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.

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.

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 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."

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

We’re having a similar problem in Atlanta with our Beltline. It’s incredibly popular and a lot of abutting developments (read 5-over-1s) have sprung up around it. Despite light rail being a part of the plan from the beginning, NIMBYs have come out the woodwork saying “there’s no space.”

Shoutout to the manayunk towpath

The Schuylkill River trail needs just one more lane, bro. Not even being sarcastic.

Multi-use trails are ok for leisurely recreation but not as transportation corridors. Especially when they get busy.

Schuylkill River Trail is so beautiful during sunset. My only gripe is when you reach Fairmount park, Kelly Drive is so loud with all the cars racing it. The sounds you hear doesn't match the tranquility of the green space around you.

One more lane will just induce demand and lead to more traffic again. Obviously the real solution is to put a little tiny train next to the trail (like one of those ones for kids you see at the mall)😂

How idyllic and healthy - with a four lane highway right next to it. Enjoy your daily dose of particulate matter and don't forget your noise cancelling headphones!

Twenty years ago, this bike trail was just an unpaved path flanked by the Schuylkill river and derelict lots and was unused except by diehard runners and drug addicts. So we have made progress!

I love that bike. And Philadelphia has some really awesome urban landscapes.

The same phenomenon occurs on the Charlotte rail trail, where it’s always packed as it’s a nice space to be in a relatively walkable neighborhood within an unwalkable city

This has the exact same problem to the beltline in Atlanta, a rails to trails path. Multi-modal and swamped nearly all the time. Plenty of business have opened up along it and absolutly thrive because of it.

When I graduated college and was spending my last few days of freedom in the park adjacent to this trail, I looked towards the highway at a complete stop and promised myself that I'd never allow myself to live the car life again. It's been 10 + years, no car, I somehow pulled it off :)

The dual path in Forest Park in St. Louis is the perfect precedent on how to offer space for both bikes and runners and to actually encourage the use of both paths. There's actually several spots where the Schuylkill River Train splits into two paths but one is in such bad condition and doesn't offer much certainty on where it goes that hardly anyone uses it. Completely agree that more running and cycling space should be offered. I'm glad there's still talk of changes to Spring Garden St right now. I've noticed so many cyclists using it lately despite absolute minimal bike infrastructure.

This is what I’d like to call a “good problem”

Schuylkill river trail: suffering from success

The 606 in Chicago has similar problems. Suffering from success.

I know most people refuse to believe it can happen, but----move the train traffic across the river to the high line. So what if doing that would involve expenses that help a private company. The result would be a park with MUCH greater access to the City and doubling the area of the park right at the point where it's the now the smallest. Keep up the good work

The Schuylkill River Trail really do be Suffering from Success by DJ Khaled. Pyongyang has a lot of bike infrastructure too! It complements the Pyongyang Metro, trolleybuses, and trams. Bikes were actually banned in Pyongyang for decades until the ban was lifted in 1992. In 2017, a bike share program was introduced called Ryomyong/려명, or Dawn in English. The system is overseen by the Pyongyang Bicycle Rental Office, with bicycles manufactured domestically by a DPRK/Chinese joint venture, Phyongjin Bicycle Cooperative Company, located in Sosong district. Reservations may be made for 50 won per minute with a stored-value card at one of five locations on Kwangbok Street in the city's scenic Mangyongdae district. If a city like Pyongyang can have a bikeshare program, a trolleybus system with over 35 miles in length, a tram system with 33 miles in length, AND two subway lines, then other cities have zero excuses not to take these steps to build new convenient bike infrastructure for the greater good.

adding alternatives is always more cost effective than adding more capacity, its full because its unique, make another one and both will have half as many people (in optimal theory land)

We kinda have this problem in the Netherlands as well since our no-cars bike lanes are also used by walkers, runners, low-speed scooters, and even horses sometimes. When on dedicated walking trails, I often complain when a cyclist buzzes me because they should be using different trails. But here the cyclists own the road. As a walker, this annoys me. We don't have separate bike and walking trails (which I think we should have) in most places. But we do expand the bike lanes often so that we don't have nearly the crowding you showed in Philly.

GREAT drone shots of Philly!!!

I can understand this entirely. I'm from Milton Keynes, a planned city in England with lots of green space that has an extensive network of walk/cycle paths. It's very walkable, but it can be stressful to have to dodge cyclists who are going too fast!

Very true. In my city the situation is similar. Public transport is good but there's a lack of bike infrastructure. Neighborhoods are mostly walkable but there isn't enough sidewalk space (or it's even nonexistent) and the streets are too loud. Crowded sidewalks of course also make it hard to share with bikes. Bikes that are encouraged by the city to use the sidewalk rather than the street or a bike path. This means everyone squeezes onto the river trails. There are a handful of them but 2 run right through the city so everyone goes there. Commuters, walkers, joggers, and kids playing all on one trail. THANKFULLY the city rebuilt one of them (and is working on the other) to make a bike trail and a walking trail. However the walking side doesn't get enough shade so walkers will often wonder over to the cycling side. And there are a few choke points where the trails come together or cross each other and these places are always a danger to eveyone.

