Cm Position Paper- Cyclists And Sidewalks

Position Paper: Bike Riding—On Charleston Sidewalks or Not? November 3, 2009

The impetus for Councilman White’s ordinance appears to be twofold: 1/ to allow children safely to ride their bicycles and to gain bicycling skills and not be threatened by cars, and 2/ to control young bicycle riders in downtown Charleston. Both are worthy. The proposed ordinance comes at a time when the number of bicycles on our streets and roads is exploding. The exponential growth is due to a number of factors: the price of gasoline, the perceived need to pursue healthier, more active lifestyles and greener communities, and to the fact that bicycling is “in vogue,” not only among young people, but people of all ages. The boom is worldwide and Charleston is part of it. It would be a mistake to think involves only students and children. In fact, the boom involves a cross section of people in all age and socioeconomic groups. The bicycle has “arrived” as a serious form of transportation, swamping the notion that its uses are mostly for kids at play and for “jocks” to get their exercise. People of all ages have adopted it as a means of transportation, especially for short urban trips (including commuting to and from jobs). The City of Charleston is now devoting a substantial amount of energy and attention to this fact. Becoming more “bicycle friendly” is part of a green initiative. But it also addresses the matters of our personal health, our lifestyles and wellbeing, as well as the success of our tourism industry. Some roads in and around Charleston are unsuitable for bicycle riding. Many more are usable by only experienced, intrepid cyclists. While the City has undertaken steps to make safe places for cyclists, much remains to be done. Cyclists, meantime, have not been waiting for improvements in Charleston. They are a serious factor in traffic and warrant serious attention both in terms of legal regulation and in terms of streetscape changes. KEY CONCPT

Charleston Moves holds that the key to safety on the streets for everyone is predictability. If a new ordinance is to be drafted, it should provide for maximum predictability and avoid differing regulations for different portions of the city. Cyclists should never be unsure as to where they belong, and both motorists and pedestrians should not have to think twice about where cyclists will pop up. As drafted, the proposed ordinance would further confuse everyone, especially because it would allow bicycle riding on sidewalks in some locations but not in others.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) published the “bible” for bike traffic handling. We quote the AASHTO guidelines: Undesirability of Sidewalks as Shared Use Paths Utilizing or providing a sidewalk as a shared use path is unsatisfactory for a variety of reasons. Sidewalks are typically designed for pedestrian speeds and maneuverability and are not safe for higher speed bicycle use. Conflicts are common between pedestrians traveling at low speeds (exiting stores, parked cars, etc.) and bicyclists, as are conflicts with fixed objects (e.g., parking meters, utility poles, sign posts, bus benches, trees, fire hydrants, mail boxes, etc.) Walkers, joggers, skate-boarders and roller skaters can, and often do, change their speed and direction almost instantaneously, leaving bicyclists insufficient reaction time to avoid collisions. Similarly, pedestrians often have difficulty predicting the direction an oncoming bicyclist will take. At intersections, motorists are often not looking for bicyclists (who are traveling at higher speeds than pedestrians) entering the crosswalk area, particularly when motorists are making a turn. Sight distance is often impaired by buildings, walls, property fences and shrubs along sidewalks, especially at driveways. In addition, bicyclists and pedestrians often prefer to ride or walk side-by-side when traveling in pairs. Sidewalks are typically too narrow to enable this to occur without serious conflicts between users.

SOLUTIONS? Adults, we believe, should ride bicycles on roads or on bikeways, shared use lanes or bike lanes. (Where roads are unsafe for this purpose, they should be improved to afford safety for cyclists, motorists and in many cases, for pedestrians.) Meantime, the law should allow for children (together with an adult escort) to ride on sidewalks except on key commercial peninsula streets (to be enumerated by City authorities). How is the term “children” to be defined? Here are some examples of how other municipalities did it: • • • • • •

Kids under 12 may ride on the sidewalk outside business districts 20 inches defines a bicycle - anything less is legal on sidewalks Only Kids bikes under 30" handlebar height allowed on sidewalks Bikes are defined by wheel size, which exempts most kids bikes Bikes ok on sidewalks if street buildings don't abut the sidewalk Kids 12 and under and persons accompanying may ride sidewalks

We think that no matter what the law is, there will always be the need for discretion in enforcement, and the Charleston Police Department has shown wisdom in recognizing that there may be circumstances where a cyclist must use a sidewalk. However, any attempt to codify such exceptions will be complicated and would lead to greater confusion, thus increasing chances of accidents.

We have urged the Charleston Police Department to step up its enforcement of traffic laws for cyclists. We stand ready to cooperate with the Police Department and other departments to help educate the public about cyclists’ rights and responsibilities, and those of motorists and pedestrians as well.