Rules of the Road: Bike lane clarifier
- 10th Street Bike Lane
Do you bike on the sidewalk? (illegal) Do you park in bike lanes? (permitted occasionally) Do you run in bike lanes? (murky area)
Sharing Philly’s streets can be confusing. So in the interest of keeping tempers cool and everyone safe, here’s are some clarifications about the rules for bike lanes.
On Parking:
A frequent complaint is that cars and trucks use bike lanes as passing or parking lanes. (Brief stops for loading/unloading are permitted.) Tickets are supposed to be issued to motorists parking in the lanes, but enforcement is uneven. A recent variation on this complaint comes via the Philadelphia Bicycle Journal (PBJ) blog, that wondered Can it be legal for people attending religious services to park in bike lanes? Most of these parked cars have permits issued by the institutions that legitimize the practice. PBJ calls out the examples of Beth Zion-Beth Israel Synagogue (300 S. 18th Street) and Tenth Presbyterian Church (1701 Delancey Street) but this is happening all over. And they come to find that, yes, it’s legal for people attending a nearby religious service to park in a bike lane with a permit.
The Bicycle Coalition’s website offers an explainer from the Pedestrian & Bicycle Coordinator from the Mayor’s Office for Transportation and Utilities, Charles Carmalt. He wrote: “During public meetings we repeatedly heard that neighbors supported the bike lanes provided that the ability of people to park while attending services was maintained.” He also notes that permission to park in otherwise no-parking areas (including bike lanes) is granted to congregations annually by the Streets Department. In short, it’s all about sharing the road, and balancing uses.
On Running:
Runners have started using bike lanes as paths. The very idea strikes fear in my heart, but evidently this is a trend. And, although not prohibited, it’s not safe.
Carrie Maria writes about this trend on her Miles Covered blog today. Carrie, a runner/owner of a dog-walking service/supergal behind Monster Milers, started seeing runners in the Pine Street bike lane, with traffic. (disclosure: Our family beagle has a long-standing relationship with the Monster Minders as a dog-walking client.)
As a serious urban biker and runner Carrie wants peace on the streets. She knows all too well how dangerous cycling can be: She and her husband have each been hit by drivers who did not see them (no, not by disobeying traffic laws or being bike ninjas). So she sees that adding runners into the bike lane mix as dangerous. The Bicycle Coalition’s take on the issue is that although it’s a legal gray area, it is not a safe choice.
So for Pete’s sake, keep everyone safe and don’t choose to run in the roadway. Cyclists and cars already have a hard enough time seeing one another and accidents still happen too frequently. Like pedestrians, runners should opt for the sidewalk or head out to a trail. Getting tangled by pedestrians is a lot less risky than getting doored.
As Carrie says, “Remember, bikers and runners are not enemies – we’re all just trying to get around in the fresh air.”
Check out these handy guides for more of a refresher on Philly’s “Give Respect, Get Respect” initiative. Be excellent to each other, Philly.
I can not stand when runners are in the bike lanes. It is dangerous and the bike lanes are partially set up to keep bikers off the side walk. They are not bike/runner lanes. Runners should have more respect and stick to the sidewalk.
I hear you, Tom. Just like urban cyclists should stick to bike lanes where they can, urban runners should stick to the sidewalk.
Bikers, so you are inconvenienced for a change. Why, when you have a lane on Spruce, all to yourself, should so many bikers take lombard and mess up the only cross street that flows for cars?
Petunia – To clarify, do you feel Lombard is jammed up river-to-river? Or just where cyclists use it to cut down toward the South Street Bridge?
Ashley, From 5th to 22nd actually, several on a daily basis. Also, they tend not to stop at lights so that when a car safely, finally, is able to get around them, they squeeze between cars and hop through the light and the travail begins anew.
As a side note, I am not a biker in Philadelphia, but here is my response to what I think is a one sided view with no thought to other forms of transportation beyond automobiles and very little research into the matter.
“Bikers, so you are inconvenienced for a change”….? for a change? seriously? in what country do you live? because i’d love to know where in the US bikers are less inconvenienced than cars. Cars as a general rule are always given the advantage. having 200 miles (2.5% of all streets) of bike lanes in a city with almost 8,000 miles of streets is hardly a convenience. And that is on top of the fact that Philadelphia has the highest percent of bicycle commuters of the 10 biggest cities in the US. Additionally, bike lanes decrease deaths and are shown to increase the number of bikers (therefore decreases the number of cars on the road) and thus having little to no impact on traffic levels. And, as a caveat, bikers are allowed to ride on any street they want to unless otherwise noted. Thus, biking on lombard street is their right… a right they pay for just like you do. People need to realize that biking is a legitimate form of transportation and staple of the countries with the highest quality of life in the world (Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Denmark, etc..) Biking decreases stress levels and is a much more efficient, environmentally friendly, and healthy way to get around than driving.
so when bikers stop at every stop sign, and traffic light and take responsibility when they : smoke, text. drink coffee; wear headsets,drive without hands or helmets, I will stop complaining.
And before you comment, I never drive with a phone or headsets, or coffee, and I use both hands on the wheel.
