Comments on: U.S. Senate Passes Transportation Bill: What It Means for Bikes and What’s Next http://blog.cascade.org/2012/03/senate-passes-transportation-bill/ Creating a better community through bicycling, throughout Seattle, King County and Washington state. Sat, 18 May 2013 16:21:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Bike News Roundup: Creating a ‘human-sized street pattern’ | Seattle Bike Blog http://blog.cascade.org/2012/03/senate-passes-transportation-bill/comment-page-1/#comment-45403 Bike News Roundup: Creating a ‘human-sized street pattern’ | Seattle Bike Blog Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:30:40 +0000 http://blog.cascade.org/?p=11355#comment-45403 [...] U.S. Senate Passes Transportation Bill: What It Means for Bikes and What’s Next « Cascade Bicycle... [...] [...] U.S. Senate Passes Transportation Bill: What It Means for Bikes and What’s Next « Cascade Bicycle… [...]

]]> By: John Mauro http://blog.cascade.org/2012/03/senate-passes-transportation-bill/comment-page-1/#comment-45010 John Mauro Fri, 16 Mar 2012 18:26:02 +0000 http://blog.cascade.org/?p=11355#comment-45010 Josh: yes, this was painful and not the outcome we wanted. The League tried hard to push back on this and groups did what they could. Not a done deal yet, but I can't imagine conferencing with the House on a final bill will actually improve the situation.... Josh: yes, this was painful and not the outcome we wanted. The League tried hard to push back on this and groups did what they could. Not a done deal yet, but I can’t imagine conferencing with the House on a final bill will actually improve the situation….

]]> By: Josh http://blog.cascade.org/2012/03/senate-passes-transportation-bill/comment-page-1/#comment-44932 Josh Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:19:58 +0000 http://blog.cascade.org/?p=11355#comment-44932 Disappointed to see the final Senate transportsation bill continues to prohibit consideration of cyclist safety in its mandatory sidepath rule for Federal lands. The rule now allows consideration of bicycle level of service metrics on a road, but does not allow consideration of the safety of a sidepath. The language of the bill as it passed the Senate says: "(d) BICYCLE SAFETY.—The Secretary of the appropriate Federal land management agency shall prohibit the use of bicycles on each federally owned road that has a speed limit of 30 miles per hour or greater and an adjacent paved path for use by bicycles within 100 yards of the road unless the Secretary determines that the bicycle level of service on that roadway is rated B or higher." So, if a road is rated Level of Service = C, bicycles are required to use any available sidepath, no matter the safety of the sidepath design, its maintenance condition, etc. That begs the question, what's so awful about having bikes on a road with LOS=C? Here's a brief description of LOS C roadways: "LOS C Scores 14 or below but greater than 11 equal an LOS C rating. These roadways are adequate for most bicyclists. Group C riders will be somewhat less comfortable on these facilities, particularly if unsupervised. Bicyclists can anticipate a moderate level of interaction with motor vehicles. These roadways will typically have an on-street facility (bicycle lane or wide curb lane) dedicated for bicyclists. The roadway will generally be characterized by a combination of low-speed, low-volume motor-vehicle traffic, infrequent conflicts, and good surface conditions, although minor deficiencies in two or more of these areas will be present." Notice LOS C includes many roads *with bike lanes* -- bicycles would now be banned from those Federally-funded bike lanes if there's a separate path available, even if that path is obsolete and far more dangerous than a modern bike lane or wide curb lane. Disappointed to see the final Senate transportsation bill continues to prohibit consideration of cyclist safety in its mandatory sidepath rule for Federal lands. The rule now allows consideration of bicycle level of service metrics on a road, but does not allow consideration of the safety of a sidepath.

The language of the bill as it passed the Senate says:

“(d) BICYCLE SAFETY.—The Secretary of the appropriate Federal land management agency shall prohibit the use of bicycles on each federally owned road that has a speed limit of 30 miles per hour or greater and an adjacent paved path for use by bicycles within 100 yards of the road unless the Secretary determines that the bicycle level of service on that roadway is rated B or higher.”

So, if a road is rated Level of Service = C, bicycles are required to use any available sidepath, no matter the safety of the sidepath design, its maintenance condition, etc. That begs the question, what’s so awful about having bikes on a road with LOS=C? Here’s a brief description of LOS C roadways:

“LOS C Scores 14 or below but greater than 11 equal an LOS C rating. These roadways are adequate for most bicyclists. Group C riders will be somewhat less comfortable on these facilities, particularly if unsupervised. Bicyclists can anticipate a moderate level of interaction with motor vehicles. These roadways will typically have an on-street facility (bicycle lane or wide curb lane) dedicated for bicyclists. The roadway will generally be characterized by a combination of low-speed, low-volume motor-vehicle traffic, infrequent conflicts, and good surface conditions, although minor deficiencies in two or more of these areas will be present.”

Notice LOS C includes many roads *with bike lanes* — bicycles would now be banned from those Federally-funded bike lanes if there’s a separate path available, even if that path is obsolete and far more dangerous than a modern bike lane or wide curb lane.

]]>