cyclists' danger to pedestrians
Stephen Bingham
Fellow street safety advocates,
Having just returned from France, I can confirm that Paris is an absolutely amazing city for cycling, a model for US cities to aspire to. See Momentum article below. However, the downside is the incredible danger to pedestrians because cyclists, scooters etc. are simply ignoring traffic rules there. See this NY Times article about the ‘anarchy’ on Paris streets. We advocates must all do more to push cycling organizations to own up to this issue and do more to change the cycling ‘anarchy’ culture. I almost got run over in Paris 3-4 times by cyclists running red lights and then screaming at me because I was in their way!
https://momentummag.com/paris-to-become-100-percent-cycling-city/
August 9, 2022
Paris to become 100 percent cycling city
With a massive investment in cycling infrastructure, the city of Paris, France is set to become one of the top bicycle-friendly cities on the planet. And we are so here for it. The French capital under Mayor Anne Hidalgo has already made significant improvements that continue to captivate the iconic town and combined with the […]
Written by: Ron Johnson
Cycling in Paris near the Arc de Triomphe
With a massive investment in cycling infrastructure, the city of Paris, France is set to become one of the top bicycle-friendly cities on the planet. And we are so here for it.
The French capital under Mayor Anne Hidalgo has already made significant improvements that continue to captivate the iconic town and combined with the pandemic have resulted in a massive local cycling boom. And now we know what Paris is planning for an encore.
From 2015-2020 the Paris cycling plan saw 150 million euros invested to double the number of cycling lanes and create a critical mass of infrastructure to spark a renewed interest in cycling as a primary means for residents and visitors to make their way around town. And it worked.
Now, for the next five years, the city aims to fill in the gaps and make Paris a “100 percent cycling city,” with more investment in infrastructure, the development of parking solutions, and, as the report states, the “strengthening of the cycling ecosystem.”
“This cycling plan is one of the essential pillars of ecological and social transformation that we are leading in Paris,” said David Belliard, Paris’ Deputy Mayor for Urban Transformation, on social media.
The investment in cycling has increased from 150 million to 250 million euros for the next five years. The plan aims to build upon the current level of 1,000 km of bike lanes, 300 km of cycle tracks, and 52km of provisional tracks as well as more than 30,000 parking stands with 1,000 spaces reserved for cargo bikes and 40,000 new secure cycle parking spaces. Other highlights include 2,400 electric charging stations on the road and 6,000 underground, as well as 10 fast-charging hubs.
Seine River
Whereas the first plan was broad-based and inspirational, the second five years will see the city drill down to the neighborhood level to fill in the gaps to make the city completely cyclable by 2026.
Paris’s plan also presents a blueprint for other cities looking for a direction forward.
When the pandemic first hit, Paris did what a lot of cities were doing. They created new temporary lanes for cycling, new pedestrian areas, as everyone stayed close to home.
With city life slowly returning to a pre-pandemic normal, Paris is not taking the temporary lanes away and is instead making them permanent with granite separators instead of makeshift arrangements. This is in addition to Mayor Hidalgo pushing through bike lanes on hundreds of streets and countless other measures that put people’s quality of life first.
As some are suggesting, such as a recent article in The Guardian, there is a definite electoral trend favoring those who are supporting progressive bicycle policies.
Mayor Hidalgo was re-elected thanks, in part, to her strong cycling measures and has recently announced that she will be running to be the President of France. But she is not alone, similar election results favor bicycle-friendly candidates in cities such as London, Milan, and Barcelona.
But nowhere is any government moving faster and more thoroughly than in Paris where Mayor Hidalgo is systematically taking apart a city made for automobiles and recreating it for people and active transportation.
Paris for cyclists
For instance, under the new plan, Paris will remove the vast majority of on-street parking spaces and turn them over to bicycles. It’s a move that would be unheard of in North America where every on-street automobile parking space is the subject of long and frustrating debates in all but a handful of cities.
Paris ends the discussion before it even begins.
How did they figure it out? According to the plan, 50 percent of public space is occupied by the car, despite it only accounting for 10 percent of trips in addition to the whole generating pollution leading to a climate emergency. So, Paris will take half of that space and repurpose it. Cycle paths will be part of that, but so will sidewalk development for pedestrians as well as park space.
Paris is already one of the top 10 bike-friendly cities according to the 2019 Copenhagenize index and is sure to move up the international ladder when the new plan is implemented.
Let’s hope this is the beginning of a massive movement as local governments begin to plan for post-pandemic life.
“The newly announced Paris 2021-2026 cycling plan represents a further leap forward and will make Paris even more attractive and liveable as a cycling city. Paris’ phenomenal cycling transformation is an inspiration for aspiring cycling cities everywhere,” says Jill Warren, CEO of the European Cyclists’ Federation. “A few examples of other places that have made great strides in cycling in recent years, backed by progressive governments, include Brussels, Barcelona, Milan, and Ireland — which in its coalition agreement in 2020 allocated 10 percent of its annual transport budget to cycling and a further 10 percent to walking, which adds up to €1 million per day in this relatively small country.”
