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Why not? That's only one path in one direction every two blocks. Why is dedicating 5% of the space and 2% of the money on doubling tansport capacity unfeasible

Why not? That's only one path in one direction every two blocks. Why is dedicating 5% of the space and 2% of the money on doubling tansport capacity unfeasible?

lifeisstillgood 4y ago
Thank you. It's just so ... different. the term "block" would stop being so meaningful because that path would break up a block and become ... But your argument is absolutely on point - i agree. It's just hard to imagine what it will look like :-)
- Schroedingersat 4y ago
  I was thinking more along the lines of every second street in one direction having a separated bike lane with full right of way at conflict points and infrastructure to manage the cars (like raised crossings and/or lights) so noone would have to cross a road at an undesignated spot more than once to get to it. You can even arrange it such that there is no through traffic on some cross roads (bike lane in the middle and all entering cars must turn right in RHD countries) to reduce the number of conflict points (with cars only crossing the bike lane every km or 2). But the alley way type arrangement you're thinking of has existed in the past as well (and probably still exists in some places) with a narrow alley enterable through the back yard that cars only enter if they live on that block. Additionally it's not really a burden for the cyclist to walk for the first/last km or use the sidewalk at jogging pace where that is legal (so long as the sidewalk road crossings are built with similar levels of safety and pedestrian priority).
Someone 4y ago
So, how would you go from your front door to that path? Walking to it over the pavement would work, but I wouldn’t call that a good or even decent answer, and riding on the road wouldn’t be car-free.
- Schroedingersat 4y ago
  Walking up to one block with your kid takes far less time than queueing in a pickup line in your car for two hours, it's not really any burden at all to walk 100m. If you dedicate a slightly larger tiny minority of land for 1 lane every block in the short direction then it requires walking at most one house over (because you either live on the long road, or you're on the short road within one house of either corner, or there's already a greenway or an alley or large non-residential block that can afford 2m for a pathway at your back boundary). There are also many countries that allow children (or sometimes also adults) to ride on the footpath at moderate speed giving way to pedestrians if there is no bike lane.
  - Someone 4y ago
    Why would you walkways your kid every time they want to get out on their bicycle? And how will you know when it’s time to pick them up again because they decided they want to get home?
    - Schroedingersat 4y ago
      I provided a variety of solutions. That one was to hedge against the mental gymnastics I predicted you'd perform at the prospect of a child crossing a road. If you want to know how it's actually done, go visit a school in finland or netherlands.
      - Someone 4y ago
        AFAIK, what they aim for (and often do) in the Netherlands is what I said: having all houses in 30km/hour zones and requiring any crossings of higher-speed car lanes to be on segregated cycle paths. Kids don’t walk their bike to a cycle path or cycle on the sidewalk to avoid cars, they enter the street in front of their house (likely after riding on the sidewalk for a few meters, even though that’s illegal. Adults do that, too) That street either has a low speed limit or has separated cycle paths.

Why not? That's only one path in one direction every two blocks. Why is dedicating 5% of the space and 2% of the money on doubling tansport capacity unfeasible?

lifeisstillgood 4y ago

Thank you. It's just so ... different. the term "block" would stop being so meaningful because that path would break up a block and become ... But your argument is absolutely on point - i agree. It's just hard to imagine what it will look like :-)

Schroedingersat 4y ago
I was thinking more along the lines of every second street in one direction having a separated bike lane with full right of way at conflict points and infrastructure to manage the cars (like raised crossings and/or lights) so noone would have to cross a road at an undesignated spot more than once to get to it. You can even arrange it such that there is no through traffic on some cross roads (bike lane in the middle and all entering cars must turn right in RHD countries) to reduce the number of conflict points (with cars only crossing the bike lane every km or 2). But the alley way type arrangement you're thinking of has existed in the past as well (and probably still exists in some places) with a narrow alley enterable through the back yard that cars only enter if they live on that block. Additionally it's not really a burden for the cyclist to walk for the first/last km or use the sidewalk at jogging pace where that is legal (so long as the sidewalk road crossings are built with similar levels of safety and pedestrian priority).

Someone 4y ago

So, how would you go from your front door to that path? Walking to it over the pavement would work, but I wouldn’t call that a good or even decent answer, and riding on the road wouldn’t be car-free.

Schroedingersat 4y ago
Walking up to one block with your kid takes far less time than queueing in a pickup line in your car for two hours, it's not really any burden at all to walk 100m. If you dedicate a slightly larger tiny minority of land for 1 lane every block in the short direction then it requires walking at most one house over (because you either live on the long road, or you're on the short road within one house of either corner, or there's already a greenway or an alley or large non-residential block that can afford 2m for a pathway at your back boundary). There are also many countries that allow children (or sometimes also adults) to ride on the footpath at moderate speed giving way to pedestrians if there is no bike lane.
- Someone 4y ago
  Why would you walkways your kid every time they want to get out on their bicycle? And how will you know when it’s time to pick them up again because they decided they want to get home?
  - Schroedingersat 4y ago
    I provided a variety of solutions. That one was to hedge against the mental gymnastics I predicted you'd perform at the prospect of a child crossing a road. If you want to know how it's actually done, go visit a school in finland or netherlands.
    - Someone 4y ago
      AFAIK, what they aim for (and often do) in the Netherlands is what I said: having all houses in 30km/hour zones and requiring any crossings of higher-speed car lanes to be on segregated cycle paths. Kids don’t walk their bike to a cycle path or cycle on the sidewalk to avoid cars, they enter the street in front of their house (likely after riding on the sidewalk for a few meters, even though that’s illegal. Adults do that, too) That street either has a low speed limit or has separated cycle paths.