San Francisco: Raised Bikeway Demo Project

SF Bicycle Coalition

San Francisco is piloting a raised bikeway section along Market Street in a continued effort to encourage alternative modes of transportation. This article in Wired discusses the pros (elevated and separated) and the cons (not addressing the overall problem of being a car-centric society) of the raised bikeway. The ideal solution would be dedicated bikeways, as seen in London and Copenhagen. Due to the removal of the shared streets approach, cyclists feel safer and are more inclined to use cycling as their main mode of transportation. This idea of the raised bikeway is definitely a good, site specific solution for the dense, urban core of San Francisco. However, it's going to take a broader acceptance of cycling as a primary form of transportation to support the infrastructure necessary for a dedicated bikeway.