BIKE: Do bike lanes really improve bike safety?

[Michael Bluejay]

I know that most of the time people find answers on the site we don't 
hear about it, that's very true.  What makes me pull my hair out is 
when someone signs up for the list on BicycleAustin, then posts a 
question here whose answer is on the site where they signed up at, or 
when people search the far corners of the web for info that's been on 
BicycleAustin for years, and post that far-flung url as the place to 
start.  I just doubt whether I've done a good enough job of getting the 
idea out there that BicycleAustin is a good resource.  It doesn't have 
all the answers, but it has lots of them.  Google says it has 333 
pages, plus another 100 on BicycleUniverse.

These days most of the traffic to the site is people looking for porn, 
thanks to that page I had up about the World Naked Bike Ride last year. 
  Here are internal search queries on BicycleAustin for last week:

- 6 for "naked"
- 2 for "naked bike"
- 2 for "world naked bike ride"
- 1 for "51 cm sequoia elite road bike"
- 1 for "beef"
- 1 for "bicycle helmet safety"
- 1 for "bicycle images"
- 1 for "clothing"
- 1 for "gas"

And here were the Google, Yahoo, etc. ways people found the site in 
December, after removing queries relating to used bikes:

#reqs: search term
-----: -----------
    78: naked people
    65: naked bike
    59: car cartoons
    53: austin bike shops
    50: naked bike ride
    47: world naked bike ride
    43: naked biking
    34: bicycle posters
    28: naked bicycling
    27: naked world
    27: austin bike shop
    21: all naked

Honestly, one reason I'm on edge these days about this is that I spend 
years building an information-rich site and a huge chunk of the traffic 
is just people looking for porn.  It's kind of disheartening.

On the other hand, the other message from the stats is that there's a 
market opportunity for people looking for used bikes:

   260: used bikes
   226: used bicycles
    61: used road bikes
    57: used mountain bikes
    52: used bikes for sale
    30: used bicycles for sale
    26: used road bikes for sale
    21: used mountain bikes for sale

I should sell advertising to a big used bike dealer.

-MBJ-


On Jan 4, 2005, at 6:40 AM, Fred Meredith wrote:

