San Francisco's Experimental Raised Bike Lane Sees Mixed Results

Last fall, San Francisco rolled out its first raised bike lane on downtown’s busy Market Street. The short, experimental lane incorporated stretches of different design types: some with sloped curbs and some with 90-degree curbs, wider versus narrower paths, and different heights relative to the sidewalk. The goal was for the city to study what works and what doesn’t in bike-lane design.

Well, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has published a thorough analysis of the lane’s first year, and one thing that appears not to be working so great is the 90-degree curb (“Option D” below). That section of pathway was the site of at least two collisions, according to the analysis, one resulting in a “major injury” when a cyclist tried to enter the raised lane. These accidents will no doubt come into discussion as the agency continues to install raised paths throughout the city. (An SFMTA spokesman said Thursday evening he was looking into the accidents.)