This is a Gust Post by Kent Lundberg, who is an Urban Planner at Isthmus where this blog post was first published.
Bike boxes are appearing all over the Auckland city centre. They are a widely debated technique to provide more awareness to cyclists at intersections and in some cases to provide maneuvering room for turns.
While bike boxes may be good in theory, if they are not carefully considered they can do more harm than good. The particular problem with these boxes is that by design they invite cyclists to use the space, implying that this is the best place to wait. This is mostly fine unless vehicle movements entirely compromise their function. The most blatant problem is when they are used in conjunction with a left turn on green arrow such as on Franklin Road when it cross Victoria Street West or on Karangahape Road where it intersects with Ponsonby Road.
In this case the paint and markings are telling cyclists to wait in front of the cars, meanwhile the turning signal is giving cars exclusive movement priority through that same space with a left turn arrow. “Required” guidance from the mostly excellent NACTO guide says the following about bike advance boxes:
In cities that permit right [read: left] turns on red signal indications, a “No Turn on Red” sign shall be installed overhead to prevent vehicles from entering the Bike Box.
Clearly this guidance doesn’t reflect our local roads rules, but it is highlighting the inherent danger of using the bike boxes without careful signalisation controls and/or timing.
I hesitate to even mention guidelines or standards. To me these things can be figured out on an intuitive level. As a regular, confident cyclist, I have learned to avoid the these troublesome applications. But what about novice cyclists or the so-called “interested but concerned” types that are using this for the first time? If we are hoping to provide either comfort and/or safety to interested cyclists the last thing we should be doing is building confusing infrastructure at busy intersections.
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They’re 95% not respected by vehicles who stop at the front of the box, and not behind the back of the box.So I see them as rather pointless and only a function of on-road cycle lanes. Separated cycle paths, like as done in the Netherlands, looks better and better to me.
Matthew, Are you seeing these in Wellington? Must be a design by Canberra situation.
My intelligent, non-cycling, cyclist-sympathetic, car-driving partner didn’t even know what these green boxes were till I explained. Driver education on all aspects of sharing the roads with non-motorists sorely needed.
Plenty of people also don’t seem to know what the white lines as you approach a zebra crossing mean. Or how to indicate at roundabouts. I think drivers should have to do the multiple-choice theory test every time they renew their licences: a lot changes in ten years.
dangerous in a bicycle, but very handy in a motorbike. I stop there so the car behind me triggers the traffic light switch under the road surface.
As a daily commuter in Auckland I do find these useful at least for getting to the front of a queue (and allowing traffic behind to trigger the lights as Gian does with his motorcycle). However I agree that if I was a less experienced commuter, and wasn’t used to the paradox of “safe stop box but people can turn left right through you”, it’d be very dicey indeed.
I’m sure these things are planned and installed with the best of intentions, but obviously there’s an ongoing need to gently prod Auckland authorities closer to international best practice, and also towards actually thinking about what it is like to use Auckland’s (embryonic) cycle infrastructure…
Cycle Action Auckland are very keen on these boxes and push for their use. The front of the line is the best place to wait as a cyclist and the boxes give a clear indication to other traffic that the cyclist is allowed to be there. Clearly the issue raised in the post about conflicting messages needs to be resolved — I just move to the right of the left lane if there are left-turning cars waiting behind me but I guess novices might feel uncomfortable with this.
I understand they have been included with the best of intentions, but is sitting in front of traffic the best place always? Look at the top image. There is plenty of room on the side. A bike lane can be extended through this minor intersection to reduce left hooks. Also, it is on an uphill slope. Cyclists would be struggling to get going starting from a red light. I wouldn’t want to put myself in front of a car here.
Hi Kent – my main issue with ASB’s, as CAA’s transport engineer – is not so much the ones you describe. If a cyclist places himself there, he is highly visible (and thus much safer) – even if, for his riding style, it isn’t the best possible position. Also, you may have enough space to sit at the side – as in the first photo – but what if downstream there is a pinch point? If you sit in front of the queue, rather than at the side, you will not be squeezed out.
