Please read the letter we plan to send to the mayor and city council, and add your name if you support our position by emailing us here.
Honorable Mayor and Council Members:
In the ongoing controversy about placing a cycle track on Hopkins Street, the casual observer may think that cyclists are universally supportive of such infrastructure. That’s not the case. Many cyclists avoid separated lanes and cycle tracks for a lot of good reasons; the undersigned are among that number.
Cyclists, and people in general, have strong feelings about this sort of infrastructure, and reasonable people can disagree. But it is simply a fact that a lot of cyclists avoid it. Many cyclists do not feel safe riding in cycle tracks, especially two-way tracks where cyclists traveling in opposite directions pass within inches of each other.
Increasingly, electric scooters, motorized cycles, and similar vehicles also use bike lanes and cycle tracks. These vehicles often travel much faster than bicycles and accelerate with considerably more mass. Cyclists can feel trapped between a fast-moving motor vehicle and the concrete barrier.
Of course, the fact that some cyclists dislike and avoid these projects doesn’t necessarily mean they are bad projects. It may be simply a matter of preference. But are they achieving the promised outcome: encouraging new cyclists to come out? Unfortunately, the only available objective data suggest the opposite: Berkeley’s bicycle mode share – the percentage of commute trips made by bicycle (as reported by the US Census Bureau) – has fallen from 9.8% in 2014[1] to 4.1% in 2024[2], the latest number available. Bike lobbyists will give all sorts of reasons why these numbers mustn’t be trusted, but there is no other objective data that tells a different story for Berkeley. Other cities, e.g. Palo Alto, have done much better according to this metric.
When the rate of cycling drops by more than half, this tells a damning story, suggesting two explanations. First, a lot of Berkeley’s young population is taking the easy route and hopping on motorized devices instead of pedaling bicycles. This is observable. Second, the separated cycle tracks proliferating around the city seem to have been designed by non-cyclists (committed bike advocates who don’t actually ride much) and are intended for non-cyclists (people who are uncomfortable with urban cycling, and who won’t actually be coaxed onto bikes by any street design).
Several of us are committed cyclists who ride all the time. We also have beloved, committed non-cyclists in our families. These non-cyclists recognize what committed ideologues miss: separated cycle tracks exchange one set of dangers for another. They force cyclists directly into the path of right-turning motorists at intersections, while making us invisible to those motorists. They prevent cyclists from turning left. And with the unfortunate choice of green paint, they’re mistaken for short-term parking. So, they’re routinely blocked by delivery vehicles, other motorists, and garbage cans/dumpsters. A blocked bike lane is no bike lane; it forces cyclists directly out into mixed-flow traffic.
Hopkins, like Cedar, is a major collector street that serves east/west commuter traffic. The city has designated Bike Boulevards on less trafficked streets like Virginia. Cyclists can get to the same places on less-busy streets, as most of Berkeley’s grid layout places smaller, less trafficked streets parallel to larger, busier streets. Cycle tracks will not change the nature of busy, high-traffic streets. Why not just choose a less-trafficked street for cycling? Rose St. provides the real access to King Middle School, Ruth Acty Elementary, and the Crowden School. And for much of the length of Hopkins, the obvious parallel choice for confident as well as inexperienced cyclists is Ada St. It’s a block away, lightly-trafficked, and pleasant.
The condition of Hopkins Street is so bad now that it poses a risk to cyclists and pedestrians, and is an annoyance, at the very least, to drivers. Every pavement rut places cyclists at risk of catching a front tire and falling, possibly right in the path of a vehicle. Hopkins needs to be put back on the paving schedule along with pedestrian safety improvements NOW! It shouldn’t have to wait for the controversy over the cycle track to be resolved.
We the undersigned don’t claim that we represent the majority of cyclists; neither can Walk Bike Berkeley. But there are a lot of cyclists who agree with us, and we feel it’s important for the general public to know that not all cyclists pedal in lockstep with that organization when there is this much at stake.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[1] https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST1Y2014.S0801?q=S0801+for+Berkeley,+California+for+2014
[2] https://data.census.gov/chart/ACSST1Y2024.S0801?q=S0801+for+Berkeley,+California&measure=LINE11