Bike safety boosted by ‘smart’ street design

Credit: New York City Department of Transportation

Less road space for automobiles doesn’t have to mean more congestion or delay at city intersections. At CityLab.com, Eric Jaffe explains how smart street design can eliminate many of the traffic problems that bike lane opponents anticipate when voicing their objections.

Jaffe highlights findings by the New York City Department of Transportation, that protected bike lanes can increase rider safety while car speed is maintained.

Steady traffic flow was largely the result of adding left-turn lane pockets in each of three street reconfigurations highlighted in the article. And while daytime speeds of taxis experienced a “miniscule” delay, it was countered by a rise in bicycle volume by 160 percent. http://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2014/09/when-adding-bike-lanes-actually-reduces-traffic-delays/379623/ When Adding Bike Lanes Actually Reduces Traffic Delays http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/2014-09-03-bicycle-path-data-analysis.pdf PDF document, Protected Bicycle Lanes in New York ‘ “ ” ’ • em-dash (—) en-dash (–)