These are common in Dutch & Danish cycle networks. Why?

Michael Williams, an authority on Edge Lane Roads which are also known as Advisory Lane Roads or Advisory Shoulder Roads, helps to demystify them for us in this episode. These are perhaps the least understood class of shared street and bicycle infrastructure design, and yet they serve an important role in both the Dutch and Danish cycle networks.
The Netherlands perhaps has the largest inventory of this type of cycleway and it is believed that their success in implementing them has helped spread interest and installations around the world.
While protected and separated bike lanes and cycle-tracks get most of the attention when people travel to The Netherlands to study Dutch cycling or to Copenhagen explore the Danish interpretation to two-wheeled transport, the reality in both cases is that much of the network is some form of shared space where motor vehicle traffic is calmed to about 30 km/hr and they strive to keep motor vehicle volumes manageable.
The Edge Lane Road is just such a shared street, similar in many respects to the Dutch Fietsstraat (or bicycle priority street) and has some parallels to the North American Bicycle Boulevards or Neighborhood Greenways.
For more information on Edge Lane Roads and to follow Michael's work go to his website at www.advisorybikelanes.com/
Here's our old video we mentioned about Vail's Gore Valley Trail: vimeo.com/177494585
And more information about Vail's installation (was mentioned in this ITE report): bit.ly/3qmNU7K
Here's a document that Michael helped produce on Edge Lane Roads: bit.ly/3qtsu93
Link to the Ottawa video: • Advisory Cycling Lanes...
Link to the New Hampshire video: vimeo.com/198050122
A note from Michael on the research: "The study on US ELR safety looked at crash data on 11 ELRs all over the country that had been installed for at least 3 years. Crash data for the 5 years previous to the installation was used in an Empirical Bayes analysis (the gold standard for this type of analysis according to the Highway Safety Manual). The complete report is available at transweb.sjsu.edu/research/19.... Aggregated results over these 11 facilities showed a 44% crash rate reduction in motor vehicle crashes. Data was not available to evaluate safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. Reduced vehicular speeds, lower crash rates, horizontal separation of VRUs and cars all point to a safer, more comfortable environment for vulnerable road users."
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Background:
Hi Everyone! My name is John Simmerman, and I’m a health promotion and public health professional with over 30 years of experience. Over the years, my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization in how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.
Since 2010, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be while striving to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."
The Active Towns Channel features my original video content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.
Thanks once again for tuning in! I hope you find this content helpful and insightful.
Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2022

[@richardhahlen7182]

Just a gentle response of a Dutch biker: have your children cycling ahead of the adults. You can watch their activity and prevent them to make mistakes and you can better educate them on traffic danger and -behavior.

[@ActiveTowns]

Excellent tip. Thanks so much for watching. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@ohhi5237]

i lead, have them follow me, and do what i do, much safer (i have no problems looking back)

[@CutenCudlyToo]

@@ohhi5237 cars would be coming from behind, having the bigger adult seen first makes more sense to me

[@remconoordermeer7015]

9:22 Interesting side note: as Dutch we also immediately recognise the type of road in respect to, for instance, the speed limit, because of the layout. Without even seeing a road sign as indication. In this case I’d have put it at 50km/h in a more urban setting but in this case it’s probably 60km/h. We have more than enough road signs, but the clarity and consistency of the road design / layout is quite valuable to ‘condition’ behaviour of all road participants… great video btw!

[@ActiveTowns]

@Remco Noordermeer, Thanks so much for sharing this firsthand experience and for watching, I really appreciate it. Cheers! John

[@remconoordermeer7015]

@@ActiveTowns No problem, it's a good video to show us what we may take for granted over here. I'm a Dutch civil engineer by the way, so just shoot any question you may want to ask.

[@ActiveTowns]

@@remconoordermeer7015 Thank you so much... will do.

[@arposkraft3616]

ye this is a 60 kmph

[@martijnvangammeren1868]

My wife is Belgian and has sometimes a bit of problem to understand see what the speed limit should be. For me it is indeed pretty obvious as a dutch myself. And it is better than in the UK where they there could be a key on how fast you can drive by the distance between lamp posts. I really miss The Netherlands in this regard as belgium is not great. Some cities are really putting in effort but these kind of roads would be quite dangerous as Belgian drivers like there cars and already complain so much that they can only drive 70kmh on these kind of roads instead of 90kmh. I get overtaken so much on these roads when holding the speed limit. But I have to be fair that Aalst, where I live, is doing pretty ok now with a new traffic route in the city.

[@johne6081]

Speed kills. This is the fundamental issue in much of the US.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes, it doe and it most certainly is. Thanks so much for watching. Cheers! John

[@Eldermonkey25]

Many drivers in the UK too think it's their fundamental right to drive as fast as they want and how ever they want. In my town, as someone who delivers on an ebike, cycling is dangerous. Cars will pass me less than a metre away at high speeds, pull out in front of me on purpose just as a few examples.

[@Eldermonkey25]

Also, cycling infrastructure is really poor and just a tick box exercise. A lot of the driving public oppose even a painted, unprotected cycle lane! Safe cycling infrastructure will need to be paired with good policing and cameras to punish dangerous driving.

[@peet4921]

One other big reason for Edge Lane Roads is to slow traffic of cars in regard to their speed. The image showed at 19:15 with a 'choke point' or bottleneck, would never be build that way in the Netherlands, simply because it doesn't affect the car. In the Netherlands the 'islands' are always IN the car lane, forcing any car to stop for oncoming traffic, the bike lane would simply continue straight ahead.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Peet, Good point. That was certainly a curious design choice, which is why I pointed it out. Thank you so much for watching and fro your contribution to the conversation. Cheers! John

[@Kvadraten376]

Choke points definintly slows down car trafic. In fact it’s a very good tool. The edge lane becomes unavailable so cars have to slow down to make absolutely sure they can pass through.

[@peet4921]

@@ActiveTowns Thanks and keep up the good work. (and cycling of course)

[@peet4921]

@@Kvadraten376 Yup.

[@dutchman7623]

Correct! Just imagine you encounter this situation in the dark! Horrible! Yet again an attempt to copy Dutch infra, but definitively the wrong way.

[@arturobianco848]

The dutch way of also using a differnt colour makes you intinctivly vieuw the road as much narrower don't know if you get the same effect with just paint. Besides the colour of red thats used in the Netherlands looks really nice and quaint (not that was the reason to use it).

[@ActiveTowns]

@Arturo Bianco, Yes. Great observation and I think you are exactly right, I don't think the effect is quite as strong with just paint. Thanks so much for watching and adding to the conversation. Cheers! John

[@Be-Es---___]

And it's not paint. It's red asphalt. It won't wear off.

