Bike Lanes Help Sidewalks, Too

A growing body of evidence shows that bike lanes put more people on bikes while also helping those people on bikes stay off sidewalks. The latest example: Honolulu.

1 minute read

May 11, 2015, 2:00 PM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Complete Streets

Eric Sehr / Flickr

Michael Andersen reports that Honolulu is the latest example in a consistent trend: "almost every protected bike lane cuts sidewalk biking in half."

Not only that, but the decrease in bikes on the sidewalk corresponds with a large increase in total bikes on the road. In the case of Honolulu's first protected bike lane, on King Street: 

"From August 2014 (before barriers were installed) to February 2015 (after), the number of bikes using King Street (both directions, road bed and sidewalk combined) soared 71 percent.

"And in the same period, Honolulu bicycle coordinator Chris Sayers said Monday, the number of bikes on the sidewalk plummeted 65 percent."

Andersen and the team at People for Bikes also contacted bike coordinators around the country who have performed similar counts and aggregated their findings into a chart available with the article.

Thursday, May 7, 2015 in People for Bikes

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

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