Bicycle Infrastructure
CROW Design Manual for Bicycle Traffic is a famous publication that captures how Cycling in Netherlands is designed.
Types of infrastructure
Bike lanes
- Seven Bad Arguments Against Bike Lanes
- Protected Bike Lanes & More
- Why protected bike lanes are more valuable than parking spaces by Vox
“painted gutters”
Junctions
This video on junction design is a good example of how to create safe junctions for bikes and pedestrians.
Stop sign
Stop Signs Suck and We Should Get Rid of Them by Not Just Bikes argues that stop signs are inefficient and less safe, and thus we should apply better designs of the roads to eliminate the need for stop signs. The Netherlands does not use stop signs.
Parking
Economic impacts
Volker2020economic reviews the evidence and concludes that active transportation infrastructure has a positive impact.
- Love them or hate them, research offers financial case for big city bike lanes
- walking & cycling: the economic benefits
- “Sometimes, a shop owner tries to claim business was ruined because city removed 4 parking spaces. But now mayor can point to real figures and say: ‘There are 6,000 more people passing your shop on bikes. Are you sure you’re a good businessperson?’ ”—Jan Gehl,
- central Berlin. +65% visitors
- Want To Make Money? Build A Business On A Bike Lane
- Vancouver’s Downtown Business Association, who were originally AGAINST downtown bike-lanes, have become one of their most vigourous supporters, because of EVIDENCE
- Streets can either move cars quickly or attract social and economic activity. They can’t do both. … The Hague discovered this in 2009, removing all motor traffic from Grote Marktstraat; a four-lane arterial. … It is now one of the most successful shopping streets in all of Benelux
- Strøget in Copenhagen - “no cars means no business” but in fact, no cars means business.
Accessibility
- How do you want your golden years to be when you can no longer drive a car? Do you want to be lonely in a remote suburban retirement home or aging in place on enabling infrastructure within your town or city?
- Not everybody can ride a bike. And that’s why bike lanes are so important!
- In the Netherlands, 21% of ALL trips by non-western women are cycled. 16% by people with disabilities. 27% by seniors (65+). 55% by teenagers
- This visually impaired gentleman illustrates how cycling infra creates not less but MORE equity
Planning and building
Paris during the COVID 19 pandemic showed that it is possible to bootstrap a massive bike infrastructure within a few years. Some videos: - https://twitter.com/BrentToderian/status/1293309788076441600
Studies
Gerike2022network reviews network-level design.