Thanks for calling out the issues with mixed mode trails: even a lot of cities with fairly decent public transit and such often have an issue with just shoving cyclists and pedestrians into the same place, which is unpleasant for everyone.

As a runner on this SRT, getting trucked by a 500 pound Hovcarts going 25 MPH is a real concern of mine. Separate paths would be ideal (funding?), but an e-bike ban on the trail would be more likely. Don’t worry e-bike users, Philly doesn’t enforce much of anything.

same goes for certain parts of the lakefront trail in chicago. some parts of the trail separate bikes and pedestrians completely and it works fantastically

Here in Vancouver the metro area is actually a conglomeration of cities so we've seen a few different solutions to this "problem" of over-popularitity of nice places to walk, run, bike, rollerblade, skate, etc. In Vancouver itself they have been trying where they can find the space to split the walking and biking paths into 2 different lanes rather than having them co-exist - in North Vancouver their mayors idea to solve the problem is to add speed bumps, bollards, fences and big painted "SLOW" signs on the ground in an effort to slow bikes down to walking pace. Their idea of a shared pathway is just to make everyone as slow as the slowest user. They should try this on a road, make everyone drive walking pace.

I've seen people talk about "inducing demand" for trains or bike networks, and have always seen them as sort of throw away statements, as induced demand really only seems valid if a system is at full capacity. But this seems like a perfect candidate! Let's induce some demand here!!!

The West Side Highway in New York is often crowded, but there is a bike lane and a pedestrian lane, which helps a ton

Ahhh, yesss, amazing walk zone with beautiful view to six-lane highway😍😍😍

In Riga, Latvia, we have the same problem where a trail along a river meant for bikes, walking etc. is overcrowded at weekends and evenings. Similar to Philly, it’s mostly because in that part of town there are no other places to hang out away from cars. It’s interesting how the situations are so similar in places thousands of kilometres away.

I was having this same conversation with my riding partner today! In Denver, a few trails are so popular that it’s beyond capacity for safe use by all during peak times. It’s time to acknowledge that in these places, expanding capacity with separate spaces is going to improve safety as well as capacity.

Rode it for the first time in over 10 years. Holy hell it's crowded. Almost got hit several times in a 30 minute stretch. We noticed that as it got more crowded, big groups took over 60% of the entire trail, encroaching upon opposing traffic with 3-5 abreast. Really poor behavior. Clearly though the main problem is cities need MORE spaces like these. A 10 foot wide trail for an entire city of 1.5m is insane.

i think repealing §12-701 is a crucial step here to make it far easier to construct protected bike lanes and move cycle traffic to places beyond the srt! there are so many places that could afford the loss of their parking lane in favor of a protected bike lane!

Spot-on analysis of alleviating the problem by providing more car-free spaces for people to use so they don't all crowd onto a few small bits and pieces.

This reminds me of the situation when I used to commute to Silicon Valley. From my office building, there was access to a multi-use creek trail. Unlike the situation you describe in Philly, the issue was all about lunch time. Among the tech workers, there's a tradition of going out for leisurely stroll on the trail with several of your closets buddies. They walk three or four across, completely oblivious that anybody else could be on the trail. I had to give up trying to wade through these tech bros for a bike ride at lunch. I tried to sneak out at 2PM or so to avoid it.

#onemorelanebro. Seriously though, if they had the space to do separate Bike and Walk lanes that would be nice. Lakefront Trail in Chicago does a nice job of this

Please consider a follow up video suggesting additional places to put more trails like the one in the video!

Love when us rollerbladers get a shout-out. There's dozens of us!

Yup, t's been crowded for 20 years.. especially after typical work hours, weekends and with pleasant weather. If you prefer less people try west side, further north and/or wait for darkness, rain, or cold.

Same problem here in Boston with both the Esplanade (our equivalent to this) and major regional bike routes (e.g. the Minuteman)

Hit the nail on the head. The Schuylkill Trail is my favorite part about Philly.

Dog walkers with long extendable leashes are my nemesis on multiuse trails.

Another problem with the trail is that lots of people walk double or triple file meaning it’s hard for bikers to get around

Running there was stressful, i wish there were more options. But ultimately i love the schuylkill river trail and I'm glad to live in a city where i can walk by the river

The river trail is one of my favorite things about living along the river corridor. I moved away years ago and miss it every single week!

Alan: Our bike lanes suck Me: you have bike lanes?

