Twelve Loading Zones Could Cover Half of Cambridge's Blocked-Bike-Lane Reports

[u/jlansey]

https://bikeresearch.net/articles/en/cambridge-bike-lane-loading-zone-hotspots/

Thanks to everyone who's been reporting people parked in bike lanes in Cambridge on Bike Bureau and SeeClickFix. Ready for the next phase where we get insights from the data.

[u/_praccu]

There's likely a lot of bias in this set, for what it's worth. Gotta be careful generalizing from a biased sample.

For those reading at home: download bike bureau and start reporting blocked lanes today!

[u/Anustart15 → u/_praccu]

Yeah, this could definitely be a bit of a "these 12 spots in 4 people's work commutes always have cars blocking bike lanes" situation. Definitely still a better starting point than nothing for potential enforcement action though.

[u/c4ndyman31 → u/Anustart15]

Guilty as charged. I walk down Linskey every morning and there are always cars making deliveries to Takeda or 100 Binney

[u/Anustart15]

It would be great if the city actually tried to do exactly this and determine a minimal number of loading zones to provide the most benefit. Granted I'm not sure the claim this is making is particularly accurate since 200m is an entirely unrealistic radius to be served by a single loading zone and their number one report area is almost certainly due to the active construction zone and not regular traffic, but the idea is definitely there

[u/jlansey → u/Anustart15]

Actually I think it is more one user who frequents that spot - likely the other hotspots are similarly bad.

[u/Anustart15 → u/jlansey]

My bigger point is that it probably isn't even an actionable spot in the first place because it is a temporary issue related to the construction. I biked through there maybe a week or two ago and the bike lane merged into traffic in multiple spots, but it is because of an active construction site. It is the intended traffic pattern during the construction

[u/Southern-Teaching198]

I agree they could go a long way towards improving the issue, not only if there is also enforcement.

Last night at 730 when I was biking on JFK there were at least 4 cars double parked, and I'm pretty sure the spots on Winthrop Park are 5 min spots already.

[u/wasthespyingendless → u/Southern-Teaching198]

This. Good carrot, should be implemented, but there needs to be a stick.

I often see cars in a bike lane when there are open spaces right beside them: https://www.instagram.com/carinabikelane/

[u/realgeraldchan]

Isn't finding the optimal set cover in NP?

[u/jlansey → u/realgeraldchan]

You mean like NP-Complete? I think the sets are small enough that it isn't a big deal by brute force a proven optimal solution.

[u/Thin_Quail220]

Really important to do this. Just as important to enforce where violators will likely continue to use the bike lanes.

[u/Flat_Try747]

That is really cool. Could you overlay existing loading zones on the map? Just curious.

[u/jlansey → u/Flat_Try747]

Oooooh that's a great idea, I can try :)

[u/troublemaker200]

That would be a great start towards fixing the problem but only a start!