[@ActiveTowns]

@@Be-Es---___ Yes, excellent point. Adding the colored pigment to the asphalt and/or concrete mix is a brilliant way to create a long lasting bit of infrastructure. btw We're doing that here in Austin, TX whenever possible. Cheers! John

[@michaelwilliams2593]

I love the Dutch red paint color and appreciate the clear message it conveys to drivers about the presence of bicycles. The US FHWA has approved a bright green color for an equivalent purpose but it is hard to make an asphalt with this color so paint/thermo is normally used. it is possible for agencies to use this color on ELRs but most applications are on low volume roads and the cost is seen as prohibitive. Unfortunately a red color is already approved to indicate bus lanes so that is taken.

[@arturobianco848]

@@michaelwilliams2593 I believe the particulair kind of red was chosen for its duralibility and cost effectiveness over here. But thtas only second hand information for me so it might be wrong.

[@canehdianbehcon]

Glad to see my hometown of Ottawa making an awesome video explaining these "new" (to us!) types of roads. Hopeuflly we see them pop up more often!

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes, indeed! btw I have featured Ottawa much more directly in three additional videos that you might find of interest. Oh, The Urbanity kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnXRoJl-e66KnMk Gracen Johnson kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2jMf5ykr9GpgtE Matt Pinder Time to Move Beyond the Car kzbin.info/www/bejne/bX-wgKaopMuGhMU Thanks so much for watching. I really appreciate it, and I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@canehdianbehcon]

@@ActiveTowns awesome thank you! I've just discovered your channel and I'll have a few hours of content to get through

[@ActiveTowns]

Oh yeah, that’s an understatement. Hehe 😂 Have fun and pace yourself. My real hope is that they inspire folks get outside and get active. 😀

[@harrybruijs2614]

It is not only a colour, it has a legal signification. You are not allowed to park or stop on the red strip and only drive on it when you have to pass a other car, when there is a continouess white line between the red strip and the middle strip cars are even not allowed to drive on the red strip. They are designated for bikes

[@ActiveTowns]

@Harry Bruijs, Yes. Excellent clarification. Thank you. Cheers! John

[@Cl0ckcl0ck]

The Utrecht example of 35:00 is part of a bigger plan/agenda to push cars from the city center towards the ring roads. This road was used (by me too) to drive from the edge of the city to the opposite edge straight through the center. A part of the drop in cars is also from that. (for people noticing that the total number of street users decreased)

[@ActiveTowns]

@Cl0ckcl0ck, Thanks so much for watching and for this context. Much appreciated. Cheers! John

[@ianbarr4716]

John had to jump to the video version after listening to the podcast so I could see what you were talking about. Make sense now. Great content. Cheers.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Ian Barr, Yeah, some of these episodes are way better in the video format... others, not so much. LOL Glad you liked it. Cheers! John

[@pbilk]

I can relate a lot from the rural perspective of bike and safe infrastructure. Both the problems and possible solutions. Going to the Netherlands helped me see how could work in rural parts of Southern Ontario.

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks so much for watching and for your contribution to the conversation. So many places in North America and around the globe can find inspiration from the Dutch approach to rural cycle paths and routes and their integration into the overall network. Cheers! John

[@wouldyoudomeakindnes]

Netherlands being a small country, really there is no hurry to get to anywhere. I would rarely go to Amersfoort may be once or twice a year but in the US i would drive around the metroplex from Dallas to Arlington once a week just to buy groceries... It really puts a different perspective to live.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Le Lu Yan, Thanks so much for watching and for your comment. You bring up a good point about having meaningful destinations, like plentiful grocery stores within a short walking or driving distance. Cheers! John

[@niekkie555]

Amersfoort is my home city. But the city's around it I rarely visit (Leusden, Nijkerk, Soest, ...) I have every store within 5 minutes, including 8 supermarkets xD

[@blanco7726]

Yh but does your town have a KFC?

[@niekkie555]

@Blanco yes it does. Plus multiple Maccies, Burger king, Starbucks, Subway, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Domino's and NY pizza, uhm... xD we even have a food court next to our highway

[@niekkie555]

@Blanco and you can walk and bike to all of them. Most of them are not even reachable with a car xD

[@koolyman]

Definitely a positive model for sustainable, active travel

[@ActiveTowns]

@koolyman, I would have to agree. Certainly an additional strategy for us to consider. Thanks so much for watching and for contributing to the conversation. Cheers! John

[@lindaraterink6451]

At the 39 min mark. Children especialy this small behind the adults would be a big no no in the Netherlands! They ride right infront of you (depending on the road and age) or beside you (wich would be the better option here, considdering road and age. You between them and the cars.) so you can see what they are doing and you can give directions ahead of time. Riding way out on the road would make a car user on edge and see or think that there may children or animals. Children this small may be in a blind spot over the hood.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Linda Raterink, Thanks so much for watching and providing this very helpful information to the conversation. Cheers! John

[@RAWDernison1]

20:19 The reason for the walk-over: a children's playground on the left. But these Danish "islands" are wrong. Instead of slowing cars down, they can drive straight through. Here the cyclists are supposed to use the middle as well and are forced into the car lane. (Not in this bad example, but a common elevated footpath or kerb would prevent cyclists to go outside.) In the Netherlands the "islands" would narrow the car lane, the cycle path would go straight on. (And if it's a school walk-over, there will be additional speed bumps on the approach.)

[@ActiveTowns]

@RAW, Thanks so much for watching and providing this helpful insight. Cheers! John

[@okkietrooy6841]

This example seems to be dangerous in the dark. Suddenly blocking the bicycle lane seems not a good idea. Carlights will light up the reflectors from a decent distance and the cardriver can anticipate. Bike lights do not do a good job with reflectors and If they light up, you have only a short time to react. It is especially dangerous when there is fog, or rain and the cyclisch is wearing glasses. I once fall from by bicycle because I saw the obstakel too late because of darkness, combined with rain and glasses.

[@elguido]

Not always. In Mariaheide the bicycles have to go into the narrowing part of the road, effectively being used as a speed bump

[@ronaldderooij1774]

There is one disadvantage from a Dutch driver/cyclist of the advisory bike lane roads that was not mentioned here. As a driver on these roads, I had multiple heart attack moments in the dark. As the cyclists are driving often without good lighting they are not very visible, especially in rainy nights. These roads necessitate to go over the bike lane once in a while when oncoming traffic has to be negotiated. It rarely happens, but sometimes suddenly there is a cyclist in your headlights and for a moment you think "do I choose to crash into the car or the cyclist". It never came to an accident, but it can be quite scary for both me as a driver and for the cylist who hears heavy braking and the shining headlamp lights getting brighter and brighter from behind.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Ronald de Rooij, Thanks so much for watching and the firsthand account. Two thoughts immediately come to mind, first, yes, we need to have those bike lights working well and second, it reinforces the necessity to keep our motor vehicle speeds in check while driving on these types of facilities for exactly this reason. Most crashes are in fact simply avoided when speeds are at non-lethal levels. Cheers! John

[@michaelwilliams2593]

I think people need to realize that a standard two-lane road, which is often the only other available option on these roads, requires cyclists to be in the travel lane always. In that case, they are always subject to being run over by a driver that doesn't see them. This is much different from an edge lane road that puts them in this danger only when a driver needs to move into the edge lane to pass an oncoming car. For that reason and a number of others, they are preferred to standard two-lane roads. Some viewers/readers will say that physical protection or exclusive lanes are needed rather than edge lane roads. But that isn't going to happen overnight all over the world or the US (where I live). And it isn't necessary on all streets. ELRs and shared streets in general are good tools for the right circumstances and need to be used with consideration.

