Am I paying my share?

The Mary Peters fallout raises an issue that always seems to be aggravating the cycler/driver divide. Do cyclists pay their fair share for the facilities they use? It seems like as soon as anyone asks the question, it changes into "Should they pay their fair share?" and pretty quickly each side is lobbing in complications until the question is unanswerable. I, for one, would really like an answer to the actual question. As a cycler, just what is the difference between what I pay into the transportation system and the costs that I impose on it?

Now, I concede that there are external benefits to utility cycling like freeing up road and parking spaces for someone else. And, at least a particle or two of air is that much cleaner given the exhaust I would have released. But, suppose I choose to give all of those external benefits as gifts to the world, what about the more basic question?

Does it boil down to the amount of road user fees (which I don't pay, directly) that is spent on the bicycle facilities that I do use, times my share of overall use of the facility? I suppose one should include some small cost for using any street, since I do take up a small piece of moving real estate. So, say the annualized cost of bicycle transportation in Portland is $1 million (PDOT estimate here is $3.5 million over 5 years for capital projects), at most about half of that comes from road user fees (here), and my share of annual Portland bicycle miles is 1/15,000th (based on 3% of Portland trips made by bike and 500,000 residents). That would put my share of the unpaid costs at about $33 per year.

Hmmm, 14 cents per round trip commute. I think I could handle that, if push came to shove...

Socializing bike commutes

A couple of posts back, I mentioned socializing bike commuting as one way to ease new commuters into it (or maybe encourage occasional bike commuters to ride more often). Let's push the idea a little more.

It seems like a natural in some ways. One of the advantages of bikes is the ability to ride together and converse but still have one's own vehicle for different origins and destinations. Kind of like a carpool without the annoyance of the pickups and dropoffs. A group of cyclers is surely more visible than an individual cycler. Especially in the dark, rainy months, it might feel a lot safer traveling home with a group. Veterans could share load carrying, clothing, and other riding tips with neophytes. And, assuming one finds an amusing, like-minded group, there would be some positive peer pressure to get on the bike each day.

Could organized groups of commuters scattered around the city become a sort of dispersed Critical Mass (without the baggage)? I think it's possible. Smaller groups with an "acceptable" reason for riding (getting to work) might make a real positive impact on commuting motorists in a way that neither organized disturbances nor lots of individual commuters could.

Obviously, there are some reasons this sort of thing hasn't just sprung up on a large scale. There's the logistical challenge of matching up a dispersed group of cyclers with different schedules and riding preferences (routes, speeds). Especially with commutes on city streets, legal issues might pop up. At what point would your commuting group need a permit? How do you keep the group together through stop signs? None of these are insurmountable, I think.

Two commenters in the post two down from this noted a couple of potential models to build from (the Bike Buddy program (example here) and a once a month version in Toronto called BikeFriday). Kent Peterson also just posted about a proposed bike "bus" program with a similar intent.

I guess some thought needs to be given to who/what social bike commutes would best serve. Once a month (or week?) probably makes the logistics easier and would serve antsy new commuters and the "Critical Mass" visual impact. Daily groups might better serve the group safety and support role. This is Portland, maybe themed commute rides. I could imagine the impact of 30 cyclers from the "natty dressers commute club" pedaling downtown in their finest some Friday morning! Comments welcome. Would you want to share your commute once or more a month?

Bummer Encounters

I actually find it mostly pleasant interacting with cars in the city. There is a type of negative interaction that always sticks with me in a bad way. It happens maybe once every 4 rides, and I've taken to calling them "Bummer Encounters." These are interactions with motorists in which neither party really does anything wrong, but both sides leave with reinforced stereotypes and general bad vibes. Here's an example:

I took my first ride up Rocky Butte a couple of days ago. It's about 11 miles from the apartment, and instead of using a map, I decided to make a game of following the bike route markers (little bike symbols marking turns on the pavement and occasional junction signs) to get home. I rolled up to a stop sign at a busy cross street intersection. A minivan opposite me was already there, waiting to turn left onto the busy street. Since the van had the right-of-way, I took the opportunity to check out the sunset and have a drink (of water!). Little did I know a Bummer Encounter was unfolding. Either the driver didn't realize he had gotten to the intersection first, or he had been trying to yield his right-of-way to me. In other words, he'd been waiting for me to go and had maybe passed up a chance or two of his own. I gathered this quickly as he rolled down his window, leaned out, and looked like a person about to yell something not-too-nice at me.

Well, just before he did, a horn--beep-beep friendly style--signalled me that the cross traffic wanted to let me through. I took the opportunity to ride straight across and up to the minivan's window. I'm not a confrontational person, and I really wanted to diffuse this potential Bummer Encounter by explaining that the right-of-way was his, and I'm sorry if I missed your signals, but we cyclers would rather you just do your legal thing here. So, I rolled up to the window, and closer inspection reveals he's more upset than maybe I realized. A little confused, I say something really erudite: "Hey, what's up, man?" As I say this, the driver turns away and the power window winds slowly up in my face--comically slowly, really. I see he has a couple of car seats in back.

I stand there a second by the closed window sort of befuddled (more than usual). He keeps his head turned, and that's that. Who knows, but my guess is at best he likes cyclers on the road a little bit less, and at worst, he confused my action as aggressive, critical mass style biker dude. Neither of us really did anything wrong. He should have been more aware of his right-of-way, and I should have payed him more attention. But, nothing 10 seconds of chatting couldn't have straightened out. Shoot, a real Bummer Encounter.

These things happen between cars at intersections all the time. You know what I mean. People wind up mouthing things behind glass, but they get over it pretty quickly. From my time logging complaints about cyclers in Missoula, I think that these incidents make more of an impression when a bicycle is involved. Probably, it's just because Bummer Encounters are so common between cars and so uncommon (even in Portland) car-to-bike.

I still haven't successfully diffused a BE-in-the-making. I feel like it's hard to communicate verbally with drivers without coming off as aggressive, especially when there's already a "situation," however silly it may be. Anyone have any stories with happy endings?

On a more positive note, the ride up Rocky Butte was well worth it. Best panorama of SE Portland and the Cascades I've seen so far from the nifty park up top. The climb's not bad, either, a little sketchy through the tunnel maybe. Oh, and the bike route that took me back home worked great. I think there was only one intersection where I was left guessing a little. Portland's on to something with the bike route markings, for sure. Thanks to all those responsible!