[sustran] Bicycles - Improving the image

[J.H. Crawford]

>  Sidewalk cyclist:
>
>  It is important to know some of the background of what causes this
>problem.  Here in NYC, most cyclists aren't interested in riding on
>sidewalks crowded with pedestrian traffic.  We prefer the streets
>because we can often move faster will less probablity of collision since
>pedetrians can and do move about on the sidewalks in unexpected ways. 
>People talk walking backwards, stop suddenly and turn around etc., 
>
>  Yet...  Dilivery people use the sidewalks, not just because they are
>pressed for time  as in -deliver the meal while it's hot or the boss
>yells -- But also because cars at the curbside are often parked so
>tightly bumper to bumper, that you can't get to the sidewalk except from
>the corners.  The nearest lampost to lock up, may well be several
>hundred feet past your destination.  So that too induces time pressed
>riders to ride to it to save time. 

There's a really simple and perfectly legal solution: dismount and
walk the bike. Now, I don't have a real problem if people ride
slowly and carefully on sidewalks that aren't crowded and make
a point of yielding to pedestrians, but how do you make this a
point of law? 

>  So these things need to be considered when rulemaking/traffic design
>is under consideration.  Instead, the city council has threatened these
>already struggling people with 150 dollar fines and the loss of their
>bikes, for taking actions they deemed necessary to either keep their
>jobs or make those jobs pay.  If the police had strickly enforced these
>laws, thankfully they do not, the messenger and bike delivery industries
>would be effectively closed down.  Delivery people could observe these
>laws, but then they'd be seen by their employers as ineffective in
>getting deliveries made properly. 

Maybe not. If the laws were universally obeyed, then all 
courrier services would be on an even footing. Prices would
rise some, demand would decline a little, but the total
amount of work in the busines would probably stay about
the same. What else are the customers going to do to get
their stuff around? Not taxis, not pedestrians, so what's left?
Bike courriers.



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J.H. Crawford    Crawford Systems    joel at xs4all.nl    http://www.mokum.com/