Is there a lane reduction, traffic calming, bike lane or road diet happening in your city or town? Let us know about it below! We'd love to check them out 😊 What did you think of this episode? If you enjoyed it, consider subscribing!
In my city our streets are very narrow, mostly residential and very hilly, but that doesn’t seem to matter to the powerful bicycle coalition. I have many blocks of streets loose all parking on both sides of street in order to have protected bicycle lanes. We also have curbside bicycle lanes with a limited number of parking spots in a former traffic lane. It gets really exciting when a car needs to turn right from a traffic lane and it has to cross an active bicycle lane. We have some one way streets with two way protected bicycle lanes. It is really amazing how many possible ways bicycle lanes can be routed. A big controversity now is a two way protected bicycle lane in the middle of a two way street that has an incredible number of restaurants. Many parking spots were removed and many parklets left from Covid take up even more curb spots. In Austin are there any rules as to who may use a bicycle lane? When is an electricity assisted bicycle considered too fast for leisurely riders in a bicycle lane? We have a huge number of unlicensed electric scooters that are used for local deliveries. I only see them using the bicycle lanes because it’s safer for them, but it’s unsafe for the slower moving bicycles. There are multiple answers to every possible problem. Your videos really make me think about the problems that we all are sharing now and that is why I have written too much. Please send my love to Brent and as always I love this channel because you and Louis are doing a great job here!
11th street in Houston is a big discussion right now. It was put in about 2 years ago and the new mayor is very critical about any road diets, saying that they are only favored by a small anti-car lobby. He is right now saying they are reevaluating it and considering removing it again. BTW, road diet is a bad term for messaging. Nobody likes "diets". They are usually forced and unpleasant. Just using the term, already has the potential for a lot more pushback than calling it "safer streets" or "right sizing roads" or "speed self-enforcing roads" etc.
I'm so happy that HLA managed to pass. During the time when the firefighters union was against it, I enjoyed the influx of videos people sent in of emergency vehicles in LA already using the existing bus and bike lanes to pass gridlocked traffic!
In European cities emergency vehicles rely mostly on public transport and bike infrastructure. Cars simply block those vehicles, while trams and buses are not so numerous, so their lanes are often empty, bikes can disappear quickly. Small vehicles should fit in the bike lane, large vehicles are able to go through the armadillo bumps, so they can have even more space than without the bike lane.
B@ll cr@p. When emergency vehicles need to pass , private commercial vehicles move to both side so the emergency services can pass. And from US reaction videos that is done more disciplined than in the US of A. And they usually use normal roads/streets. And indeed the Netherlands they can make use of bikepaths if they deem that faster. That is possible if you make them WIDE enough. The fire trucks are usually of smaller size, with same gear, than in the US. But probably in US think that it is mentioned in the constitution that Fire Trucks shall be by oversized US manufacturers.. th-cam.com/video/PKi2JkbZHyw/w-d-xo.html&pp=ygU2cmVhY3Rpb24gZmlyZSB0cnVjayBpbiB0cmFmZmljIGluIG5ldGhlcmxhbmRzIGl3cm9ja2Vy
Love your points about emergency access being all about how these things are implemented! Europe uses retractable bollards in a lot of their pedestrianized places so that emergency vehicles, delivery vehicles, garbage trucks can all access the area when appropriate.
Totally! Bike lanes and safer streets for pedestrians can actually improve emergency response if done correctly. We 100% underutilize retractable bollards in the US in my opinion. Thanks for the comment! -Louis
A good example I like is the Broadway proposed road diet in San Antonio. As soon as it was branded as a road diet, Greg Abbott canceled the project. It was a state owned road :( we need road jets all over!
Hey y’all! I listen to the podcast in the car and watch the TH-cam’s when I can. I love the theme song but miss it on the videos. Share the love of a total bop of a song.
😅 I'll have to find a way to work it in! A lot of people were clicking away in the first 30 seconds when we had them on the videos, but maybe we can play it behind us introducing ourselves 👀The song is indeed a bop -Louis
Calling those things "zebras" seems a fraught proposition, since zebra _already_ refers to a different far more common tool for road safety. Obviously we say "zebra crossing" and don't just use "zebra" as a noun in that case, but still. Armadillo seems the way to go.
Barton Springs truly was the example of how not to make a bike lane. Rode around to every BCycle station a while back and that was by far the most terrifying part, constantly transitioning from the asphalt to concrete part of the lane. About to ride start riding to all the new stations, looking forward to riding Barton Springs again and the many other infrastructure upgrades around town.
