Most members of the public are still very skeptical that removing a vehicle lane won’t cause terrible congestion—especially on already busy streets. A recent articles details some of the counter arguments to those concerns.
In anticipation of Calgrary’s proposal to build a network of cycle tracks in its downtown, Tom Babin explores claims that removing travel lanes won’t wreak traffic havoc on the city.
The most controversial of the proposed plans: to turn a lane of traffic on 1 Street S.E./Macleod Trail downtown into a cycle track—one of four lanes on the road would be given to bikers.
“Doubts about the idea turned to outright skepticism when a traffic study was presented as part of the proposal that said the cycle track would lead to an increase in travel time on 1st Street by a mere 30 to 60 seconds during the evening commute,” writes Babin.
Skeptical, Babin consulted with Rock Miller, the Irvine, CA-based transportation planner and traffic engineer who prepared the report. Miller explains concepts like extra capacity and turning lights. Miller even suggests that travel times might even improve on the street.
Still skeptical, Babin questions Sandeep Agrawal, a professor and director of the Planning Program at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, who lays out a very strong argument: “Whenever you remove a travel lane and put in a bike lane, the bike lane gets a bad rap…The question is, if those people (on bikes) were in cars, how much would it have delayed traffic? They probably would have delayed it more.”
FULL STORY: Remove a lane to improve traffic? Expert explains his Calgary’s cycle track proposal
Car2Go Pulls Out of Five North American Cities
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First Bus Rapid Transit Line Opens in Calgary
The MAX Purple Line has begun service on 17 Avenue SE.
Comparing Canadian Density to the Rest of the World
Canadian cities are expensive, but, according to a new report from the Fraser Institute in Toronto, they have room to spare for more housing .
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
Twin Cities Trains Move to Fewer Cars, Higher Frequency
Headways will drop from 15 minutes to 12 minutes.
DC Bikeshare System Breaks Ridership Record
Capital Bikeshare users took over 20,000 rides on one day in March.
EV Infrastructure Booming in Suburbs, Cities Lag Behind
A lack of access to charging infrastructure is holding back EV adoption in many US cities.
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