I personally still firmly believe in keeping the bike lane. Cars have 2 other lanes they can take, but bikes don’t have many other options. I don’t believe they can go via San Francisco or highway 37 so it’s an even bigger detour than I thought. The hourly bus theoretically works if you have a “normal” bike but cargo bikes, fat bikes, recumbents, trikes, and heavier e-bikes are screwed.

The only compromise I could see is closing it off to bikes during rush hour only, but providing a shuttle bus or van, ideally one that’s always waiting at the side of the bridge (not some number you have to call), has room for cargo bikes/trailers, and only covers the actual bridge to minimize headways and traffic delays. And even then it would just result in induced demand as people start commuting yet longer distances.

Yeah sadly not the case here. Marin is quite suburban and hourly bus service is standard, with the only people taking it being those with no other option. They seem to be slowly moving toward half hourly at least

No, in this case it’s a two way cycle track that takes up exactly one car lane. Before the bike path it was a shoulder, but if they removed the bike path they’d almost certainly turn it into a flex lane like the bottom deck of the bridge.

That being said, I’m sure it would induce demand and cause even more people to commute from Richmond (or worse, far flung suburbs like Antioch) to Marin until traffic is worse. And there’d be no way to bike since bikes aren’t allowed in the car freeway lanes, and there are no alternative routes over the bay.

Also do you have a source for more bikes using it? I’d look it up but am on my phone and too lazy.

Cyclists weren’t allowed on the bridge at all until the bike lane, since it was a freeway bridge, so they hope they’ll just go away (and probably encourage them to buy cars or take the once-an-hour bus).

Sadly I doubt the once-an-hour bus service that’s notably slower than driving and gets stuck in even worse traffic than the cars (because it has to take congested off ramps to reach stops) is getting enough ridership to make a dent. One time the bus was so delayed I missed not only my timed transfer, but the transfer that came an hour later.

On one hand, I wouldn’t be surprised if this bike lane actually doesn’t get as much use, considering it’s across a 5 mile bridge, and neither end has a lot lot of destinations until you get further inland. There aren’t any 3 mile trips being replaced, and most cars are traveling farther (think Berkeley to Novato or Richmond to Santa Rosa).

On the other hand, there is no other cycling alternative to get between those places. The bridge is a freeway so bikes aren’t allowed in the car lanes (and weren’t allowed before the bike lanes). Sure there’s Golden Gate Transit route 580 with bike racks but it’s hourly, gets stuck in the car traffic (but even worse since it takes very congested exits), and you can’t take oddly shaped cargo bikes or trailers on it. So anyone who commuted by bike would be screwed.