Why use 16th Street when this is available? Photo by Dylan Passmore.

Every morning rush hour while waiting for the 16th Street bus I watch a steady stream of cyclists fight through the motor traffic to bike south towards downtown.

One block to the west, 17th Street is one-way going south and is much lighter with cars. One block to the east, 15th Street has the city’s best on-street bike facility, the south-bound cycle track. Both are excellent streets on which to cycle, while 16th Street is a high-speed and dangerous maze of cars, buses and trucks.

Why in the world would anybody want to bike on 16th when such excellent alternatives are so easily accessible? While it’s true that neither 15th nor 17th go as far north as 16th, surely the ease of cycling on either of those streets makes it worth the trouble of cutting over a block once possible, doesn’t it?

I don’t begrudge any cyclist their fair place on the street, but as someone who treats his bike as a tool for transport, I always prefer the easiest route possible. When I bike to work instead of ride the bus, which I do occasionally, I use 17th.

So help me out here. I’m befuddled. Why would any cyclist choose to ride south on 16th Street at the height of morning rush hour?

Update: According to comments here and via twitter, 16th Street is much faster. If you’re comfortable with the mixed traffic, you get there quicker via 16th.