Why Don't Most People Bike in Your Town? Comfortable, Safe, and Convenient Bike Facilities 

Sure thing, I always look for ways to improve! I have an email for the channel you could reach me at. It is bikequestwmikewest@gmail.com. Most planners in the US want to do the right thing but I think many still don’t totally understand the potential of cycling and what it takes to make it a viable option, so hopefully this channel will help. Thank you for watching too!

@@bikequestwithmikewest also, car supremacy does a pretty good job of impeding and negating a lot of the good the planners might know and want to do.

@@snoopyloopy you are absolutely right there too! Car-centric city design is like this rolling freight train that many planners and other advocates are trying to slow down and redirect to a truly multi-modal and human scaled approach. There are some great success stories out there, but they don’t come without a lot of good hard work!

It is awful and I’m quite envious of the many livable cities in Europe! I and many others here are doing what we can to improve, but it takes time and education to slow down a roaring train to shift direction.

And you won't even need them if you provide good alternatives the volumes of car traffic will automatically reduce. The number of people that actually like driving are really much more limited than many people think.

Which European countries don't have multiple lanes in cities? Apart from The Netherlands?

Absolutely, I feel the same way! I also love hearing the explanations and thoughts behind the new projects he highlights in his videos.

I would love to do something like that! I really enjoyed the Not Just Bikes and Shifter videos and their different perspectives. I will have to put it on my list of videos to do!

I totally agree on slowly replacing old infrastructure with the newer better designs, and hopefully they will do so for some of the examples I showed. More cities in North America need better standards in place though because I keep seeing streets get rebuilt in the same typical car-oriented design that we see here. We have a lot to learn from the Netherlands, that is for sure!

Thank you, I’m glad you liked it!! I love feedback too so thank you! I will definitely look at the timing more closely for future videos and will continue to polish my editing skills. I have more to come, hopefully some interesting things and some fun ones too!

Thanks for the comment! It is pretty here for sure and there are some fun bike paths to use! I just hope to help create a well-connected network of safe bike paths so we can cut down on some auto use.

@@bikequestwithmikewest Here here! My town here in the UK could also do with some more cycle lanes as well. I haven't cycled in a while due to not having a bike, but when I do, I've ways done it on the pavement as there's no effin way I'm going on the road. We have one cycle path that's uses an old railway alignment that goes to the next town over, but other than that, there's pretty much no infrastructures for bikes here. Keep up the good word!

Thanks so much, that is the beauty of living along the Wasatch Front in Utah! I just wish we could plan our cities a little better here and give more people the opportunity to safely and conveniently walk or bike to get around and enjoy the scenery while doing so.

That is unfortunate and I’m sorry that is what you have to deal with! Everything is relative and I am in the same boat for many roads around here too. Just car lanes and a sidewalk, no bike lanes in many cases. There is always work to be done! Thanks for watching 🙂

I agree, “bicycle gutter” says it all! There are many reasons why I choose to stay away from those when I am riding!

@@bikequestwithmikewest I use them all the time, because that's about all we have. There's a very nice fully separated bicycle route around the north end of Lakeside that's well away from any people and not connected to anything. Surprisingly, it's not very well utilized.

It is one of the most beautiful settings for a metro area that I know of! I just wish our cities were better and preserved more open spaces and agriculture in the valleys. Planning and building cities and suburbs like the Dutch would have been better since they preserve open spaces and rural areas between cities, rather than sprawl spreading and taking over everything like most US metro areas.