Over the past two years, we have learned about the importance of public space, active transportation, and what a concerted effort looks like, something we will need to do again to battle the climate emergency. Making all temporary bike lanes and public spaces permanent is an easy win.
Stephen Bingham
Co-Director
Sylvia Bingham Fund
Coordinator, California Ride of Silence Organizers
Board of Directors, Ride of Silence
Member, Families for Safe Streets/San Francisco
Pete van Nuys
Stephen's comments underscore the dark side of cultural change
in the era of-- call it what you will, Political Correctness,
Wokeness,
Magical Thinking.
We all celebrate Alt Trans; indeed, lifestyle cyclists
have been asking for it for decades.
But the chaos it has brought to towns like mine (San Clemente CA)
and others is undeniable.
Respect for rational, traditional traffic law has disappeared.
Yes, motorists have rolled through Stop signs
for decades in CA.
Yes, bicyclists-- actual traditional pedal cyclists-- have
all but ignored Stops and Reds, offering excuses
that support the Idaho stop law or simply leaning on
blatant self entitlement.
But-- what we have now is different.
More egregious.
More dangerous to peds.
More dangerous to legacy cyclists.
More dangerous to dumbass Ebikers aged 8 to 80.
The only hope now is Education and Enforcement.
And No, no it's not stupid "infra" projects, further segregating
peds,
cyclists, and alt trans modes.
Nobody is making anymore horizontal space for roadways--
it's a zero sum game, taking for one mode takes from other users.
Motorists will continue to dominate the voter rolls,
pack city council meetings, and assert their
kinetic superiority on our roads.
We need solutions now.
And going head to head with motorists for their
road space will not work.
The only hope is a return to the basic, rational, rules
that have mitigated death and damage on our streets
for over 100 years.
No need here to cite CVC sections, most of us know them by heart.
Here are simple ideas which even simple minds can grasp, like:
*operators are solely responsible for not running into people
ahead of them
*yield to pedestrians, who may also be subject to traffic
control
* slower traffic to the right
*faster traffic to the left
*faster traffic bears the burden of passing slower traffic on the
left
when safe to do so
* Stop on red, Go on green
*at intersections the tie goes to the person on the right...
Major promotion of these simple ideas is more vital EVERY DAY.
We locked down an entire country for highly questionable reasons.
Proof we can promote anything with tax dollars--
American will believe almost anything
that's thrown at them
if it's pitched hard enough
from enough directions.
Education about simple traffic law will go down like stream water
once safety is palpably improved.
And the flip side of Education is Enforcement.
For all the "Muricans" who behave contrary to these
simple ideas we simply Enforce the law.
Yes, I said it. Right out loud.
Enforce the damn traffic laws.
Lobby for traffic Enforcement. "Ask for it by name."
Walk right up to that microphone at Public Comments
and ask your city to get the grants for
more traffic enforcement.
The money is out there.
You might have to leg wrestle with the Infra Wokes, but
money spent on traffic cops next year will produce
noticeable results.
Long before the paint dries on the next Bike Lane buffer.
Long before the first ebiker is right hooked into the hospital
by a driver rounding that line of parked cars
"protecting" him.
Long before more toes are sewn back on in the ER
because parents see nothing wrong with sending
little Susy out on her Super73
barefoot.
Let's put the money into education and
the sharp end of the education stick,
traffic fines.
AND Now to Paris:
Euro cities have banned cars from city centers for decades.
What Paris is doing is nothing NEW.
NOTHING NEW.
What is new is the depth and breadth of their efforts.
Just like American cities,
nobody is making any new horizontal space over there, either.
Europeans just got that fact about 50 years before
it started to dawn on people here.
But we remain about 50 years behind the Euros.
Getting rid of car created crap was de rigeuer
when the first arterial tunnel was dug under
the first city in the 50s.
By extension, replacing cars on the surface
with smaller, cleaner, more personal modes
operating at safer speeds is logical.
When you move arterial car traffic from the
surface you "create" more space for
Alt Modes.
It's quieter.
Less threatening to peds.
Arguably cleaner.
And because it's less convenient for motorists,
it tends to discourage them.
BTW, parking is scant
and expensive.
But, do I really have to state the obvious:
CA is not France.
LA ain't Paris.
Neither is SFO.
SDO or San Ber'doo.
Paris is Paris.
No rational tourist would think a rental car
the perfect way to "do" Paris.
Fewer Parisians will consider the traditional
car an option in future.
By all means, visit Paris.
A city (almost) as free of cars as it was
before Marie Antoinette lost her head.
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