Last update - 00:00 17/09/2007
Government call for bike lanes raises cyclists' hopes
By Tamara Traubmann
It's not easy being green. And it's not easy being a bicyclist in the city, either: Streets are crowded with less-than-kindly and even dangerous drivers, and the sidewalk alternative is less than inviting. "The sidewalks are uneven," explains Yael Cohen-Faran of the environmental advocacy group Green Course. "It's a constant slalom around pedestrians, strollers, dumpsters and cafe tables."
The Transportation Ministry aims to change this situation with new guidelines allocating separate bike lanes on city streets. It is still unclear if bike paths already demarcated on sidewalks will be relocated to the streets.
The seemingly technical change involves a substantial upheaval in national transportation policy, potentially making the bicycle a realistic alternative to a private vehicle. "To encourage use of bikes over cars," Cohen-Faran says, "bike paths shouldn't be at the expense of pedestrian space, but at the expense of the cars."
Yotam Avizohar of the bicyclists' advocacy group Yisrael Bishvil Ofanayim (the Israel Bicycle Association) agrees that marking bike paths on sidewalks has been a mistake. Avizohar argues that as long as riders have to struggle to forge a path in front of them, bikes are not a viable transportation alternative. According to him, current street planning reflects the approach that the urban public space belongs to the car "instead of creating roads that grant a safe environment to pedestrians and include bike lanes, public transit lanes and parking spaces for bikes and mopeds."
Environmental groups hope the Transportation Ministry has finally joined the global trend of allocating lanes specifically to bikes. The exact details of the new regulations have not yet been publicized, but last month's decision states: "Bicycle traffic will be in a separate lane or in a lane marked on the road alongside other lanes. In any case, bike riding will not be on sidewalks."
Uriel Babchik of the bicycle association explained that the ministry had avoided a decision on the matter for some time, due to safety concerns. Part of an interdisciplinary team examining the issue since 2003, Babchik says that putting bikes on the roads will reduce risks to riders, because "a critical mass of bikers forces drivers to slow down and drive more cautiously."
The Tel Aviv municipality has drafted a plan to demarcate bike lanes on three streets: Pinkas in north Tel Aviv, Moshe Dayan in the east, and Jaffa's Yehuda Hayamit street. According to Tel Aviv traffic official Moshe Tiomkin, these will be the first bike paths marked on urban streets in Israel.
The municipality notes that it is concerned that biking on streets could cause accidents. Tiomkin explains that because of Israel's aggressive driving culture "we are very concerned about accidents and injuries, particularly at intersections."
However, city officials understand that the volume of bike traffic necessitates bike-only lanes. According to a 1995 survey, about 5 percent of city residents biked to work, university or school. The city is currently conducting a new survey and preliminary results indicate the figure has risen. Despite that increase, bikes are involved in a constant level of less than 2 percent of Tel Aviv traffic accidents.
If the municipality overcomes its concerns, the urban experience could improve as a result of the new lanes.
"As soon as the size of the road for cars is limited, it is possible to pave paths alongside, and to plant trees to make shade for those in the city," Avizohar says. "It isn't easy to concede the cars' 'holy space,' but there will finally be a precedent now."