Scooters, bicycles and pedestrians in Downtown Austin

I first wrote this blog in 2020. Since then the City of Austin has created about 300 miles of stripes, flexible barriers or curbed bike lanes. They have eliminated or narrowed traffic lanes to create the bicycle lanes on some of Austin’s busiest streets, including Slaughter Lane and Brodie Lane. But very few cyclists are using the new bicycle lanes. The reason according to surveys: fear of injury or death in a collision with a car. Cyclists report increased aggressive driving on streets with designated bicycle lanes. The City reports slowed traffic and decreased crashes on these streets. Since 2020, 15 cyclists have died and 117 have suffered serious injuries from crashes in Austin. There were 6 deaths and 75 serious injuries in 2023. Crashes involving cyclists are going up – despite what the City of Austin says about the benefit of bicycle lanes.

For over one hundred years, traffic in Austin was engineered to accommodate cars and trucks, not bicycles or scooters.  After Governor Rick Perry vetoed a bicycle safety bill in 2009, cities like Austin began to try and merge bicycle traffic into automobile traffic with 3-feet passing laws, designated bike lanes and bicycle traffic signals.  Then in early 2018, electric scooters hit the streets.  At first, there were no laws for or regulation of scooters, but the Austin City Council did finally regulate scooter vendors and create micro-mobility regulations for scooters.   Problem is, these rules are poorly written and almost unenforceable.

I would propose that there is no way to safely merge bicycles and scooters onto many Downtown Austin streets that were engineered for cars and trucks.   Painting a narrow bicycle lane on most busy streets may not provide the 3-feet zone required between a bicycle and an automobile.  There are many places that bicycles should just not be allowed – like Mopac.  I would also argue that bicycles should also not be allowed in the traffic lanes on the most congested downtown streets (Cesar Chavez, Congress, 5^th and 6^th streets to name a few).  It is not safe for bicyclists to operate in these areas, and bicycles in traffic lanes impede already congested automobile traffic.  This all applies to electric scooters as well

And then there is the issue of parking bicycles and scooters.   It is not much of a problem for bicycles, for two reasons.  First there aren’t that many bicycle riders downtown.  Second, if you leave a bicycle on a street or sidewalk in Downtown Austin it is likely not going to be there when you return.   The issue with parking is electric scooters.  They are left everywhere, even though regulations prohibit blocking streets or sidewalks.  They are a constant nuisance and a concern for safety.

The Austin City Council and bicycle advocates want access to all city streets and roadways.  They argue that use of bicycles will reduce traffic congestion.  We have had enough experience to know that that is not true, mostly because we can’t convince enough people to risk their lives to bicycle regularly in the downtown area.  The same argument has been made for scooters, but I see people primarily riding scooters for entertainment.  At the same time, we should be able to make bicycling a safe mode of transportation downtown.  I think that the way to do this is to create bicycle routes on specific streets, and prohibit bicycles on other streets.  Bicycle routes need to be marked, have designated bicycle lanes with 3-feet zones, and need to be mapped so that you can reach any location by bicycle and a short walk.  Electric scooters should be regulated to the same routes.

This is where we talk about pedestrians (note pedestrians in the title of this blog).  Fatalities and serious injuries remain a serious problem in Austin. Walking should be the preferred mode of travel between locations downtown.  It is hard enough to cross streets looking out for cars, without dodging scooters and bicycles who ignore traffic signals and use sidewalks.  Sidewalks should be safe and comfortable for pedestrians in the downtown area, and bicycle and scooter riding should be prohibited on sidewalks.  Bicycles and scooters can be walked on a sidewalk from one bike route to another. 

So how do we implement bicycle and electric scooter safety?  First, we create a downtown zone for special ordinances.  Then we map this zone to create bicycle and scooter routes around downtown.  The routes need to be engineered to accommodate bicycles with marked routes, striped lanes and safety barriers as needed.  New regulations should require use of these routes and prohibit bicycles and scooters on other streets in the downtown zone.  Also, in the downtown zone, bicycles and scooters should follow pedestrian rules at intersections with stop signs or stop lights.  Bicycles and scooters should be prohibited from sidewalks in the downtown zone, except when they are being walked between bicycle routes.What about parking?  Bicycle rentals already have designated parking areas.  There should be more bicycle parking stands for those who are brave enough to leave their bicycle unattended downtown.  Designated parking zones need to be created for scooters, and electric scooters should only be parked in those areas (same goes for the increasingly popular moped-type scooters – Vespa type scooters which have a top speed > 20 mph should operate as motorcycles).  Rules for businesses who want to create a scooter parking area should be developed (they could stripe a parking spot for scooters).  Sidewalks and entryways should not be blocked in any way.  Scooter riders who are actually using scooters for transportation to downtown attractions, restaurants and hotels will not be inconvenienced by these rules.  Scooter vendors should be fined for illegally parked scooters.  It won’t take long for these vendors to pass fines along to the riders. 

The City of Austin’s priority this summer is to enforce parking bans in bicycle lanes. Maybe that is a sign they have put the lanes in the wrong place.