Cities in the UK and around the world are creating cycling networks by installing new bike lanes to help reduce emissions, but some claim they are making traffic worse.
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The argument goes that bike lanes means less space for cars and therefore more congestion. While this might sound plausible, it appears to hark back to outdated traffic management theory. Josh Toussaint-Strauss finds out how traffic really works, and the actual impact of installing new bike lanes
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More information:
How a myth about London bike lanes and congestion took off ► https://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2021/dec/13/how-a-myth-about-london-bike-lanes-and-congestion-took-flight
Ten common myths about bike lanes – and why they’re wrong ► https://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2019/jul/03/ten-common-myths-about-bike-lanes-and-why-theyre-wrong
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, Car Use, and Active Travel: evidence from the People and Places survey of Outer London active travel interventions ► https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/v1620/low-traffic-neighbourhoods-car-use-and-active-travel-evidence-from-the-people-and-places-survey-of-outer-london-active-travel-interventions
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#BikeLanes #Cycling #CycleSuperhighway #Bikes #Bicycles #Driving #Traffic #Congestion
30 Comments
Makes sense – I haven't visited Copenhagen since they removed a lot of parking space about 20 years ago. Just not going there!
We don't need more cycle lanes. We need reduced traffic and encouragement to use the roads with bikes. We already have plenty of surfaces and direct routes. Reducing people's fear of traffic, and traffic itself, reduces the dominance of cars.
The UK and indeed the world, is gripped in an epidemic. Car owner virus symptoms include a normalisation of car use through the likes of television. Normalisation of speeding, driving while not in a fit state, a fantasy of freedom and deserted highways. Other symptoms include laziness, obesity, stress and sometimes, rage. We are taught to aspire to car ownership from a very early age.
If you build the infrastructure people will use it and any person not sitting in a car in front of you will greatly improve your ride if you insist on sitting in a car.
Why cant bikers be normal and just drive on the road? It is a vehicle like every else. Why they NEED to be special?
“ Yeah but this cyclist didn’t stop at a stop sign, so all cyclists are bad.”
I wonder why the same logic is never apply to drivers. You’ll never blame a driver for the thousands and thousands of deaths every single year from cars. The man of accidents caused by bike never come anywhere near that.
Bike lanes or no bike lanes I just rode my bike, many will say it's scary to ride a bicycle in the States but not me! I've been riding a bike in now called SILICON valley since 1973/74 when there was no bike lanes! Now it has changed there a lot In San Jose 10th street and 11th street the main corridors for South bound and North bound traffic there used to be 3 lanes for cars heading each way, just recently the city of San Jose has reduced this to 2 car lanes with now one lane for bicycle traffic with low cement barriers separating the car lane from the bicycle lane and I think every other block will have loner / rental bicycles as well. The one place that I had to pay attention the most too was riding over, over passes! So I took on that animal and worked out a method of getting up and over, once I got this down I would never have to stop for cars ever again.
trains r Best.
Cars are so WRONG, so noisy, so big and so dirty, we need more bicycles for a better future
Bike lanes don't work in North America. Unlike Denmark, people commute long distances due to the large area of our cities and our temperatures fluctuate too much here.
In Canada the average driver commutes 25,000km a year, or about 70km/day, that's just not feasible on a bike. You might say people who live in the city commute less, well I live in the 4th largest city in North America and I still drive 15,000km a year (40km/day).
Plus unlike Denmark which is always 5-25C, ideal bike weather, here it's below freezing for 3 months and above 30C (86F) for another 3 months. So half the year, you can't ride to work without risk of injury or coming in sweaty.
What we see in Toronto are bike lanes that are always empty outside the downtoen core.
Painted bile lanes are okay, but removing a lane of traffic for permanent lanes just makes a mess. I've seen many roads butchered by bike lanes and congestion increase, and business decrease.
What works are 1 way roads like Montreal has, banned parking during rush hour on artery roads, and more parking lots (so people stop driving around looking for spots). That is how you fix congestion.
here's an idea…
STOP BORROWING FROM BILLIONAIRES
TAX BILLIONAIRES
and make all public transport free.
It's not mostly the cyclist getting to work, it's the bad drivers that can't keep their vehicles between two lines.
I am in Toronto. cycle lanes, and removal of car lanes has totally increased traffic Congestion here. the only increase in cycling here has mostly been with the delivery folks who mostly use electric bikes and never follow the road rules in order to get deliver food on time. for the record I cycle all the time too.
If you wouldn't let a 5 year old ride alone on the bike lane then its not safe and shouldn't be called a bike lane
Makes sense!
Bikes are better than cars. 🌱
Those who pollute our environment are ignorant fools 🐝
If a road is closed, the traffic on that road and in the area immediately drops not just by 40% but to near zero. Figures don't lie, but liars figure. 👀
We need separate bike lanes here in oxford
They should have more trains
They might worry about the pollution in the tame
I’d rather ride I love my bicycle
This is utter nonsense. London is a nightmare, buses do not move, no step free access at tube stations and blocked roads at every turn. Elderly and disabled disenfranchised, marooned in their homes because they cannot get anywhere or feel threatened by kamikaze cyclists. You can see why the country is in such a mess – cyclenomics is as implausible as trussenomics.
i just starting riding my ebike to work this week and i have already lost faith in humanity. i am with Thanos at this point, lets go, snap snap
Prohíben la circulación en coche y eso reduce el tráfico. Maravilloso, resultado totalmente contraintuitivo e inesperado.
DISLIKE
You did not mention Motorcycles!!!
What about Motorcycles?
Why don't we have Motorcycle lanse too???
cool beans
I think to some reasonable degree, space must be taken away from cars and given to bike infrastructure. That's because it's badly needed in areas without bike infrastructure. Slow down the rest of the vehicles in some areas and make commute for some vehicles unappealing. Bike infrastructure with durable physical barriers. Bike Lanes should be fully covered and enclosed. That way, when it rains or snows, cyclists can stay dry just like drivers do in their cars
The video is absolutely right : due to Jevons paradox, decreasing space allowed to cars reduces traffic. But you forgot something very important : security. Road fatalities are mainly due to cars (and trucks). Reducing their place will mean saving lifes immediately, in addition of all the others advantages.
We need to decrease the consumption of oil and you can actually reach your destination faster with an ebike especially in rush hours.