r/Glasgow Tools

Not an excuse for every instance, but it's worth people being aware that a good amount of the [existing advised cycling network in Glasgow includes many shared-use pavements](https://glasgowgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=8eb9f600ed154ae58b09c2c5902ce7f0).

Pavements along nearly the full length of the Clydeside, a couple up near Cowcaddens, and often most pavements which wrap around parks are some which I can remember off hand. But there are many others.

So, it's worth not lashing out and understanding that this may well be the case. Quite often people on bikes have nowhere safe to travel, and shared spaces like this make the difference between a journey by bike being possible or not at all.

All this said, yes, I too see *some* people on bikes on pavements which I know for sure are not designated shared-use. In some situations, like on busy city centre streets, this is quite obviously a stupid thing to do. But in all honesty, there are lots of places where I can't blame the person on a bike from avoiding using the roadway. I know from experience too that such is the fragmented state of the city's cycling network, that many quiet routes or existing cycle lanes lead you onto entirely inhospitable roads. Often using a pavement for a few hundred meters before you rejoin the network and go on your way is the safest thing to do.

Of course, pedestrians have absolute priority, and anyone who's doing this should be going as slowly and carefully as possible.