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Have Bike Lanes, Cyclists Will Travel

Posted by: Nate Berg

17 October 2008 - 6:00am

Cyclists are much more likely to use bike lanes when they're available -- even if it means going out of their way and taking longer routes, according to a recent study from Portland State University.

The study was conducted by Portland State University researcher Jennifer Dill.

"Dill recruited 164 bicyclists to carry GPS recorders on their bike trips for seven days. Altogether, they took 1,777 trips between April and November of 2007.

Dill then used the GPS information to track their trips and determine whether they were taking the shortest routes or intentionally choosing longer ones.

Remarkably, the results showed that although only 8 percent of city streets are equipped with any kind of bike infrastructure, 51 percent of trips were taken on them. To Dill, this means that most riders are seeking out such routes, even if they are not the shortest."

Full Story: Bike lanes work, PSU professor says
Source: , October 16, 2008
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If you build it, they will use it

Submitted by duane verner on Sat, 10/18/2008 - 04:27.

Excellent report. I bet that these results would also apply to scooters and small motorcycles if we were to build safe routes for their use. It appears obvious to me that the reason so many bike riders go out of their way to use bike lanes is that riding amongst general traffic is not safe. So, conversely, if we would build it (exclusive lanes for bikes, scooters, and motorcycles), we would have a significant shift from auto use to these more efficient and economical modes of transport.

Regards,

Duane Verner
Exclusive Motorcycle Lanes (EML)
http://exclusivemotorcyclelanes.blogspot.com/

Broken Link

Submitted by Erick Guerra on Fri, 10/17/2008 - 06:23.

Here's the article:
http://www.portlandtribune.com/sustainable/story.php?story_id=1224022968...

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The interdisciplinary nature of these challenges justifies a more decisive federal policy that helps metropolitan areas promote energy and location-efficient development.
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