Improving the environment

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.

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.

Seville, Spain built a full protected bike lane network and saw ridership increase > 400% and the risk of bike and car crashes decline > 60%. The share of total trips taken in the area went from near 0% by bike to almost 9%, a mode shift size that’s hard to overstate.

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 …

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.

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.

Then deputy mayor writes a memorandum on the popularity and safety benefits of bike lanes. The data comes from lessons learned building 255 miles of bike lanes in the prior four years. Some facts …

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.