More bike lanes. Dedicated bike paths. Plentiful and safe bike parking. Showers in the workplace for cyclists commuting to work. Car-free neighbourhoods.
These are some of the basic necessities called for by proponents of "bike-friendly" cities. Without them, cities will continue to be dominated by cars, polluted air and be hazards for commuting cyclists. Cyclists often cite unaware or even antagonistic motorists themselves as being the main cause of difficulty. Even jaywalking pedestrians can pose dangers for cyclists.
But the real secret to a bike-friendly city is friendly bikers. Cyclists -- and in the interest of full disclosure, I am one -- have a tendency to throw all the blame on motorists and pedestrians and identify themselves as the victims. In turn, motorists consistently criticize reckless cyclists that run red lights, ignore stop signs and weave through traffic. And the voice of angry pedestrians is becoming much louder as some cyclists choose to fly along sidewalks like a bat out of hell. Pedestrians and motorists are not even remotely close to forging alliances on most issues, but when it comes to cyclists, they can agree on one thing: some cyclists are jerks.
Until the fantastical car-free world comes to fruition, cyclists, motorists and pedestrians will have to operate in the same environment. As the kindergarten saying goes: treat others the way you want to be treated. So for cyclists, this means following the laws of the road. If there is a red light, you stop at it. If traffic is moving, don't dart in and out of it at your heart's content. And use hand signals when making turns.
I say this not because I'm a stickler for the law, but because of the friction it creates when these rules aren't followed. How do you think motorists feel when a bike flies right in front of them without warning? And when bikes run red lights it certainly sends a mixed message from groups that say bikes have every right on the road that cars do. I don't drive very often, but even I can be found cursing at cyclists who don't wait their turn at a four way stop.
It is not always an easy thing to do. Being on a bike provides you with certain freedoms a car does not, like weaving easily through traffic or transferring from sidewalk to road conveniently. And stopping at every stop sign is considerably more annoying for someone who has to accelerate under their own power each time rather than pressing a gas pedal. I'll admit, I had a tendency to do much of this over the past few years, and still do to a much smaller degree. I vividly remember a cyclist yelling at me for flying through a red light when I was late for something. But I try not to anymore.
A recent column in the New York Times describes a cyclist, Chris Raschka, who believes he is one of a kind because he actually obeys the rules of the road and tries to cooperate with motorists and pedestrians. He frequently receives compliments from cab drivers, other motorists, and even mothers pushing strollers, while other cyclists are happy to decry him as an "amateur" as they fly through the red light.
The problem is that in most cities, there is a cultural tug-of-war between cyclists, pedestrians and motorists. Each party blames the other, while seeking attention as a victim itself. But the only way a city can become truly bike-friendly is when motorists and pedestrians can themselves come to respect and trust cyclists. And the only way that will happen is when the less cooperative cyclists choose to take the high road and make the road a less tense place.
Photo credit: StreetsBlog.Org
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