KVUE-TV News “fake bike lanes” story apparently fabricated

It seems that a KVUE-TV News report that aired Wednesday night, “Fake bike lanes sparking debate in Austin”, by Shelton Green, was fabricated.

News anchor Tyler Sieswerda introduced the report, saying, “Rogue bicyclists have added fake bike lanes to some streets right here in Austin.” Green starts by showing a couple of roads with legitimate lanes, then shows a few dozen feet of of Arroyo Seco, saying “someone took it upon themselves to create these lanes. There’s even a personal message which says, ‘Go Frank’”.

Green then gets to the real story that was from a recent issue of Bicycling magazine, “Paint your lane,” by Dan Koeppel. In it, Koeppel reports about “rogue bike-lanes” in Los Angeles.

To his credit, Green gave Austin Bike Program coordinator Annick Beaudet a chance to speak, and she all but begged cyclists to not paint the roads on their own. In the report, Beaudet didn’t say anything about any such lanes actually in Austin, but expressed concern that cleaning up such lanes would distract the “fragile” Bike/Ped program from carrying out its planned work, which includes adding 35 miles of bike lanes this summer and fall. Green acknowledged that Beaudet said that “Guerilla Bike Lanes” are not prevalent in Austin.

Green never produced any evidence that the lane on Arroyo Seco was actually painted by anyone intending to create a bike lane, and many cyclists suggested that it was more likely painted for one of several of Austin’s marathons. (The Austin Marathon passes along Arroyo Seco.) The “Go Frank” written in the lane is typical for the marathons (and virtually impossible to read for a cyclist going any faster than 10 mph).

Any “debate” among cyclists about the issue would have been more accurately described as “posturing” by a few frustrated cyclists. Green did not report any actual plans or claims of creating false bike lanes.

No doubt many cyclists — still fuming over Governor Perry’s recent veto of SB 488 — bristled at the on-the-street interviewee who suggested that cyclists “write their Governor a letter.”

Shelton Green is himself a cyclist. I believe that he’s also an excellent reporter and that he genuinely cares about helping improve cycling in Austin. I seriously doubt that his errors stemmed from any anti-cycling bias, but more in defense of legitimate cycling efforts.

I sent a public tweet to @KVUE on Thursday, suggesting a retraction. Several others also contacted KVUE to complain. I twittered again before their Friday 10:00 p.m. broadcast, but I never received a reply. At this point, Austin cyclists are due a retraction and an apology.