Phoenix Is Not So Bicycle Friendly…
Ever since I bought my bike a week ago, I have been doing some major riding around Chandler, Tempe, and Phoenix. Yesterday I did about 15 miles and a few times before that I did a 10 mile ride. I’ve started to see more and more of the city, especially when it comes to the bike lane system. And the easiest way for me to sum it up is by saying…it sucks.
The Best Of The Cities
Of the three cities I do most of my riding in, Tempe is the best. It has even won awards as a bicycle friendly community through 2007 (according to the sign I saw). However, even this city is pretty crappy when it comes to riding bicycles. Sure, they have tons and tons of bike lanes all over the city.
The problem is that hardly any of them connect. I’ll be riding along a bike lane and hit a stop light, only to see the bike lane disappear into thin air on the other side of the intersection. So I’m stuck riding on the side of the road, which gives me about 2 feet of space between me and the crazy drivers of phoenix. What in the hell?
And the other thing that really bothers me is you never know what roads are going to have bike lanes. So have them, some don’t. Some even have lanes on one side of the road and not on the other. It’s as if the people in charge of the bike lanes got tired and decided to call it a day.
Sure, I could download the PDF map of all the bike lanes, but who wants to spend half the day trying to plan a trip 5 miles across town. I’d rather hop on my bike and start riding.
Phoenix Is Even Worse
Phoenix is even worse than Tempe because is hardly ever gives you a bike lane to ride on. They expect to ride along the shoulder of the road and risk getting yourself nailed by a car going 20 over the speed limit. Not exactly something I want to risk.
The easiest solution is to ride on the sidewalks since it’s a lot safer. The worst thing that could happen is I run someone over that is walking. Sounds better than getting hit by a car going 50 and not paying attention.
The People Are Just As Bad
If riding along the narrow shoulder and feeling the wind of cars coming by wasn’t enough, some of the people hear feel it’s necessary to yell random things and honk their horns at bicyclists. The other day I did a short ride around town and at least 3 people drove along side me and yelled something at me. Who knows what they were yelling but I’m sure it wasn’t “Hey, how’s it going.”
Phoenix Vs. Honolulu
The only other city I have lived in where my main transportation was a bike was Honolulu. And I must say that they had a much better bicycle system that made it easy to get around the city. I rarely got honked at by cars and never had to guess where I could find a bike lane since most of their main roads had them. They made them pretty wide to so you never had to worry about cars coming near you.
My Conclusion
The fact that Tempe is on the list of most bicycle friendly communities tells me that the United States has a long way to go before we are a truly a bicycle friendly country. I really hope a lot of changes happen over the next few years to make it easier for people to get around on bicycles.
But I’m not going to sweat it, I am going to continue to cruise around this city and find a way to avoid cars (I hope). Have a great weekend!
Posted on: January 16th, 2009
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Justin-
I share much of your frustrations. It isn’t easy (yet) to be a bicyclist in Phoenix, but there are many of us trying to change that. Join in the solution!
http://www.cazbike.org/
Thanks, and keep up the great posting.
Cheers,
Sam
Although I’ve never ridden a bike in Phoenix (driving through it was scary enough), I can definitely agree that the US as a whole has a long ways to come. A lot more people would ride their bikes instead of driving if they weren’t so damn scared of getting hit by a car.
@Dave: Haha, I’d have to agree it can be scary driving here. Especially when people decide to merge into your lane even though you driving right next to them. Seems to happen like 3 times whenever I get i the car.
It’s pretty scare over here to ride a bike on the road. If a passing vehicle doesn’t sideswipe you (bike lanes are almost non existent in this country), then the air pollution’ll take you out. :O Oh, and did I mention the tropical heat? Ouch. :O
I hate when people yell out of their cars when I’m riding my bike, unless it’s a couple girls being flirty. It’s usually some dumb redneck in a pickup truck that yells something you can’t understand.
I’m just discovering the hazards of riding a bike in a major city, and LA isn’t the most friendly bike town. Just like Tempe, bike lanes tend to start and stop at strange locations and switching to the sidewalk has its own hazards.
However, I’ll still be riding my bike because until a major solution presents itself, I don’t have any alternative.
I will admit the buses here are pretty bike friendly, so I can get around on mass transit then fight the road issues.
We have about two bike lanes here in Boston, though surrounding areas like Cambridge, Milton, and Brookline have some nice bike lanes. Still I ride in the street and am usually going fast enough that I’m either passing cars or staying out of their way. Riding on the sidewalk seems more dangerous with random people walking out of building and cars around corners not seeing you…
Even if I’m taking up the whole lane in tight spaces I’m on a fracking bicycle. No one is in such a rush they can’t take 10-20 seconds to chill out and go around the minor inconvenience that a bicycle is. In the end every bicyclist out there actually makes it easier for everyone to get around with less cars clogging up the roads. It’s a mentality problem just as much as infrastructure.
