Downtown Vancouver Bike Lanes

Vancouver has made a serious commitment to providing bike-friendly streets.

While Minneapolis has been spending some money on paint, Vancouver has

putting in physical barriers between cars and cyclists. Once in place, they

make the former driving lane a 2 way bike lane.

 

The barriers provide both perceived and true safety for cyclists. A family

could bike through the downtown of a major city without worrying about

whether a driver will ignore a white stripe on the pavement.

 

Additionally, Vancouver has added bike signals to the traffic signals that

appear to be designed to get cyclists through intersections before cars are

given the green light. This seems like a good way to prevent cyclists from

getting hit by turning drivers.

 

It all seems very civil. It seems logical to assume that more people would

be willing to commute to downtown Minneapolis, or use bikes to visit

downtown, if they felt comfortable on their bikes downtown.

 

Granted, Vancouver doesn't have to biking superhighways that Minneapolis

has. But, they do seem to provide far superior on-street infrastructure for

the critical last half mile if commutes through the most congested parts of

their city.

Done