By Don Kostelec
July 16, 2019
Maybe it’s just old men yelling at clouds. But what else is there to yell at since that’s what operating the latest in technology-based bike lane and sidewalk obstructions?
Stories and tweets ran this week on a new “autonomous micromobility delivery” vehicle by Refraction AI—the REV-1. The company’s website notes the vehicle will provide “safe and scalable last mile goods delivery in urban areas.”
The twitter feed for Micromobility Industries (I can’t quite tell from their website what they do) noted “We find it very compelling that Refraction is focusing on the bike lane.”
Their ratio stemming from that tweet was also compelling. I don’t have to repeat what happened, because you know the story. Just read it.
You know the story because, as some one who walks and bikes to get places, you are constantly dealing with obstructions in the walking and bicycling environment.
Cities, highway agencies, businesses, and law enforcement see bike lanes and sidewalks as disposable places. They use them as convenient dumping grounds for things they don’t want obstructing motor vehicle lanes.
Construction signs, parked cars, speed trailers, plowed snow, sandwich boards, utility poles. People who walk and bike don’t have to seek out these obstructions; they come across them nearly every day while also trying to avoid errant motorists.
That’s something the tech sector doesn’t seem to understand.
Micromobility Industries went so far as to re-name bicycle lanes: “Other wide vehicles will be joining the micro lane soon too and bikers/scooters riders will need to get around them too.”
Can you blame them for being so presumptuous about taking over that space with tech vehicles when they see everyone else taking liberties with the walking and bicycling environment?
The tech industry and its supporters have no concept of the battles fought for the crumbs that are bike lanes and sidewalks in our cities. At best, bike lanes have become more prevalent over the last 20 years. Protected lanes will take as long to become a standard practice. Sidewalk gaps and deplorable sidewalk conditions remain on some of America’s busiest urban streets.
Jim McPherson (@SafeSelfDrive) didn’t like the response from bicyclists, tweeting: “Cyclists should embrace any—and everything that is willing to submit to size and speed limits in exchange for access to bike space. What those numbers are (width & speed) is perfectly negotiable. But choice is simple: cars or bikes. Bikes desperately need a bigger tent.”
On the surface, that may be true, but it shows the lack of perspective on the origins of modern traffic laws and engineering practices. Laws are designed to clear the roads for cars. Engineering practices maximize space for motor vehicles while defaulting to bare minimum standards for people who walk and bike.
Vulnerable road users are still trying to overcome these issues and now have a new threat from delivery tech. Even if that’s not the intent of micro-delivery vehicles using bike lanes and sidewalks, that’s the concern of people who walk and bike—and a very valid one.
I replied to McPherson with this:
The fear is these companies relegate bicyclists to second class road users. We saw it with Amazon and their attitude toward pedestrians with robots on sidewalks. This stems from a history of being relegated to second class users. If tech companies want support, they have to earn it.
I continued with a thread of replies…
There’s also the sting of AV companies failing to understand bad road design and the realities people who walk and bike face trying to safely get places. AV companies have shown they want more rules for pedestrians since they are hard to detect. Delivery tech must show they’re different.
A statement like this from the delivery tech sector would help: “We realize bicyclists have to overcome lanes of substandard width, as well as obstructions in bike lanes from signs and parked cars. We in delivery tech want to make sure these issues are remedied so everyone can move safely.”
Because if that doesn’t happen and agencies all-of-sudden fawn over delivery tech as a reason to build proper bike lanes and keep them clear of obstructions, then delivery tech will be associated with that double standard–right or wrong.
It’s not the duty of bicyclists or pedestrians to blindly accept this invasion of bike lane and sidewalk space. If the AV and delivery tech sector want support, then I suggest they engage the organizations working to advance safe infrastructure for people who walk and bike.
Instead, they come across as presumptuous about the good deeds they think autonomous delivery vehicles will do for vulnerable road users.
I asked Micromobility Industries if they are working with organizations like the League of American Bicyclists or the European Cyclists’ Federation. It seems that would be a great first step in understanding the issues before they simply re-brand bike lanes as “micro lanes” and assume other technologies will soon be operating in that same space.