Also, as you also noted, if it ISN’T the right position for that particular cyclist / intersection, then cyclists figrue that out quite soon. And as noted earlier, while doing the “mistake” of getting into the box, they are quite safe and visible. So that aspect doesn’t worry me a lot.
No, my real problem is that they are cheap to slap in, and can be used to literally “greenwash” an intersection that should have cycle lanes, not just ASB’s. Often, it’s just not good enough, and while it has positive impact, that impact is small, and doesn’t adress nearly all the key issue (like too-narrow lanes on the approach).
Re your comment about left turn arrows making drivers want to go through the box in the second photo – again, as a cyclist you would quickly figure out that you are in the wrong part of the box (the left turn lane!). So you move to the right turn box. So maybe I am not quite understanding your issue with the second photo? Could you clarify?
Hi Max,
If a cyclist arrives at the intersection on a red light (by filtering on the left) they would likely wait in front of the left car as the paint indicates. The signal phases then let left turning traffic go. Assuming they survive, they will learn how to use this bike box by shuffling in front of the right car. This may not be the best example since there is no actual straight through movement.
The Franklin Road one simply feels unsafe to me. This is a brand new intersection that I now avoid by cutting through Rob Roy Plaza. I appreciate that visibility is important but what about comfort. We need to raise the bar, especially on a major route into town.
To my eye, the problem with the Franklin road picture is the wide turning circle given to the left turning traffic. Would a sharper angle here would make it safer for slower moving modes like cyclists and pedestrians?
Hi Kent, I’ll happily grant you that Auckland’s advanced stop boxes aren’t changing us much into Copenhagne direction, but I’ll have to assume that the “if they survive” comment regarding to simply sitting in a ASB (even in the wrong ASB) was just a joke to make your point…
I probably need to go down there and have a look myself, and get a handle on what bugs you particularly there at that intersection. I can certainly see the issue in case the lane is shared turn & through. I have been honked and sworn at by motorists myself who want to turn, but can’t get past me, because I am waiting for my green (yeah, right – “Cyclists always run the red”? Not me, wait until I am legally allowed to go, bucko, you wouldn’t honk if it was a car waiting to go straight!).
Oh, and the whole Victoria Park Tunnel project was, to be honest, a major coms fail between NZTA and CAA. They are pretty good on many other project in involving us, but on this one, it was woeful – and all coms needed to be initiated by us – just can’t say it any other way, except that they just didn’t consult. CAA has been given more influence on the design of the new interchange in Papakura than on this key area in the middle of our city, and it is a shame.
Personally I like heading to the front of the queue. What’s the point in cycling if you can’t use your narrow width to advantage to get through the traffic? All set for a head start on the cars by working out the light phases on your regular ride too… So I often get to the next set of lights without having to tangle with the cars behind me….Which should suit the drivers too- im out of their way, of course they dont often seem to see it like that if the angry letters to the paper are anything to go by. Urban riding is a specialised thing….I get it isn’t for most and more infrastructure is needed for a bigger and more varied proportion of the population to get on their bikes. And it is about democracy and equality.
p.s. I love that new ped signal going in.
Overall I think the bike boxes are good. If a motorist sees you, you’re going to live to bike another day. They’re also all part of getting a “hey, there might be a cyclist around” message to motorists (Helen’s partner excepted!)
The issue of left turns is a bit bigger than just bike boxes, and now the give way rules have changed I think motorists are slowly becoming more confident in barrelling around left turns, which causes problems for cyclists with or without the boxes (and pedestrians where there’s slipways).
However, I wouldn’t be surprised if the stats for being run over when you’re in the middle of a lane at an intersection are much less than the risk if you’re on the left.
There’s evidence that HGVs (over 3.5 tonnes) are disproportionately involved in cycling deaths, and suggestions that being in the driver’s blind spot (left side of the truck) is a factor in this.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/may/21/women-cyclists-most-accidents
http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2458-10-699.pdf
I’m staying out in front of the lane until the left turn rules change (and even after that!)
