1. SAFETY AND ECONOMIC
BENEFITS OF ROAD DIETS
WITH BIKE LANES
Cynthia Hoyle, FAICP
Transportation Planning Consultant
2. Safety Benefits of Bike Lanes
Large body of research and evidence shows that properly
designed and installed bike lanes reduce crashes1:
When the city of Corvallis, OR installed 13 miles of bicycle
lanes in one year, the number of bicycle crashes fell from
40 in the year prior to the installation to just 16 in the year
afterwards…2
The addition of bicycle lanes in Davis, California reduced
crashes by 31 percent.3
A comparison of crash rates of all types in major cities has
shown that cities with higher bicycle use have lower traffic
crash rates of all types than cities with lower bicycle use. 4
1. Federal Highway Administration, Safety Effectiveness of Highway Design Features, Volume VI, Pedestrians and Bicyclists, FHWA-RD-91-049,
1991.
2. Federal Highway Administration, Bicycle Safety-Related Research Synthesis, 1995.
3. Ibid.
4. Federal Highway Administration, Bicycle Lanes versus Wide Curb Lanes: Operational and Safety Findings, May 1998.
3. Bike Lanes Improve Behavior1
Cambridge, MA - sidewalk bicycling cut in half after the installation
of bicycle lanes on Mass. Ave. in Central Square.2
Wrong-way riding was significantly lower on the streets with bike
lanes.3
On streets with bike lanes, 81% of cyclists obeyed stop signs, vs.
55% on streets without.4
Corvallis and Eugene, Oregon, cities with good bikeway networks,
have the highest number of riders and rider behavior is the best:
wrong-way riding is minimal, fewer ride on the sidewalk than in
other Oregon cities.5
1. Federal Highway Administration, Bicycle Lanes versus Wide Curb Lanes: Operational and Safety Findings, May 1998.
2. City of Cambridge data, unpublished.
3. Federal Highway Administration, Bicycle Lanes versus Wide Curb Lanes: Operational and Safety Findings, May 1998.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
5. Elgin Bikeway Master Plan
Created bicycle
network throughout
community
Bike routes/lanes and
sharrows installed
Connection to regional
bike trail in downtown
Multi-use trails
6. 2009 Elgin Bicycle and Pedestrian
Safety Campaign
Elgin Bicycling
Ambassadors Program
Community education
campaign
Elgin by Bike – Bike
and Dine events
“From my point of view I thought it
went well. About two-thirds of the
riders had not been in our shop, so
that was great to see new potential
customers.” -Ravenheart Coffee
8. Portland Bicycle Program
Since 1996 Portland has
doubled the miles of bike
lanes
Added thousands of bike
parking spaces
Had a 4-fold increase in
bicycling
Dramatic decrease in
bicycle crashes and
fatalities (79% of bicycle
fatalities occurred outside
of a bike lane.1)
1. Portland Master Bicycle Plan – Existing Conditions Report, Chapter 6: Bicycle
Safety, pg. 6-19.
9.
10. Portland Bicycle Infrastructure
Improved Bicycle Safety
“Portland’s decline in traffic fatalities is a public
health triumph. Portland demonstrates that a
transportation system emphasizing walking,
bicycling and transit can achieve many public health
goals - physical activity, clean air, and safety.
Congratulations to the leaders and people of
Portland.”
Dr. Howard Frumkin, Centers for Disease Control
(CDC)
11. Gleason Street, Portland
Oregon
Neighborhood retail
area
Bike lanes installed
Bike Corral installed at
merchant/property
owner request
Merchants had more
customers when
vehicular parking was
replaced by bicycle
parking (12 bikes per 1
car space)
12. Valencia Street, San Francisco
Economic Effects of Traffic Calming on Small Urban
Businesses
Emily Drennen
2003
13. Valencia Street, San Francisco
California
Before
-62.5 ft wide
street with
metered parking
on street on both 21’ 10’3’’ 10’3’’ 21’
sides, four lanes
with an average
ADT of 22,000
VPD
Designing Streets for Pedestrian Safety-Reducing Crossing Crashes
14. Valencia Street, San Francisco
California
After
-Two lanes were
removed, bicycle
lanes installed and
medians were used
for left turns.
8’ 5’9’’ 10’6’’ 14’ 10’6’’ 5’9’’ 8’
-Changes were
made to signal
Designing Streets for Pedestrian Safety – Reducing Crossing Crashes
timing.
15. Merchant Response to Bike Lanes
27 merchants interviewed 4 ½ years after installation
of bike lanes found:
62% believed bike lanes had overall positive
impact on business
37% said bike lanes increased their sales
73% said bike lanes made street more attractive
2/3 said they would support more traffic calming
on street
16. Bloor Street, Toronto
Bike Lanes, On-Street Parking, and Business
A Study of Bloor Street in Toronto’s Annex
Neighborhood
February, 2009
17. Spending Analyzed by Mode
Walkers
and
bicyclists
spent the
most
money
shopping
in the
area.
18. Study Conclusions
The addition of bike lanes would be unlikely to
harm local business and predicted that commercial
activity on the street would likely increase.
Three-quarters of merchants surveyed on the street
believed that business activity would improve or
stay the same if a bike lane replaced half of the
on-street parking.
