Last week’s post covered the Bicycle Action Committee’s biking trends survey regarding local riding habits. Riders seemed to stay bicycle law savvy, though admittedly choose which moments to obey the rules. This week covers the geography of ridership, particularly the participants’ daily jaunts and where they want to see bike lanes.
Before getting into the details, here’s some pertinently killer news: The survey is taking account of riders’ wishes for bike lanes in order to make Miami a bike-friendly city. A few prospective lanes have been discussed for diverse areas, but one rumored major adjustment to the Miami bicycling situation may be solidifying in the near future. Rumor has it that the FDOT has agreed to include bike lanes on the Third Avenue section of Coral Way. This would allow a smooth route into Downtown by way of the upcoming Broadway and South Miami Avenue lanes. This is awesome, considering many of the survey participants asked specifically for Coral Way accommodations.
Regarding the survey submissions, Miami riders really seem to get around. Each geographic question was open response, leaving participants to fill in their own input. The heavily concentrated areas for commute are major commercial centers -- Downtown, the Beach, the Gables, and most frequently the Grove. Considering the broad range of residency zip codes people submitted it seems riders are coming to these centers from all over the place.
Where do these riders want lanes laid down? The most popular answer was Biscayne Boulevard, a beautiful dream for potential lane development. Bike lanes, however, are preferably striped when the roadways are resurfaced or reconstructed. Since Biscayne has already received several years’ worth of makeovers, it may be a little too late to get overtly hopeful about a full overhaul.
Coral Way made number two on the list for most-desired bicycle routes -- the aforementioned good news will facilitate many commutes.
The final aspect of the survey asked participants where they would like to see bicycle racks installed. Simply put, we want them everywhere. Downtown Miami made the highest ranking response, followed by a generalized “All Shopping Centers” and “All Public Buildings”. Essentially, we should be dropping racks out of helicopters all over town so everyone can feel secure!
The survey is still up and always evolving -- take a few minutes to get heard!
-- Adam Schachner
