Bike transportation in Downtown?

[Adam W]

For those of us who are old enough to have lived through Jim Crow laws, the term "colored bike lanes" is a little disturbing.   

which is why the term used is greenlanes

s to the comment above from psu....I 100% disagree....studies all over have shown that ridership goes up when bicycle infrastructure (including bike lanes and sharrows) are installed.....and here in Jax, I've seen a significant increase in bike usage in the urban core area over the past few years.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but seeing an increase in ridership itself doesn't necessarily mean it is the result of adding sharrows. There are other reasons why (the most obvious one being fashion) cycling may be on the upswing in Jax.

I don't think a serious bikeshare system can or should be considered without a system of proper bike lanes. And, of course, serious investment (of time, money and resources) and commitment. The last thing I'd want to see is a smattering of bike stands set up around town with no bike lanes (or related infrastructure), little or no advertising and no maintenance. So when no one bothers to use them (or when ridership doesn't meet expectations), the powers that be can write off not only bikeshares, but cycling as a reasonable or desirable mode of transportation.

[Elwood]

Interesting read on Yahoo yesterday concerning a company called sobi (socailbicycles.com).

[peestandingup]

For those of us who are old enough to have lived through Jim Crow laws, the term "colored bike lanes" is a little disturbing.   

which is why the term used is greenlanes

s to the comment above from psu....I 100% disagree....studies all over have shown that ridership goes up when bicycle infrastructure (including bike lanes and sharrows) are installed.....and here in Jax, I've seen a significant increase in bike usage in the urban core area over the past few years.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but seeing an increase in ridership itself doesn't necessarily mean it is the result of adding sharrows. There are other reasons why (the most obvious one being fashion) cycling may be on the upswing in Jax.

Pretty much what I was thinking. I have no doubt its up, but to say its because of some improved infrastructure here in Jax is probably not correct. I'm not aware of any real improvements over the last few years, esp in the core. What, the painted bike figures, er, sharrows on that small strip on Riverside Ave magically increased ridership all over town?? Doubtful.

Like I said, I'm out at least a few times a week & rarely see anyone using it. Nor any of the handful of painted on bike lanes in other parts of town. Most stick to the sidewalks & side streets, where there is no proper infrastructure whatsoever. People in general seem to be using what they are presented with & whatever is safe to use, even if its not exactly legal (sidewalks). This tells me that ridership is increasing, even if the city itself isn't supporting it. I reckon it will continue to be like this & there will be more & more safety issues, close calls, deaths, running into people on sidewalks, motorist distain (and vice versa), etc until the city actually gives a shit & starts accommodating everyone properly.

Most of the "improvements" I see are the ones outside the core, so that may be what tufsu is referring to. For instance, they tacked on a very narrow bike lane onto Normandy Blvd recently around Herlong Airport thats pretty much useless. It begins & ends in the middle of nowhere, with cars whizzing past you doing 65+ mph. I think I've seen maybe 3 people using it in 6 months.

[Adam W]

^Don't they have bike lanes near the St Johns Town Center, too? That always seemed like a dangerous place to cycle.

Somebody pointed out to me that it's no longer illegal to ride a bike on sidewalks in Florida. That's a shame. And I say that because by allowing cyclists to use sidewalks, it can be used to dismiss the need for separate, dedicated cycle lanes.

On the other hand, if it helps keep people from being killed, it's a good thing. Besides, in most of Jax (outside of the so-called 'urban core'), there aren't a lot of pedestrians using sidewalks anyway

[Tacachale]

There have been improvements in different areas of town beyond those sharrows, and conceivably this has been a factor in the upswing in bike riding in the city.

In San Marco people use the bike lanes on Hendricks Avenue all the time, despite them being a bit dodgy in some places. These were only added within the last few years, and now you can ride from far south of the square up almost all the way to downtown without directly fighting car traffic. Speaking personally I know that I biked the neighborhood and into downtown a lot more frequently than I would have if there weren't bike lanes.

[PeeJayEss]

How much more maintenance is required with the green lanes (painting the roadway?)? Does the coloration produce better safety numbers than a simple line or is it more gimmick? I'd hate to see a green lane installed and then not subsequently maintained as a green lane.

[Adam W]

How much more maintenance is required with the green lanes (painting the roadway?)? Does the coloration produce better safety numbers than a simple line or is it more gimmick? I'd hate to see a green lane installed and then not subsequently maintained as a green lane.

