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We need real bike paths for real bike transportation

by Elly Blue, 8 Nov 2010, Grist

Shared-use paths result in inevitable conflict between cyclists and pedestrians.Photo: Bryan Goebel

Last month, a young woman was jogging along the popular new Katy Trail in Dallas, Texas, wearing headphones. She turned left and was struck by a woman on a bicycle. The jogger's head hit the pavement. Several days later, she died.

The Katy Trail is not a trail in the woods, but a multi-use path, or, in planning-speak, a "MUP." These paved byways are varyingly called trails, paths, rail trails, bike trails, or linear parks. The mix of terminology reflects the current confusion about what exactly they are for.

The original concept is that of the linear park -- a destination in the city or suburbs where locals of all ages can go get fresh air and exercise in a natural setting. Mellow recreation was the idea. The bicycle has always been part of this mix. But MUPs aren't always simply about recreation. The use of these paths as transportation corridors, rather than parks, is being pushed increasingly at a local level, and even promoted by the feds, including in a recent interview with U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on this site.

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