@@bikequestwithmikewest That’s interesting to hear since my Pioneer ancestors came into New Amsterdam from Amsterdam. I think those stone houses they built when they settled in Farmington look just like the ones they built in Upstate New York. I was just in Utah three weeks ago and it’s so crazy how much building is going on! I am absolutely astonished and disheartened about the Great Salt Lake. When I went out to Ogden Canyon no waterfalls! 🫤 I would like to suggest Clinton as a Utah community that needs some pedestrian love! They do have a walkway by a water canal so that’s good. Typical strouds and fast food places/ drive throughs

@@dianethulin1700 that is cool to hear about your ancestors! Clinton and the surrounding areas could definitely use some extra help! I know the planners up in Farmington and they and their city engineer are working to get greater trail accessibility in their existing and planned TOD area. I am unsure of the planning efforts in Clinton, but it certainly could be a subject or example in a future video 😃 Outside of poor land use planning (though some cities are trying to do better), stroads really are one of the biggest problems that faces not only Utah, but much of the US. It is on my list of future videos to do, but I would like to talk about how a city’s roads plan is the most important thing to get right, but many cities get it wrong. Trails are great, but if you constantly have to cross and interact with stroads, then it fails to ensure safety, comfort, and attractiveness of walking and biking (three of the five principles the Dutch Crow manual for bicycle traffic suggests - the other two are directness and cohesion). I saw your other comment about trying to walk and get a coffee, and it is absolutely ridiculous that there isn’t sidewalk connectivity to the door! As absurd as it is, it is sadly quite common around here. Some cities are at least mandating sidewalk interconnectivity (including the city I work for), but it is still a band aid on an auto-centric development pattern. Sidewalk connections accommodate pedestrians and mobility device users, but we need to prioritize walking and biking rather than just provide basic accommodations. The sad reality is how many short, local vehicle trips are happening that greatly contribute to traffic problems, that could easily be done by bike or walking if it was safe and easy to do so. People will typically do what is convenient and easy, and when walking, biking, and transit become easier and safer, then more people will use those modes. Good planning is also so much more than providing mobility. Safety, accessibility, equity, environmental (like our problem with the Great Salt Lake), quality of life, socialization, lower cost of living, public health, and so many other factors need to be considered. Auto-centric city design with sprawl and stroads shoots ourselves in the foot if we want safe, livable, and financially solvent cities

I think your situation is all too common around so many places built with cars in mind. Our traffic gets worse because the many that would consider walking or riding choose to drive because there are no safe facilities to connect your destinations. I don’t blame you for driving places, but I can only hope and advocate for things to improve and provide true freedom and choice in mobility! Thanks for watching and I have more to come!

Haha it is awesome to have someone who lives in the area to see this! It looks good on a map to see the trails, but the massive and high-speed roads bisect it and create a car-centric place. Thanks for checking out the video and for the comment!

I hope so too, I hope this channel is interesting to the general public but also helpful to professionals and elected officials. Thanks for the support!

Thank you so much, I love the honest feedback! I can’t improve what I do unless I know how to improve. I am fairly new in creating content, but I have a lot on my mind to share, and the more effective I can be the better! I think three smaller videos makes sense with this one, so I will probably go back and do that. I am working on a couple other videos right now that I hope will be a little more to the point and with a clear story. I also have a fun head to head race series I’m doing showing the competitiveness of biking for shorter distances and pointing out some facts between driving and biking. I appreciate you willing to translate too! I am also learning some basic Dutch but not doing too well yet 😂 Someday soon I will hopefully get to the Netherlands and see it all in person! When you lived overseas, did you spend time in the US? I am curious what you would think about things here!

@@bikequestwithmikewest I lived in Australia but I think the U.S. has similar sprawl and infrastructure from what I have seen one youtube etc. In Australia there was this big dislike of cyclists because they use up space on the road that is supposed to be for cars and god forbid that the cyclist would protect themselves by claiming more space, like riding on the middle of small bridges so cars won't try to overtake where there was no safe option. It was all very backwards logic, reasoned from the starting point that the roads/streets are for cars instead of people. If the aim is to commute safely, the car doesn't have to be the focus. Especially in small towns and between neighbourhoods.

