The Philadelphia Project that's TOO Successful /// Hovcart Ebike

Thanks for watching, hopefully we can build a better bike system for philly eventually. Also Check out the Hovcart here: www.hovsco.com/urbanist

One. More. Lane.

The wildest part to me is that they’re redoing the bridge at the art museum to massive expense, just so it can carry cars again. The obvious solve would have been just to leave it as is, and make the other side of the river permanently car free through fairmount park, which would alleviate a ton of north south bike traffic.

I like how in a couple of the shots it looks like the bike riders are going faster than the cars in rush hour across the river.

I'm having some difficulty wrapping my head around the fact that this little pathway is a major 'trail'/thoroughfare with both bikes and pedestrians, for multiple kilometers I assume. They should definitely add a parallel bike path and keep this for pedestrians only.

I went to Chicago a few months ago. I was shocked and glad to see 2 lanes along the lake. One for bikes and one for walkers.

I laughed out loud at the end. The conclusion was literally just "less cars" which I totally agree with. Basically: "This trail is great, but it's very crowded because it is so desirable and there are not many places like it. The trail is being expanded which will lead to even more people using it so we might need ONE MORE LADNE. The solution to this problem is to get cars to fuck off. And with that I would like to thank hovsco to sponsor this video, I'll see yall in the next video."

Similar problems here in Vancouver. Even for the paths where bikes and pedestrians are separated (Seawall, Kits Beach), there is too much traffic overall because these are the few paths protected from traffic. The protected bike network throughout the city is piecemeal and frustrating. The solution is indeed to build out a connected network throughout the city to distribute non-motorized traffic, rather than funneling it to a handful of paths.

The lesson is here is that any mode of transit will suffer from induced demand, the difference is how much it costs to expand to meet that demand. People and bikes take up much less space than cars, you get a much better bang for your infrastructure buck if you prioritize people.

Inducing demand for bicycling and active transit by building "one more lane" is a good thing in this case :).

One more lane is good here for the same reason it's bad with highways : it will induce demand. But on a trail without cars that's a good thing, we want people commuting actively and having good time outside.

I'm visiting Philadelphia for the first time in a couple weeks, the Schuylkill Trail looks cool, I'll have to check it out outside rush hour. I hope the congestion on the trail leads to higher demand for safe infrastructure from the locals!

Something that comes to mind when it comes to a multi-use bike or jogging path along a river from when I lived in NJ is the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway, which is supposed to connect the Bayonne Bridge to the George Washington Bridge. A NJ waterfront walkway was first discussed at the state level in the late 1970s. In 1988, the state Dept of Environmental Protection created the Coastal Zone Management Rules, which outlined the regulations and specifications for its construction. This required anyone building within 100 feet of the water's edge to provide a minimum of 30 feet (9.1 m) of public space along the shoreline. This was challenged by the National Association of Home Builders in 1999, but a federal judge upheld the rules. The distance of the walkway from beginning to end is approximately 18.5 miles (29.8 km) and traverses residential and commercial areas, re-developed piers, wetland preservation zones, public and private marinas, and parks. It's not fully complete as Bayonne's waterfront is quite industrial, however the Downtown Jersey City section in particular has helped the growth of the city's downtown in achieving a pedestrianized transit-oriented lifestyle, with the HBLR further leading to said growth. The walkway is just the perfect place to just chillax and go fishing as well. Not to mention the fact cyclists and pedestrians can cross the George Washington Bridge free of charge.

Near center city it is crowded, past boathouse row it is empty...

Hell yeah I’ve ridden the trail all the way to reading! Beautiful! 🚴‍♂️ One of the best parts about Philly!

I live in Dallas and the Katy Trail suffers from the same success when people get out from work: practically bumper to bumper dog walkers and bikers at its worst

It would probably induce even more demand for the trail if they added bike lanes, but at least the two general speeds of users would be in less conflict.

We have the same issues on the Paul Dudley White path in Boston. From 5pm-7:30pm during most months of the year it's absolutely jam-packed, and the fact that it has such great views of the Boston skyline means that tourists, students and families are often pyloning taking photos or organizing themselves. I often take the adjacent road on my commutes and rides because it's just faster and more pleasant to race traffic than to dodge pedestrians.

This was the exact problem with the Chicago LFT, we built separate paths for each. See any number of recent LFT ride videos It was the only solution.

Many American cities follow this same pattern: Discredit walking/cycling infrastructure, saying "it'll never work here" Eventually start getting desperate as growth peaks and pop. declines Do bare minimum as a "test" Are surprised at pedestrian infrastructure popularity, but learn entirely the wrong lessons