Anyway, no one messes with you on the roads here now, most people recognize someone riding a bike in the snow isn’t someone you want to mess with!
My tip of the day is to get a u-lock with a chain big enough to throw around your shoulder. People tend to stay out of your way when they see you carrying a steel lock…
I’ve been commuting by bicycle in the Metro Phoenix area for about 40 years and I’ve had very few unpleasant experiences. I’ve seen cyclists sitting in among the cars waiting to make a left turn like a four-wheeled vehicle. I wonder sometimes if a person’s riding style and etiquette lead to poor behavior on motorists’ parts. We don’t have professional bicycle rider training courses; perhaps we should. Motorcycle riders can go through rider training through the MSF programs. One of the things emphasized in rider training is that 97% of car/bike accidents are preventable by the rider. As I reflect on my past unpleasant experiences with motorists, I realize that virtually all of them were my fault. Just a very few were were ignorant attempts at intimidation by drivers.
Times have changed though. Bike lanes and canal routes were unheard of in the ’70s. I’m now a big fan of bike lanes and 90% of my current commute uses them. I’m not such a big fan of bike paths mostly because you have to share them with pedestrians and the maintenance is usually not that good. You are still young; give Phoenix riding a chance.
“We don’t have professional bicycle rider training courses; perhaps we should.”
Tim — a training course is an excellent idea, and I highly recommend it to ALL cyclists. What you want to look for is classes taught by an “LCI”. That stands for League Certified Instructor, they are certified by the League of American Bicyclists. As far as I know, this is the only nationally-recognized certification.
The Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists offers such courses, and they (lately they have been offered FREE OF CHARGE) but at the present moment none are scheduled in Phoenix, check schedules at http://www.cazbike.org/BikeEd
Classes are offered (also FREE!!) more regularly in Tucson — see
http://www.bikeped.pima.gov/allsafetyclasses.html
Justin,
As Ed indicated, if you’re new to road cycling, a training course is highly recommended. I’ve been a mountain biker for many years, but had little experience on riding on city roads. So, I took last Fall a free class from the Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists (cazbike.) I believe their road safety classes are only offered from the Fall thru the Spring (don’t blame them for not offering them in our sizzling summer heat.) Although the course takes an entire weekend, it is well worth it. Every once in a while I commute to work in North Phoenix (15 miles one way), but I mostly use it to ride to the coffee shop about 4 miles from my house in downtown Phoenix. The experience has been all but positive so far. I feel now quite confident riding on the road. Like many, I used to use the sidewalks a lot, use pedestrian crossings across intersections, I was afraid to “take” the lane and was VERY afraid of moving across 2 or 3 lanes of traffic to make a left turn. Like you, I didn’t understand why bike lanes would disappear before an intersection to suddenly reappear after you’ve crossed it. I thought they had done a poor job designing the system. However, through this course, I learned why they’ve designed it this way for your own safety: before arriving to an interesection, you’re supposed to move to the left of the lane so you’re not obstructing cars that want to make a right turn, unless you’re making a right turn yourself. Bike lanes disappear (before an intersection) to give you the opportunity to do this freely. By the way, another thing I learned is that here in Arizona, if there’s a bike lane present and you’re riding on the sidewalk, you’ve got everything to lose in court should a non-fatal collision occur with a car or a pedestrian. It obviously takes a lot of confidence in yourself to do many of these things and the hands-on portion of the course really helps building that. Since taking that course, I’ve also found out that drivers don’t mess around with confident and serious cyclists. I now ride with a fluoresent safety vest (I don’t care if I look dorky!), helmet, lights (lots of them at night!), use hand signals a lot, etc. All of these things seem like they produce a subconcious reaction on the part of car drivers and they simply give you the respect you deserve on the road.
Here is a link for some basic safety video tips:
http://parking.arizona.edu/alternative/bikesafety.php
I agree what makes the valley so car friendly also makes it bicycle friendly. You never lived up north and hence never experienced the pot holed pavement? Or lived in the Northeast where congestion isn’t just from cars but also pedestrians. A world view will lead to you here to one of the best places to ride the bicycle in the grid of the flat valley. Many motorists are fine, a few not.
As a car free person where you live is a big factor in your rides. Central Phoenix enjoys a 1/4 gird. 85 percent of my driving never left the side streets. I found South Scottsdale a close second with its collector streets and bicycle friendly government.
That being said knowledge is power, using a mirror will improve your ridding a 1,000 percent. A reflective vest will add to the long sight lines we enjoy. Knowing the laws and how to apply them will gain respect and acceptance.
Taking the lane is a important part to riding here in the valley. Personally bike lanes provide more conflicts than they solve. Mill ave is one place where bike lanes work because they allow cycling to freely flow around the congestion. In other places bike lanes only increase cars level of service and speed.