@@mdenouden3y6 absolutely agree! I have heard Australia is similar to the US in growth patterns, so you get it! Things are getting better here in Utah at least because I think more people are getting out on bikes. We still have a ways to go, but I am seeing progress which makes me hopeful. I have some video ideas scripted out that hopefully will help people think differently about it all. It isn’t cars vs bikes vs pedestrians. We are all people just trying to go about our daily business whether we are walking, biking, or driving. Walking and biking certainly come at a much lower cost to society though and help better support health and safety. I do get that driving makes sense for longer distances and where there is a lack of transit service, but so many trips are just a mile or two that can be done fairly easy on bike if there is a good bike network in place.

@@bikequestwithmikewest yeah definitely. And with the help of city planners etc. there could be more of these 2 mile or less trips. Here in the netherlands something is still considered bikeable till about 4 to 5 miles for average people. But people routinely cycle further to get where they are going if it makes sence. E.g. during rushhour you could better cycle home from work in the city then take your car or public transport. And we have decent public transport. But as long as the journey makes sense people are willing to make it. A lot of that comes from good cycling infrastructure and a safe environment to be in without the protection of a big metal box.

Thank you! I used to live in West Jordan but now am in Daybreak 🙂 As far as Utah goes, it is probably the closest to having a similar way of life as a good town in the Netherlands, though still fall short in a lot of ways, especially in mixed land uses. If you ever see me out on my white cargo bike in Daybreak, stop and say hi!

I ride past congestion there all the time and my life is so much happier as I cruise along on the bike path and never have to wait through that traffic!

Definitely! I have it on the list of videos to do and I can say it was a game changer for our family!

I wish I could say I didn’t need a car but I would be lying! The community I live in is like a traffic calmed oasis surrounded by typical car dependent sprawl that forces you to drive many places.

Exactly why those bike lanes are useless! When there isn’t traffic congestion, that road sees some really high vehicle speeds which makes the bike lanes there even more dangerous! There is a separate shared use path out of the roadway there that is a bit better to use. This is why we must understand design as it relates to human behavior. Paint doesn’t stop people from driving in bike lanes when they feel they can use it as an extended right-turn lane.

I appreciate the feedback and I will definitely keep working to improve and hopefully have more great videos to share!

I have heard about the laws in the Netherlands, they definitely are oriented towards protecting the more vulnerable people on the streets. I honestly couldn’t say for sure here, I know it varies in the US. For insurance purposes, Utah is a no-fault state and typically an investigation of a crash would lead to establishing fault. I should know better about motorcycles since I used to ride one before I had kids! It has been a while though and I don’t know if there is an elevated legal standard that drivers are held to when in a case involving a crash with a motorcycle. It is something I am going to research now out of curiosity!

Absolutely! The thought process has to prioritize design for all modes and will ultimately benefit all modes. The sad irony is that designing primarily for the flow of vehicle traffic will bring its own demise of creating terrible traffic. True livability comes with being able to experience your city firsthand outside of a car, so long as it is a safe and enjoyable place to do it!

I’m with you and don’t blame them for doing that either! I am hoping to point out that the human behavior there is showing us that the on-street bike lane on a high-speed road is failing to provide a space that people feel comfortable to be in. That person either didn’t want to cross that high speed road if their destination was on the same side of the road they started on or it is just what you said and they want to see oncoming traffic. To make riding there more safe and comfortable, either two-way separated bike paths need to be on both sides of the road or a bike path built in a separate parallel corridor away from the road. We really shouldn’t put vulnerable people in a space designed purposefully to provide high-speed traffic forgiveness where they can veer into without crashing into something. I personally have only ridden my bike on that road once and I choose not to do it again!

There's a stretch of highway that I ride the mostly ample shoulders. However, closer to the destination, I feel the need to switch sides, because I lose the shoulder on the one side, and the cars are going 65+mph. Always scared a cop is going to bother me, when I just want the added safety. Planners really need to provide for people cycling to other cities no matter the distance.

@paul c make sure to watch out for people turning left. The usually won't look far enough behind when doing that.