Tilikum passing: Which side is right for faster bikes?

I am a daily Tilikum bike commuter and this has been an issue since day one. While I generally hate the ride left/pass right idea, in this case, it is definitely the best option. I would appreciate signage to help people navigate this.

Do not blame me!

During the design process for the Tillikum I repeatedly asserted that the only intelligent thing to do was to put a two-way bike path on one side of the structure and a pedestrian path on the other.

Besides being the summum bonum of a COMPLETELY separated bike path, it would have made connections at both ends on the bridge to bike paths much simpler, easier, cheaper, elegant.

Some “inside-the-box” half-wit complained that such would not be ADA-compliant, which made no sense at all.

Vera Katz, who chaired the process, might have been in favor of my idea, but did not intervene.

In this city few cyclists or planners really comprehend the dynamics of cycling and the infrastructure optimal for it.

Anyone who thinks that other people need to move out of their way when they are following the marked lanes is a ******- deleted insult****. Be patient, be courteous, be safe, and stop expecting other people to follow made-up rules you demand for your own benefit. Ride left and pass right is OK especially on these bridges.

“Basically it seems like the bike lane is too narrow,” he [Boehm] said Monday.

This is the real problem with what PDX has been doing for years. The bike facilities are designed for low usage, aka failure, and then everyone is surprised that PDX has completely plateaued in terms of bike modal share.

It’s time to face the future, otherwise we will be ripping out everything that got built between 2000 and whenever we acknowledge we are building it wrong. Build for a 40% modal share, because we’re either going to get there or go extinct. Build for bikes that routinely travel 25 mph, maybe even 30 mph because e-bikes are a real thing and are a growing segment (unlike Portland’s current bike modal share).

I am usually the faster rider and when I think about I have a bit of an algorithm. Since I am generally passing people going uphill, and we are not going that fast, I adopt whatever the side slower riders ride. This way if someone wants to pass me they don’t have to weave.

When I pass people I watch them closely to see if they are following the cardinal rule of cycling “keep your line.” If I have doubts, I will verbalize that I am passing. If they keep their line, then I pass. If they are wobbly or children or sight seers etc., I will use the pedestrian space to pass and give them a lot of space as long as there are no pedestrians.

On the way down, I don’t pass unless someone is riding very slowly. When traveling east, I shift to the right on the down hill and pick up speed so that no one is “stuck” behind me and I can turn right to loop onto spring water without “hooking” anyone.

When heading east, it sucks that there is that speed bump at the bottom that happens right at the time that I want to take my hand off the bars to signal my turn.

This is a commuting route for me, so I make it a point to be a gentleman of leisure.

“Boehm feels it would make more sense if that responsibility fell to the person who wants to pass.”

This is a general rule of movement everywhere.

Because of the width of the lanes, passing right is usually the only thing that makes sense. But no one should be veering for a nonemergency maneuver. A clean pass that provides sufficient space to bikes and peds alone should feel and look natural.

I’ve gotten yelled at for following the signage on the Hawthorne Bridge (it says bikes left and peds right). I think some cyclists would like to pass on the left, even if that means I have to dodge left and right, on my slow commuting bike, every time someone comes up behind. I feel like the weaving and all should be the responsibility of the passer. I’m just cruising over. Pass on my right, please.

I pass on the left on the Hawthorne because I think that’s what most people expect. I don’t feel strongly though, if there were signs on the bridge setting the standard — either left or right — I would be happy to conform. As a trailer tower, passing left always makes me a little bit nervous anyway.

I take the Tilikum every weekday. Passing on the right makes more sense to me because of the way the bridge was designed. I am pretty slow, so I try to keep as close to the left rail as possible to allow bikes to pass without getting into the pedestrian lane. Signage about this would be great.

Oh, and on the east side exit, please note that some of us turn right to go by the Opera House and grab the bike path there. Please pay attention to hand signals! I’ve had to do some yelling to avoid collisions because cyclists are trying to pass me on the right because I’ve slowed down to make that turn. Be safe out there, everyone!

I have thought of this issue every time I encounter a slower user (cyclist, walker, stroller, etc.) while riding my bike. Essentially it boils down to protecting everyone’s right-of-way and assume responsibility for it when you overtake someone.
That involves weighing the situation and using appropriate passing judgement. to complete it in a safe manner appropriate for the conditions. There are times that one cannot maintain a faster pace, and safe assessment rules the day.

