"Why did you not turn around!?" pleads the driver in the video. To the right of his car, the subject of his disconcert: two Indego cyclists, scurrying in the far-right traffic lane of the Vine Street Expressway, clearly just trying to get the heck out of dodge. At first blush, one might easily dismiss the riders as careless (also: helmets, people), but as the ensuing Twitter discussion illuminated: it's easier than you think to mistakenly find yourself on the six-lane, decidedly bike-unfriendly arterial that runs through the city. Because apparently, many of us have done it.
@bikemamadelphia @PlanPhilly @RideIndego Did the same thing within a couple of months of moving to Phila.
— Phila. Bikes (@philabikes) July 12, 2015
But could the whole shenanigan have been avoided with a little signage improvement?
According to Jon Geeting from PlanPhilly, "it seems more plausible that inexperience and confusion are the culprit here, rather than purposeful joy-riding."
Although it's been surmised that the cyclists accidentally took a wrong lane at 8th street to enter the expressway heading west, where the sign clearly states you're about to get onto I-676, the signage leading onto the expressway can be misleading, particularly at Eakin's Oval, where a sign labeled "24th Street" actually is a ramp that leads down to the highway.
Geeting continues: "Whether it's through signage telling you you're about to be on a highway, or street markings delineating which lanes different modes are supposed to use, the importance of telling everybody where they are and aren't supposed to be is heightened because, as we're seeing with Indego, there are a lot of new inexperienced riders around nowadays with different needs than seasoned riders."
· How easy is it to accidentally ride your bike onto I-676? [Plan Philly]
· Indego bike share cyclist on I-676 [YouTube]
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