The other [less than] 1%
At the Lakeshore Road (LSR) improvement committee meeting one council member asked why staff bothered producing a report outlining the feasibility of bike lanes because only .7 of 1% of the daily traffic were cyclists? Similar sentiments were echoed in letters to the editor and to other council members.
There is a simple reason why few cyclists use LSR.
The majority of cyclists will not cycle on dangerous roads with a high volume of traffic and no bike lane. Make it safer and studies indicate, they will use it.
Researchers found 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.” Transportation July 2011 Buehler & Pucher.
A Portland, Oregon study gave cyclists GPS devices and recorded riding patterns. She found that cyclists will go out of their way to use streets with bike lanes.
Focusing on a meaningless number is a red herring. Independent studies from around the world show that if you bike lanes, people will use them. If you build bike lanes that are safer to use, more people will use them.
I have been a cycling enthusiast for years, logging between 1500 and 3500 km per season depending on time/weather.
ReplyDeleteThe first problem I see with existing bike lanes in Burlington is that they are often a "bridge to no where".....they extend for 2 or 3 blocks in whatever direction, then end and you're "on your own". This results in limited practical use.
I'm also sympathetic to the auto traffic issue since I live on Lakeshore Road and ever since they narrowed it, in the vicinity of Spencer Smith Park, it's been a night-mayer. To turn onto Lakeshore from a side street, or from on drive way, is an accident waiting to happen... due to frustration
The addition of well planned bike lanes will bring cyclists out but it has to be reviewed in the context of the big (design) picture....and routes, whether E/W or N/S, have to be complelted.
Vic Facia
Hi Vic.
ReplyDeleteAppreciate the great comments. Yes, it does seem like the bike lanes are a bridge to nowhere but like Rome, the bike network can't be built in a day. Lack of resources ($$$) means the network is built section by section usually when the road is reconstructed.
The majority of cyclists also drive cars. Our family has two and we frequently use Lakeshore Road. I don't have any issues with Lakeshore Road in front of Spencer Smith. Neither EMS, the fire department or the police have indicated any problems with the current design. Yes, it may be slow at times but its a road that runs through the downtown. Similar roads are normally slow no matter what city you are in.
Sorry Burlington, for your continued motor-monomania. Change is hard:
ReplyDelete“There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order, this lukewarmness arising partly from fear of their adversaries, who have the laws in their favour; and partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in anything new until they have had the actual experience of it.” - Niccolo Machiavelli (1469 - 1527)