Tag Archive for 'Bicycles'

Addressing Waterfront Open Space

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on October 13, 2008
in New York City, Water Park and Waterfront
. 3 Comments

I spent the better part of this long weekend wandering through the many parks of New York City.  The weekend weather was absolutely perfect to spend the whole day in a park and as you’ll see from the pictures below - I wasn’t the only one who thought so.  Now, I know I’ve said this before but, Miami could learn a lot from these cities.  New York’s ever growing park infrastructure is absolutely amazing.  Over the weekend, I wandered through Central, Union Square, Washington Square, and most importantly: the new Hudson River Parkway and Hoboken’s Pier A Park.  NYC and Hoboken have rejuvenated their waterfront with quality design and infrastructure, enabling access to the vast open space along the shores.  There certainly is not a valid reason why our Waterfront parks and river greenway shouldn’t be able to emulate the success of these great public spaces.  A brief walk through of either of these two linear riverside parks will reveal why they too will become great public spaces - accessible green space, limited concrete, varied structured and unstructured activity spaces, and multimodal connectivity…

We began the day Saturday with an obligatory trip into Central Park.  This was the scene pretty much throughout the park.  The park offered us a great escape from the crowds we had just walked through in Midtown - it seemed like the other half of the city had flocked to Central Park.

This was the scene at Hoboken’s Pier A, just across the Hudson River from NYC’s Hudson River Parkway.

This whole park is built upon a pier and provides some great open space in which to enjoy the panoramic views of Manhattan.  It reminded a lot of Brooklyn Bridge Park on the opposite side of Manhattan…

Like the Hudson River Parkway, New Jersey is working to connect their entire waterfront park system with bicycle paths - creating safe, healthy, and clean ways for residents to access the waterfront, transit, and Business Districts.

Shade.  If there had’t been a nice cool breeze, I’m sure we would have seen more people enjoying this area.

Being the transit junkie that I am, I just had to go for a ride on the Hudson Bergen Light Rail.  These trains are fast, efficient, quiet, and a wonderful way to commute through Jersey.

Herald Chronicles Miami’s ‘Green Bicycle Wave’

Published
by
Mike Lydon
on October 6, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Reporter Andres Viglucci wrote a nice piece chronicling the City’s growing commitment to becoming a bicycle friendly city. He writes:

Whether it’s out of fear of getting crushed by two tons of speeding metal, the clueless motorists or the near-total lack of bike lanes, Miamians have long been notoriously bike-averse.

So what’s a car-choked town to do if it wants to join a growing trend and foster safe cycling for recreation and transportation?

You do what the city of Miami — incredibly, perhaps — is starting to do.

First, you draw up a bike plan for the first time ever: identify suitable streets, create bike lanes and signage, provide bike parking and print up ”bike-friendly” maps.

And then, to show that people do want this, pick a day when main streets in the center of town can be closed to cars and turn them over to the citizenry to freely bike, walk, skate, jog, congregate.

Say, Sunday, Nov. 9.

To read more follow the link above, or hey, go old school and pick up a copy of tomorrow’s edition.

House Passes Bailout Bill, Incentivizes Bicycle Commuting

Published
by
Mike Lydon
on October 3, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 5 Comments

Regardless of weather or not you were in favor of the “bailout bill” or not, enough of our representatives were. While the short term and long term effects of this monumental piece of legislation will play out in the coming weeks, months and years, one thing is for sure: riding a bicycle to work just became even more legitimate in the eyes of our nation’s leaders.

Indeed, the bicycle blogs have been abuzz over the past few days with the potential for Earl Blumenauer’s(D-Oregon) $20 per month bicycle commuter tax credit to finally see the light of day.

Our friends over at Streetsblog had this to say:

“Section 211 of the “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008″ allows for a ‘qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement’ for ‘reasonable expenses incurred by the employee during such calendar year for the purchase of a bicycle and bicycle improvements, repair, and storage, if such bicycle is regularly used for travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment.’

Other transpo-related items in the bill include credits for biofuels and other “alternative” mixtures, plug-in electric vehicles, and what looks like a few goodies for oil and natural gas producers. Another section includes incentives for green construction and renewable energy production.”

