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"It's not all about safety" -- Portland, OR Bicycle Coordinator Roger Geller, in response to criticism of bike lane hazards right after two cyclists had been crushed by turning trucks in Portland "coffin-corner" bike lanes during a radio program about bicycling "enhancements" in Portland We at LAB Reform think it is about safety and equitable treatment. We think it is unconscionable that the League has been giving awards and praise to cities so careless about safety as Portland. |
Bicycle Friendly?This is a composite picture. We do not know any city that puts a BFC sign on the same signpost as a no bikes sign. But there are cities that have both signs. We think that's a disgrace. |
BFC gives very little emphasis to competent training for bicycle operation in traffic. The overemphasis on facilities at the expense of education propagates the misinformation that cycling on roadways is dangerous and therefore that segregated facilities are needed. This misinformation encourages harassment from motorists and police and it marginalizes cycling for transportation. The emphasis on facilities -- any facilities -- with no consideration of safety, often results in Bicycle Blunders.
Perhaps the most inexcusable aspect is that BFC does not even try to discourage the worst safety problems in bicycle facilities. There seems to be the assumption that even an unsafe facility is "bicycle friendly."
The BFC program was extensively revised in 2002. While there were some improvements over the original program, serious problems remain, particularly in the most important areas: (1) Failing to educate society about bicycle operation; (2) Encouraging unsafe bicycle facilities; (3) Granting awards to cities that deny cyclists' rights to use the roads; and (4) Giving only lip service to safe bicycle driving practices. It is apparent that this project did not have significant input from the League's cycling instructors.
The BFC program rewards things that are visible and easy to count (miles of bikelanes and paths) with a shameful disregard for whether these are safe (i.e. sidewalk-type bike paths, doorzone bikelanes, or bikelanes with other safety defects are uncritically counted as "good" things). We view this as corrupt.
We note that the bicycle industry's vigorous funding of this program could be either a great opportunity or a great disappointment. The industry funders could look at the program criteria and ask, "Which of these have been abused in previous awards? What areas have caused controversy? What changes should be made to ensure that all cyclists benefit from the measures taken to earn the awards?" That would be a step forward. But if the industry money just goes to "do more of what you've been doing," the problems will get worse.
The name of this program, "Bicycle Friendly" is symptomatic of the problem. It's not bicycles that need friends; it's cyclists. Here's a discussion of a better way: Imagine ... a different kind of friendliness.
The BFC rating criteria, the applications submitted and LAB's feedback are kept secret from LAB members. If LAB revealed this information, we could easily see the overwhelming emphasis of the BFC program on segregated bikeways and the lack of concern for safety and fairness to cyclists. However, we can infer these problems by looking at what is asked on the application and by examining the communities getting the award
If the BFC evaluation process were equally divided between the five areas (engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement/adjudication, and evaluation/planning), then "engineering" (which mostly has involved building segregated facilities) could produce only 20 percent of the score. In addition, at least half of the engineering score should go towards non-bikeway facilities (e.g., pavement surface maintenance, roadway traffic signal actuation, bike parking, public transit access, ATB trails, recreational facilities (e.g., velodromes or BMX tracks), and even winter maintenance of shared-use paths).
In other words, even ignoring the serious safety problems that might remain in a "balanced" BFC evaluation process, segregated bikeways should count for no more than 10 percent of the total score. However, we know of NO communities that without segregated facilites that have gotten this award. It's obvious that BFC rewards segregation.
The main motivations behind those running the program seem to be (1) fear and hatred of auto traffic; (2) a fanatic belief that bicycles will save the world from the evil automobile; (3) the belief that bicycle facilities help sell bikes. While the first two goals above may be worthwhile (without the fanaticism) and we have no objection to the third, this extreme form of bicycle advocacy coupled with a zealous "ends justify the means" approach, can be deadly as well as harmful to the cause.
For another perspective about why this program should be shunned by good governments, see Bike Lanes, Bureaucrats and Bicycle Friendly Communities.
The BFC program claims to have five areas of emphasis: Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement and Evaluation. A recent article in the LAB magazine suggested a sixth E, "Equality" (perhaps better called "Equity"). With the way BFC has been promoted, we need yet another E, "Ethics", which has been missing from the BFC program. In the sections to follow we will look at each of the 5 E's.
| 1. Engineering: | Winking at Safety vs. Better Ideas |
| 2. Mis-education: | Perpetuating Cycle of Misinformation vs. Emphasizing Best Practices |
| 3. Encouragement: | Cheerleading for Bicycle Use vs. Useful Encouragement |
| 4. Enforcement: | What About Fair Laws? vs. Law Reform and Equitable Enforcement |
| 5. Evaluation: | Detrimental Program vs. How to Make BFC Ethical |
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© Copyright 2003-2010 Fred Oswald and LAB Reform.
May be copied with attribution.
Some materials may have been reproduced under fair use guidelines or with
permission of the original author.
The author is a Professional Engineer in Ohio and a certified
League Cycling Instructor.
Last Revised 2/ 6/10