> Not true, Michael.
>
> Think about it a minute. If someone goes to the website and finds the 
> answer, are we likely to hear about it on the listserv? Probably not. 
> All you hear on the forum is the questions that did not get answered 
> by a trip to the site.
>
> So, don't despair. The big silent spots are where the website is 
> working and being used (maybe). At least that would be the "half-full 
> glass" answer.
>
> Fred
>
> On Jan 4, 2005, at 12:43 AM, Michael Bluejay wrote:
>
>> Why are you doing this to me?
>>
>> Information about the safety of bicycle lanes is available on -- 
>> surprise, surprise -- BicycleAustin.
>>
>> It's just comical that the website that's the mother of this email 
>> forum is utilized to answer questions on that forum 0% of the time.
>>
>> But after nearly ten years, no one thinks to look on BicycleAustin.  
>> What the hell?
>>
>> BicycleAustin (and its companion, BicycleUniverse) definitely don't 
>> have all the answers -- but they have a lot of the types of things 
>> that are bandied about here.
>>
>> -MBJ-
>>
>> P.S.  On another note, I hope everyone noticed Austin's own Monique 
>> Stinson (not Stimson) in the credits of the Cambridge article.
>>
>>
>> On Jan 3, 2005, at 5:15 PM, Roger Baker wrote:
>>
>>> On Jan 3, 2005, at 11:22 AM, Thorne wrote:
>>>
>>>> I'm in favor of motor-assisted bikes for those who want to use 
>>>> them.  But the
>>>> idea of segregating bike or motorized bikes from the rest of 
>>>> traffic for
>>>> safety reasons is a false hope.  Cyclists are safer mixed in with 
>>>> traffic
>>>> following traffic laws than they are on the segregated facilities.  
>>>> Getting
>>>> bike-centric isn't a matter of facilities so much as a matter of 
>>>> getting out
>>>> and riding.  Surely, the roadways should be designed with bicycle 
>>>> traffic in
>>>> mind, but I'll remind you that every lane you see is a bike lane.
>>>>
>>>
>>> [From my point of view, this link and the documentation from the 
>>> Cambridge Mass. website seems to document the safety advantages of 
>>> bike lanes pretty conclusively. I expect there will always be 
>>> non-believers. -- Roger]
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.cambridgema.gov/~CDD/et/bike/bike_safety.html
>>>
>>> Safety Benefits of Bike Lanes
>>>
>>> Bike lanes help define road space, decrease the stress level of 
>>> bicyclists riding in traffic, encourage bicyclists to ride in the 
>>> correct direction  of travel, and signal motorists that cyclists 
>>> have a right to the road. Bike lanes help to better organize the 
>>> flow of traffic and reduce the chance  that motorists will stray 
>>> into cyclists’ path of travel.1, 2 Bicyclists  have stated their 
>>> preference for marked on-street bicycle lanes in numerous surveys.3 
>>> In addition, several real-time studies (where cyclists of varying 
>>> abilities and backgrounds ride and assess actual routes  and street 
>>> conditions) have found that cyclists are more comfortable and assess 
>>> a street as having a better level of service for them where there  
>>> are marked bike lanes present.4
>>>
>>> In summary, bike lanes do the following:
>>> 	• 	support and encourage bicycling as a means of transportation;
>>> 	• 	help define road space;
>>> 	• 	promote a more orderly flow of traffic;
>>> 	• 	encourage bicyclists to ride in the correct direction, with the 
>>> flow of traffic;
>>> 	• 	give bicyclists a clear place to be so they are not tempted to 
>>> ride on the sidewalk;
>>> 	• 	remind motorists to look for cyclists when turning or opening 
>>> car doors;
>>> 	• 	signal motorists that cyclists have a right to the road;
>>> 	• 	reduce the chance that motorists will stray into cyclists’ path 
>>> of travel;
>>> 	• 	make it less likely that passing motorists swerve toward 
>>> opposing traffic;
>>> 	• 	decrease the stress level of bicyclists riding in traffic.
>>>
>>> Well-designed facilities encourage proper behavior and decrease the 
>>> likelihood of crashes. Numerous studies have shown that bicycle 
>>> lanes improve safety and promote proper riding behavior.5
>>> 	• 	In 1996, over 2000 League of American Bicyclist members were 
>>> surveyed about the crashes (accidents) they were involved in over 
>>> the  course of the previous year. From the information, a relative 
>>> danger index was calculated which shows that streets with bike lanes 
>>>  were the safest places to ride, having a significantly lower crash 
>>> rate then either major or minor streets without any bicycle 