Not sure about the colour, though it might make the existence of the lane more apparent to motorists. One thing is certain - there must be enforcement. The police need to aggressively ticket anyone found driving in those lanes.

I'm an advocate of cameras for reasons like this, though I understand not everyone likes cameras.

[fsujax]

In Jax it wouldn't be maintained and would eventually fade away.

[cline]

How much more maintenance is required with the green lanes (painting the roadway?)? Does the coloration produce better safety numbers than a simple line or is it more gimmick? I'd hate to see a green lane installed and then not subsequently maintained as a green lane.

The colored lanes help to better delineate the bike lanes from the roadways by creating a sort of visual/psychological barrier for car drivers.  I heard about a study in Denmark that found that painted lanes reduced bicycle-vehicle collisions by 38%

[acme54321]

Downtown is pretty rough for riding.  One of the biggest problems I see is crossing the river.  You have tow options, ride the  pedestrian paths over the main street bridge, cross the Acosta on the shoulder, or ride Main St in the travel lanes.  Acosta is OK if you don't mind cars blowing by at 65mph, but for average commuters that can be dicey and the bridge is pretty steep.  The Main St pedestrian sidewalks are super narrow leaving no room to pass traffic in either direction and riding in the travel lanes seems like a death wish with no shoulder and all.

Usually if we want to cruise up to Springfield or DT we cross at Main St on the northbound sidewalk, it's narrower than the SB sidewalk but carries less traffic.  Once DT it's usually sidewalks from there on until we get into Springfield.

[Adam W]

How much more maintenance is required with the green lanes (painting the roadway?)? Does the coloration produce better safety numbers than a simple line or is it more gimmick? I'd hate to see a green lane installed and then not subsequently maintained as a green lane.

The colored lanes help to better delineate the bike lanes from the roadways by creating a sort of visual/psychological barrier for car drivers.  I heard about a study in Denmark that found that painted lanes reduced bicycle-vehicle collisions by 38%

They've recently installed these throughout different parts of London:

http://road.cc/content/news/39122-two-new-barclays-cycle-superhighways-open-london-today

There appear to be a few areas where the 'cycle superhighways' weren't thought out well - leading to a number of fatalities. But overall, the scheme seems to be a good one. One of the guys I work with uses the superhighway to cycle the 8.5 miles in to work every day and says it's a real improvement.

Throughout the rest of the area, we have sharrows and cyclists can use bus lanes (along with taxis, buses and motorcycles/scooters).

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Fyi - The Jacksonville Bicycle Coalition is having one of their regular, open brain storm meetings ...

Careful when you use 'open brain' and cycling in the same sentence.  Jacksonville riders tend to view this differently than most.   

[peestandingup]

Downtown is pretty rough for riding.  One of the biggest problems I see is crossing the river.  You have tow options, ride the  pedestrian paths over the main street bridge, cross the Acosta on the shoulder, or ride Main St in the travel lanes.  Acosta is OK if you don't mind cars blowing by at 65mph, but for average commuters that can be dicey and the bridge is pretty steep.  The Main St pedestrian sidewalks are super narrow leaving no room to pass traffic in either direction and riding in the travel lanes seems like a death wish with no shoulder and all.

Usually if we want to cruise up to Springfield or DT we cross at Main St on the northbound sidewalk, it's narrower than the SB sidewalk but carries less traffic.  Once DT it's usually sidewalks from there on until we get into Springfield.

Same here. Downtown is ALWAYS sidewalks 100% of the time. I wish it were different & you could ride on the streets somehow, but you really can't. That is unless you want to take up an entire lane, which I won't do. Tried that a few times. Once I got nearly clipped as a car passed me, and got honked at other times. Cars own downtown.

Like you, Springfield is about the only place I ride on the streets. Mostly because its very quiet & slow paced, with wide streets. Some parts of Riverside are OK for this too.

[tufsu1]

really?  I ride on the streets downtown all the time

as for crossing the river, FDOT is working on putting sharrows on the Acosta Bridge ramps...and the hope to replace the drainage grates on the bridge shoulders with ones that are more bicycle friendly.

[peestandingup]

really?  I ride on the streets downtown all the time

as for crossing the river, FDOT is working on putting sharrows on the Acosta Bridge ramps...and the hope to replace the drainage grates on the bridge shoulders with ones that are more bicycle friendly.

Oh God.