If you’ve been paying attention to bike infrastructure over the last few years, you know that protected bike lanes (aka cycletracks) are trending. We’re planning on building more of these in the Twin Cities and around Minnesota, and of the key reasons why is that they help people feel more comfortable and protected while they ride.
There’s research about this now, too. This chart is from a recent study out of Portland that rated comfort levels using different barrier types:
The takeaway is this:
For us on the Green Lane Project team, one of the biggest surprises of 2014 was that a bike lane separated from cars by a “2-3 foot buffer with plastic flexposts” makes riders feel more comfortable biking than anything else, with the exception of “planters separating the bikeway.”
Check out the rest at streetsblog.