[@ronaldderooij1774]

@@ActiveTowns I was driving only 60 km/h.... That is the allowed speed.

[@ActiveTowns]

@@ronaldderooij1774 Understood.

[@huubjoanfranssen8980]

@@ronaldderooij1774 I recognize your situation and reaction. Mostly I encounter this system in the Bûtenfjild (Friesland) when I am visiting friends and family in The NL. It never sits well with me. Hoever I am not sure we react this way because we know there are better solutions or if the situation was that bad. Overall it works, but doesn’t mean it doesn’t test us. In the end it is a tool in a toolbox.

[@dutchman7623]

The highway network in the Netherlands is much more dense than in the US. The roads shown are 'the last or first mile' when traveling, which is at slow speed. Roads in the Netherlands are classified very clearly, where in most cases the roads need separated bicycle paths. Trucks parking in the middle of the road? Forget it! Never, nowhere!

[@xFD2x]

Still, in their example it seems like a good solution, parking in the middle of the road that is. Every other way to solve this truck parking would result in endangering a few road users, like cyclists or pedestrians. You can't say the Dutch have solved it better ! kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnuweHuCh7hmgKM

[@ActiveTowns]

@Dutch Man, Thanks so much for watching and for adding to the conversation. Yes, I really appreciate the Dutch roadway classification system and how it relates to the cycle network design requirements. Now if we could just get much smaller trucks and cargo-bikes to service our downtown Main Street business districts. Cheers! John

[@dutchman7623]

@@ActiveTowns In the Netherlands we have distribution centers near the highway where large truck combinations arrive with only tomatoes, or only peppers, or only coffee, etc. They service an area up to 25 miles around and bring shops whatever they need. For shops in city center they use smaller trucks because large ones get stuck in the narrow streets. In pedestrian/bicycle areas the trucks have to supply the stores before 10 am. On market days before 8 am, and the trucks that bring goods to the market have to leave as well before the market opens. When the shopping public arrives, the streets and squares are theirs. So we do not supply our city supermarkets with cargo bikes, that would be madness. The trucks are about 30 feet long, to prevent them from getting stuck, and sometimes two or three are needed, but they have to leave the center early in the morning. And the distributor knows exactly which stores need to be supplied at which time. The smaller trucks are used to supply smaller stores in villages or suburbs during other hours.

[@ActiveTowns]

@@dutchman7623 This is all so logical. Here it's typically just a free-for-all, all the time. Talk a bout madness. Hehe. Cheers! John

[@arturobianco848]

@@xFD2x As a fellow dutchman to the dutchman i think this is a solution that works really well just for that instance and shows you that you need to tailor the solution to the situation and use other already used methodes as inspiration. I still think it can be improved but that would need some road construction works. For the i will only use a couple of gallons of paint solution i don't thine we dutch could have done better.

[@stphinkle]

The problem with introducing them is DRIVER TRAINING. A lot of the USA Driver Books don't mention how to use them properly. This is why they failed when introduced in San Diego.

[@ActiveTowns]

There is no argument that our driver training is pathetic. Unfortunately, the San Diego example had many challenges, including design flaws. Steffen Berr, Traffic Advisor for the City of Haarlem and the creative force behind the www.youtube.com/@buildthelanes Channel, produced a good video on this attempt in SD: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fXqwqmuGgsmhnqM Thanks so much for watching and commenting. I hope you are enjoying the Active Towns Channel. Cheers! John

[@henkzuidweg7887]

In the Netherlands we have CROW publications for bicycle publication 351 Here in a lot about bicycle infrastructure. CROW is the bibel for road infrastructure.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Henk Zuidweg, Yes! I love my copy of the CROW manual. Highly recommend it to anyone around the world interested in this topic. I so wish we would adopt it here in North America. Thanks so much for watching and contributing to the conversation. Cheers! John

[@huubjoanfranssen8980]

I think you missed something important in the video which you showed at the start. The lady passing you by, was actively negotiating with you when she passed you by. She was aware of her position relative to you when she re-entered the bike lane. This active negotiation is the reason why these road work.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes. This is an excellent point and I was a wide load with my suitcase strapped to the luggage rack of my Brompton. Hehe :-) As I was heading out to the airport. Thanks for watching and for this good catch. Cheers! John

[@huubjoanfranssen8980]

@@ActiveTowns I life abroad as a Dutchy. Somehow it made me more aware of cycling behavior. Where I life people have less experience with cycling and cyclers. I always make eye contact and interact with drivers and other road users. It works better then assuming you have right of way.

[@tom.jacobs]

Great video. Beyond protecting the slower traffic on the narrow streets, it's a good way to reduce the car traffic [diverting them to larger roads]. The video in @38:00 is making clear it's a good solution, and (as I see in Utrecht-city), easily reformed to bike-road [fietsstraat] altogether when bikes are in majority ;-) Not sure if there is space for a parking lane (or even two!) this would be the way it would be set up as an edge lane here: probably the parking lanes would be switched out with bike lanes: less negotiating [-mistakes] and a street with that width is exceptional here, so would be considered a high volume [car] road, so reducing speed would be to not the way to go. You would expect older people are more used to narrow streets and negotiating the space, always find age, abilities, and business a weak argument against better [bike] infra: if they can go to the golf-course, maybe they can bike to it? :-)

[@ActiveTowns]

@tom jacobs, Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. Yes, it's a bit perplexing at one level the resistance of older generations to these changes until we step back and realize that they have been driving on these overly wide streets for decades and suddenly changing to narrower lanes, especially if their eye sight is starting to go (like mine is, due to normal aging process), seems quite scary. Of course, that's the whole point, we want to encourage them to slow down. Change is difficult, for all/most of us. We're human. Cheers! John

[@vanGnaarA]

The dashed lines in Japan are probably comparable with the "shark teeth" in Europe: it means yield for the traffic crossing the lines / triangles.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Van G van Geen Naar A van Awesome, That sounds reasonable to me. Thanks so much for watching and for adding to the conversation. Cheers! John

[@peter_smyth]

The UK was mentioned near the beginning. The UK has advisory cycle lanes, in that there are lanes with dashed lines at the edge of the carriageway, but they are far from this concept. These lanes are only present when the road is wide enough and has a centreline, and aren't used like edge lane roads.

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks for watching and for adding to the conversation. I’ll make sure Michael sees this. Cheers! John

[@michaelwilliams2593]

There are edge lane roads in the UK without center lines. I am not aware of the installations you reference. Unfortunately, some agencies in the US have chosen to do the same thing. The use of a center line with this treatment is a significant mistake, in my opinion. The road markings communicate to each road user type that they have enough room without needing to negotiate which is untrue. This poor communication will likely lead to poor safety and low comfort. The primary difference in the UK is that cars are allowed to park in the edge lanes in most settings. This is unfortunate and greatly reduces safety and comfort, in my opinion.

[@MrGurbel]

A small addition to your information: In the Netherlands it is laid down in law that fragile road users have legal priority over less vulnerable road users. This is a precondition for the success of such road use. As a result, motorized traffic has much more respect for cyclists. Moreover, everyone has a bicycle and therefore understands how vulnerable you are as a cyclist. But also the fact that children from the age of 4 participate in this traffic and from the age of 10 participate autonomously in traffic, which means that everyone has and shows much more respect for cyclists in traffic.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Frans, Yes. That is most definitely a key part of the success. Thanks so much for watching and for contributing to the conversation. Cheers! John

[@harrybruijs2614]

What also helps is that almost every driver is also a cyclist, so they understand the situation of the cyclist.

[@ActiveTowns]

@@harrybruijs2614 Yes... absolutely! So, as logic goes, we would all be well served to make it inviting for even more drivers everywhere to ride bikes more often. Thanks for watching and adding to the conversation. Cheers! John

[@arposkraft3616]

0:00 this is a two way light traffic density 60kmph road where you need to move onto the bicycle lane if theres oncomming traffic and slow down (unless theres a bike then you stay behind) , they are very good roads for more suburban and industrial areas and places with limited space like dikes partly because its very easy to implement traffic calming , not the best in all situations but generally safe pleasant roads

[@ActiveTowns]

@arPos Kraft, Thanks so much for watching and adding to the conversation. I've always found them to be quite comfortable. Cheers! John

[@edwinbiere9305]

I a dutchie hate those roads when getting for m A to B by car at a sunny day. All peeps will be out on bikes , so a car has to manouver thrue a street full with bikers. The ride is more fatique and the speed is not that much faster as a bike. Go by bike, yourself ! Not possible, i need to travel over 100 km and it's the route to a highway. How often does this happen? ........ You got me there, but i still hate it!

[@lindaraterink6451]

If there was to happen accidents it would be on these roads to be honest. But it means recless drivers and or recless cyclist like schoolkids riving 2 or 3 next to eachother. On this road you should not cycle with 2 or more it would be realy unsafe. I get why we have them, but I feel we can do better.

[@ActiveTowns]

@@lindaraterink6451 Thanks so much for watching and contributing to the conversation. I've definitely been on at least one road like this in The Netherlands where I felt like the motorists were driving too fast and quite impatient with us riding there. It was in a rural area in between cities. Cheers! John

[@blanco7726]

With heavy traffic I think they become a bit more dangerous. I’ve driven on one, as a Waze shortcut because of an accident on the highway and everyone else did too. So there was a pretty long range of cars driving through rural farmland. If anything came out on the road, it would become critical. If you come upon a cyclist in a corner, you dont always see them because of cars in front, and then you still need to scan for cars coming in front. In my opinion, very pretty and convenient though, when there’s minimum 100m between each car.

[@komkwam]

At 10:00 is a small town called Badhoevedorp, it is adjacent to Amsterdam.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Komkwam, Perfect! I've ridden that route several times when flying in and out of the airport and didn't really realize it was a separate town, but that makes total sense. Thanks so much for watching and for the assistance. Cheers! John

[@edwardmiessner6502]

The edge lane roads will work in the US countryside (proven in Lincoln, Mass.) and lightly travelled prewar city and streetcar suburban streets, but definitely NOT in automobile suburban areas like in San Diego, California because there every through street is a commuter route - if not an arterial or collector then definitely as a rat run in-between.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yeah, traffic volumes and speeds are critical to the application. I am noticing their application in some locations in The Netherlands is being questioned for precisely these reasons as well. To prevent the rat-run effect, I noticed that the use of traffic diverters and modal filters for bikes and peds helped a lot. Thanks so much for watching and checking in from SD. Cheers! John

[@bartvschuylenburg]

49:51 in a Dutch town they might replace the asphalt for brick-like cobblestones because cardrivers instinctively would slow down on that street surface.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Bart van Schuylenburg, Good point. I've ridden on some of those streets in The Netherlands. Thanks for tuning and for the comment. Cheers! John

[@SquareyCircley]

It's a cute idea and I'd be interested to try one. Just my gut feeling right now: give me a painted bicycle gutter over that any day! I wouldn't trust a road that encourages drivers to cut in front of me. Maybe with a lot public education and with different road surfaces and colours to alert the drivers.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yeah, as we mention in the discussion, there are quite a few context-related issues that would need to be addressed. btw Several of the videos in my Ride Along Series profile exactly what it feels like to ride on these facilities... honestly, some are done better than others. kzbin.info/aero/PLG12KGQK_4xiWAY8FcEu6CMKkOsasefgi Thanks so much for watching and for your contribution to the conversation. I appreciate it a lot, and I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@JustClaude13]

Kanazawa is the capitol of Ishikawa prefecture, northish from Nagoya, on the Sea of Japan. The picture is in Kanagawa prefecture, south of Tokyo. They won't be happy if you call them a suburb of Tokyo. Bike lanes are also for the parking of cars. I'm not sure why that's an approved usage, but I see it done routinely but I never see a car ticketed (or set on fire).

[@ActiveTowns]

@Claude, Excellent info - good to know. Thanks for watching. Cheers! John

[@michaelwilliams2593]

thank you for the info Claude. I'm surprised Japan allows parking on this treatment as do the British. That reduces the value of the treatment greatly. Makes it much less comfortable and, I'm guessing, much less safe as well.

[@JustClaude13]

@@michaelwilliams2593 I don't know what Japan thinks about cars parking in the bike lane. I live in San DIego and see cars parked in the bike lane all the time, but I never see a ticket. I get grouchy.

[@blanco7726]

As in actually parking? Or stopping for 5 minutes and put their hazards on?

[@JustClaude13]

@@blanco7726 Here in the San Diego area I frequently see cars parked along the Greenfield bike lane in front of the apartments near 1st Street. It's routine there, but I've never seen a ticket. There are a few business at the other end of the street where the same car frequently parks. The apartments near my house aren't as much of a problem. Usually just an occasional visitor and of course a long line of cars parked for Thanksgiving once a year. I get the feeling California doesn't really mean it when they pretend to support bicycling.

[@dougwedel9484]

Does Austin have a street with this design yet?

[@ActiveTowns]

@Doug Wedel, Not yet. There are plenty of narrow yield streets where car must pull over so that another coming the other direction can pass, so the potential is there. Thanks for watching and adding to the conversation. Cheers! John

[@deathscythehellfunk]

Interesting how the perspective is in other countries. Living in the Netherlands, for several years I had to cycle about 13km each way to school. One section, about 2km, was along an edge lane road as described in the video: Center single lane for cars, painted bike lanes on either side. I was always the part of the journey I felt LEAST safe on. It was an open, fairly rural 60kph road, not particularly busy. But I felt anxious every time a car or truck went by, especially if they came up behind me. It may have been a nominally shared space, but without any physical infrastructure to enforce it, it might as well have been a wide car road. The speed limit was fairly high, but that wasn't necessarily the biggest problem. In my view, what played a big part was that the road was straight and the land was wide and open on either side. No trees or bushes. So nothing to encourage drivers to pay attention and focus on the road and other road users. I really think that it's not just the design of the road (and speed limit), but also the design of the environment that plays a big role in how people will behave. Plant trees, break long sight lines, make sure drivers HAVE to pay attention. In new developments, avoid long straight sections where drivers can build up speed.

[@ActiveTowns]

@GundamSentinel, Thanks so much for watching and sharing your experience/good points. Cheers! John

[@blanco7726]

You want to break sight lines to feel safer? But if its flat and open, the driver has noticed you before you could hear them honk. They will still be seeing you as they get closer.

[@deathscythehellfunk]

@@blanco7726 Open roads means people pay less attention, drive faster and as a consequence have less time to react. And because speeds are higher, collisions cause much more damage. This is why in the Netherlands, trees and hedges are often planted along the roads to force people to pay attention. Attention is focused on the road and away from the rest of the environment And in inner cities, long straight roads often get artificial curves just to keep speeds low and driver attention high. It is tried and tested. The infrastructure should guide driver behavior and not the other way around.

[@blanco7726]

@@deathscythehellfunk drivers drive as fast as they can see. If they can see they can see you.

[@blanco7726]

Well supporting cycling is more than ticketing bike lane invaders, I guess the use of it should be made clearer. "Do what you want on, through or across the bicyle lane, but dont get in the way of cyclists"

[@kailahmann1823]

There is a very important misunderstanding in this concept at least for Dutch and German roads: These edges are NOT bike lanes. Yes, cyclists are allowed use them, but they don't have to and often they even can't, because they are extremely narrow or (common in rural German areas) only gravel.

[@ActiveTowns]

Correct. As Michael mentions, if they were truly bike lanes, then motor vehicle drivers would be prevented from using them. Additionally, as you point out, the specific design varies a great deal from location to location. 😎

[@arposkraft3616]

@14:25 the irony wills that i do not even mostly recognise it as dutch by the house, or the road design (tho both very dutch) but because that horse is a frissian, some of the best valued horses in the world (tho arguably we sell most of to the US but there they usually wont be seen much on roads (show horses))

[@ActiveTowns]

@arPos Kraft, Oh wow! Fascinating. I actually grew up with and trained/showed horses. Thanks for sharing that. Cheers! John

[@S_Roach]

I'd be interested to know how this works in areas with significant elevation changes. If there is enough hill to potentially hide an oncoming car, you really should hug the right-hand side when going up that hill, which would mean getting over into the bike lane often. That said, how it works in Vail, I'd be interested to see. I see enough of an incline in a couple of those pictures that I wouldn't be surprised if a car could hide in a dip. Frankly, this isn't all that different from how unmarked roads are used every day. On unmarked roads, I don't know very many people who hug the edge, except during hills, although this is often because the road is smoothest in the middle.

[@ActiveTowns]

@S.P. Roach, Good points! Yes, I'm looking forward to getting back up to Vail to see it for myself - I've posted a link to my old Vail video I referenced in this video's description. I hear what you're saying on riding completely unmarked roads and can relate. Thanks so much for watching and adding to the conversation. Cheers! John

[@michaelwilliams2593]

You are talking about sight distance. This is an important concern when one deals with hills or curves that can hide oncoming vehicles. We didn't have enough time to go into this subject but it is the topic of some of my articles but you can find on my website. The first question is: how much sight distance does one need? The second question is: what does one do when there is insufficient sight distance? Lots of fun in both of those answers!

[@S_Roach]

@@michaelwilliams2593 Thank you. I've since read both your articles titled "Sight distance for advisory bike lanes", and "Sight Distance for Edge Lane Roads". I think your CSD, or HOSD, should take into account an assumption that at least one party is likely to be exceeding the imposed 35MPH limit if it is practical to do so. I don't know if this would allow for such road striping in some terrains, as adding the HOSD for 65MPH to that of 30MPH comes out at over a quarter of a mile. That said, in hilly terrain, it should certainly be easier to stop, pointing uphill, when encountering an oncoming vehicle that has just crested the same hill but has not yet started downhill. Where there is insufficient sight distance, I think the road can usually be widened fairly cheaply. A bicyclist is not going to weigh near as much as a car, so the road surface doesn't need to be able to hold up to the same load. A strip of rigid plastic, anchored flush with the road on one side, and sitting on the ground or on elastic legs over the adjacent drainage ditch on the other, should allow a 500 pound or less object to pass while giving away under the weight of a half ton or more, and rebounding after it has passed or been towed out of the ditch. Where the ribbon would sit on solid ground, it might be worth undermining it so that it wouldn't support the weight of the right half of a car. This would allow the full road width, for the stretch where adequate sight distance can't be assured, to be reserved for cars while not interrupting the bike lanes. Bear in mind, I'm not suggesting running a plastic ribbon along the full length of a road; just for the hilltop and a few dozen feet approaching it. I can think of about three other things which can be done which might also help. These range from more basic traffic-calming measures, to help ensure no one is speeding and would crest the hill, or round the bend, at a slower rate of speed, such as speed bumps at the bases of hills, (it should be possible to emboss these into the softer existing blacktop roads without having to pour fresh asphalt), or highly visible gates that must be taken at a very slow rate of speed at the tops of hills (like those visible at 18:41 in the video, but maybe as narrow as 9 feet between the bollards), to roughening the road surface to increase road noise from heavier vehicles, so that pedestrians and cyclists could hear when they were sharing the road with an approaching or overtaking, but not yet visible, vehicle, and react accordingly. Oh. I just remembered a bit of history you might be interested in knowing about if you didn't already. Google "Sidewalk Highway".

