for decades, but in retirement my bad back makes it impossible to get around under just human power. I’ve built an e-bike, using Grin tech that has allowed me to put 3,000 miles on my bike last year and only 350 on my car. Just like you can’t tell why someone uses the elevator instead of the stairs to go one floor, you can’t tell why someone “chooses” to use an e-bike.

[@bobco85]

It's amazing how something like "e-assist" can both open up a world of biking to more people while also making it more manageable and sustainable for others. I'll continue to be outspoken about including e-bikes in cycling, because to me, the important thing is to get on the bike and enjoy a ride!

[@nickdubya1215]

The Marginal Way barrier was a great add. I always felt near death before crossing over the tracks at the light. Admittedly, my ego gets hit when I get burned by an E Bike, but the bigger point of contention is the E bike subsidy not extending to acoustic. Access should be incentivized for all bike types!

[@bobco85]

It seems like it should be an easy choice to slow down traffic and give people biking more space, but it was a contentious issue for some. I think subsidies going towards e-bikes is the right way to go since e-bikes have greatly expanded the accessibility of biking to the general population, and acoustic bikes just haven't had that impact. However, I also like how acoustic bikes have been incorporated into many schools so more kids learn how to bike (and hopefully continue into their adulthood), especially those who cannot afford a bicycle.

[@readyplayer2]

Another wonderful video, Bob. Wishing you very happy holidays, and a safe and rewarding New Year! I couldn't agree more with all of your points, especially the South Seattle ones. I do wish for better bike infrastructure in SE Seattle in 2024, and particularly hope that SDOT does a better job with Lake Washington Blvd in 2024. This is such a jewel of a route along beautiful Lake Washington, and could offer so much as a traffic calmed multi-use trail and park boulevard; it is, in fact, a park administered by Seattle Parks and Rec. Your short video clip of unsafe passing, tailgating, and honking is a daily reality for anyone using that route, including in a car if you drive at anything approaching the speed limit of 25 mph.

[@bobco85]

I really, really hope we can make Lake Washington Blvd a pleasant place for people to be. It's such a shame that reactionary people are letting it be turned into a traffic sewer.

[@Buckshot9796]

Great video! Yep, I think your list was spot on. A lot of the aggression on the roads is due to the way people drive their cars and ride their bikes. Rude behavior and disregard for the law is common, a lot due to ignorance and inattention, some due to a me first attitude. The traffic laws are not based on politics, or a philosophy, they are based on logic and applied physics and are there to improve traffic flow and keep one's body and soul together.

[@alexradu4233]

Thanks 🙏 Bob. Looking forward to more content from you in 2024. Appreciating your work and support for the biking community! Happy New Year!

[@bobco85]

Thank you! I plan on creating more guides and videos in 2024; I have too much fun making these to stop!

[@alexwarrior1]

Great summary!

[@cebryan333]

Cool video and bike content thank you! 🚲 👍

[@yourfriendlara]

good recap! I didn't know about some of these projects! I love your videos!

[@bobco85]

Gotta go check them out if you didn't know about them! I plan on covering a few in videos in 2024.

[@anthonynguyen2343]

Happy New Eve 🎉

[@c141charlie]

Anyone ever encounter an aggressive cyclist who: (1) don’t follow the law, (2) get themselves in near misses because of their carelessness, and (3) yell at drivers to “share the road”? These cyclists are asking for an accident.

[@lynnes11]

I am an avid biker. I have relied on a bike as a primary form of transportation in England; the Netherlands; Eugene, Oregon; and Baltimore, Maryland. I am also a 3rd generation Seattleite. I have a really hard time getting on board with increasing bike lanes in Seattle, especially at the expense of parking and car lanes (which I've seen in my own neighborhood in NE Seattle as well as throughout the city). Why? Simply compare the # of people on bikes using the space compared to the # of people in cars using the space. Roosevelt through the U District is a great example. They took out the street parking, which was always full, and put in a protected bike lane, which is almost always empty. It rains and is so hilly in Seattle, I just don't see enough cyclists to justify the immense expense and takeover of space that is otherwise being used by cars. SDOT has had a war on cars for years now. The infrastructure is not what makes Seattle off-putting to potential cyclists. Having MORE infrastructure for cycling is not going to increase cycling, I'm just not convinced of that. It's the weather and topography that make it so that there will never be enough people cycling to justify all this infrastructure. Trying to turn the city into something that it is not is making the city more difficult for everyone to get around.

[@bobco85]

My question for you: how would YOU make Seattle better for cycling that would cause more people to get on their bikes? ["We can't" is not an acceptable answer] My answer would be that we need to make our roads safer for everybody, not just people biking, because it will have the effect of increasing biking while benefitting everyone else. Right now, it's not just cyclists that have to deal with dangerously designed roads and bad infrastructure; people walking, biking, rolling, taking transit, and also other drivers have to deal with it. We waste a lot of our street space on driving, whether for car storage, wide lane roads used for speeding, or neighborhood streets that have no sidewalks, and it creates a terrible space to exist whether in a car or not. We can do better.

[@RoyFauntleroy]

You sound like "an avid biker" who cares more about cars and parking them than you do about making the roads safer for cyclists - and for everyone else. Your premise that more people drive cars does not entail that SDOT should cater only to drivers. You wrote follow-on statements that are of questionable veracity ("Having MORE infrastructure for cycling is not going to increase cycling...). Where do you get that information? What is "making the city more difficult for everyone to get around" is that there are too many people who refuse to give up driving and storing their personal vehicles in the public space. The city continues to grow - and there is no more room to put cars. As a third generation Seattleite I'm surprised you haven't figured this out yet. A real cyclist can handle both hills and rain. Get an e-bike if you can't do hills, and put on a rain jacket. You can do it!

[@BenEricson]

"Im an avid Biker." Riiiiight.

[@Murmuringbirds]

I live on Capitol Hill and have been riding since the time when the only bike lanes were the one on Dexter across QA Hill and the BG Trail. I agree with everything you said. And yeah, Roosevelt is now a total shit show. An elderly co-worker was struck downtown on 4th Ave stepping off curb into bike lane to cross street by the rare person using the lane. Bike lanes aren’t really for bikes. There are fewer people commuting on bikes than 30 years ago. Bike lanes are a clumsy fake way to reduce parking and traffic flow. The progressive nitwits running Seattle are forcing people out of cars

[@Murmuringbirds]

You were honked at on Lake Washington Blvd because you were riding slowly in the middle of the lane. Wear a helmet and ride like you mean it