Though large patches of grass have lost their true color due to the ongoing drought, Cupertino presents a more permanent sign of green through its new bike lanes near schools this summer. The previously concrete grey bike lanes have changed across streets of various school vicinities, including MVHS and Kennedy Middle School.

Dressing bike lanes in green is not new to the Bay Area; peripheral cities including San Jose, San Francisco and Palo Alto have already installed their sets of green bike lanes in the past five years, according to Gary Richards of Silicon Valley Mercury News. The installment succeeded in assuring the safety of bikers in these areas — Richards validates that “eighty-seven percent of drivers now slow down [near the green bike lanes] compared with seventy-one percent before.”

Addressing the past

As for Cupertino, the idea of the green bike lanes near schools caught the eyes of the city council following the loss of a fellow student last October.  The community requested major changes to the bicycle transportation system in hopes of preventing further accidents.

David Stillman, Senior Civil Engineer of the Cupertino City Hall, claims that these changes had been in progress prior to the incident; however, the discourse within the community since the accident triggered a stronger push toward the actual construction of these lanes near schools.

“There was a lot of community support following the accident for improving the bike lanes [near schools],” Stillman said. “I’m sure that went a long way towards the Council’s approval of the additional budget [of 1.2 million dollars towards enhancement of bike lanes.]”

Sophomore Megan Wang praises the city for its action.

“With the tragic accident that occurred [last year,] I think that Cupertino made a good choice to reenforce the bike lanes,” Wang said.

General approval

Statistics regarding the effectiveness of Cupertino’s new bike lanes are yet to be released. However, many seem to approve of the new addition for its striking color, which instantly direct the attention of drivers to nearby bikers.

“[The green bike lanes] exercise extra caution… that there are bicyclists using those lanes,” Stillman said. “Also, [they have] the effect of making the street look a little narrower, so cars tend to slow down [near the bike lanes.] It’s definitely a safety enhancement.”

As both a biker and a driver, senior Justin Mo applauds the city’s work.

“I believe the new bike lanes massively increase the safety of bikers mostly because of its luminescent neon-green color,” Mo said.  “As a driver, I can confirm that…the color really catches the eyes of drivers and forces them to be more aware of the lane and bikers riding in it.”

Bikeways around MVHS.

Some advocates of such change strive for more, however —  they suggest further improvements of the bike lanes, as bikers still lack the full protection on roads.

“[The] new bike lane is excellent,” Amy Cheng, a mother of two MVHS Vista students, said, “[but] bike lanes should have small flashing lights dividers to ensure more safety of bikers.”

Future solutions

Though many consider the lanes helpful, others believe that green bike lanes alone are not a comprehensive solution to the danger bikers face in the roads today. Problems still arise from inattentive drivers who ignore the law at the expense of the bikers’ safety.

“It’s pretty safe as long as you stay in the bike lanes, but there [are] always those crazy drivers,” sophomore Emily Zhang, who utilizes the lane daily to and from school, said. “It would be very helpful if people don’t randomly park in the bike lane to pick up their kids.”

Aware of such an issue, the city plans to continue increasing the security of bikers in the upcoming year. According to Stillman, future projects will include not only infrastructure improvements like green bike lanes, but also ways to educate drivers and bicyclists of the rules of the road.

“We’re going to look full range of measures, not just green bike lanes, that can be used to enhance bicyclist safety,” Stillman said. “We’re starting [the] process right now, …continue for the next nine months or so, and wrap up in May.”