On the left is the current state, where a bicyclist is in their lane squashed between the parked car (red) and the moving car (black). The bicyclist is at risk of being 1) “doored” from parked cars’ drivers and 2) or clipped by the moving cars. Moreover, the moving car drivers have to negotiate the bicyclists, making these drivers drive more slowly and with a annoying feeling of unease.

On the right, we see that the bicyclist is now safely on the other side of the parked car and the moving cars don’t have to worry about them. The Bicyclist still runs a small risk of being doored by the passenger door, but with The Swap we reduce the risk of being doored by 5X since only 20% of cars have passengers but 100% have drivers.

So now come the “Edge Cases”

Bus Stops

By having bike paths go behind bus stops, bus users need not negotiate with cyclists. See this image below for an example. The red path is for bikes, leaving an island of sidewalk for the bus station and boarding bus riders.

Cross Walks and Left Turns

Wait a tick! Won’t bike’s turning left pull out from behind a bunch of parked cars? Cross walks and left turns naturally adjust to make bicycling even safer. Bikes turning left actually cross the intersection in their own lane and then turn left on the other side of the street.

Watch this neat video from Holland to see this illustrated: essentially they safely disambiguate the bicyclists and the cars on the road. Amazing!

Not Just a Transit Issue

Bike safety is not just a transit or city planning or “clean air” issue, it is a women’s issue and a minority issue. Portland surveying recently found that women and minorities are generally less intrepid cyclists and shy away from sharing streets with cars. Watch this TEDx talk by Dave Cieslewicz the former Mayor of Madison for a better explanation:

If you think this is an important issue please recommend and share this article on Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks,

Adam Braus

e: ajbraus**at**gmail.com

t: @ajbraus

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