[@michaelwilliams2593]

@@S_Roach Thanks - I was familiar with that sidewalk highway article. there are lots of rural road miles in the US that are similar. And thank you for taking the time to read some material. You are correct about a number of things, eg grade affecting stopping distance, etc. My approach to sight distance issues has 4 possibilities (in general): 1. Eliminate the obstruction (modify grade, remove obstructions, etc) to gain sufficient sight distance 2. Slow the motor vehicles to reduce sight distance requirements 3. Widen the road to create exclusive space for VRUs 4. Transition back to a center line with shared lane markings

[@Korina42]

@@michaelwilliams2593 The first time I heard the term "advisory bike lane" I have wondered if it would be appropriate for the rather problematic West End Rd. in my town of Arcata, Ca. It's a rural residential road, barely two lanes wide, low traffic, with parts that are quite rolling and winding. It's a really beautiful road to ride on, but the narrowness and the speed people drive it make it scary; it's nonetheless popular with cyclists. I'll read those articles and see what our engineer says (he'll likely dismiss it out of hand). Thanks for the information! Here's the road, if you're interested: www.google.com/maps/place/West+End+Rd,+Arcata,+CA+95521/@40.8888641,-124.0408424,551m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x54d159c6662c7473:0x60ed34f5f0b39d89!8m2!3d40.8890563!4d-124.0387901

[@Be-Es---___]

Because of the profile of the road cars naturally keep to the centre of the road.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Bert Sw, Thanks so much for watching and for the comment. That's typically been my experience. Cheers! John

[@dougwedel9484]

How will the new Tesla assembly plant affect cycling in Austin?

[@ActiveTowns]

@Doug Wedel, Too soon to tell. It is pretty far outside the city center.

[@dougwedel9484]

@@ActiveTowns I heard someone in a Tesla fan video say it will drive real estate prices through the roof. My hunch is more people cycling will not affect Tesla sales but it will hinder ice car sales a lot. Tesla setting up in Texas, of all places, means Texans and Texas politicians will see changes in attitudes towards environmental initiatives in this state and in the US as a whole.

[@dougwedel9484]

@@ActiveTowns I heard someone in London, UK, describe streets with bike lanes as healthy streets. When dealing with city politicians, he said, how can you argue against healthy streets? Now, when I think of walking and cycling as active transportation, I think, hang on. What's the opposite? Sedentary transportation. Driving and taking the bus is sedentary transportation. A lot of times, when I took the subway, I would start to nod off. I noticed a lot of people did that, so much so, I called it transit zen. They never fall asleep, they just rest their eyes. So they have their head up looking alert but their eyes are shut. Not a problem, do what you want. But it demonstrates... this is sedentary transportation.

[@ActiveTowns]

@@dougwedel9484 With regards to real estate prices, they've been rising at ridiculous levels for some time now. Tesla's plant and HQ announcement is only the latest in a long trend of such moves. We can only hope that the attitudes start to change. Cheers! John

[@arposkraft3616]

@17:55 hey danes....wanna know how to indicate that without signs with unhappy faces showing you failed to make the point clear....PAINT>>>THEM>>>RED (well any color but red is cheap , its basicly a bit of rust added to the asphalt)

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes! Such a good point... and having the pigment imbedded in the mix means it doesn't wear off the way paint would. Here's an interest fact for you, we're using this tactic with the red on many of our facilities in Austin (pigment mixed into the concrete slurry - the asphault companies are resisting, but that's a whole other story). Here's one my vids that gives you a glimpse if you're interested. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rnfSnoqeZsqij6s Cheers! John

[@arposkraft3616]

@@ActiveTowns I very much am, I've spend way to much hours speaking to americans on the subject over the years so I find it very fun to see the proces getting foot around there, not even so much specific solutions but just the idea that things can be done in a variety of ways considering the needs of the place, So I'll certainly have a look cheers, and have a great new years

[@allws9683]

35:04 The example of the Utrecht change was different from a cycle lane road ! roads with cycle lanes can have 60 kmh max speed (rather than 80 kmh) in rural areas and max 50kmh in built up areas , or maybe 30 or 15 kmh... The difference with a road with two car lanes seperated with a dash line is psychological: bikes have their legal space and vehicles tend to steer to the centre of the road while driving. (Added to the lower 60kmh speed in the rural..). Which is a good thing. In Utrecht they changed an urban 'highstreet' with shops and 2 separate bike paths (with a massive 18000 cyclists a day!) into a Fietsstraat/Auto=guest ('cycle street' ). A cycle street/auto=guest has red asphalt all over and a max speed (car&bike!) of no more than 30kmh. So the 18k cyclists have more space than on the 1,5m bike path. Other than the max speed, the effect is psychological and spatial : It is NOT FUN to drive between bikes on a street with 18k bikes per day ! So car drivers are more carefull (Especially since bikes and pedestrian have more legal protection in an accident in NL. Car drivers can only claim max 50% of the damage on their car, even when a cyclist IS at fault ! That makes more careful driving ) Bicycle Dutch on the Utrecht cycle street : kzbin.info/www/bejne/mILNimp6nrmDlas (btw incredible how it is such a struggle to change and remove/add some painted lines ! You'd say it is the easiest and cheapest thing to do ..)

[@ActiveTowns]

@al lws, Thanks so much watching and all the helpful details. Yes, it quite strange how hard it is to initiate change. Cheers! John

[@edwinbiere9305]

And again the same error in regulations is made as stated at about 23:00 in this conversation: priority to the cars. A road which has 6k cars a day will have more cars in a year (growth of the general population) . That is if you do nothing. You need to make/create alternatives for cars to get peeps outof cars. Think about that first ! So forget 'the cars first' mentality. If there is a choque up, your speed will be less then the 35 / 30 km/u ! So forget creating roads to allow max speed at the rush hours (if you dont want more cars each year on that same road. In a few years it could still choque up) . The alternative for cars needs the be put 1st . In the netherlands the alternative happens to be bikes, but it could be something else in other countries. If you create public city bus system, for example, you need to create bus lanes so a bus won't get stuck in the car lanes. Also a street plan needs separete plans for the traffic flow for seperate ways of transportation. So the short ways is for the chosen priority transport system, the 2nd fastest could take alternative longer routes. The plan needs to provide in those routes. Luckily at 49:00 there is an example which contradicts that speed limits won't work and should not be installed ! So that works in that main street, but is the bicycle the preferred alternative for the whole city ? Are the other streets which are bikers friendly ? In other words, is there a city plan for cyclist routes as the preffered way of transport? Can i get from my house to the office by bike safely and fast in that city? I doubt that.... A single bicycle boulevard won't work, but it is a start for complete routes....