Yes! It is sooo much better now. If you are interested in a sneak peak, we rode it as part of last week's episode (Austin Using ONLY Transit). Thanks for watching! -Louis
"it cra... not it, the driver, crashed their car" is the most american fluke you could have, but you'd have to have a bit of context about USA to hear it as an outsider
Haha I am glad someone noticed that! It is so engrained in American media and conversation to say a car crash, the car crashed, etc.... It has taken a while to deprogram that from my brain! Thanks for the comment and for watching. -Louis
If a road changes from 4 lanes to 3, emergency vehicles can use the center lane. They can also use the bus lanes. The bad faith arguments from the firefighters union made me realize that, just like the personal injury attorney you mentioned, they have jobs because there are collisions. I hope this is just their union and not actual firefighters, but it's hard to tell.
Best country to drive in? (According to study done by navigation app WAZE) The Netherlands! Why? Because the Netherlands also has the best cycling infrastructure in the world creating an alternative to driving. Reducing the number of cars on the road, also making it better for emergency vehicles.
Enjoyed the discussion. I couldn't help but notice that of all the shots involving bikes there were only 2 cyclists wearing helmets. I'm guessing you don't have helmet laws down your way?
@@wojciechmuras553 Interesting how we did it here in Massachusetts. The law says 16 yrs old or younger must wear a helmet. But the real key to almost 100% acceptance was very simple. It motivated parents to put helmets on their young children when they took them for a bike ride or were learning how to ride. Who wouldn't want to protect their young child. Of course then Parents put on helmets to avoid the "why do I and you don't..." question. Long story short a whole generation of kids grew up wearing helmets and don't think twice about it..and parents realized it wasn't such big deal...and continued to wear them.
Drivers moving out of the way of emergency vehicles. 🤣 Yeah right. The LA firefighters union has a right to be concerned. LA county and the city of LA will more than likely screw things up not to mention that there are several independent cities interlaced with Los Angeles complicating matters.
Thanks for your comment. I feel like the best path forward would be for the firefighters union to try to work with the city on designs that makes a benefit for all vs just wholesale fighting it, but as someone not from LA, my opinion doesn't really matter tbh. -Louis
The should watch: Kazerne Baan 24/7. Rotterdam Firefighters don't have trouble moving. And they probably get themselves some decent (meaning not needlessly clumsy) fire engines.
@@beyondEV Is it agile enough to fit down these bike lanes in the moving lane is blocked? th-cam.com/video/4e27uM8mQEM/w-d-xo.html Or should I be asking is it thin enough to fit down these bike lanes? The City of LA is installing these on narrower residential streets as well as main (arterial) streets. Edit: There are variations on arterial roads where the bike lanes are on one side and sometimes even have a designated bus lane (problem: drivers frequently use them to try and get around traffic) or bike lanes are squeezed between the parking lane and moving lane(s) (problem: bicyclists have to be careful of people in the parking lane suddenly pulling out or opening a door not to mention people double parking in the lane forcing bicyclists into traffic to get around).
@@TransitTangents I should have prefaced that I am not necessary against bike lanes. My problem is that the implementation of good ideas tends to be screw up by politicians and bureaucrats, especially in the city of LA. Like the City of San Diego did when they installed "edge lanes" without getting community feedback or even providing advanced notice (th-cam.com/video/zeynqnirofE/w-d-xo.html). It apparently didn't last two weeks. Side note - The City of Culver City, which is surrounded by the City of LA, spent millions of dollars on installing bike/bus lanes in their downtown area but last year voted to cancel the project because of traffic flow problems.
> using AI Generated Imagry... Don't do that. It makes your videos look like you do not give a damn, and only cares about this as a grift. Don't cheapen your message, please.
Measure HLA passed by overwhelming numbers. BTW, this measure was not about establishing a new program to plan and design a more pedestrian and bicycle friendly ctywide infrastructure street plan. The mobility plan already exists. It was passed in 2015. It took many years to finalize. The HLA measure was about forcing the city's hand to implement the plan sooner rather than later. The city has been slow walking the implementation for a while now, and residents began feeling betrayed after all the work that was put in by so many different organizations and individuals. Even LAFD signed off on the mobility plan in 2015. Here is a short YT video about it. th-cam.com/video/QsikQar1LEc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=WTQE8a_1Q0qV-Y46
Is there a lane reduction, traffic calming, bike lane or road diet happening in your city or town? Let us know about it below! We'd love to check them out 😊
What did you think of this episode? If you enjoyed it, consider subscribing!
