Production Of New Protected Bike Lanes To Make Cycling Safer In San Francisco

To make an improvement in fatal crashes between cyclists and cars, the authorities of San Francisco is trying to evolve new protected bike lanes apart from vehicle traffic.

Martha Roskowski, director of People for Bikes said, “For 50 years, we’ve just been putting down a stripe of white paint, and that was how you accommodated bikes on busy streets. That simply doesn’t work for most”.

Steps that introduce you that how bike lanes are changing around the world:

Places where it is occurring: In US, protected lanes are developing since 2007.
According to bike riders, 94cities of US have approx 240 miles of protected lanes now. And as per a report, this year, at least two dozen cities have so far installed new types of lanes.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has promised to build 50 miles lanes in the next three years with 9 miles lanes this year in Chicago. And in greater Boston, where most accidents happened , parking lanes of cars now serve as bike lanes to make an improvement.

Designs of lanes are not equal: The designs of lanes are not same and vary by city.

In San Francisco near Market Street, a new separate bike lane is built which is higher than vehicle lanes. But Chris Cassidy of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition said, “The city’s first test of a raised bike lane still leaves something to be desired because vehicles are parking in the lane”.

The bike lane along Pennsylvania Avenue between the Capitol and White House has proved very popular since 2010, in Washington. But according to some advocates, the design is impractical and unsafe. Greg Billing of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association said the center lane design would not be repeated and to decrease the illegal U-turns of cars from bike lanes new rubber barriers also installed.

Disagreement by local members: The bike lane dispute is ongoing from the last five years by wealthy and powerful residents in Brooklyn, N.Y.

In 2010, for building protected bike lane there is a requirement of one vehicle lane along Prospect Park. But Norman Steisel who is a former deputy mayor and other residents dispute this. He said, “You’ve got to be somewhat respectful for how you get these things done”.

Europe is advanced in bike lanes: In Europe protected bike lanes are not a new thing. Bike lanes are available almost in every city. And now the city has seen a proposal for underground bike highways using old subway tunnels.

In Asia and others: Tokyo and Japanese cities have a strong cycling culture. But Mikael Colville-Andersen, CEO of Copenhagenize Design Co. said, “The bike lanes are placed on sidewalks and this is a big challenge for cyclists and pedestrians”.

Experts said that Guangzhou and Shanghai two of China’s largest cities are also planning to build bike lanes now. Buenos Aires and Argentina has built nearly 90 miles of bike lanes in just three years in South America.

2016 S-Class Mercedes: