The traffic around here is ridiculous!
Photo by Max Bender on Unsplash
That’s all because of those damn bike lanes. Right?…
Well, not quite, but it is easy to understand why you would think that.
When our roads are clogged with cars and commute times are increasing, any change that takes space away from cars and hands it over to bikes, pedestrians, and transit seems like radical nonsense from out-of-touch politicians and planners who just spend money to make things worse, right?
But here’s the thing: if you’re complaining about traffic while stuck in traffic…you are traffic.
We cannot and will not engineer a way out of commuting chaos by giving more space over to the private automobile. When we widen roads and highways, we create conditions favourable to “induced demand”. That means that any new space for cars will just end up getting filled with more cars, slowing things down even more.
The only way we can create safer, calmer, more efficient roads is by providing people with real transportation choice. By making it both possible and preferable to make basic, daily trips using transit or active transportation (like walking or biking), we can make our roads work better for everyone and save money in the process.
So here are some facts:
Bike lanes are less expensive to maintain than car-only lanes.
It might be hard to believe, but creating more space for cyclists might help bring your taxes down.
There’s been a lot of chatter in Hamilton about a proposal from the city’s active transportation department to spend $60 million on bike lanes between now and 2028. But here’s the truth:
The actual report states that those moneys will go to upgrade and improve the city’s overall active transportation infrastructure, including bike lanes, pedestrian routes, and multi-use trails.
That sum includes money that’s already been budgeted and money that will come from the federal and provincial governments.
But, more importantly, that investment of $12 million a year will end up lasting longer and providing more value to taxpayers than a road for cars only. Why?
Cars and trucks create more wear-and-tear on roads than bikes. There’s a big difference between the impact of a cyclist (bicycle + rider = 200 lbs.) compared to the impact of a small automobile motorist (regular car + driver = 1,600 lbs.) or a personal truck motorist (standard truck + driver = 2,450 lbs.). Activists in the United States have calculated that, for an average cyclist to have the same impact on the road as a regular car does in one trip, they’d have to make that trip over 17,000 times!
Bike lanes are less expensive to build and maintain than car-exclusive roads. When Toronto proposed building out a 100 KM network of bike lanes in 2021, some were quick to criticize the $20 million price tag. But, as internet sleuths were quick to figure out, the city was spending 25 times more on roads for cars. It isn’t just Toronto that figured that out; a team of researchers in Portland, Oregon found out that replacing the city’s entire 300 mile (482 KM) bike lane network would cost the same as replacing just 1 mile (1.6 KM) of an urban freeway.
Bike lanes help fight climate change.
The science is clear: our climate is changing. And that is making life harder for a lot of people.
The over-use of the private automobile is directly connected to our changing climate.
Cars and trucks account for over 17% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. The levels are likely comparable in Canada or, based on data from 2012, maybe even higher. That 17% figure means that the use of private automobiles has more of an environmental impact than the entire agriculture and commercial sectors combined.
One of the ways we can help fix this planet is by acknowledging we use our personal automobiles too much. These are private and expensive consumer goods that control too much of our lives. How many daily car trips - to the grocery store, to the gym, to your child’s daycare, to work, to school - could be replaced with a trip made using active transportation?
Providing bike infrastructure, like Hamilton’s SoBi system, can encourage 1 in 10 to choose active transportation over cars. Studies conducted in London and Montreal found that 6% of Londoners and 10% of Montréalais(e) switched from using their car for daily activities to using a bike.
Adding safe, dedicated bike lanes increases the number of cyclists and creates more desirable neighbourhoods. Lots of angry letters to the editor from motorists claim that bike lanes are empty. But any cyclist can tell you that’s not true. And any social scientist would tell you to be more rigourous in your data collection! Studies in Europe found that the addition of protected bike lanes increased cycling rates by almost 50%. A similar study from the United States found between 21% and 171% increase in cycling when new lanes were added, along with overwhelming satisfaction from the majority of non-cyclist residents who said their neighbourhood had become more desirable because of the lanes.
Bike lanes are an investment in our communities that help local businesses.
When municipalities build bike lanes, they’re investing in their community. Businesses, residents, and workers all benefit from what bike lanes provide to communities.
And when we say “invest”, we mean it! Bike lanes help generate business and revenue for local commercial establishments and increase the value of people’s property.
Bike lanes have helped increase traffic to local businesses. From New York to Minneapolis to Toronto, municipalities have reported that bike lanes have noticeably improved sales for local businesses. Some business owners have a knee-jerk reaction to the idea of bike lanes, but research shows many owners overestimate the traffic their store gets from motorists. Even New York City’s own transportation department speculated that sales would fall by 20% on a commercial corridor where a bike lane was being installed. But, in reality, sales increased by 12% after the bike lanes were put in, showing that people respond positively to communities that want streets designed for all.
Bike lanes can reduce unnecessary car traffic, improving the overall efficiency of the economy. When we provide people with real transportation alternatives, we can take cars off the road and allow for a smoother, more efficient system of transportation. That means fewer bus delays, fewer delays in transporting goods, and safer streets for everyone (reducing time spent recovering from vehicle accidents).