Safety

Road diets and emergency response times

Cedar Rapids, IA implemented a road diet on four different roads that reduced the number of lanes of traffic. Using pre/post data, researchers found that there was no difference in emergency response times. Over half the EMS respondents in the follow up survey said the changes had either no impact or a positive impact on response times.

NYC DOT: Bike lanes are good for pedestrians

NYC DOT added 3.18 miles of protected bike lanes in East NY, Brooklyn. The subsequent traffic calming and shortened crossing distance reduced death and serious injuries for all road users (that’s drivers included) by 18.1%. For senior pedestrians the decline was 39%!

Sharrows actually increase danger to bikers

Crash data from Chicago 2011 - 2014 shows that streets with sharrows have increased cyclist injury rates. Cities would be better off not painting sharrows and leaving the street without any markings at all.

FHWA says road diets are good for emergency response times

Converting two-way four lane roads to two travel lanes with center left turn lane not only reduces crashes 19-47%, but can also improve emergency response times. Case studies from Ocean City, NJ and Woodbury, NJ demonstrate this; the former’s road diet also included a buffered bike lane in the design.

NYC Protected Bike Lane Analysis, NYC DOT

3 years of data from protected bike lane implementations around NYC show reduction of injuries for all road users. Everyone, drivers and their passengers included, are injured in crashes less often when streets have protected bike lanes.

Lessons from the Green Lanes: Evaluating Protected Bike Lanes in the US

Using video to count cyclists researchers found protected bike routes increased ridership from 21% - 171%. Survey data data indicates that 10% of those riders came from other modes of transportation. Overall 91% of survey respondents from all modes, e.g. cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers, agreed that separating bike traffic from cars was desirable. Both cyclists and pedestrians said they frequent businesses more often after the bike lanes were installed.

Evaluation of New Zealand’s bicycle helmet law

New Zealand made bike helmets required in 1994. Cycling data from 1988-91 and 2003-07 shows that average hours biked per person in NZ declined 51% and overall injury rates per hour biked increased 20%. There was a 75% reduction in biking for children 5-17 years old.

Injuries to pedal cyclists on New Zealand roads, 1988-2007

From 1989 to 2006 New Zealand’s bicycle mode share reduced from 4% to only 1%. This coincides with a large increase in transportation by motor vehicle. During that time the injury rates for cyclists increased 20% while declined by 40-50% for all other modes of transportation.

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In the news

More Bostonians are biking as bike lanes boom, but barriers remain, Boston Globe

Boston has set a goal to have every resident within 3 minutes of a protected bike route. Progress since 2021 has shown and increase in ridership with more and more people interviewed saying they’re opting for their bike instead of car. Ridership increases are attributed to increased sense of safety while riding.

Bike lanes are good for business, Business Insider

Meta review of years of bike lane and business research. Concludes that bike lanes are often good for business but occasionally have no impact. The doom and gloom to business that some may predict, however, isn’t justified.

What makes Copenhagen the world’s most bike-friendly city?, World Economic Forum

As Copenhagen’s protected bike network grows, cyclists feel safer, and ridership grows. Government estimates are that each new protected route yields 15-20% more riders. From 2006 to 2016 there’s been a 22% increase in kilometres covered by bike (1.4 million km in 2016). Around 62% of commutes for those that live and work in Copenhagen are by bike.

More investment needed in Copenhagen cycling infrastructure, review suggests, CPHpost

Danish government estimates that 1 km of biking in Copenhagen creates 4.80 kroner (~ $1 per mile) in economic value. If that trip by bike replaced a car trip the economic value goes up to 10.09 kroner per km (~ $2.10 per mile). In 2017, 43% of work commutes in the city were taken by bike, so this value estimate is across a lot of kilometers of biking.

The Complete Business Case for Converting Street Parking Into Bike Lanes, CityLab

A review of 12 studies related to bike lanes and business. Key takeways are that shoppers by bike spend at least as much as drivers since they return more often, business owners consistently underestimate the share of customers who arrive by bike, and business owners often overestimate how far away their customers live. As a result, protected bike lanes are likely good for business.

Bike lanes have actually sped up car traffic in New York City, Vox

Narrowing travel lanes and building protected bike lanes both reduced cyclist risk by roughly half and rush hour car travel times declined by 35%. Removing parking for the “pocket lane” for car left turns is an innovation in the parking protected bike lane design that helped with travel times.

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Environment

More Bostonians are biking as bike lanes boom, but barriers remain, Boston Globe

Boston has set a goal to have every resident within 3 minutes of a protected bike route. Progress since 2021 has shown and increase in ridership with more and more people interviewed saying they’re opting for their bike instead of car. Ridership increases are attributed to increased sense of safety while riding.

What makes Copenhagen the world’s most bike-friendly city?, World Economic Forum

As Copenhagen’s protected bike network grows, cyclists feel safer, and ridership grows. Government estimates are that each new protected route yields 15-20% more riders. From 2006 to 2016 there’s been a 22% increase in kilometres covered by bike (1.4 million km in 2016). Around 62% of commutes for those that live and work in Copenhagen are by bike.

NYC Protected Bike Lane Analysis, NYC DOT

NYC DOT studied different protected bike lane segments around Manhattan. They found that protected bike lanes often dramatically increase ridership. Over a 6 month stretch …

Lessons from the Green Lanes: Evaluating Protected Bike Lanes in the US

Using video to count cyclists researchers found protected bike routes increased ridership from 21% - 171%. Survey data data indicates that 10% of those riders came from other modes of transportation. Overall 91% of survey respondents from all modes, e.g. cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers, agreed that separating bike traffic from cars was desirable. Both cyclists and pedestrians said they frequent businesses more often after the bike lanes were installed.

Evaluation of New Zealand’s bicycle helmet law

New Zealand made bike helmets required in 1994. Cycling data from 1988-91 and 2003-07 shows that average hours biked per person in NZ declined 51% and overall injury rates per hour biked increased 20%. There was a 75% reduction in biking for children 5-17 years old.

Injuries to pedal cyclists on New Zealand roads, 1988-2007

From 1989 to 2006 New Zealand’s bicycle mode share reduced from 4% to only 1%. This coincides with a large increase in transportation by motor vehicle. During that time the injury rates for cyclists increased 20% while declined by 40-50% for all other modes of transportation.

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Business

Economic impacts of bicycle and pedestrian street improvements

Studied business corridors that received street redesigns in 6 different cities. Business results were often positive, but in a few cases had no impact. Overall, food service and retail sales improve as does employment in those sectors. These results hold in cases where parking was removed for bike lanes.

Lessons from the Green Lanes: Evaluating Protected Bike Lanes in the US

Using video to count cyclists researchers found protected bike routes increased ridership from 21% - 171%. Survey data data indicates that 10% of those riders came from other modes of transportation. Overall 91% of survey respondents from all modes, e.g. cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers, agreed that separating bike traffic from cars was desirable. Both cyclists and pedestrians said they frequent businesses more often after the bike lanes were installed.

Measuring the street, NYC DOT

NYC DOT studied the impact of different redesigns on local businesses. The conclusion: protected bike lanes are good for business, maybe even great.

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