Would commuters be more likely to ride a bike if they had the option to ride in a protected lane? New research led by a University of New Mexico School of Engineering faculty member says yes.
Protected bike lanes are associated with nearly double the number of bike ridership than standard bike lanes, according to a new paper published in Nature Cities.
The paper, titled "The link between low-stress bicycle facilities and bicycle commuting," reports that protected bike lanes see about 1.8 times the number of bike commuters than standard bike lanes do and 4.3 times as many as blocks without bike lanes.
UNM's Nick Ferenchak, associate professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering and director of the Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety, led the research. Wesley Marshall, professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado at Denver, co-authored the paper.
The researchers examined six years of longitudinal data across 14,011 blocks in 28 U.S. cities to make the determination.
"Cities that seek to boost bicycle commute mode shifts should focus on implementing low-stress bicycle facilities if they want to best facilitate the sizable population of less-confident potential riders," Ferenchak said.
According to Ferenchak, the results can be interpreted as validation of the stress-based planning tool known as Bicycle Level of Traffic Stress. Civil engineers use tools like this to help determine what street infrastructure is suitable for bicyclists of different ages and experience levels. The less stressful an area is to bike ride in, the more people will utilize it.
To compare the different types of bicycle facilities, or lane styles, Ferenchak and Marshall first looked at cities with more than double the national average of bicycle commute mode share using the American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Fourteen cities with high levels of bicycle commuting were paired with cities of similar population size, geographic area, climate and function that have substantially lower levels of bicycle commuters. In order to complete the analysis, they used historic bicycle maps, interviewed city employees, and examined historic images from Google Earth and Google Street View. Then, they classified groups of street blocks by type of bicycle infrastructure and mileage of each type.
Researchers found that while standard bike lanes increase the number of bicycle commuters compared to streets with no bike infrastructure, protected bike lanes and buffered bike lanes encourage even greater numbers of bicycle commuters. While a greater number of bicycle commuters may not be a city's primary end goal, it could help lower fuel consumption, emissions, and transportation costs while producing better health outcomes and greater safety for bicyclists.
Ferenchak leads the Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety, a Tier-1 University Transportation Center funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The center's goal is to eliminate pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities and serious injuries through research, education, technology transfer and workforce development.
