Arterial lane width is a topic that comes up a lot lately as cities are moving toward shrinking car lanes and adding bike lanes, sidewalks, or bumpouts on dangerous arterial roads. As that’s been happening in Saint Paul, I’ve encountered many people questioning whether 11′ lanes are safe. “How can buses pass each other?” or “I […]
So far, there aren’t a lot of obvious benefits to spending years of your life getting a PhD in geography and bicycle planning. You acquire a lot of debt, spend a lot of time alone in rooms reading and writing things that few people will ever care about, and generally end up thinking to yourself, “Why […]
Here’s a fascinating chart making the rounds today, from a meta-study looking at how lane width impacts speed and (thus) crashes, injuries, and safety on streets: The trough of the curve (the place with the least severe crashes) seems to be right between 10.5′ and 11′. That’s something that cities should keep in mind, because the default […]