A longitudinal study shows that bike facilities don't precede neighborhood change or displacement of residents.
According to research analyzing data from 29 American cities from the University of New Mexico and the University of Colorado, "[t]he installation of new bike infrastructure in neighborhoods does not lead to displacement of people of color, and low-income areas received more 'hard' facilities like buffered or protected bike lanes than high income areas."
Lisa Caballero writes for Bike Portland that "this study was unique in that it distinguished between types of facilities, from sharrows to protected lanes. It found differences in who got what, with lower income areas more likely to receive protected bike lanes." The authors' "interpretation of the results was that increases in the percentage of white people in a neighborhood preceeded an increase in bike facilities more so than the reverse, bike facilities preceeding a change in demographics."
According to Kea Wilson of Streetsblog:
[S]tudy co-author Nick Ferenchak was careful to note that the finding did not mean that U.S. transportation planners are necessarily doing a great job at using cycling as a tool for broader mobility justice. In particular, the data revealed that transportation leaders aren’t delivering equal access to new bicycle infrastructure for people of color — and in the context of a quantitative analysis, they couldn’t determine whether transportation leaders were delivering equitable access to the transportation infrastructure for which those communities are actually asking, if leaders are even asking at all.
"Low-income people, meanwhile, are getting better access to meaningful bicycle infrastructure than some may expect — though maybe not as fast as those communities actually need," considering that "39 percent of bike commuting is done by the lowest-income quartile in the U.S." Ferenchak concludes that, while "gentrification is a complex set of forces that goes beyond displacement," we now know "we can go ahead and build the bike lanes. We know we’re not going to be displacing people just by doing that."
FULL STORY: Study suggests bike lanes do not lead to displacement, gentrification
Less Paint, More Barriers, Make for Better Urban Cycling
New research from the University of Colorado Denver and the University of New Mexico sheds light on how to make cities safer for cyclists and other road users and refutes some assumptions about bike safety, such as "safety-in-numbers."
Oklahoma City Begins Work on Parking-Protected Bike Lane
The project is part of the city’s broader plan to improve bike and pedestrian infrastructure and road safety.
San Antonio Awarded Federal Grant for Bike Lanes
The $16 grant will fund a two-way, separated bike lane in the city’s downtown.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
Fair Housing Cannot Take a Back Seat to ‘Build, Baby, Build’
If we overlook fair housing principles in the plan to build US housing back better, we risk ending up right back where we started.
LA Metro Board Approves New 710 Freeway Plan
The newest plan for the 710 corridor claims it will not displace any residents.
Austin’s Proposed EV Charging Rules Regulate Station Locations, Size
City planners say the new rules would ensure an efficient distribution of charging infrastructure across the city and prevent an overconcentration in residential areas.
Making California State Parks More Climate-Resilient
A recently released report offers recommendations for keeping state parks healthy and robust, including acquiring additional land for conservation and recreation.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
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