By Patricia Houser
For Nature’s Sake
Patricia Houser
When Janette Sadik-Khan was asked in April by an interviewer what strategy she would recommend to help any city achieve a better future, “if she could wave a magic wand,” the former New York City transportation commissioner and author of the 2017 book Street Fight said, “If you want to change the world you can start by building a bike lane.”
She emphasized that bike lanes are “the innovation that’s made the most difference in transforming cities around the world…particularly protected bike lanes.”
Protected bike lanes, unlike mere stripes of paint, provide a physical barrier between cyclists and the rest of traffic. Also called separated lanes or cycle tracks, this infrastructure is enjoying widespread recognition among planners and municipal leaders across the US for their many benefits. However, they are not just useful in big cities; it’s worth considering the gains to be made in adopting this infrastructure in our region.
1. Safety: Studies show that most people in US towns and cities who own a bike and would be interested in pedaling to the beach or park or a local shop, especially on a sunny day, are prevented from doing so by the danger of riding right next to moving traffic. At least 50 percent of the population in most cities and towns, according to a 2016 paper in the journal Transportation Research Record are not using their bicycles for short trips because of safety concerns.
The good news, according to a landmark study from the University of Colorado in 2019, is that when networks of protected lanes are added to the streets, people are not only attracted to cycling in greater numbers, but the streets become safer – for bicyclists and pedestrians and car drivers. Part of the explanation is that redesigning streets to be safe for bicycles also tends to provide visual cues and encourage more cautious behavior by drivers.
2. Lower emissions: The average passenger vehicle emits close to a pound of carbon dioxide per mile, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, while a bicycle traveling down the road emits zero greenhouse gases.
A study of protected bike lanes in the cities of Austin, Chicago, Portland, San Francisco and Washington, DC showed that when additional safety of the lanes encouraged new bikers to take to the road, bicycle traffic increased from 21 to 171 percent in those places. Meanwhile, the extent to which such additional bikers contribute to reduced emissions can be computed in a new tool available (using Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets) through the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy in an online report titled, “Protected bicycle lanes protect the climate.”
3. Water quality: The number of car trips that people make in a given area over a certain amount of time is sometimes summed up by the term “vehicle miles traveled,” and the more VMT there is in any area, the more polluted the waterways tend to be there. That’s because cars leave behind chemicals and particles from their engines and tailpipes and even tire wear that then runs off the road in rainstorms and pollutes water. Protected bike lanes not only play a role in reducing VMT in an area; the design of protected lanes can include, and are often improved, by bioswales and trees and other green infrastructure that reduces and filters runoff.
4. Improved public health: In New York City, researchers at Columbia University looked at the effects of reduced risk of injury, health effects of exercise, reduced pollution and increased probability of bike ridership that came with the construction of new bike lanes. Then they weighed those benefits against the costs of bike lane implementation and maintenance. In their final cost-benefit analysis, they found “investments in bicycle lanes come with an exceptionally good value because they simultaneously address multiple public health problems.” In fact, the report said, protective bike lanes are “more cost-effective than the majority of preventive [health] approaches used today.”
5. Economic impacts: A 2020 study from Portland University looking at six cities – Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Memphis, Minneapolis and Indianapolis – found that adding improvements like bike lanes had a positive effect on business and employment in the retail and food service sectors. Bloomberg City Lab has reported that while cyclists tend to spend less per shopping trip than drivers, they also tend to make more trips, pumping more total money into the local economy over time.”
Here in Milford, the local Environmental Concerns Coalition has been advocating for protected bike lanes since 2021, with activities including a citizens’ petition, a public talk at Walnut Beach and conversations with city officials. Last February the ECC was one of four organizations, including Sierra Club Connecticut, to sign a letter to former Mayor Ben Blake to express support for establishment of a connected network of protected bicycle lanes in the city.
In their closing they said, “Adding a practical network of protected bike lanes in the ‘Little City with the Big Heart’ would establish Milford as a regional leader in climate initiatives and smart city design.”
Patricia Houser, PhD, AICP, shares her exploration of local and regional environmental issues in this column as a member of the nonpartisan Milford Environmental Concerns Coalition.
Note: An earlier version of this article suggested that cyclists spend less money than drivers per shopping trip without the context that cyclists make more trips and therefore spend more money over time.