The Opposite of Bike-Friendly
Last week, we caught wind of a story via Twitter that exemplifies the failure of so many cities' bike policies. For every biking success story it seems there is one that shows local governments' inability to comprehensively build bike infrastructure, or indeed, do anything more than throw up a couple bike racks and call it good.
The drama started with the City of Miami Beach tweeted several photos of bikes locked to signposts that had been ticketed as a warning:
These are not legal parking spots. We'll be tagging bikes that are illegally parked. Move it or lose it #MiamiBeach pic.twitter.com/ty9E84XDrF
— City of Miami Beach (@MiamiBeachNews) February 11, 2016
Michael Grunwald, Senior Writer for Politico, responded:
This is a great idea. Too many of us continue to flout social norms by trying to get around without a car.https://t.co/HYa4RFPP1a
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) February 11, 2016
The exchange between the City of Miami Beach and Mr. Grunwald continued when the city replied: "We want you to use your bike & it's great. But we also want you to park your bike legally. Bike racks aren't being used."
@MikeGrunwald have you walked down Lincoln Road lately? That's where these photos were taken. Racks are at almost every block.
— City of Miami Beach (@MiamiBeachNews) February 11, 2016
It was at this point that the exchange reached an even more absurd level because, as @MikeGrunwald pointed out:
You banned biking on Lincoln Road! And now you're complaining that we're not using those bike racks? https://t.co/0cemPAaBKe
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) February 11, 2016
We're going to call this a serious case of #OrderlyButDumb. The city, hoping to placate those darn bike riders and make themselves look environmentally friendly purchased and installed some bike racks. But they forgot to put in them in a place where they might, oh I don't know, actually be useful.
This is a crazy idea, but maybe put bike racks in places where you let us bike? https://t.co/WP5jMBQczg
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) February 11, 2016
As the Miami New Times reported, "Ironically, the aggressive Twitter conversation followed recent moves by the city to market itself as Miami-Dade’s friendliest for pedestrians and cyclists." So much for that.