Personally, I think it is impressive how many bike lanes/routes/paths there are out there in the Phoenix Metro area. They have a whole bunch of those Bikeways maps down at the Tempe Transit Center kiosks, so you don’t have to go print the pdf file. I’ve carried that map along with me, especially if I go into an area I don’t know. I enjoy reading the map in advance to learn the best way to get around town, and I think it’s important to take that time to understand what has been set up for us to use out there.
About the drivers, yeah, sometimes, but certainly not all the time, they’ll scream things out at you, and they overall likely don’t understand bike laws and all that. However, the thing is, the worst thing about Phoenix (metro) is the people (overall, not everyone). So, in any pool of X amount of people, I feel you are going to find a greater concentration of self-absorbed, issue-laden idiots than you will in other parts of the country… in the end, I just do my biking and don’t pay them any mind.
I love biking around Phoenix(metro)!
Hi Justin
I live in Rio, Brazil and I will be in Phoenix on 16th, october until 29th, november to improve my english. At this time, my inttention is to buy a bike and enjoy the city, Tempe etc. Could you please indicate to me some good stores and bike ways etc etc? Thank you so much.
Lourivaldo Ferreira
If you think Pheonix is not Bicycle friendly, try London for cycling
To all bicycle enthusiatists here, I simply say, be careful.
I have no issue with your preference to ride on the sidewalk. I would probably do the same. However, please be aware of the various municipal ordinances regarding this. Phoenix has no ordinance against riding on the sidewalk. Scottsdale does. I don’t know about the other cities.
I represent a goodly number of people involved in car-bike collsions. My chief advice here is when you are riding on a sidewalk, ride IN THE SAME DIRECTION TRAFFIC IS FLOWING!!!!! People think that they should do the opposite, so they can see traffic coming at them. The problem is that people pulling out from intersecting streets and private drives do not look back to their right before doing so, because they don’t expoect any “vehicles” coming from that direction. This is the most common manner in which car/bike collisions occur.
Also, AZ law prohibits riding a bike through a crosswalk. You MUST get off and walk your bike through the crosswalk.
Lastly, if you choose to ride in the roadway, remember, you are considered a “vehicle”, and must obey the same rules of the road as cars.
Think, always! As I tell my kids, you get ito a collsion with a car, the car wins 100% OF THE TIME!!
Safe riding to all.
Attyman
Dear Attyman,
I agree generally with you advice about sidewalk riding, and your point about direction-of-flow is particularly important.
But where you said
“Also, AZ law prohibits riding a bike through a crosswalk”
I am not aware of any (arizona state) law that prohibits this, so if there is PLEASE cite it; see e.g. Maxwell where the (Arizona) supreme court affirmed that this was not the case –
http://azbikelaw.org/blog/sidewalk-cycling-in-arizona/
(the usual disclaimers apply; i am NOT an attorney)
One thing is certain. If you don’t walk your bike through a crosswalk but ride it instead, you are no longer a pedestrian and no longer entitled to the protections a pedestrian in a crosswalk has. I see this all the time on my commute.
oh, and I’m pretty sure this is wrong too:
“Scottsdale does (have an ordinance against sidewalk riding)”
see
http://azbikelaw.org/blog/sidewalk-cycling-in-arizona/#comment-1659
Interesting true fact is that Tempe has a “same-way” ordinance — that is to say that wrong way sidewalk riding is prohibited.
Interestingly also, Tempe is the only community that has ticketed me as a cyclist. Many years ago a couple of overzealous Tempe cops gave me a ticket for running a stop sign. Fortunately, I was under 18 at the time so no fine.
To all bicycle enthusiatists here, I simply say, be careful.
I have no issue with your preference to ride on the sidewalk. I would probably do the same. However, please be aware of the various municipal ordinances regarding this. Phoenix has no ordinance against riding on the sidewalk. Scottsdale does. I don’t know about the other cities.
I represent a goodly number of people involved in car-bike collsions. My chief advice here is when you are riding on a sidewalk, ride IN THE SAME DIRECTION TRAFFIC IS FLOWING!!!!! People think that they should do the opposite, so they can see traffic coming at them. The problem is that people pulling out from intersecting streets and private drives do not look back to their right before doing so, because they don’t expoect any “vehicles” coming from that direction. This is the most common manner in which car/bike collisions occur.
Also, AZ law prohibits riding a bike through a crosswalk. You MUST get off and walk your bike through the crosswalk.
Lastly, if you choose to ride in the roadway, remember, you are considered a “vehicle”, and must obey the same rules of the road as cars.
Think, always! As I tell my kids, if you get into a collsion with a car, the car wins 100% OF THE TIME!!
Safe riding to all.