L St. Cycletrack Woes this morning

[jopamora]

@jrenaut 55784 wrote:

I’m pretty convinced that the L St cycletrack needs to be redone. It’s confusing to drivers. It’s too narrow at the intersections. I rode it with my daughter in the trailer the other day and won’t again, there’s just not enough room for the trailer.

I’m not sure what the best design would be, but what we have isn’t it.

Time to get a cargo bike.

[jrenaut]

@jopamora 55807 wrote:

Time to get a cargo bike.

I wish i had the room for a cargo bike. Have to get a bigger place.

[DCLiz]

At the presentation about the forthcoming M Street track, DDOT explained that 2-way cycle tracks aren’t optimal for one-way streets. The lights are timed for car traffic, so the contraflow cyclists end up having to stop at almost every intersection. See: light-timing for southbound cyclists on the one-way portion of 15th Street.

[Greenbelt]

@DCLiz 55811 wrote:

At the presentation about the forthcoming M Street track, DDOT explained that 2-way cycle tracks aren’t optimal for one-way streets. The lights are timed for car traffic, so the contraflow cyclists end up having to stop at almost every intersection. See: light-timing for southbound cyclists on the one-way portion of 15th Street.

Got it. But I’m actually OK with that — cycletracks are great for less experienced/skilled cyclists anyways, who may not be in a hurry. And faster riders could always bump up one block to M to get a better light sequence. I dislike one-way streets in general — they’re designed more for commuters getting in and out quickly rather than people who want to actually enjoy the downtown — but that’s another issue…

[UrbanEngineer]

Got passed by a motorized scooter in the lane today with inches to spare. I’ve begrudgingly come to expect close calls with automobiles when sharing the lane with them on the road, but holy crap, being passed in a protected bike lane like this by a motorized scooter scared the hell out of me. Really pissed me off. I see scooters fairly often in bike lanes around town. Never had one do something like this though.

[jrenaut]

@UrbanEngineer 56280 wrote:

Got passed by a motorized scooter in the lane today with inches to spare. I’ve begrudgingly come to expect close calls with automobiles when sharing the lane with them on the road, but holy crap, being passed in a protected bike lane like this by a motorized scooter scared the hell out of me. Really pissed me off. I see scooters fairly often in bike lanes around town. Never had one do something like this though.

My understanding is that some of them are actually permitted in the bike lanes, but I don’t know how to determine which is which. Regardless, passing that close is never okay. Anecdotally, it sure does seem that most of the people driving motorized scooters drive them like complete maniacs. But that may be partly my bias.

[UrbanEngineer]

@jrenaut 56281 wrote:

My understanding is that some of them are actually permitted in the bike lanes.

From GGW:

“According to a guide from the DC government, a scooter is a motorcycle if it has any of 5 characteristics: wheels under 16 inches in diameter, an engine greater than 50 cc, the ability to travel in excess of 35 mph on level ground, more than 1½ brake horsepower, or a manual transmission. If a scooter has none of those, it’s a motorized bicycle.

So why does this matter? Motorized bicycle owners are not required to pass a motorcycle skills test or wear a helmet and can ride in bike lanes.”

So I should’ve excluded the “get your f’ng scooter out of the f’ng bike lane” part of my profanity laced tirade at him. Good to know.

[bobco85]

@jrenaut 56281 wrote:

My understanding is that some of them are actually permitted in the bike lanes, but I don’t know how to determine which is which.

Here’s a link to show which are allowed in bike lanes with links to PDF flyers: http://mpdc.dc.gov/node/208532

As for defining the different types of motorized cycles, mopeds, motorcycles, etc., there is a new law for 2013. Here’s an article that gives a good summary of the law and also provides a link to the bill text: http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/New-Law-Clarifies-Motorcycle-Scooter-Regulations-191257411.html

I haven’t encountered anything motorized other than an e-bike (and the occasional parked vehicle) in the cycletrack, but if I heard that motor I would think they weren’t supposed to be in the cycletrack. Personally, I don’t think mopeds should be allowed in the cycletracks/bike lanes because they aren’t allowed on MUP’s and it would save any confusion as to who should be there.

