Sharrows are here!

Last Friday I helped install the first
"sharrow" in
Los Angeles to launch a new pilot program aimed at
making it safer for cars and bicycles to share the road. The goal is to encourage biking as a real alternative to driving, which would in turn reduce traffic and air pollution.

Sharrows, also referred to as shared lane pavement markings, are used to increase motorist awareness of cyclists and to move cyclists out of the “door zone.” Sharrows consist of a stencil of a bicycle with two chevrons above it.

The sharrows pilot program was developed in partnership with the Los Angles County Bike Coalition (LACBC) and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), with support from the Southern California Association of Governments and the Bohnett Foundation.

The first stage of the pilot is the installation of sharrows on Fountain Avenue from Western Avenue to Vermont Avenue. Sharrows will also be painted this summer on six other streets across the city. LADOT will monitor these routes and use its observations in expanding sharrows to other parts of the city.