So the main issue seems to be not the ASBs per se, but the fact that they are not always installed sensibly (i.e. best practice) to meet a specific purpose. The first photo for example shows a situation where you wouldn’t normally need to use the ASB to go straight ahead (you already have a cycle lane), but you might put an ASB in front of a thru lane to help cyclists to move over to turn RIGHT (and it should normally extend partly in front of the right-turn lane too). And in the second photo, best practice says that you should NEVER put an ASB in front of a lane that will get a separate phase (e.g. left-turns); instead you put one in front of the thru lane so that cyclists have somewhere to safely stay out of the way of the left-turners.
I’ve also seen a number of “greenwash” situations where a lot of ASBs have been installed at an intersection but where they’re not terribly useful (e.g. hard to get to, putting cyclists in the wrong places). Probably the most useful situation for an ASB is where you have a mixed-direction traffic lane, e.g. thru and right. To save a right-turning cyclist to the left of this lane getting clobbered by a thru-motorist, you put them in front to make it quite clear that motorists have to let them move first.
If you want more best-practice training on this, I would thoroughly endorse the Advanced Cycle Planning & Design courses run by the good folk at ViaStrada.
I like them for several reasons. 1) the air is cleaner in front of, rather than behind, the cars. 2) they mean you can get out in front of the traffic without having to go so far out into the intersection people might potentially turn into you. 3) I almost never wait on left anyway as I think its dangerous. I prefer to get in front where drivers can see me and Will wait for me to get started, rather than not seeing me and then accidentally squeezing me into kerb on their way past.
Nice idea but………
They won’t be used, main reason I have never seen a cyclist stop at a red light, they just carry on through. I drive down Quay Street and Tamaki Drive most days, so get to see plenty of cyclists.
Really? Is it maybe a case of selective sight where you notice only the cyclists that annoy you?
Don’t worry, if we ever meet on the road I’ll be right in front of you, waiting for a green light. And then I’ll proceed to frustrate you as I (surprise, surprise) don’t accelerate as fast as you’d want me too.
Please, a little patience and understanding for the most vulnerable vehicles on the road?
Advanced stop boxes have merit, but also introduce ambiguity in traffic. It is often difficult on a bike to decide whether to filter up to a stop box, depending on a variety of situational factors such as the presence of a filter lane, how near it is, the phase of the signals, the kind of traffic ahead, the risk of a box being occupied, etc. I imagine it’s equally unpredictable for pedestrians and motorists that might interact with a cyclist near a stop box.
The nature of advanced stop boxes reflects the dominant planning mindset in Auckland: first lay out the enduring physical geometry and texture of a public space to privilege motor vehicles, and then apply token, opportunistic exceptions to the rule in the form of fleeting signs and perishable paint.
-nice
The real good think about these is the benefits all transport modes get out of this.
“Advanced limit line for cyclists is expected to lead to a 27% reduction in cyclist crashes and a 40% reduction in all crashes”.
(NZ Transport Agency research report 389 p81)
Agreed, the reason some cyclists try to sneak through lights is because a lot of motorists get pissed off at their slow acceleration. And then what happens? They rip past them as fast as possible. ”Patience and Understanding” is definitely in short supply with NZ motorists.
Wellington has a number of these, but almost all of them have no cycle lane leading up to them, which makes them largely useless as you can’t easily get to them unless you happen to be at the front of the queue when the light turns red. Only option is to filter past the stopped traffic and hope you get to the stop box before the light goes green.
Malcolm: that situation (boxes with no preceding lane) is extremely common in Auckland too. Rather shows up the reality that all they have done is paint the space between the traffic stop line and the ped crossing (if any) green and stencil a bicycle in the middle – and presto! Now you can presumaby count the entire street as part of progress towards a complete cycle network…
And Wellington is still putting them in. Here is a link to a current intersection revamp in Newtown: http://www.wellington.govt.nz/projects/new/pdfs/adelaide/adelaide-roadmap.pdf
Choose your ASB very carefully at that intersection, children!
App for Android. Without spending a dime.