Regarding the left/right discussion, I encountered a group of international tourists (right-side drivers) on the waterfront walking toward me, and while I proceeded to pull to my right, they instinctively as a group pulled to their left, which resulted with both of us coming to a stop, in a friendly smile. This is where I became aware of the importance of signalling my intentions whenever possible, left or right.

The limited space on Hawthorne forces the slower rider to make adjustments to peds. As one in this category most of the time, Im ok with that. On Tillikum my experience is passers prefer the right even when I yield the inside track. Where I draw the line is on marked bike lanes along main arteries. I will not move into the door zone so a faster bike can pass while staying in the lane. Passers get this too and generally take the road. I aim this comment to slower riders for their safety. Take and hold the lane. There is no safe right side of a lane.

I frequently see the two main travel lanes on the Tillicum completely free and empty of any vehicle – bus or train – for the entire span. Couldn’t these lanes be used more efficiently – perhaps for bikes to travel on them?

Bridge space is a premium in this town, and infrastructure with the original built design (bridges, paths, MUPs) allowing for enough room to freely pass 4-wide (2 bikes, 2 walkers) at the same time needs to be built into our infrastructure from the original design. Bike infrastructure that accommodates long, continuous, stretches of uninterrupted travel, specifically for bicyclists, needs to start to get built with the idea that there will be multiple users on it, and that people will have to pass each other. All the pinch-points are such a lame compromise – utility poles, garbage cans, railings, tight turns, perpendicular curb cuts, etc. Design for minimum 4-wide easy passing for the entire length.

I’m a daily bike commuter on the bridge and generally the pedestrians travel next to the outside railing so cyclist riding against the inside railing leaves a wide path for both groups to pass on the right which I generally do unless the rider is in the middle for some reason. Either way if everyone uses a little common sense and courtesy, passing won’t be an issue. (dreaming I know…)

I ride the Hawthorne bridge every day. I stick to the left and I seldom move over. The signs on the bridge show bikes on the left and peds on the right. I ride slow-ish if there are peds nearby and I keep as far away as I can. For the speeders, I can shout “Ride left, pass right!”, so thank you for that.

All proffered rationales against completely separated pedestrian/cyclist/motorist ROWs are completely specious:

If anyone is too lazy to walk 30 feet to a pedestrian-only ROW, they deserve to be hit by a bike. Stupidity is no excuse. Give the idiots a ticket.

Yes, bicycles in opposing lanes have a closing speed of 20 mi/hr, but cars in opposing lanes have have a closing speed of 120 mi/hr, and that works, within an acceptable level of carnage. Bikes would not be nearly so deadly.

The relative speed of cyclist to pedestrian is about a factor of 3 in cities. The relative speed of motorist to cyclist in cities also is about a factor of 3. The geometric mean of pedestrians’ speed and motorists’ speed is about 10 mi/hr–about the speed of cyclists. Cyclists whine about being harassed by motorists, while they do exactly the same to pedestrians. Entitled, much!

Shared pedestrian/cyclist paths are dangerous. Read Robert Hurst’s “The Art of Urban Cycling.”

The real problem in urban cycling is encapsulated in the argument of “mean speed.” It is hard enough to provide safe travel for pedestrians in cities dominated by cars. Try to wedge a third mode in at at the geometric speed of the existing 2–good luck!

Either we are for separated facilities for cyclists or we are not. We cannot have it both ways based on feelings of the moment.

In bicycle racing, the onus is on the overtaking rider. Basic rule of racing is always hold your line, let the racer behind you make a decision. Two people making a decision at the same time is a recipe for disaster.

I’ve mostly been in the “ride right, pass left” camp, but I can see the arguments on both sides. I also agree that this argument only exists because the paths are too narrow – otherwise, there wouldn’t be a debate: everyone would ride right and pass left.

But what’s sad is how rigid about it some people (on both sides) are. Until there are signs posting a recommended (or mandatory) passing regime, you don’t get to yell at other people for violating your personal moral code.

Oh wait, I guess you do. Looking down (or yelling) at other people for violating a moral code that you devised is part of what makes Portland special.

Part of the solution seems obvious. Just like drivers on congested roads, bike riders on a congested MUP need to slow down a bit. There’s such a thing as too fast for the conditions.