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Road
travel by human-powered vehicles tends to be divided into two major categories.
In the first, the HPV (bike) is treated as a road vehicle and becomes part
of the normal traffic flow on both urban and inter-urban roads. The "rules"
followed are the same as those that apply to motorized vehicles, and the HPV
has largely unrestricted access to all public roads. The second model considers
HPVs to be more like pedestrians and provides special bike paths for their
use. It restricts HPV travel to these bike paths where they exist and may
prohibit bikes from some city streets and some classes of inter-urban roads.
In the US and many European countries, safety arguments are used by traffic
planners to support the second model whereas serious bike commuters tends
to favor the first category for the increased flexibility that it provides in
journey design.
In most US cities, a mixture of the two modes exists
with some restrictions being placed on bike travel. Bikes tend to be prohibited
on limited access highways, and frequently the design and maintenance
of city streets is below that desired for safe bike travel. Recreational facilities
such as parks and river banks may include dedicated bike paths. Central
Park in New York City is closed to motor vehicles on Sundays to permit the
use of its roads by bikes and roller-bladers. Other cities have similar policies.
In
the majority of countries, mixed traffic situations prevail,
the road system may be minimal particularly in non-urban areas, and many journeys
by HPVs are carried out on unpaved roads. |
