alternative transportation: roller blades

The other morning I caught up to a rollerblader on Hornby. While waiting at a light, I asked him how it was using the lanes. "Pretty good," he replied. "The counters are..." and he shrugged. Given the thickness and distance -- about a foot, maybe? -- between the two parallel cables that track lane usage, I can see how it might be hard to step/glide over them. But he seemed to manage. He was a slower than me in general, but that made him fairly easy to pass. A block later, he caught up to me at the lights anyway (which I often do with cyclists who are faster than me).

I remember that when roller blades first became popular, they didn't seem to fit on either sidewalks or the street. If the bladers can contain their sideways strokes to the width of a bike lane or narrow them when being passed, separated lanes seem ripe for sharing. Considering that the lanes aren't exactly overflowing yet (but it's only March-- the best is yet to come) I'm all for a variety of alternate non-motorized transportation methods making use of them (yes, including skateboards).

Maybe we'll have to call them the people-powered lanes.