$20 dollars a month is not a hug sum, but I look forward to putting it towards the upkeep of my trusty two-wheeler.

SAVE THE DATE - BIKEMIAMI - November 9th

Published
by
Mike Lydon
on September 23, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 13 Comments

What do New York City, San Francisco, Portland have in common with Miami? Ah…not much you would say. The first three are revered as some of our country’s most progressive, sustainable and livable cities. But Miami? Well, the times they are ‘a changin’.

Enter BikeMiami.

Last December I wrote an op-ed to the Miami Herald urging city officials to make a Miami more bicycle-friendly. I wrote because the pure lack of attention being paid to bicyclists represented a larger issue. Miami was choosing not to compete as a 21st century city. Although bicycle-friendliness does not encompass all things livable in a city, those cities who have pursued such a noble goal are those that tend to be the most livable. As a result, they are capable of outperforming others in the pursuit of new talent, investment and sustainability — a buzzword if I have ever heard one.

One of the items that I mentioned in said op-ed was Bogota’s Ciclovia, an event that closes 70km of city streets and hands them over to what makes a city work, it’s people. The shear success of Ciclovia — with thousands of bicyclists, pedestrians, joggers etc. participating every Sunday — has had a catalytic effect on how North American cities are starting to view their own streets. In many respects, Bogota has become what Jane Jacobs calls a ‘pattern city.’ That is, a city that inspires other cities to emulate its success.

Well, mark your calendar Miamians, because the City of Miami is closing several downtown streets for what is now being dubbed BIKEMIAMI. Sources close to Transit Miami confirm this landmark event will take place on Sunday, November 9th. The exact times have not been scheduled, but know that it will likely run from mid-morning to mid-afternoon. Bicyclists, skaters, pedestrians, joggers, roller bladers, yoga fanatics and everyone else and their mother will be invited to come downtown and enjoy their city — without cars.

Ah, now maybe this will foster some civitas.

Keep in mind that all the details are still being worked out, but TM will be there every step of the way to report on updates and concurrent events as they become available.

A big thank you has to be bestowed upon the Bicycle Action Committee and those within the Mayor’s office who have made this little seed I planted grow into a reality. Also, please know the cooperation across City departments and with groups like the Miami DDA and the folks who run the ING Miami Marathon has been instrumental.

More to come…

In the meantime, check out StreetFilms‘ work documenting Ciclovia type events in the aforementioned cities. I think you will like what you see.

Spread the word.

Maybe we’ll put some magic back in this city yet.

Bicyclists Side-Swiped in a Hit and Run

Published
by
Mike Lydon
on September 1, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 3 Comments

When it rains, it pours. Diana Moskovitz of the Miami Herald reports that two bicyclists were struck yesterday on State Road 84 in Davie. The negligent driver side-swiped the bicyclists and continued driving. Both were sent to the hospital and fortunately were not killed. Interestingly, some reports have said the bicyclists were off-duty Miami police officers. More to come if and when more information is available.

Change in Commuting Habits

Published
by
JM Palacios
on July 30, 2008
in Bicycles, Commuting, Uncategorized and biking
. 5 Comments

An article in the Sun-Sentinel focuses on the shift in commuting habits that has occurred and will continue to occur with our ridiculously high gas prices. We’ve seen this clearly for some time now, so it’s good to see someone other than us transit freaks recognize that solo driving is unsustainable. Some of us will be dragged kicking and screaming into this “brave new world,” but there’s no sense in trying to stay in the last century.

Do you hear that, Mary Peters? Transit needs more money, not less!

Read the print copy if you can, where you can see the above photo on the front page of the local section (at least for Broward County). Yours truly in the picture, riding to work last Friday.

Update 8/1/08: Found the online version of the photo here after some digging around the Sun-Sentinel’s website. It wasn’t connected with the article like it was in the paper.

Counting Bicyclists

Published
by
Mike Lydon
on July 25, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 3 Comments

After a recent Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting I agreed to help Miami-Dade County MPO Bike/ped coordinator, Dave Henderson, count bicyclists. Dave has been doing his annual bicycle count all around downtown Miami recently and I decided to help  him out with the Venetian Causeway portion.

The task was simple: find out how many bicyclists are using the Venetian Causeway between 7am and 9am on weekday mornings. By tallying these users on an annual basis the County will better understand how and where bicyclists are riding, especially as it relates to commuting.  I conducted my survey last Tuesday.

