Separated Bike Lanes Mean Safer Streets for Everyone [Infographic]
Bike commuting is a great option if you live in a bike friendly city with complete street upgrades and easy to access bike lanes. As more cities across the world become more bike friendly, it’s important to determine which fixes are the best options for cities looking to improve bicycle commuting while keeping roads safe and accessible for all commuters: car, bike, and pedestrian.
Bike commuting is good for the body and good for the planet. Adventurous bikers can pedal through all seasons, and if your commute is a little too long, a little electric assist on your bike can be helpful. As a bike commuter myself, I know that the streets that feel the safest are those with dedicated lanes for cyclists and others for vehicle traffic. While bike lanes can still present challenges (from car doors, turning traffic, and confused drivers), it still offers bike commuters a much safer opportunity to ride through town.
And the stats back this up: 89% of cyclists felt safer when using separated bike lanes, and dedicated bike lanes can increase ridership by 171%! These numbers make sense for cities in so many ways, and in fact, Portland just made headlines as the first US state to require bike lanes!
More bike commuting means less congestion on the roads, especially in downtown corridors. More bikes means less cars for parking too, helping to increase available space for those that need to commute by car. And finally, bike commuting is good for everyone, even drivers. In California, where the bike commute rate is quite high, cyclists save about 7 tons of gases and particulate matter each day from getting into the air!
This handy infographic from Traffic Safety Store explains how separated bike lanes are one of the keys to city bike safety.
Click here to see a larger version!
This post was supported by Traffic Safety Store, your source for traffic safety products.
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