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Re: Marin hires consultant for "independent" review of SMART bike path route
Author: BOB2
Date: 01-07-2016 - 10:53
If a bike path is too remote or fails to connect real destinations with sufficient demand they can be very costly failures.
It has unfortunately been my professional experience that while a handful of exclusive bike facilities do have a very high level of recreational use (beaches, flood control trails, and the like), most of these exclusive bike facilities typically often serve almost no observable "non recreational" (real) "transportation/travel" demands.
It has also been my professional (but often considered by some "politically incorrect") experience that these exclusive ROW bike lanes, can be very expensive, and almost always have a very low cost benefit ratio, as actual transportation investments.
The only bike investments with a significant positive cost benefit ratio are bike lockers and bike racks at place like transit stations, employment centers, or in higher density town centers. This is because these are so cheap, and even with "so-so" utilization, they compare favorably to the cost of even a single additional parking space....
However, as an available "semi retired" transportation economist, I'd happily take that $50,000 to do site visits, take ROW measurements, do cost estimates, and offer alternatives..... There are some very well established design parameters for safety, clearance, width, and fencing requirements in shared RR ROW, so this isn't that difficult.
"Have gun, will travel, reads the card of a man...."
It has unfortunately been my professional experience that while a handful of exclusive bike facilities do have a very high level of recreational use (beaches, flood control trails, and the like), most of these exclusive bike facilities typically often serve almost no observable "non recreational" (real) "transportation/travel" demands.
It has also been my professional (but often considered by some "politically incorrect") experience that these exclusive ROW bike lanes, can be very expensive, and almost always have a very low cost benefit ratio, as actual transportation investments.
The only bike investments with a significant positive cost benefit ratio are bike lockers and bike racks at place like transit stations, employment centers, or in higher density town centers. This is because these are so cheap, and even with "so-so" utilization, they compare favorably to the cost of even a single additional parking space....
However, as an available "semi retired" transportation economist, I'd happily take that $50,000 to do site visits, take ROW measurements, do cost estimates, and offer alternatives..... There are some very well established design parameters for safety, clearance, width, and fencing requirements in shared RR ROW, so this isn't that difficult.
"Have gun, will travel, reads the card of a man...."