[@ActiveTowns]

@Edwin Biere, Thanks so much for watching and the thoughtful additions to the conversation. Some of these very topics are discussed in my interviews with Jason Slaughter w/ Not Just Bikes. Cheers! John

[@edpleijsier]

'Optical Road-narrowing' I believe its called.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Edwin Pleijsier, Makes sense. Sometimes there are also other features such as tactile differences as I'll be addressing in this week's episode which will Premiere on Thursday. Cheers! John

[@tyler513]

This is a good idea in concept but unfortunately would not work in the United States until we have consistent, strict, and harsh enforcement of traffic laws and prosecution of car drivers who hit cyclists. Until that time comes I fear that we simply can’t trust US drivers to “color inside the lines” and we need physical separation or barriers.

[@Kvadraten376]

Did you see the study results at the end of the video?

[@ActiveTowns]

@Tyler, Yeah. This is certainly one of my concerns as well. Michael also mentions a few during the conversation. However, as Michael points out, we have plenty of streets, neighborhoods, and situations across North American and around the world where we as drivers are "forced" to slow down and yield - to other cars, trucks, construction, people and beasts strolling and rolling in the street - I literally see it every single day right here in Texas. So there is hope. And there would be even more hope, for me, you and many others if the issues you bring were appropriately addressed. Thanks you so much for watching and contributing to the conversation. I really appreciate it. Cheers! John

[@mikefalcon1970]

Additionally the road law in the Netherlands states that; 1) Cyclist have right of way on that 'red' part of the road. 2) if the lines are dashed, cars are allowed to use 'the 'red' part of the road, unless there is a cyclist. 3) If the red line is continious, a car is never allow to use that part of the road, even when a cyclist is not available. We also have another situation, where the road itself is red but the sides are black. Then the car is 'visiting' a cycle lane so he's allowd to drive there but he has to mix with the cycles. A complete red road is always out of bounds for cars.

[@jasper265]

@@mikefalcon1970 Utrecht has plenty of "fietsstraten" which are red, featuring cyclists as the primary road user and cars in a supplemental role, so there are red streets that allow cars in the Netherlands

[@michaelwilliams2593]

ELRs are already working well in approximately 55 North American installations (all but 2 in the US). The responsible agencies like them and many are looking to expand their application of the treatment. The data doesn't support your fears.

[@vanGnaarA]

What I do find remarkable as a Dutchman, is the proposal for the "seperator" between the bikelane and parked cars. It is something we never see in the Netherlands. It is either "no side parking" or the bikelane immediately next to the parkingspaces. For me it is odd to use as a "non space", as you could widen the parkingspace, or better the bikelane itself to accommodate cyclists next to eachother for "social" cycling or taking over without having to move into the carlane. The phenomenon of being "doored" is also something I almost never hear. I have never encountered it, nor anyone I know. It does happen, as a girl in the city I live in was almost doored, evaded the door and was subsequently run over by a bus coming from the opposite direction. But that is so rare, the way I heard about it was one the national news! Yes, getting doored and injured or killed makes the national news here. So what I don't understand is, why people would open their doors without looking in the mirror or over their shoulders. After all, from a car owners perspective, getting your door run of by a car isn't what you'd want, nor injuring someone passing by.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Van G van Geen Naar A van Awesome, Thanks so much for your perspective on the "dooring" problem - yes, you'd think people would look before flinging their doors open, but given that they are likely still talking on their cell phone or otherwise distracted, they don't. I was personally doored when I was still in college, lucky to have escaped with just a scar - I don't ride in the door zone anymore. Hehe Cheers! John

[@vanGnaarA]

@@ActiveTowns aiks, that is sad to hear. Even if it was a long time ago. As a kid, I doored someone myself. But not in the way you think... I fell while cycling through the neighbourhood and fell myself. Scratching a closed door on a parked car. Insurance work for my parents. But nothing uncommon... I think my version of dooring is probably better... Cars can be replaced and fixed, people not so much.

[@bastiaan4129]

I got doored once, but i've also had countless near hits. If i see that a parked car still has people in it I try to stay at least a meter away from them just so I can avoid them when they open their door and I have to do that frequently. (Lots of street parking on a route I regularely take) The on time I got doored it was snowing and i couldn't get out of the way. I think it starts to happen more frequently in the Netherlands which might have something to do with people looking at their phones, the people whose doors I have to evade are usually looking at their phones.

[@michaelwilliams2593]

If I'm understanding your concern accurately, I will tell you that my preferred design for ELRs on a street with a parking lane is to include a buffer between the parking lane and the edge lanes. That provides a space for open car doors, people accessing their cars, garbage cans, debris, etc. With respect to dooring, I have been doored once and have narrowly avoided it more than a few times. Drivers that do not ride much don't have the perspective needed to change their behavior. This is a cultural/educational problem that will likely only be solved by a huge proportion of drivers also being cyclists (my opinion only).

[@blanco7726]

I’ve been biking in Brussels for 2 months now, and nearly got doored twice already. But actually no one really shoots their door open, except maybe kids. Here bikes drive mostly on the street, and since most streets have parking, we’re always in the door zone.

[@vincentvermeulen6703]

Around 20 you see a traffic slowing structure, but why is most of it on the bicycle track? That makes it dangerous for them even when motorised vehicles slow down.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Vincent Vermeulen, Yeah. It's clearly not a best practice design. Thanks so much for watching and adding to the conversation. Cheers! John

[@vincentvermeulen6703]

John, I have been watching your videos for a while and you are saying great in too many circumstances. When you really want a change in mobility you have to be more aggressive. Not everything these experts are showing or advertising are real improvements. Sorry that I have to say this.

[@alcidesforever]

10:00 Dutch women on bikes are beautiful, aren't they... 😉😊

[@ActiveTowns]

@Paul de Kort, In our eyes all humans riding bikes more often is indeed beautiful. Cheers! John

[@j.p.vanbolhuis8678]

14:40 A horse rider by dutch law is not a pedestrian, but a driver. As such horse riders are not allowed on a sidewalk

[@ActiveTowns]

@J.P. van Bolhuis, Fascinating! Thanks for watching and the info. Cheers! John

[@sigi9669]

Better yet, if these pink strips are actually bike lanes (which can't be determined from this photo) then the horse rider is in the wrong place. As horses are not allowed on bike lanes, but rather need to use the main road. However, this may very well be a suggestive bike lane. In which case the horse can be there. And in practice, it'll be condoned/appreciated either way.

[@vincewhite5087]

It helps in NL that cars are automatically at fault if they hit vulnerable travellers

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes. The law states that the driver is up front liable for a minimum of 50%

[@rmyikzelf5604]

Not necessarily at fault, but liable.

[@elguido]

As a motorcyclist i completely hate this design. Without a line demarcating the lanes cars never stay on their lane in a curve. Drivers are distracted and don't pay attention to whether the upcoming vehicle is a moped (which has to drive on the red zone) or a motorcycle (which has to drive on the road) and take the full lane for themselves. Also, putting trees surrounding the road to "make it seem more dangerous and make people slow down" is little consolation if there is a problem and you get out of the road

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks for watching and for sharing your perspective. Much appreciated. Cheers! John

[@elguido]

@@ActiveTowns Hi! Sorry if i sounded too critical. I understand the rationale behind the road design and it does make sense, but unfortunately the designers didn't consider motorcyclist safety important when making these roads. Don't take it as a critique of the video or the good aspects these roads have (for the people less likely to be killed in them haha) Thank you for reading the comments!

