Today on Streets.mn: Is "Forgiveness" just for Auto Drivers?

[Davis, CA c. 1960: forgiving lanes are almost as old as John Forester!]

A propos of today's spittle-tastic rant on media framing, there's a related post over at Streets.mn that about the concept of "forgiveness" as it relates to streets design.

Here's a taste:

Say what you will about vehicular cycling, but nobody is going to argue that it’s “forgiving.” For a brief moment in the early 70s, Epperson mentions another approach to bicycling. He calls it the “third stream of egalatarianists.” According to his story, they emerged out of Davis California, around the University campus, advocating an approach to bicycle design organized around the concept of forgiveness.

The basic difference is this: Do you design bike lanes with the assumption that all the cyclists will be fast, efficient, well-trained, and “educated” about how to ride in traffic? Or do you design bike lanes for people who will move slowly, dawdle, and are perhaps younger or older or riding in groups? Do you design lanes for people who occasionally fall down?

I talk about a great history of vehicular cycling that my bicycle research colleague Melody Hoffman forwarded to me, as well as some other issues about egalitarian bicycle design approaches.