BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

It even looks like the driver might be over the yellow line in that picture, which is great! For as many laws as a lot of drivers are willing to break, they're terrified of crossing the yellow line on an empty road.

I like it. Now how do we let the bus drivers know?

You're right RF! I work in a bar and yesterday when the news was on I was talking to a few patrons and explaining the 4 foot law. All of them stated "your now allowed to cross the yellow line." like that's the worse law you can break.

It even looks like the driver might be over the yellow line in that picture, which is great! For as many laws as a lot of drivers are willing to break, they're terrified of crossing the yellow line on an empty road.

too funny, and too true. one can see why this might be, though: the consequences are too severe for it to be a mere infraction. it is a taboo. this must not be done.

it's funny how lines really dictate how people drive. i tend to get passed way more closely when i'm riding in a bike lane than otherwise. my most common bike lane is liberty ave through bloomfield, and i ride practically on the line because of all the parked cars. people passing buzz me close all day long, for fear of crossing the double yellow, and because the bike lane line is somehow a magical barrier to them.

Someone should forward this on to the Mayor.

> my most common bike lane is liberty ave through bloomfield, and i ride practically on the line because of all the parked cars. people passing buzz me close all day long, for fear of crossing the double yellow, and because the bike lane line is somehow a magical barrier to them.

Yep, same here. This is one of the major reasons I hate marked bike lanes; people think just because there's a little white line on the pavement, they don't have to give you any room.

Big visuals like this on the back of buses are advertisements, paid by somebody -- and it's income for PAT. (i.e., PAT isn't going to do this out of the goodness of its own heart)

It's an amount, per bus, per month, and it's not cheap -- nor is any advertising.

But effective!

Given my own personal experience with Port Authority bus drivers, maybe we should put these same signs above the driver's head.

Does PAT charge different amounts depending on what route the bus runs? I'm thinking one or two all-day super-long-haul routes (61C, 77, 51, 16) would get the word out a lot better than more of the shorter (93, 11, 4, 40) routes...

@stu: can we get an idea how much this would cost? it could make for a pretty sweet kickstarter campaign.

Buses are interchangeable. Any given bus might be on a 61A half the morning, 87 Friendship the rest of the morning, and a 28X in the afternoon. All of those run out of East Liberty Division. The 61C runs out of West Mifflin, so that bus might be on a 51 Carrick later in the day. The 77 Penn Hills and 67 Monroeville share the same Ross Div buses with 14 Ohio Valley and 8 Perrysville.

Shorter buses (15xx series) are also restricted by garage.

Cost of ads would be the same no matter what type of bus it is, or what division.

This would be possibly the most ironic thing

in the history of the world if it were on

the back of a pat bus.

PAT only gets about $1.3 million from advertising revenue each year. I assume that includes both the ads inside the buses and those on the outside. If they still have about 800 buses, that's around $1600 average per bus, for the year. Of course, some of them don't have ads on the outside, and that doesn't account for T ads and station ads. I emailed them for a rate quote on an ad covering the back of the bus and will post when I hear back.

+1 Steevo

We need to educate cyclist as well. I drove a car on route 88 yesterday and encountered two different cyclists riding against traffic – one inbound and later one outbound. Both were late teens to mid twenties riding BSO-type bikes, and no helmets. I (politely) yelled over to one that he was on the wrong side of the road, but he just kept on going. That road is sketchy when you’re doing everything right, I can’t imagine how bad it would be salmoning.

+2 steevo - legit lol

As truly ironic as it would be, if an ad on the back of a bus costs less than 2k that's well within realm of what can be raised by individuals, without looking for a charity, a grant, a wealthy donor, etc. to pick up the tab. I appreciate Steven's efforts and look forward to hearing about the rate structure. Also, a good friend from school is PAT's general counsel and I would be happy to reach out to him to try to make an ad happen.

a wealthy donor

Edgar Snyder 4ft Passing Commercial

While ironic that an add like this could go behind a PAT bus, if it reaches drivers/pedestrians/cyclists/the community about educating people how to ride with cyclists in the road -why not? If on;y one life is saved, I'll be happy!!!

@Steve, yes do find out!

And I agree: cyclists need to be educated too. Even us as cyclists have bad apples...

I love this idea! Thanks for looking into the pricing, Steven.

i wish they would put it on the back of my bus as i drive around shadyside and east liberty

Ed Snyder just put an ad on TV about the 4ft law. Call his offices and ask if they can run a bus and/or billboard/print version of the same ad?

PSAs = awesome idea. http://xkcd.com/1053/

I don't know how to post images, and I'm too lazy to go find the thread teaching me.

I think the whole "yellow line crossing allergy" is related to their failure to identify a third option when examining solutions to the problem:

How can I safely navigate my vehicle past this cyclist?

a) squeeze past in the lane (safest for me)

b) risk getting into head-on crash with oncoming traffic (least safe for me)

c) ... (the idea that never occurs to them: wait till traffic passes, and do it later)

On ARB, especially on the weekends, I think I've freaked out a couple cyclists by simply slowing to their speed and waiting for traffic to pass. I know I've pissed off the people behind me, and I'm afraid that puts the cyclists in worse danger because angry drivers are stupid drivers. I won't squeeze past, and *sometimes* oncoming traffic is awesome and gives me some of their lane, but I don't like to force the issue.

I like the buses as safety ads idea. 4' isn't the only law that protects us, though it might be the least known one. A decent PSA campaign can really have an impact. (remember smokey the bear? remember the drunk driver dummies? remember the native american sad about litter?)

That xkcd cartoon just gave me an idea. A diet coke & mentos fountain spraying four feet to the left from a rear rack would probably keep people from passing closely. One facing backwards could help with tailgaters. A little spray of water could have the same effect.

/me goes to look for a pump.

mattjackets - that would be awesome. especially in the summer... But you'd have to carry around a pretty decent sized water supply (and bat off overheated fellow cyclists enjoying your spray)... Might not have to push it all 4 feet, either. "What the hell is coming off that guy's bike... " is likely enough to make people avoid you with more than 4'.

A standard baseball bat held out at arm's length is about four feet. Just sayin'...