>>> facilities;  moreover, they are safer than trails and sidewalks as 
>>> well.6
>>> 	• 	The addition of bicycle lanes in Davis, California reduced 
>>> crashes by 31 percent.7
>>> 	• 	Bicycle lanes on a major avenue in Eugene, Oregon resulted in an 
>>> increase in bicycle use and a substantial reduction in the bicycle  
>>> crash rate. The crash rate per 100,000 bike miles fell by almost 
>>> half and the motor vehicle crash rate also fell significantly.8
>>> 	• 	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, 
>>> and of the 5 crashes that occurred on streets with bike lanes, all 
>>> involved  bicyclists riding at night with no lights.9
>>> 	• 	In Chicago, Illinois, crash severity was reduced in one study of 
>>> marking bike lanes in a narrow cross section where 5 foot bike lanes 
>>>  were marked next to 7 foot parking lanes.10
>>> 	• 	In Denmark, bicycle lanes reduced the number of bicycle crashes 
>>> by 35 percent.11 Some of the bike lanes  reached risk reductions of 
>>> 70 to 80 percent.12
>>> 	• 	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.13
>>> 	• 	In a national study comparing streets with bike lanes and those 
>>> without, several important observations were made:14
>>> 	• 	Wrong-way riding was significantly lower on the streets with 
>>> bike lanes.
>>> 	• 	In approaching intersections, 15% of cyclists on streets without 
>>> bike lanes rode on the sidewalks, vs. 3% on the streets with bike  
>>> lanes.
>>> 	• 	On streets with bike lanes, 81% of cyclists obeyed stop signs, 
>>> vs. 55% on streets without.
>>> 	• 	In Cambridge, sidewalk bicycling was cut in half after the 
>>> installation of bicycle lanes on Mass. Ave. in Central Square.15
>>> 	• 	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.
>>> 	• 	In looking at comparable streets with and without bicycle lanes 
>>> in Davis and Santa Barbara, California, the number of cyclists 
>>> riding  on the wrong side of the street was one third as much on 
>>> streets with bicycle lanes.
>>>
>>> Return to Top
>>>
>>> Footnotes
>>> 	1.  	David L. Harkey and J. Richard Stewart, “Evaluation of 
>>> Shared-Use Facilities for Bicycles and Motor Vehicles  in Florida,” 
>>> Florida Department of Transportation, March 1996.
>>> 	2.  	Cyclists are still permitted to travel in the regular vehicle 
>>> travel lanes even when a bike lane is present.  Cyclists should 
>>> signal and make sure they have the attention of the people behind 
>>> them before moving into the vehicle travel  lane from a bike lane. 
>>> Motorists should be aware that cyclists may merge into their lanes 
>>> in front of them, e.g., to avoid  an obstacle or to make a left 
>>> turn.
>>> 	3.  	Monique Stimson, “Analysis of Commuter Bicyclist Route Choice 
>>> Using Stated Preference Study,” TRB,  2003.; FHWA, Development of 
>>> the Bicycle Compatibility Index, December 1998.
>>> 	4.  	Bruce Landis et al., “Real-Time Human Perceptions: Toward a 
>>> Bicycle Level of Service,” Transportation  Research Record 1578; 
>>> FHWA, Development of the Bicycle Compatibility Index, December 1998.
>>> 	5.  	Federal Highway Administration, Safety Effectiveness of 
>>> Highway Design Features, Volume VI, Pedestrians  and Bicyclists, 
>>> FHWA-RD-91-049, 1991.
>>> 	6.  	William E. Moritz, Ph.D., “Adult Bicyclists In The United 
>>> States  Characteristics And Riding  Experience In 1996,” TRB 
>>> Preprint Paper, 1998.
>>> 	7.  	Federal Highway Administration, Bicycle Safety-Related 
>>> Research Synthesis, 1995.
>>> 	8.  	Ibid.
>>> 	9.  	Ibid.
>>> 	10.  	Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center, Bike Lane Design 
>>> Guide, 2002.
>>> 	11.  	Danish Road Directorate, Safety of Cyclists in Urban Areas, 
>>> 1994.
>>> 	12.  	Jan Grubb Laursen, Nordic Experience with the Safety of 
>>> Bicycling, 1993.
>>> 	13.  	Peter Newman, Lecture presented at the Conservation Law 
>>> Foundation, Boston, MA, January 9, 1997.
>>> 	14.  	Federal Highway Administration, Bicycle Lanes versus Wide 
>>> Curb Lanes: Operational and Safety Findings,  May 1998.
>>> 	15.  	City of Cambridge data, unpublished.
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Get on or off this list here:  http://BicycleAustin.info/list
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Get on or off this list here:  http://BicycleAustin.info/list
>>
>>
> When in doubt, ride your bike … or at least write about it!
>
> Fred Meredith
> P.O. Box 100
> Manchaca, TX 78652
> 512/282-1987 (voice)
> 512/282-7413 (fax)
> 512/636-7480 (wireless)
> visit <http://2merediths.com> for writings and photos
>