Yesterday we discussed the need for education to expand our network of bicyclists.  Today we will discuss expanding the infrastructure to include bicycles on a day to day basis in transportation planning.  We all think of Copenhagen as the model for this, and we should, but they have been working at it for 50 or 60 years, and even Portland, Oregon has been at it for 30 years to get where it is today.

As noted in this excellent piece from planetizen,

A proper bicycle network is comprised of four basic types of bikeways: bicycle lanes, bicycle boulevards, shared streets and off-street paths. Although bicycle use is not common in many American cities, planners and government officials must acknowledge that such activity is unlikely to increase without a sufficient bicycle network in place. Cities and towns interested in developing or expanding their bicycle network must consider plans that include all four types. Doing so creates a tapestry of options for the three types of bicyclists and their individual requirements (outlined in my previous post). Portland, Oregon and Berkeley, California experience some of the highest bicycle mode shares in the country precisely because they use a layered approach.

So, with that in mind we turn to the update of our local transportation plan that will happen over the next year or two.  The plan needs to include bicycles wherever possible, expand the network of on and off road facilities, and obviously including the routes of the Coastal Georgia Greenway.

The best strategy, and one we will push for with the city and county during this time, is adoption of a complete streets policy.  This idea, already in place for our neighbors in Florida and South Carolina, requires pedestrian and bicycle facilities be included in all new road projects and expansions.  Assuming we allow for exceptions where this is excessively costly, we could grow our infrastructure incrementally and continue to build the bicycle friendly place we know Savannah could be.

UPDATE:  Bicycle “improvements” are usually the first thing to get cut from a project to limit cost; nevertheless, they are very inexpensive when compared with the total cost.

Furthermore, if a motorist argues the old lie that their tag and gas taxes pay for the roads, point them to this from Texas (see last paragraph), or this older study.  The bottom line:  income and property taxes are necessary to build and maintain roads which are tremendously expensive and usually much less than half paid for by gas and tag taxes.  As such, we need to change our thinking and funding of transportation to include other modes besides personal autos.

So, when we start to talk about how to make things better for the average bicyclist in Savannah or anywhere, it is a pretty complex task using the personal auto-centric transportation grid currently in place. Experienced riders may go just about anywhere except restricted access interstate type highways, but less experienced cyclists will need some help.

In order to move a greater proportion of casual cyclists to take their bike out of the garage and start using it to get from A to B, we need to first educate on best practices in often unfriendly roadways. This involves both safe route selection and understanding how to ride safely.

The former is best accomplished by talking with people who are already riding around town regularly — i.e. networking with the bicycling community. SDRA has produced this map of the bike routes downtown, some local routes are already available at bikely.com, and recreational rides at mapmyride.com, but none of these is comprehensive. Therefore, so that longtime residents, visitors and newcomers will know about safer roads to travel, we at the SBC plan to develop a mapping system to rate specific roads’ suitability for cycling.

The second point of education, safe cycling, is not so complicated. We have previously referenced a video on the topic, but the bottom line is that as a cyclist, you are a vehicle operator with the same rights and obligations under the law as the much heavier and faster vehicles with whom we share the road.

This means that with few exceptions, sidewalks should be avoided as your visibility is deceased and your chance of a car vs bike crash is much increased, not to mention the risk to pedestrians from bikes. It means that while traveling on wider roads, one should stay to the right and allow cars to pass. It means that on narrower lanes (even and especially where multiple lanes are travelling in the same direction) and there is not enough room for you and a car to share the lane, your safest choice is to take the lane. The potential for a sub-30 second inconvenience to a handful of motorists exists, but this action is supported by the law and could save your life.

Finally, a helmet is important as your last line of defense against a car — you will be glad to have it when a careless motorist knocks you down. If you worry about helmet head or sweat, just think how unfashionable it would be to wear a hospital gown the rest of your life. There are some more fashion forward models out there now and ways around the sweat issue as well.

Stay tuned for part II of bicycling networks — how should we reinvent our infrastructure to make it accommodate cyclists better?

Here’s a great idea for your fireworks viewing pleasure:  Ride a bike to the display!  You’ll get home faster not waiting around in traffic — just make sure you have some lights and wear your helmet.  And if you need inspiration for the helmet, take a look at this video from the B:C:Clettes: