Why bike lanes don't make traffic worse | It's Complicated
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- Опубліковано 18 тра 2022
- Cities in the UK and around the world are creating cycling networks by installing new bike lanes to help reduce emissions, but some claim they are making traffic worse.
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The argument goes that bike lanes means less space for cars and therefore more congestion. While this might sound plausible, it appears to hark back to outdated traffic management theory. Josh Toussaint-Strauss finds out how traffic really works, and the actual impact of installing new bike lanes
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More information:
How a myth about London bike lanes and congestion took off ► www.theguardian.com/environme...
Ten common myths about bike lanes - and why they're wrong ► www.theguardian.com/environme...
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, Car Use, and Active Travel: evidence from the People and Places survey of Outer London active travel interventions ► westminsterresearch.westminst...
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I think it's funny when car drivers, who take up most of the space on our roads, complain that cyclists or pedestrians "take up too much road space".
The induced demand principle also applies to cycling and walking infrastructure. The better the cycle lanes are the more people use them, and they use a lot less space on the road per person than cars do hence opening up space and easing congestion.
“ Yeah but this cyclist didn’t stop at a stop sign, so all cyclists are bad.”
"Bike lanes make traffic worse" is like saying "Building Hospitals means there's less space for building Homes!"
Bike lanes with no physical barrier from the road are useless in the winter! Separated bike lanes are amazing and make our cities better. I find that on a bike I'm much more likely to try a new small restaurant or store but in my car I'm usually traveling too fast to make a decision, plus it's way easier to turn around on my bike.
Can we just appreciate how annoying and idiotic these 'anti cycle lane' people are.
An important note that was implied but is worth stating: those cyclists often used to be car users. This initiative frees up the road for car users who actually need or want to use the car, rather than feel they have to.
Increasing cycle lanes makes cycling easier and safer. This isn't just about making things inconvenient for drivers. When cycling is safer, more people will choose to cycle because they actually want to cycle, but chose not to before because they didn't feel safe.
Understand that the Netherlands was left out, because it gets a bit boring to see it in almost every video like this. However the fact it is mentioned so often obviously has a reason. Waze (navigation app) has chosen the Netherlands several times as the best place for CAR drivers in the world. Which sounds a bit crazy considering that the Netherlands is famous for its cycle infrastructure. But this is the evidence that supports the title of this video.
I also wish that videos like this would make the obvious point that begs addressing: roads are for transporting people, not just cars. Every city wants to find the best way to move people around, and that's going to look different in each city. But "roads are for cars" is a silly, thoughtless reaction that many people seem to have. The goal is moving people, not just cars.
The real key is well priced public transport.
Those articles blaming bicycle lanes don’t know what they’re talking about.
One important point I think this video forgot to make is that, cars are incredibly inefficient when it comes to moving people. Cars are way too big, take too much, can carry 6 people but usually carry just one and that is the main reason why we should be encourgaing alternative modes of transport and discouraging car use, it's better for everyone. People that actually need to use cars will face less traffic. It's better for everyone except auto companies. Literally!
I moved to the UK in 1985, and started riding cycles after I moved to Wimbledon area in 1992.
bike lanes make traffic better. Most car trips in towns and cities are short ones that could otherwise easily be done by bike if infrastructure existed. By building bike lanes you're giving people that freedom and reducing traffic for those that absolutely need to drive
Bikes are better than cars. 🌱
Without even watching the video, it's not complicated, it's simple car drivers steer around a vehicle the size of two king size madresses while bikes ride a vehicle the size of a chair. Who do you think is the biggest trouble, the fact that cars are treated as something superior of resources while bikes get scraps in comparison is insane. We are simply converting a wasteful use of resources to a better one, from a greedy use of resources to one that helps everyone. It's less about removing "traffic" it's about making traffic more efficient by making it more comfortable to use the more efficient option, guiding behavior.
We have 8 lane highways in America that are like oceans of asphalt. If space reduced conjestion, those highways should never get traffic jams. But guess what, they do. All. The. Time. Meanwhile, Germany has so many alternate forms of transit available to their people, it even makes a few of their highways sparsely travelled enough to eliminate speed zones. Thanks cyclists and train passengers and bus riders, for making car traffic more practical.
This says more about editorial standards at the Evening Standard, Daily Mail, Daily Express and the Sun; than it does about the wisdom of urban bike lanes.
I live in Montreal, which has the best bike lane network in North America. (Though still well below a lot of European cities) And just in the last few months, I've seen a monumental increase in the amount of people on bikes, mostly due to high fuel costs. I wouldn't be surprised if bike lanes will eventually need to be widened to account for the extra cyclists.