hoopdriver
Guru
- Location
- East Sussex
I prefer not to ride on footpaths for all of the above reasons. I do think it is more courteous to pedestrians not to ride on the footpath.
Should cycling be allowed on the pavement?
- Thread starter Cycleops
- Start date
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Shared use doesn’t work in my opinion. My observations of the NL is that segregation is the way forward. White lines don’t stop dogs, pedestrians, cyclists, delivery trucks etc from ignoring them. Ill discipline in endemic. As for enforcement:
Perhaps you should look at this - shared use is all over the Netherlands without there being total carnage.
summerdays
Cycling in the sun
- Location
- Bristol
I cycle over a couple of shared space bridges that are very similar to those busier sections, you just go at the speed of the pedestrians.
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
Shared use certainly works up here... Lancaster and Morecambe are connected via a shared use path and hell of a lot of people use it. Without that path, i doubt so many people would be cycling or walking to work. Caton and Glasson Dock are also connected to Lancaster and Morecambe via shared use paths, frequented by cyclists, pedestrians and horses on the weekends. There's not even a white line to ignore... everyone just shares it.Shared use doesn’t work in my opinion. My observations of the NL is that segregation is the way forward. White lines don’t stop dogs, pedestrians, cyclists, delivery trucks etc from ignoring them. Ill discipline in endemic. As for enforcement:
Heltor Chasca
Out-riding the Black Dog
Sure. And from experience from riding many miles in the NL, this works in city or town centres (or bridges in Bristol) But it is segregated as soon as you are out of town, on LF routes or zones that the Dutch have concluded it’s best that the bike and the ped are kept separate.
Shared use may work on a few isolated places in the UK, but on our local Greenways, the local rags often have letters written in by aggrieved cyclists, dog walkers etc who just can’t agree on how etiquette of shared paths should work. And this isn’t endemic: Twitter is saturated by people who just can’t share and a “THAT shared path is MINE” attitude.
I hear some extraordinary comments from path users when working on Sustrans NCN routes. There are idiots representing every mode of transport.
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MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
If it works in built up areas where there's lots of peds and plenty of bikes, but out of town, where there's fewer peds and not so many bikes, it's best to keep them apart? Not sure where the logic is.
albion
Guru
- Location
- South Tyneside
Wrong, walkers, especially dog walkers, are quite aware that, but for it being a national cycle route, the high quality path would been left unsuitable for standard footwear.
Heltor Chasca
Out-riding the Black Dog
The logic is that when taking in longer journeys, the bike is a faster mode of transport. When shopping, it is fine to pootle along I agree. But when a viable, sustainable mode of transport needs to move large numbers of people from home to work and VV, it needs to be efficient and move faster than walking speed. Connect with a pedestrian and one or both get hurt. It happens.
The NL isn’t without it's problems. Get onto a fietspad on a Saturday or Sunday when the Dutch Road clubs are out riding and you’ll see what I mean. Also ask any Dutch person what they think of sharing space with brommers.
Perhaps it’s just a hierarchy thing. Why do you think cyclists are yelling for segregation? Is it because we like cycling along with tipper trucks and busses? Imagine we lobbied for all combustion engines to pootle along at the same speed as bicycles. Or maybe they should drive along at walking speed? Ridiculous notion I agree.
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
Some are 'yelling' for segregation, some feel segregation is detrimental to their rights as a road user and are 'yelling' for safer roads... different people want different things. That sweeping statement, cyclists are yelling for segregation, just isn't true.
Heltor Chasca
Out-riding the Black Dog
Perhaps and I get your point. I also have many miles under my belt on a bike here in the UK, all over the world and memorably the NL. I know where my cycling experiences have been best.
We could learn from other countries and progress rather than sit back and carry on with the the way our infrastructure has always been just for the sake of democracy.
Here’s a picture comparing the size of a road and a fietspad in the NL. Pedestrian path isn’t exactly puny either.
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MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
Yet we're not doing that. If that were the case we'd have no dedicated cycle lanes, no shared use paths (with or without a dividing line), no contraflows enabling cyclists to legally go the wrong way down a one way street, no toucan crossings, etc...
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
Still got a van parked on their cycle track I see
classic33
Leg End Member
It's on the pavement, and the grass verge. Clear to see.
NorthernDave
Never used Über Member
- Location
- The real Northern Powerhouse
I realise that this won't be a universally popular stance, but whenever I see an adult riding a bike on the pavement, my initial thought is that they are letting the side down.
Bicycles are a form of transport and should be on the road.
Bicycles are a form of transport and should be on the road.
classic33
Leg End Member
There's bus drivers who refuse to cycle on the roads, due to the fact that there's too many dangerous buses on the road?