[jrenaut]

The problem with banning scooters, and it’s been discussed here before, is that it’s very tough to know exactly where to draw the line. Any law that requires you to measure tires or Google the engine spec is probably going to cause problems. I’m generally inclined to look the other way if the motorized vehicle is behaving like a bike at a speed comparable to a bike. The scooter people who use the 14th St bike lane as a passing lane when cars are stopped should be punched in the face, though.

[Steve]

For me, it mostly comes down to safety, and so it just depends on how someone is acting. I think bikes should be able to use sidewalks, as long as they ride at speeds that are smart and safe for all those using the sidewalk. I’m mostly ok with other non-cars using bike lanes, when safety requires it or even if it makes sense, such that they use it at speeds and in a way that doesn’t endanger cyclists. I crossed paths with a scooter on the South Capital Street Bridge bike/ped path the other day. At first I was irritated, because ‘cmon. But then I thought, how else is a scooter rider supposed to get across the Anacostia? So. Cap St. and 11th st. bridges are both not realistic to cross in the lane with a 50cc scooter. Penn is passable, but still not great. As a former scooter owner, I always had a little adventure and probably some bad decision making with trying to get from Arlington to DC. Just like for bikes, it’s not enough to just tell a scooter rider to get somewhere else, because very little of the bridge infrastructure helps support them.

That all being said, it most of downtown, it’s hard to imagine that riding in a bike lane is necessary for a scooter, becasue driving speeds are not that high with traffic and lights. Just my two cents.

[dasgeh]

@bobco85 56287 wrote:

Here’s a link to show which are allowed in bike lanes with links to PDF flyers: http://mpdc.dc.gov/node/208532

Thanks for the link. It led me to the poster with “Don’t jive and ride an illegal ride. ” Love it.

Crossing the TR Bridge on Monday, I came across a motorcycle and rider just past the beginning of the wall (near where the “detour” used to start”). He was stopped, looking around.

Laughing, I said “you are not supposed to be here”.
Sheepishly, he said “I know”.

I peddled on. The situation made me think he had gotten there by accident, and was trying to figure out how to get out of it. (He didn’t look like he actually needed help; just like he felt stupid).

Encountering a scooter/motorcycle on the TR Bridge sidepath would not be fun.

[jnva]

Here is my L street experience this morning. I always tell myself that every car is about to hit me. But, that makes life exciting right?

[video=youtube_share;qpHWtWUY9kc]http://youtu.be/qpHWtWUY9kc[/video]

[GuyContinental]

@jnva 57650 wrote:

Here is my L street experience this morning. I always tell myself that every car is about to hit me. But, that makes life exciting right?
]

Can you post one of those where everything goes perfectly? I’m trying to convince my better half to commute up L and the videos of woe aren’t helping things… maybe under a separate thread entitled “How the Perfectly Safe and Sane L-street cycletrack changed my life for the better while saving me $300/month in parking”

[bobco85]

@GuyContinental 57693 wrote:

Can you post one of those where everything goes perfectly? I’m trying to convince my better half to commute up L and the videos of woe aren’t helping things… maybe under a separate thread entitled “How the Perfectly Safe and Sane L-street cycletrack changed my life for the better while saving me $300/month in parking”

To be nitpicky, that video technically was not filmed at all on the L Street cycletrack because the cycletrack starts at New Hampshire/22nd. The first 3 blocks have a bike lane/sharrows.

That said, I hate those first 3 blocks of L Street. There are always cars moving into the bike lane to look around the car in front of them to get a better idea of the traffic ahead, and for the 1 block having sharrows the cars rarely signal before entering the lane.

Once you’ve gotten to the cycletrack itself, things are a lot better (though not perfect) because you do get that separation from cars. Now if only we could get some enforcement on keeping cars, er, I mean TRUCKS out of the cycletrack, it’d be great!

[ShawnoftheDread]

I wouldn’t have passed that first car in the bike lane. It looked like he was going to turn left after the police car (and doing a better job of it) even though he didn’t have his signal on (yet). Not enough room for error.

[Author]

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