Bike Boxes and Sharrows

  Bike Box 
  Originally uploaded by portlandtransport.

Thanks to RPUS for this photo of a bike box in Vancouver. The idea of a bike box is that it

serves as a storage area when there is heavy bicycle traffic, and a way to get to the center of the street to wait to make a left turn.

The "bike box" allows bicyclists to go to the head of the line and so, on casual observation, it appears to advance the status of bicyclists over that of motorists. Not only do bicyclists get to go to the head of the line but also, motorists must wait in line behind the bicyclists.

In general these seem to bring as much trouble as benefit.

bicyclists can not enter  the "bike box" to turn left when motor vehicles are streaming through the "bike box". The bicyclists must wait on the green light and then proceed into the "bike box" on the red. Meanwhile, these bicyclists stand in the way of other bicyclists who want to go on the green

But it's just so exciting when someone puts down paint for you. Of course that paint needs to be in the right place. Washcycle reader John sent me this photo of the new Sharrows in Alexandria on Union Street just past Prince Street. He writes

From what I can tell the car was parked legally.  Regardless, this was not the only instance of a missed placed sharrow.

This experiment will fail if they don't put the sharrows in the right place (out of parked cars and the door zone).

Comments

[Chris]

Are you sure about your description of how these are used? The way I read the descriptions, they are only used in the case of when the light is turning red or about to turn red. In other words, if the light is green, and you want to turn left, you're aren't obligated to move to right side of the bike box and wait - it would be perfectly legal to change lanes prior to the intersection and turn left (using hand signals, of course) like you normally would if there wasn't a bike box there.

Regardless, I have also seen these bike boxes used in London - albeit not as fancy and a different color and all.

[washcycle]

The description isn't mine. It's Bikexpert's. So I'm not sure if it's correct, but he is an expert. It's right there in his name.

[Chris]

By golly, it IS in his name! He MUST be right, then! :)

[taleswapper]

The bike boxes in Glasgow were great, but not having right-on-red helped.

[Contrarian]

When you ride a bike, you get to make a choice. You can either ride with traffic in a lane, or you can ride apart from traffic in a bike lane, or on a shoulder, sidewalk or path.

The markings in both of these pictures presume a certain choice. The sharrow presumes riding in traffic -- something the installer of this sharrow didn't get. The bike box presumes riding outside of traffic. The bike box showcases the primary issue with riding outside of traffic: you still have to deal with it at intersections. But the bike box just makes the situation worse, by creating a new traffic pattern that is distinct from existing traffic but occupying the same physical space.

Even without a bike box, this intersection has facilities for both styles of riding. If you choose to ride outside of traffic, do a two-stage turn -- cross on the right side of the intersection, and then wait for the light to turn. If you choose to ride in traffic, turn left with traffic: get in the left lane and wait for a break.

The thing about the two modes is you have to pick one or the other -- half in and half out of traffic is a disaster waiting to happen. The bike box institutionalizes half-and-half riding.