In my city our streets are very narrow, mostly residential and very hilly, but that doesn’t seem to matter to the powerful bicycle coalition. I have many blocks of streets loose all parking on both sides of street in order to have protected bicycle lanes. We also have curbside bicycle lanes with a limited number of parking spots in a former traffic lane. It gets really exciting when a car needs to turn right from a traffic lane and it has to cross an active bicycle lane. We have some one way streets with two way protected bicycle lanes. It is really amazing how many possible ways bicycle lanes can be routed. A big controversity now is a two way protected bicycle lane in the middle of a two way street that has an incredible number of restaurants. Many parking spots were removed and many parklets left from Covid take up even more curb spots.
In Austin are there any rules as to who may use a bicycle lane? When is an electricity assisted bicycle considered too fast for leisurely riders in a bicycle lane? We have a huge number of unlicensed electric scooters that are used for local deliveries. I only see them using the bicycle lanes because it’s safer for them, but it’s unsafe for the slower moving bicycles.
There are multiple answers to every possible problem.
Your videos really make me think about the problems that we all are sharing now and that is why I have written too much.
Please send my love to Brent and as always I love this channel because you and Louis are doing a great job here!
11th street in Houston is a big discussion right now. It was put in about 2 years ago and the new mayor is very critical about any road diets, saying that they are only favored by a small anti-car lobby. He is right now saying they are reevaluating it and considering removing it again.
BTW, road diet is a bad term for messaging. Nobody likes "diets". They are usually forced and unpleasant. Just using the term, already has the potential for a lot more pushback than calling it "safer streets" or "right sizing roads" or "speed self-enforcing roads" etc.
How about the opposite? Turning a two-way street into a 5 lane stroad, AND THEY'RE PROUD OF IT!
I'm so happy that HLA managed to pass. During the time when the firefighters union was against it, I enjoyed the influx of videos people sent in of emergency vehicles in LA already using the existing bus and bike lanes to pass gridlocked traffic!
In European cities emergency vehicles rely mostly on public transport and bike infrastructure. Cars simply block those vehicles, while trams and buses are not so numerous, so their lanes are often empty, bikes can disappear quickly. Small vehicles should fit in the bike lane, large vehicles are able to go through the armadillo bumps, so they can have even more space than without the bike lane.
B@ll cr@p. When emergency vehicles need to pass , private commercial vehicles move to both side so the emergency services can pass. And from US reaction videos that is done more disciplined than in the US of A. And they usually use normal roads/streets.
And indeed the Netherlands they can make use of bikepaths if they deem that faster. That is possible if you make them WIDE enough.
The fire trucks are usually of smaller size, with same gear, than in the US. But probably in US think that it is mentioned in the constitution that Fire Trucks shall be by oversized US manufacturers..
th-cam.com/video/PKi2JkbZHyw/w-d-xo.html&pp=ygU2cmVhY3Rpb24gZmlyZSB0cnVjayBpbiB0cmFmZmljIGluIG5ldGhlcmxhbmRzIGl3cm9ja2Vy
Love your points about emergency access being all about how these things are implemented! Europe uses retractable bollards in a lot of their pedestrianized places so that emergency vehicles, delivery vehicles, garbage trucks can all access the area when appropriate.
Totally! Bike lanes and safer streets for pedestrians can actually improve emergency response if done correctly. We 100% underutilize retractable bollards in the US in my opinion. Thanks for the comment! -Louis
A good example I like is the Broadway proposed road diet in San Antonio. As soon as it was branded as a road diet, Greg Abbott canceled the project. It was a state owned road :( we need road jets all over!
Loved this video and I love the Barton Springs Rd changes ❤
Nice video, only 2k views, more ppl should watch this and get educated on what good streets/roads are NO MORE STRAODS!!
Thankyou! Appreciate the positive feedback. Share it with a friend!
Hey y’all! I listen to the podcast in the car and watch the TH-cam’s when I can. I love the theme song but miss it on the videos. Share the love of a total bop of a song.
😅 I'll have to find a way to work it in! A lot of people were clicking away in the first 30 seconds when we had them on the videos, but maybe we can play it behind us introducing ourselves 👀The song is indeed a bop -Louis
Calling those things "zebras" seems a fraught proposition, since zebra _already_ refers to a different far more common tool for road safety. Obviously we say "zebra crossing" and don't just use "zebra" as a noun in that case, but still. Armadillo seems the way to go.
That is a good point. Thanks for the comment!
Barton Springs truly was the example of how not to make a bike lane. Rode around to every BCycle station a while back and that was by far the most terrifying part, constantly transitioning from the asphalt to concrete part of the lane. About to ride start riding to all the new stations, looking forward to riding Barton Springs again and the many other infrastructure upgrades around town.
