Here are some images of the bike lanes we encountered in Germany. The first one is a mid-size street (two lanes each way with side parking) in Munich where cyclists have a separate lane in the sidewalk area. (Where they won't get hit by cars!) The second one is a similar sidewalk area two way path except along a main arterial street with three lanes each way and parking on the sides of the streets. The third shows how they deal with the crosswalk, including bikes in their own bike crosswalk section. It is assumed people are riding bikes when streets are constructed! For anyone in Europe reading this, it is not assumed here in the US and therefore everyone has to drive a car whether they want to or not.
2 comments:
Where I live in Japan — Osaka — there are virtually no bike paths, and yet everyone seems to ride bikes. People ride bikes in the thinnest of margins on the side of the road while busses and cars speed by, sometimes veering far out of the way to avoid bikes. In my neighborhood, there generally aren't even any sidewalks, so cars, pedestrians, and bikes all share the same street. On the one hand, this is crazy. On the other hand, people seem to get by fine with this system, and all the foot traffic/bike traffic actually forces the cars to drive slowly.
Thanks for your great perspective--I love that they share the road so well in Japan! I'd like to ride a bike (or walk around) there someday. I think the real problem in the US is that automobile drivers will actually yell at bicyclists to get out of the street and out of their way. They don't seem to realize that that is where the bikes are supposed to go. Sometimes they will gun their motors and speed by right next to a bicyclist just to freak them out! And god forbid a pedestrian should step into a crosswalk, let alone the street. The thought of sharing with friendly motorists and the thought of paths away from unfriendly motorists are truly tempting thoughts either way!
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