Certainly no single day bicyclist count can determine average daily use numbers. Nonetheless, randomly tallying users on any given day provides us with an idea of how often bicyclists are using the streets and/or the few existing bicycle facilities that do exist. While counting I did my best to not double count. That is, to not include those bicycling past me east bound, only to whiz by me 20 minutes later heading west bound.  This happened frequently, demonstrating that many people use the Venetian Causeway for exercise, not one-way morning commutes.

What I discovered is instructive. Overall, I counted 90 bicyclists. Interestingly,  I saw no children, kids, or teens.  About 60% of the riders were headed east, while another 40% were heading west. Those readily identifiable as recreational bicyclists were doing loops, while the rest, with their backpacks, saddle bags, and lack of spandex, were probably on their way to or from work.

Men outnumbered women by 40%, which says something about users, safety and preference.

As it relates to bicycle behavior, 100% of users were using the on-street bicycle lanes, opting to stay away from the sidewalks. What is more, 100% of bicyclists were riding with traffic. Almost anywhere else in Miami these impressive percentages would surely diminish. Indeed, when I bicycle downtown, west on SW 7th Street, Eastward on calle ocho, or all over the Grove, I typically see 50% of riders on the sidewalks or going against traffic in the wrong direction.

One can only attribute these virtuous behaviors to the presence of a bicycle lane (despite its shortcomings) clear and consistent signage, directional on-pavement arrows, and an ingrained bicyclist culture where riders know what is expected of them on the Causeway. To be sure, I do see bicyclists along the Venetian exhibiting less than safe behavior. Nonetheless, they are few and far between. What is worrisome, however, is that 46% of bicyclists were not wearing helmets. One must remember that a bicycle lane does not always mean you are safe.

Overall, the corridor is very active and relatively safe. It is just unfortunate that so many recreational bicyclists do not carry on into the the City of Miami. This is probably because the bicycle lane simply stops on the Miami side of the Causeway. Further more,  it seems the general perception of downtown Miami and many of its inner neighborhoods is that of an unsafe and unattractive place for recreation. Sometime in the future the baywalk may coax recreational bicyclists further into the city, but for now efforts should concentrate on street facilities that help non-commuting or non-expert riders explore their city safely and without being  isolated inside a hulking metal carapace.

Bus vs. Bicycle

Published
by
JM Palacios
on July 12, 2008
in bike lanes and bus
. 6 Comments

Bus blocking bicycle lane

I was spoiled by learning to ride my bicycle on the road in Gainesville, one of Florida’s most bicycle-friendly cities. Bus drivers in that city typically check for bicycles in the bike lane before pulling over into it to stop, or they stop outside of the bicycle lane altogether. This is in obedience with Florida Statute 316.085(2) that requires a driver to check that a lane is clear before changing lanes. In this regard, a bicycle lane is no different than a regular vehicular lane, just as a bicycle is no different than a regular vehicle. There is nothing wrong with the bus changing lanes into the bicycle lane when stopping, but the driver must make sure the bicycle lane is clear before doing so. Anything else is a violation of the law and a threat to cyclists.

Bus drivers down here seem ignorant of that law as it applies to bicycle lanes. At least the one who I ran into yesterday was ignorant, as was the cop who faulted me for the accident without finding me in violation of any law.

A message to all the local transit systems: train your drivers to drive carefully and lawfully as it pertains to cyclists! In this case, they need to check their right mirror before encroaching on any kind of bicycle lane. We are all part of the multimodal transportation system, and bicycles and buses are both good alternatives to cars. We would hate to see one kill off the other.

Do You Want Bicycle Lanes Along Coral Way?

Published
by
Mike Lydon
on June 22, 2008
in Bicycles, Uncategorized and bike lanes
. 12 Comments

If you know something about thoroughfare right of ways in Miami, you know that they are controlled by several different jurisdictions: State, County, City, and even Federal in the case of Interstate 95. While the City of Miami controls many of the local neighborhood streets, they essentially have no control over the the city’s major corridors. This my transit-minded friends, is a major problem, as such a thicket of bureaucracy tends to make the instigation of change a nightmare, especially when it comes to taking back the streets from the car cartel. Yet the City of Miami is finally starting to join us in the good fight and we need to help them, help us. The reconstruction of Coral Way is the most imminent opportunity.