Enforcement is not up to the bike community. It is up to the officials in charge… the police. Your argument should be about enforcement of laws, not biking in general. There are plenty of bikers who follow the law, but arguing things like “Bikers, so you are inconvenienced for a change. Why, when you have a lane on Spruce, all to yourself, should so many bikers take lombard and mess up the only cross street that flows for cars?” has nothing to do with enforcement. (At least not directly.) If biking laws are not being enforced, then of course many people aren’t going to follow them, just like people wouldn’t follow traffic laws if they weren’t enforced. Look at any country where laws are not enforced… people don’t follow them. I agree that enforcement is absolutely an issue, but I would suggest that if you have a problem with enforcement then you should comment about it directly if you want to have any hope of something being done.
Petunia, as a cyclist who first moved to this city 1.5 years ago, I gladly obeyed all the traffic rules and rights afforded to a cyclist. I came to a complete stop at every single stop sign and waited at every light. I never smoked, texted, drank coffee, wore a headset, rode without hands or helmets (and still don’t).
However, when I stopped for every single light and stop sign, I received some of the crassest, rudest remarks from drivers, calling me a ‘Mother f’er’ and holding down their horn in a fit of rage. Why? Because I took to the lane, as is appropriate for a bicyclist to do, as stated in Pennsylvania law.
Fearing for my safety, both from motorists threatening physical violence, such as to ‘beat my head in,’ and to get away from completely inattentive drivers (you would be amazed how many drivers I see texting while driving), I have opted to assess traffic conditions and go through a light or stop sign when it is safe to do so. Sure Petunia, you may not be an idiot, but I’ve witnessed too many inattentive and violent drivers that I refuse to put my 140lbs + 20lb bicycle on the line against a 3,000lb vehicle.
As someone who both drives and bikes, I would ask you to attempt the same. Please give biking a try in this city, obeying all the laws and rights afforded to a cyclist by Pennsylvania law and see how the drivers (dis)respect you.
Either the law or at least common sense observation was that you rode a bicycle with the direction of auto traffic, if sharing the roadway with automobiles. However, when walking, you walked AGAINST the flow of traffic, while sharing the same roadway or even side of the road like a shoulder, so that drivers AND WALKERS would more easily see each other. Not sure how it can be a gray area as runners are not using wheeled transportation.
However, when I went to school, we were taught to walk to the right. Now, it’s anything goes, mostly with everyone walking close to buildings no matter which direction they are walking.
all the laws in the world wont help unless people act a little more conscientious, forgiving and patient.
Hey all – I know this is a subject that draws a lot of passion from folks on all sides of the shared streets spectrum. Reasonable people disagree. Keep the comments clean and fair and I’ll be sure to post them.
Plan Philly has attempted to link the decision to allow churches and synagogues to use bicycle lanes for free parking as described in my column to appear as if it was based only on the fact that congregants need to park in the bike lanes for morning services. However Mr. Carmalt’s decision was also determined by the need for these institutions to use the spaces for afternoon weddings that generate substantial revenue for them. This can be found in the same letter linked in their column and mine.
No business or institution should be able to use bicycle lanes free of charge, when the parking is for revenue generation. Philadelphia is full of private and publicly operated parking lots that can accommodate these needs. Sharing the roads does not mean taking advantage of a loophole to fatten ones wallet.
Hi PBJ – Yes, I thought you covered the issue of revenue-generation brought up in Charles Carmalt’s letter well. I merely sought to bring up the loophole in a more general way as I had been under the impression that any bike lane parking was illegal. Your point about privileging one type institution over another is, however, an important one.
PlanPhilly’s copy editor take note: “Check out these handy guides for more of a refresher on Philly’s “Give Respect, Give Respect” initiative. Be excellent to each other, Philly.”
… editor obviously missed that mistake.
above text quoted from .
Thanks Bill. My mistake.
Hey, this is silly but that photo is of 10th street, not 13th.
Thanks Ell. Corrected.
I both run and bike in the city. Luckily I don’t run in the bike lanes because I live so close to the river trail. However, I don’t find fault with people who do.
Arguable, running in the bike lanes is no less safe than the trials. Maybe even more so if you account for the fact that there is less traffic, it is all in the same direction, and that no biker follows the speed limit on the trials.
I find it interesting that bikers fight for more space in the city, but can’t appreciate when other modes of transportation (walking/running) needs more space. The reality is Philadelphia has small streets. That gives it its charm, but it means we have to share space.
I always thought a good solution would be to switch the buffer and the bike lakes around. There would be slightly less utility to bikers without the buffer, but the bike lanes would still be more generous than anywhere else. However, there would be a huge utility to adding the buffer to the sidewalk side for pedestrians and runners. The sidewalks are a tight space with all the stoops and signs, the can be but into use for foot traffic. I think it is a great compromise.
What goes around comes around. Bicycle people want drivers to give them safety buffer zone when a car/truck/bus passes a bicycle rider. Don’t you think you MUST extend the same courtesy to “runners”? A “runner” can actually a be slow rider who is limited by his/her physical abilities.
So when you say “Share the Road”, do you actually mean it? Bicycle lane is not your private race track.
I don’t think the issue is that bicyclist want their own “private race track.” I think they don’t want to hit pedestrians. Its unsafe for pedestrians to run in bike lanes, just like it is unsafe for pedestrians to run in the middle of the road. A bicycle lane isn’t that wide, definitely not wide enough to allow for a buffer zone. I think the solution is a more integrated transportation system where bikes, cars, and pedestrians can all feel safe and welcome on the same street. Check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q47umjW7GfE&feature=related
Are pedestrians legally permitted in roadways, outside of intersections, that do not have bike lanes?