Very few collisions reported despite increase in bike usage

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Asked if she intends to bring it up at a future subcommittee meeting, she answered with an emphatic yes.

“I think not enough has been done to date and it is time to start implementing some of these trials as soon as possible,” she said.

Perhaps the most well-known — certainly the most visible — effort by the city to address the bicycle/ pedestrian safety issue was the green bike lane painted down the middle of State Street, which was designed to separate people on wheels from people on legs.

“The purpose of the green markings was to channel cyclists to the center of the street and pedestrians to the sides of the street so user movements were more predictable,” Councilmember Sneddon said.

It didn’t work out as planned.

“In October 2022, the green bike markings on the State Street Promenade were removed,” she said. “While the green markings were effective positioning cyclists near the center of the street, the green markings were less effective positioning pedestrians to the sides of the street.

“Because of this, the city removed the green markings, and continues to explore interim options for cyclists and pedestrians to coexist in the promenade.”

The city is not alone in its efforts, focusing with others to increase bicyclists’ awareness of how to behave when riding in public — and enforcing good behavior when necessary.

“The city has been working with our regional and state partners, MoveSBC (formerly SBBIKE+COAST), the Police Department, and stakeholders downtown and throughout the city to discuss concerns about ebike and regular bike riders, both young and old, riding unsafely or disrespectfully, and have been implementing strategies to try and curb these behaviors along the State Street Promenade and throughout the city,”

Councilmember Sneddon said.

“Over the summer, the city released a Stay Safe on State video with the message targeted to all road users to be respectful, stop at red lights, keep a safe