If you would like to see bicycle lanes included on Coral Way, from Southwest 12th Avenue to Southwest 15th Road, please join Transit Miami by writing a quick letter of support by Friday, June 27th to Alexander Adams (aadams@miamigov.com) in the City of Miami Planning Department (You can even tell him, or us, where else you would like to see such facitlities). Bicycle lanes along this important corridor will be an important link in the City’s eventual bicycle network. Speak up and show FDOT that bicycling in Miami is being taken very seriously!

Cycling Here and There

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on June 16, 2008
in Bikes, bike lanes and bikeway
. 7 Comments

Last week I decided to go cycling along the M-Path and was taken aback by the hostility and fragmentation of Miami’s only main Bicycle route. I was even more shocked when last weekend I visited Cambridge again and witnessed first hand the disparity between Miami’s and Cambridge’s cycling facilities. We have a long way to go.

Cambridge is by far one of the friendliest cities in the United States for cycling. Click here for a full citywide map of routes. Most city streets look like the image below and the bike lanes provide a consistent network for area residents.

Cambridge Bike Lanes

The M-Path, our “premier” cycling facility is a fragmented trail of hostility. As the M-Path to Enlightenment points out, if you aren’t paying attention and are traveling too fast, you’ll end up in the Miami River along the path’s northern terminus in Downtown Miami. I was taken aback most by the lovely “No Trespassing” signs along the very public right-of-way. A little misleading, isn’t it?

Miami\'s M-Path

Alton Road, Part 2

Published
by
Gabrielle Redfern
on June 10, 2008
in Miami Beach
. 11 Comments

I am sorry, in my previous post I neglected to mention that there is an improvement in the new Alton Road: They propose increasing the parking lane to 9 feet!

On-street parking is a dangerous, highly addictive habit. When you know it is available, you want it, and may not stop at anything to get it. Plus, not to mention, it is likely cheaper than any parking garage. You let its availability control your life: you plan and scheme to get your fix of it and you will fight to defend your right to stop a lane or two of traffic to maneuver your Hummer into a space.

I want to thank the members of the Alliance for Reliable Transport (ART), for forcing FDOT and the City to see a vision of the future that is different and will, then by definition bring new and needed results. Even I was skeptical when a respected ART steering committee member returned from far-flung historic and highly urbanized Cities around the world with pictures of streets built properly. Streets with wide sidewalks, luscious shade trees and dedicated bicycle lanes. Could this really exist here at home? ART showed us that it could. Yet, no one seems to listen.

If the city and DOT do not listen to ART, at least listen to the neighborhoods: Flamingo Neighborhood, led by Judy Robinson or the Westies, always well represented by Arthur Marcus (and Benita Argos). They know you cannot cross Alton Road, ride on Alton Road, or enjoy a peaceful alfresco meal without inhaling exhaust on Alton Road. We are begging FDOT and the City for something different.

If not the Artists or the Neighbors, listen to the City Engineer, the Traffic Manager or the Public Works Director: Wide sidewalk and a demarked bicycle facility for non-motorized vehicles will increase mobility…. mobility is the key to our economic engine: getting tourists in, getting around, spending their money and leaving to make room for the next.

We should listen to the Costal Communities Transportation Master Plan (CCTMP) that says the traffic and congestion problems do not come from our neighbors; it is internal. The congestion occurs because we believe that we can only get around our seven squares in our cars due to the abundant on-street parking! We should follow the lead of the Mayor of Paris who banned parking on the Champs Ellissee!

Nothing causes more congestion than parking. It takes away the opportunity to do anything else with our precious right-of way but store a ton or two of steel and plastic. Parking is not traffic calming. It is parking. At $1500.00/space (the average revenue per year), the City adds $487,000 a year to its coffers (well, not really into the general fund because parking is an enterprise fund.) Is it worth it? Is $500,000, more a year into the bottomless and questionably productive Parking Fund worth the death of businesses or a pedestrian trying to cross the street?

