Study: Cyclists will come if there are bike lanes to ride in
By Brad Plumer, Washington Post
Is there anything cities can do to encourage cycling? Portland, for instance, has twice as many bike commuters per 1,000 people as Washington. But maybe that’s just because Portland has nicer weather or more young people. It’s not clear that there’s an actual policy issue here.
Yet in a new study in the journal Transport Policy, Ralph Buehler and John Pucher suggest that cities might actually be able to influence how many cyclists are on the road. Perhaps all they have to do is — and this shouldn’t come as a huge surprise — build more bike lanes and bike paths.
Buehler and Pucher found that the presence of off-road bike paths and on-street bike lanes were, by far, the biggest determinant of cycling rates in cities. And that’s true even after you control for a variety of other factors like how hot or cold a city is, how much rain falls, how dense the city is, how high gas prices are, the type of people that live there, or how safe it is to cycle. None of those things seem to matter quite as much. The results, the authors write, “are consistent with the hypothesis that bike lanes and bike paths encourage cycling.”
Well duhhh, let’s hope that didn’t cost the taxpayer anything. I’ve lived in Europe for years and yes it rains alot. The weather isn’t the factor, it’s the infrastructure.
Too many lobbyists for motors and gas….that’s all this is-
We have a great bike lane system here at Tahoe; that’s why it irritates me when they’re not used. Especially on Al Tahoe Blvd–it’s possible that riders can’t see it on Highway 50 since it’s behind buildings–but Al Tahoe Blvd? Cyclists should be fined if they don’t use the bike lanes. It’s not out of their way and it’s for their own protection.
you should ride your Beach Cruzer from one end of town to the other end of town,
then you will know what the problems are.
Sacramento’s American River Bike Trail gets heavy use by commuters lucky enough to ride the scenic 17 miles, mostly along river & lake, from Folsom to Downtown Sacramento. 32+ miles of dedicated bike path only crossing streets a in maybe two places. A gem for recreational bicyclists. Scenic & dedicated are key factors.
The most popular bike paths here in SLT is at Camp Richardson area, again scenic & fairly dedicated, and the dirt trails that are mostly used for recreational riding. I agree that building and improving paths will bring bicyclists and improve our city.