Bike/LIT and bus lanes should be painted AND physically separated from car traffic.
A line of paint doesn’t do much to prevent people from driving cars or trucks in bike lanes. Instead, physical protection – think concrete barricades, raised curbs, and posts – is what makes bike/LIT lanes safe for everyone.
Some of the many who benefit from bike lanes that are protected from motor vehicles:
- Kids biking around the neighborhood with friends, experiencing the growing freedom that comes with independent transportation
- Adults biking or scooting to patronize local businesses
- People using the sidewalk – especially older adults, people with disabilities, and children – who rely on the dedicated space of the sidewalk to easily get around without faster-moving vehicles like bicycles vying for space
- People driving who rely on easily understood markings and the predictable behavior of other people
- Residents and all those who want to use the road safely
MARTA’s current plans for the Campbellton Road bus rapid transit project include bike lanes separated from car traffic by flex posts. The image below from the MARTA project website is of a dedicated bike lane with potential space for physical protection. We are calling for a high-quality space for people biking and scooting, ideally one that is raised above the street surface, making it feel more like a trail. This type of bike/LIT lane is easier to maintain than posts, which are often hit by turning cars and have to be replaced.
Image on left from MARTA Campbellton corridor webpage; image on right from NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide
MARTA's current plans for the bus lanes call for them to be separated by a curb (good!) and painted at intersections. Bus lanes must be protected to prevent misuse. When people driving cars mistakenly use bus lanes, it slows down bus operations. While there are limitations to how much MARTA can do to prevent this, we want to make sure they’ve fully explored the options, such as those identified in the NACTO Transit Street Design Guide. NACTO suggests bus lanes should be painted red, at a minimum, with additional protection options ranging from rumble strips to concrete curbs.
Designing the dedicated bus lanes in a way that prevents people driving cars and trucks from using them is a preventative measure - it prevents dangerous traffic interactions, and it also prevents unnecessary police interactions. Relying on enforcement is not a good approach. Let’s prevent these problems before they start.
Image from NACTO Transit Street Design Guide
All of the More MARTA projects funded by voters in 2016 should result in safer and more complete streets that meet a variety of people’s needs. MARTA’s goals for the program include “improve first and last-mile connectivity.” Campbellton is one of the first high-quality, high-frequency transit projects to advance from More MARTA, so it’s important to set a good precedent.
Let MARTA know people using bike and bus lanes should be the highest-quality possible, so these lanes will be used as intended - for sustainable transportation - and preserve the safety of people using them.
You can help!
References
- Campbellton Corridor Transit Project | MARTA
- Media coverage of MARTA plans
- Protected bus lanes: NACTO Transit Street Design Guide, Seattle blog post, Chicago examples