The misconception that there are not enough parking opportunities on Alton Road with out the 325 on street parking spaces is just that: a myth. The City is spending $15 MILLION dollars for 1000 parking spaces at 5thth and West, not to mention that the Herzog & de Meuron Garage and the Robbins Garage will add hundreds spaces. There is ample parking in the area, so when will we be able to re-purpose on-street parking? There is no time better than this project. and Alton, there is parking at 10

11 11 Alton, Miami Beach

Finally, there is the little matter of a memo related to non-motorized vehicles on Alton Road, among others and FDOT statue 335.065(1)(a). In December of 2006, the City declared many of our streets “generally not safe” for non-motorized vehicles”. Don’t we then have an obligation to make them safe by adding a segregated facility for them? Here is our opportunity and an accompanying Florida Statue! The State has a legislative mandate to add the bicycle lane, enhance pedestrian accessibility, and improve safety for all modes of transport. Nowhere in the State Statue or in the City Code is parking (on street parking) given the same kind of priority. Instead, we make that up and justify it with a 10-year-old report called The Walker Study.

Come out on June 26 and tell the City of Miami Beach and the State of Florida that any renovation or rehabilitation of Alton Road that does not include a dedicated bike lane, 20 foot sidewalks, and a travel lane 12 foot wide to accommodate the Baylink is not an Alton Road we want to waste our money on. Tell the bureaucrats and politicians that we will not sit through two torturous years of road construction to end up with the same road we have today.

A Strategy for Squeezing Bike Lanes into Narrow Streets

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on June 9, 2008
in Bicycles, NYC, Parking and bike lanes
. 4 Comments

Photo: New DeKalb Ave bike lane in

When it comes to adding bike lanes, a common roadblock (pun intended) is that the prospective street does not have enough horizontal space to accommodate them. For example, a typical striped bike lane should be at least four feet wide, but five feet is preferable. However, few streets have this kind of space between the parking lane and an adjacent traffic lane to make way for bike lanes without compromising legal lane widths. While taking away a traffic lane OR taking away a parking lane is an option, it can be like running up Everest trying to get the support of the community and its’ officials for this to happen, thanks to our powerful car/oil addiction. However there is one option that could serve as both a compromise and a win for the cycling/livable cities community: take away a traffic lane during off-peak hours.

To illustrate my point, I’m going to use a case from my Brooklyn neighborhood on DeKalb Avenue. As of about a month ago, DeKalb Ave was a one-way street with two traffic lanes and two on-street parking lanes. The avenue moves westbound moving out of Brooklyn toward the Manhattan Bridge, so cars regularly flew at speeds between 40-50 mph. As a result, the street was very dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians despite a high number of both being present on the street throughout the much of the day.

Picture: Existing conditions on DeKalb Ave (NYCDOT)

The solution? NYCDOT decided to take away a lane of traffic during off-peak hours and add a five foot bike lane plus a three foot buffer to protect cyclists from traffic, getting doored, and hopefully mitigate maddeningly frustrating bike lane parking. By narrowing the street to one traffic lane during off-peak hours, it serves to calm traffic from the wild, unnecessary speeding and lane changing for much of the day. However, to help accommodate more traffic during rush hours, a parking lane (on the opposite side of the bike lane, of course) becomes a traffic lane. Any car still parked during peak hours gets ticketed.

Graphic: Conceptual plan for DeKalb Ave (NYCDOT)

Some people may ask, what about the businesses on DeKalb getting hurt by the loss of parking, especially during peak periods? The answers are straight forward enough. First, NYCDOT is installing meters to encourage turnover instead of all-day parking squatting. This will actually help businesses by facilitating turnover as well as generate revenue for the usage of valuable urban street space. It will also redefine loading zone hours in order to combat double parking that clogs traffic and creates dangerous conflicts. Lastly, by calming the street and improving access for cyclists and pedestrians, the potential is there to enhance local business activity even further.

Of course this will not be a perfect scenario, but it should certainly make DeKalb Avenue more livable as it functions more like a complete street. For example, I’ve noticed that it’s actually a little more difficult for pedestrians to cross DeKalb at mid-block now, since there is a steady (albeit slower) flow of traffic along the single traffic lane. However, this can be expected in the short term, as drivers adapt to the roadway changes. Over time, studies have shown that such street changes should eventually lead to disappearing traffic, whereas drivers either choose other routes, other schedules, or not to drive. I’ve witnessed idiot drivers double-parking in the bike lane already, but so far the only way to really solve this problem is physically separated bike lanes.