"Just one more lane bro" but for a walking and biking path

There is "One more lane" and "An additional lane"

Something similar happened in the Dried out river in Valencia (Which is Now a park). Solution was to build a path for people walking, another for people running and another one for bikes. Worked out great!

This is a great topic - we often hear about how great multimodal paths are (yes they are, but ANY non-car infrastructure is an improvement). But from a user perspective, they can be pretty chaotic and dangerous.

The Santa Monica Beach bike path does a really good job and I think is a model. The busier parts are separated pedestrian and bike paths, and the less busy some parts are combined but with clear markings for pedestrians and bikers so its easier for both to stay in their "areas"

Similar problem here in Brisbane, Australia. We have some world class bikeways (with separate space for pedestrians!) that lead towards our city centre river paths, which are either multi-use or being converted from separated paths into multi-use. The state government is on board with bikeways but the local council tackles our 21st century problems with 20th century, car-focused solutions

What's really refreshing is that people are keeping to they right hand side in their direction. Nice! Wish people would do that here and to not all their dog leash to cover the width of the trail.

I just came back from Philly (awesome city! I love it!) and I'm looking at the trail on Google maps. For the most part, they can separate or widen the paths for bike and pedestrian traffic. The only tricky part would be the Boardwalk between South and Locust. There, you can maybe do some land reclamation along the RR tracks, build a path and make it bike only.

I bike this trail, well I guess used to bike this trail, because someone broke into our house and stole my locked up bike, but this video is an accurate assessment. I hadn't fully realized what the video makes clear that it is one of the few car free areas.

I haven't ridden in Philly in so long. Mostly on foot when i go but I've been wanting an e scooter to explore again.

not from philly/don't live there but it kind of sounds like they need to widen the trail and separate bikes and pedestrians. obviously they need to make more car-free spaces too but at this point it's kind of ridiculous to expect everyone to share the same trail which is not super wide when roads get widened every time traffic happens

*whispers* Tear down I-76

My old friend from college bike commutes to Conshohocken from South Philly using this Schuylkill trail. He always brags about how much money he's saving on his commute whenever we meet up 🤣

Just open it up for car traffic, that will take care of those pesky cyclists and pedestrians.

What if instead we built a series of narrow tunnels that only fit single file e-bikes built by Tesla? We could call it the bicycle loop-the boop.

This reminds me of some of the problems I see at Katy trail in Dallas! It’s a small trail but does connect certain parts of the city in a protected way. But it is mainly for pedestrians as cycling through the trail is quite tough when it is busy

I live in Atlanta, and this video explains our Beltline to a T.

Nice drone shots

This could legitimately be the W&OD Trail in Northern Virginia.

In Minneapolis we have a trail that goes around the entire city, Its amazing when you take it to commute, the only problem it's too hilly in some parts to be able to use it for commuting by bike. But now that I got an e-bike its honestly the most enjoyable way to get to work.

1:30 do you guys hear the guy speaking in the back? (editing error?)

But if you widen the trail, and add more lanes, you'll suffer induced demand!

That's like Canal Lachine in Montreal during summer. We montrealers love to get outside during our brief summer and even though there are lanes on each side of the canal, they often are both crowded during rush hour. The rest of the time it is fine and it's a really quick way to move around.

Really cool trail

My hometown has a circular bike road around it and it's called the "Ringgleis" (I live in Germany)

I also find a double standard of cyclists getting super frustrated at pedestrians, and then in the same vein, drive on the road and expect vehicles not to be frustrated when they hold traffic or filter at stoplights.

Bicycles running into people can be deadly. My friend was killed getting hit by a bike rider.

Adding great bike paths to an area is like reintroducing wolves to the wilds, it has profoundly positive impact on the environment it happens in.

I really hate how cars have 4 lanes to drive fast AF by the park and absolutely everyone outside a car needs to share a little trail. Cyclist, runner, Walker, kids, all on the same close trail…

Seattle is in the same boat. Our Burke-Gilman trail looks a lot like this, and is similarly a bit troubled for bikers trying to weave around pedestrians.

It was definitely the laxk of this project that was making people leave and totally not stuff like the sugar tax, cigarette taxes, and 2nd highest taxes in the US.

That looks rather nice. Makes me wonder if there are any trails leading into Pittsburgh from the north. That would make for a nice trek one weekend

In Chicago we have similar issues along some sections of the Lakefront Trail. It has sections where bike lanes are completely separate from pedestrians, and others where they run together side-by-side. Even though the bike lanes and pedestrian lanes are clearly marked in those side-by-side sections, pedestrians tend to spill over onto the bike lanes. In the morning and midday, it's not a problem and it's a very fast way to commute by bike, but in the late afternoon it's not great. This is especially true in the sections by the beaches where there's a lot of pedestrians crossing the lanes. That being said, It's a great piece of non-automobile infrastructure to have.