[@ActiveTowns]

@@elguido No worries. Not at all. Delighted to have you tune in. Much appreciated. 🙂

[@anniek4681]

Technecly those are bike lanes. Sometimes they are used by others then cyclists. You can see it by the bysicle drawn i those lanes. Because it's rural you dont find pedestriens there that'why there is no side walk. It's even dangerous to use them as side walk. So it isn't recomended. And the way you are speaking about it tells a different story. Maybe it's an opscure rule and you are right, but as far as i know it's not recomended. And sometimes there is even a sign that tells you that it's not for pedestriens. Looks like you think the rules for this are the same for it in the Netherlands and Denmark. But i don't think the rulses are the same.

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks so much for watching and for the comment(s). I really appreciate it. And yes, rest assured, we do understand that each situation is context-sensitive and the "rules" vary from location to location. Cheers! John

[@bengarland]

I don't think Japan is a good example of this. I never saw this kind of road treatment for cycle lanes, especially not on a sleepy little residential side road like what is pictured. Are you sure this wasn't some kind of one-off example? Most of the time there are no markings on residential streets at all -- everybody is courteous and shares the road whether they are driving, walking, or cycling because there are no curbs and no sidewalks. Japan mostly doesn't have any particular cycling-specific infrastructure... the sidewalks are huge and sometimes they are delineated as pedestrians on one half and bikes on the other (but often, no delineation whatsoever).

[@ActiveTowns]

I’ve only been to Japan once… in the Hiroshima area… so I can’t claim to be an authority in what the country does or does not have.

[@henkoosterink8744]

19.24 so the road for cyclists is blocked??? Very dangerous at night. Ridiculous construction.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Henk Oosterink, Yes. Seemed liked a curious choice to make the trail crossing safer. I'd be interested to understand their thought process on that one. Cheers! John

[@henkoosterink8744]

Trucks parking in the middle of the road, so that cars are forced to the bicycleroad, seems also very dangerous. Would be unacceptable in the Netherlands.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Henk Oosterink, Given the trade-offs I can understand how they came to this solution. Somewhere I have a photo of delivery truck making a similar stop in Amsterdam... the difference is that it is a micro-truck not much bigger than a large cargo-bike. Cheers! John

[@vincewhite5087]

Plus few of the stupid monster size trucks & SUV’s in NL

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes. Thank goodness for that

[@emiel1976ep]

There are several assumptions that are wrong. Thake the one that people that drive a car, Aldo ride a bike. This is true in the Netherlands in many cases, but not in a country like Germany and other countries where they use this way of sharing the road. This can only work with proper education and making sure that people follow the rules. It has noting to do with if the person that drives a car, also drives a bike or not. That video shows a big failure and lack of knowledge. You want to keep your children safe, so you put them on the right side of the land and ride next to them. This way you are a barrier between the cars and the child. As that is not possible, you let the children inbeween the parents. As their is only one parent, then you let them ride in front of you. This way you can see them. Behind you even with a mirror on your bike is just stupid! One other thing. Those bright shirts and those helmets are nice, but they will not safe you. The helmet makes that drivers as they pass you, give you less space than to cyclists that don't wear a helmet. Those reflecting clothing is nice, but they see you as they are not on their phone! Just put on lights ad night and not the blinking ones! The parking in the middle is dangerous. It blocks the view of people crossing the road. Better is to ban the big trucks and let only small delivery trucks come in and ad special parking ad surten places. The other problem is, is that the road is wider again and that invites speeding. Cars don't need to move aside and wider lanes are inviting drivers to raise their speed. As you want this to work, you need to make it so that as there is no trick, cars still can't use the middle part. That will not solve the problem with people crossing the road, but you can ad separate places near those truck parking to make it safe. It is nice that you look ad infrastructure, but there is one important thing that is as least as important, as education. In the USA, the uducation is terrible as you can even call it education. Just putting in a good infrastructure, will not be enough. Education is needed and you need to start as a young age. Also a lit of rules need to be changed. You should make a video with how people need to set the handle bars and seet ad the right way. It is clear that many don't know how to do so.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Sky man, Thanks so much for watching and for brining up some good points here. Cheers! John

[@engineeronabicycle178]

@39.20 this clip seems staged: the cars and the cyclists are the same in the footages. So it is not extraordinary to see so many cyclists and well-behaving motorists in this particular video.

[@RealConstructor]

It could be staged to show how this road design works. But your comment also suggest America has hardly any well-behaved car drivers, not very flattering for Americans.

[@g.m.2427]

It doesn't look staged to me, this is just what happens when everybody 'plays along' when driver are (have been) also cyclists, this is how it happens all over the place here in Netherlands Not to say that there aren't those that don't play nice, but they are rare exceptions

[@ActiveTowns]

@Engineer on a bicycle, Perhaps. Many of my videos that I produce will feel staged if I happen to be riding with a group that day, hence you'd see the same people riding in multiple shots. And if this was originally produced as an instructional or awareness video you might even see repeating cars. I hadn't noticed that. Now I'm curious. Hehe. Thank you so much for watching and adding to the conversation. Cheers! John

[@michaelwilliams2593]

This video was created by volunteer advocates in Hanover, NH. It was intended as a video to explain the operation of an ELR. I assume that at least some of the footage was staged, e.g. the cyclists and pedestrians were likely staged. I'm not sure how many of the cars were staged.

[@ActiveTowns]

@@michaelwilliams2593 Thanks for that clarification. Cheers! John

[@jequirity1]

I don't know if I'd trust the drivers around here to actually look for people in the side lanes before moving into them :/ We're well known for our borderline homicidal drivers.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yeah, borderline homicidal drivers, not a good mix for Edge Lane Roads. Thanks so much for watching, I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers!

[@frankhooper7871]

Gave up watching at 2:57 - too much self-promotion and waffling. Thumbs-down.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Frank Hooper, Aw shucks. So sorry to hear this. Thanks for the feedback. Perhaps you'll enjoy our short-form content a little more, as we get right to it. btw Most of the video I shoot while traveling is from my trusty Brompton - never leave home without it. Cheers! John

[@not8my8name8]

I think I live on an unintentional edge lane road in Canada. It is quite nice. There is sporadic street parking on both sides of the road and that does not leave enough space to pass oncoming cars so everyone just drives down the middle. I feel very comfortable on it with both my car and bike.

[@ActiveTowns]

@Aj Quinn, I call these unintentional ELRs "Yield Streets". I also live on one. Thanks so much for watching and contributing to the conversation. Cheers! John