So how does this tie into Miami? There are many streets with parking lanes that could sacrifice a lane of traffic during off peak hours in order to incorporate bike lanes. Some of the streets that come to mind are operated by FDOT, so it’s important that this is taken into consideration when advocating for this type of roadway reconfiguration. Many other streets in more urban areas of Miami, Miami Beach, and Coral Gables have the potential to utilize this configuration.

(Note: I know there will be at least a few haters reading this who will be eager to point out how different New York is from Miami and how this type of street space reallocation would never work in Miami/South Florida. Well let me tell you this — NYC may be quite different in many ways, but this kind of thing isn’t just being done there, it’s being done it cities all over the country, many of which are less densely developed than Miami.)

Photo: DeKalb Ave @ Washington Ave

BPAC Meeting

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on June 3, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

BPAC

Tonight was the Miami-Dade MPO BPAC committee meeting in Miami’s City Hall.  For those of you who didn’t make it, you didn’t miss anything earth shattering except that we all agreed that we have a long way to go before we have a sensible bicycle network in this county.  If you have any suggestions, comments, or ideas for possible bike related projects, feel free to email them over to us (Movemiami@gmail.com) and we’ll be sure to get them over to David Henderson (Pictured above giving the main presentation of the night…)

“Taking the Lane” With Florida Bicycle Laws

Published
by
JM Palacios
on May 29, 2008
in Bicycles, FDOT, Police, Statute, Uncategorized and bike lanes
. 3 Comments

Taking the Lane

Everyone’s familiar with the rules for bicyclists riding on the road in Florida, right? OK, check the Florida Statutes section 316.2065 for a quick refresher. I’m especially thinking of part 5(a), which spells out when a bicyclist is allowed to “take the lane.” Commute by Bike and Carectomy had some discussion of this issue recently, and their respective posts are worth checking out. My preference is along the lines of Carectomy’s stance, taking the lane when needed. I’m not going to go into all the benefits of taking the lane that they mention, but I wanted to focus on the legality.

From part 5(a), the third situation where bicyclists are not required to ride “as close as practicable to the right” is:

3.  When reasonably necessary to avoid any condition, including, but not limited to, a fixed or moving object, parked or moving vehicle, bicycle, pedestrian, animal, surface hazard, or substandard-width lane, that makes it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge. For the purposes of this subsection, a “substandard-width lane” is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and another vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.

So you can take the lane when you have a narrow lane, right? As a roadway designer, the first thing that comes to mind for a standard lane width is 12 feet. But that last sentence in the law makes the difference. It is not referring to a 12-foot lane, but a lane wide enough for bicycles and cars to share. I used to believe this included 12 foot lanes, as they seem fairly wide; but I have been enlightened.

Last week I attended classes in bicycle and pedestrian facility design taught by Michael Moule, president of the engineering firm Livable Streets, Inc. He clarified that a substandard-width lane for the purposes of this statute meant anything less than 14 feet wide. Agencies only build 14-foot wide lanes when they are specifically trying to accommodate bicycles and the road cannot be widened enough for a 4-foot bicycle lane. FDOT does not really even do that any more, preferring to stripe out a 3-foot “urban shoulder” next to an 11-foot lane if a bicycle lane cannot be built. (Unless it’s District 6 building Alton Road…) Most roads have lanes narrower than 14 feet. So bicyclists are legally entitled to take the entire lane if they so choose.

Think about the reasoning behind the 14 feet. You need at least 8 feet of lane width for a car. (That’s the narrowest parking lane width allowed, so it should be 9 feet for a moving vehicle—but we’ll say 8.) Florida Statute 316.083 states that motorists must pass bicycles at least 3 feet away. It’s safe to assume we need another 3 feet for the bicycle with a rider. Add it up and you need a 14-foot lane for bicyclists and automobiles to safely travel side by side. 

Tell that to the next cop who tries to tell you to ride farther right! Someone even recommended carrying a pocket copy of the Florida statutes to show them. Anyone know where to find those?

Photo by Flickr user richardmasoner.