Fantastic Timing!

I think that the gods have smiled on this blog.  One of our local newspapers posted this article today:  GetAbout Columbia trail projects delayed, but progressing.

The story itself isn't that interesting, but note the neat little interactive map under "MoreStory".  (Yes, it's all one word like that.  I'm not too sure about their editors.)  You can also just click here if you're lazy and want to cut to the chase.

This fancy little drawing makes it look like CoMo is super bike friendly, doesn't it?  Well, since they've provided an interactive, let's make this an interactive blog.  Follow the directions below.  

1. Open that map in a new window or tab.
2. Click where it says "hide info icons".  They're just messy and in the way.  
3. Let's only deal with the Existing Systems since we don't actually know which of the Planned Systems will be approved.  We also don't actually know which will be successful if and when they're finished.  Let's just remove them all for clarity's sake.  Click on each of the items under "Planned Systems", that will get the job done.
4. The existing bike trails in Columbia are magnificent recreational trails.  Unfortunately, they're made of crushed limestone.  If you try to commute on them, your nice work clothes get covered in a fine, white dust.  Basically, they're useless for anything beyond recreation.  Click on "Trail" to remove them from the map. 
5. You'll notice by now that our map is looking pretty sparse.  Still, we have few striped bike lanes (I'm not sure what an unstriped bike lane looks like) around town.  Pause for a second and note how many of those are barely two miles long and how sparsely they are spread as a whole.  

This is the reality of Columbia's bicycle transportation system.  Sort of.  The reason I say "sort of" is simple: most of those bike lanes are mostly useless.  We'll talk about why that is in the future.

Next time on Failed Bike Lanes:  What makes a bike lane fail?

Stay tuned!