Yes! It is sooo much better now. If you are interested in a sneak peak, we rode it as part of last week's episode (Austin Using ONLY Transit). Thanks for watching! -Louis
"it cra... not it, the driver, crashed their car"
is the most american fluke you could have, but you'd have to have a bit of context about USA to hear it as an outsider
Haha I am glad someone noticed that! It is so engrained in American media and conversation to say a car crash, the car crashed, etc.... It has taken a while to deprogram that from my brain! Thanks for the comment and for watching. -Louis
If a road changes from 4 lanes to 3, emergency vehicles can use the center lane. They can also use the bus lanes. The bad faith arguments from the firefighters union made me realize that, just like the personal injury attorney you mentioned, they have jobs because there are collisions. I hope this is just their union and not actual firefighters, but it's hard to tell.
I place this comment in hopes of placating the Great TH-cam Algorithm, that it may show favor to this channel. 😉
All hail the great TH-cam algorithm 🙌🙌😂
Exactly what I need educated on, getting into urban plannnning 🎉
🥳 Thanks for watching😅
They aren't against bike lanes, they are against poorly built bike lanes.
Best country to drive in? (According to study done by navigation app WAZE) The Netherlands!
Why? Because the Netherlands also has the best cycling infrastructure in the world creating an alternative to driving. Reducing the number of cars on the road, also making it better for emergency vehicles.
Interesting! Didn't know about that study! Appreciate the comment 😊-Louis
I’ve cycled around the Netherlands and it truly is the transit and biking paradise.
Enjoyed the discussion. I couldn't help but notice that of all the shots involving bikes there were only 2 cyclists wearing helmets. I'm guessing you don't have helmet laws down your way?
Few countries do, since it causes massively reduced interest in biking wherever introduced.
@@wojciechmuras553 Interesting how we did it here in Massachusetts. The law says 16 yrs old or younger must wear a helmet. But the real key to almost 100% acceptance was very simple. It motivated parents to put helmets on their young children when they took them for a bike ride or were learning how to ride. Who wouldn't want to protect their young child. Of course then Parents put on helmets to avoid the "why do I and you don't..." question. Long story short a whole generation of kids grew up wearing helmets and don't think twice about it..and parents realized it wasn't such big deal...and continued to wear them.
I wear one because I like my head intact. 😅
Drivers moving out of the way of emergency vehicles. 🤣 Yeah right. The LA firefighters union has a right to be concerned. LA county and the city of LA will more than likely screw things up not to mention that there are several independent cities interlaced with Los Angeles complicating matters.
Thanks for your comment. I feel like the best path forward would be for the firefighters union to try to work with the city on designs that makes a benefit for all vs just wholesale fighting it, but as someone not from LA, my opinion doesn't really matter tbh. -Louis
The should watch: Kazerne Baan 24/7. Rotterdam Firefighters don't have trouble moving. And they probably get themselves some decent (meaning not needlessly clumsy) fire engines.
@@beyondEV Is it agile enough to fit down these bike lanes in the moving lane is blocked? th-cam.com/video/4e27uM8mQEM/w-d-xo.html Or should I be asking is it thin enough to fit down these bike lanes? The City of LA is installing these on narrower residential streets as well as main (arterial) streets.
Edit: There are variations on arterial roads where the bike lanes are on one side and sometimes even have a designated bus lane (problem: drivers frequently use them to try and get around traffic) or bike lanes are squeezed between the parking lane and moving lane(s) (problem: bicyclists have to be careful of people in the parking lane suddenly pulling out or opening a door not to mention people double parking in the lane forcing bicyclists into traffic to get around).
@@TransitTangents I should have prefaced that I am not necessary against bike lanes. My problem is that the implementation of good ideas tends to be screw up by politicians and bureaucrats, especially in the city of LA. Like the City of San Diego did when they installed "edge lanes" without getting community feedback or even providing advanced notice (th-cam.com/video/zeynqnirofE/w-d-xo.html). It apparently didn't last two weeks.
Side note - The City of Culver City, which is surrounded by the City of LA, spent millions of dollars on installing bike/bus lanes in their downtown area but last year voted to cancel the project because of traffic flow problems.
> using AI Generated Imagry...
Don't do that. It makes your videos look like you do not give a damn, and only cares about this as a grift. Don't cheapen your message, please.
Measure HLA passed by overwhelming numbers.
BTW, this measure was not about establishing a new program to plan and design a more pedestrian and bicycle friendly ctywide infrastructure street plan. The mobility plan already exists. It was passed in 2015. It took many years to finalize. The HLA measure was about forcing the city's hand to implement the plan sooner rather than later. The city has been slow walking the implementation for a while now, and residents began feeling betrayed after all the work that was put in by so many different organizations and individuals. Even LAFD signed off on the mobility plan in 2015.
Here is a short YT video about it.
th-cam.com/video/QsikQar1LEc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=WTQE8a_1Q0qV-Y46