Working Bicycle Lane Systems

Encouraging Ridership

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Every city renowned for cycling in Europe and North America has an extensive network of interconnected city-level and district-level bike paths or lanes, complemented by networks of bicycle-friendly streets shared with cars (at low traffic speeds and volumes) and supporting facilities like bike parking. Indeed, nowhere in industrialized countries does one find significant levels of cycling without street space dedicated to bikes. Copenhagen experienced dramatic growth in commuting and other utilitarian bicycling in the years after it replaced many inner-city parking lanes with curbside bicycle lanes, to 25% of all journeys — an increase of 50% in just five years. [13]

Delft and Groningen in the Netherlands have extensive bikeway systems, complete with overpasses, tunnels, off-ramps, bicycle traffic signals and parking. At least 40% of trips in Delft are made by bicycle; 50% of intra-city journeys in Groningen are bicycle trips, while 20% of commutes from outside city limits are also by bike. [14] In Erlangen, Germany, development of a bicycle lane and path network (combined with motor traffic restraint measures) helped double cycle trips to 30% over a 12-year period. [15] Even more ambitious policies in the large Austrian city of Graz led to a doubling of bike trips to 12% in just three years. [16]

In the United States, cycling has increased similarly in cities that have provided street space for bicycling. Davis, California has long provided facilities and programs for cyclists, including an extensive bike lane system. Although Davis is a university town, almost half of the 25% of Davis commuters who cycle are non-students, giving Davis an impressive commuting level among “ordinary” citizens. [17] Eugene, Oregon and Palo Alto, California, other university towns, experienced significant increases in bicycling following active official encouragement and bike lane construction. 1980 Census figures for Eugene and Palo Alto showed over 8% and 10% of trips, respectively, made by bike. [18]

Bike lanes encourage utilitarian bicycling in non-university towns as well. One analysis compared major cities with differing ratios of bike lane miles per arterial roadway miles, and found three times as much bike commuting in cities with substantial number of bicycle lane-miles as in cities with very few. [19]

Promoting Safety

Indeed, most surveys of bicyclists cite traffic danger as among the greatest deterrents to bicycling for everyday transportation. [20] In the 1992 City Cyclist survey, fewer cars and better bike lanes were considered “very important” by 61% and 59% of respondents, respectively — outranked only by more support from government and media and better street surfaces. Even sidewalk cycling, a growing bane of NYC pedestrians, is a product of heavy auto traffic and its crowding-out of bicyclists. New York City bicycle accident and fatality statistics show starkly the dangers of such auto traffic to cyclists (see Chapter 17).

Evidence from Europe, the venue for most serious research into fundamental issues of bicycle transport, suggests that bike lanes, properly designed and maintained, save lives and help avoid many non-fatal accidents as well. In marked contrast to practice in NYC, bike lane planning guidelines in many European countries use levels of motor traffic as a determinant: the more autos, the greater the need for bike lanes. [21]

For example, the Netherlands is Europe's most densely populated country and also has the most cars per square mile. Yet the Netherlands maintains over 10,000 kilometers of bike paths and lanes [22] — a ratio of 1:12 between cycle path and road miles — and cycling deaths per kilometer traveled are the lowest of all industrialized countries studied. [23] Dutch planners report a 20% drop in cycling accident rates and a 36% decline in injuries in Delft, following installation of the cycleway network. [24]

One of the most comprehensive analysis of bicycling accidents examined 4,000 mishaps in Cologne, Germany. The study found that bike lanes dramatically reduced the incidence of “dooring” (cyclist struck by opening car door) while reducing the severity of cyclist accidents by 20%. Accidents involving cyclists in bike lanes were concentrated primarily where a lane ended and cyclists had to find their way in mixed traffic, and where motor traffic entering a roadway crossed the bike lane. [25]

In one of the few U.S. examples with before-and-after data, on-street bicycle lanes in the Tierrasanta section of San Diego reduced bicycle accidents. In 1989, after on-street parking on three roads was converted to bike lanes, bicycle accidents fell from nine crashes (including one fatality) in the 1988-89 school year, to three non-fatal accidents in 1989-90. Removing car parking has also improved the physical appearance of the streets. [26]

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