Separated bike lanes can reduce crashes by 50%, according to new study released by government
The abstract from a September study’s report documentation page.
Debate about the installation of additional separated bike lanes is a major topic this election season. As I was planning how to vote, I was pleased to discover that the U.S. Department of Transportation just last month released a report on the effect of bike lanes separated from car traffic by flexi-posts such as the “quick-build” bike lanes here in Cambridge.
The researchers the agency sponsored at Texas A&M University studied our own Cambridge as well as San Francisco and Seattle; Denver and Austin, Texas were included as well. Across all five cities they found consistently that flexi-posts reduced crashes by 50 percent when compared to bike lanes without them.
Cambridge’s open data portal shows that in 2022 our police department reported 119 motor vehicle crashes involving a bicycle, resulting in 100 injuries and 51 hospitalizations. From 2016 to 2019 all had similar totals, while 2020-2021 had reduced traffic of all types due to the pandemic.
We can’t know for sure how much of this harm might be prevented by installing more separated bike lanes. But the DOT report lets us estimate that every 5 percent of our total bike traffic we shift from paint-only bike lanes to separated bike lanes keeps one of our neighbors out of the hospital every year. Building separated bike lanes has costs and benefits, but this benefit seemed big and surprising enough to be worth sharing with you all.
Dan Recht, Avon Hill Street
This post was updated Oct. 9, 2023, to add an image of a report abstract.
Great summary of the study. For those reading, if you want info on which City Council candidates have committed to completing a network of separated bike lanes, visit https://www.cambridgebikesafety.org/election/
The headline here is inaccurate, and hence, misleading: this “letter” is about “flex posts,” not bike lanes, per se. Bono suspects the author already knows very well who he’s voting for and was just fishing around for an excuse to pop a promotional piece here on the eve of an important election. WALLS would no doubt be even “safer” than flex posts! Should our unelected staff now be allowed to put these wherever they like?? The reversal of Garden Street has nothing to do with stanchions or flex posts; nor do the hideous and dangerous two-way bike lanes on Lower Brattle in Harvard Square. (Upper Brattle – once our loveliest street – has now been turned into a disgraceful eyesore.) Are there any “studies” showing how *stopping at red lights* (and adhering to other important traffic laws) would contribute mightily to “safety improvements” for – not just bicyclists – but of all the rest of us?? Can we not still have a beautiful city, that is also responsibly safe?? Can we have sensible rules that are actually enforced for everybody, without complaining solely about motor vehicles?? Can we have sanity, reason, and good design in Cambridge, where the needs of all of us – not just a minority who bike – are properly taken into account?? That’s what Bono believes this election is, at least, significantly about. Bono doesn’t see any of that in the stubborn bike ideologues recommended here.
@James/Bono, the title of ‘Separated bike lanes’ is accurate. The analysis specifically uses data from the separated bike lanes built using flex-post separation in Cambridge.
Poor Bono Publico, this is satire right? Everything is an eye sore except for parked cars!!!! You might try to be less over the top if you want people to fall for the ruse…
Thanks for covering this important safety issue and helping to get actual data and science into the dialog. Shame on those who throw verbal diarrhea at the topic in attempts to obfuscate the important issues.
@Poor Bono Publico
Your complaints don’t make sense. Bike lanes separated by flex poles are separated bike lanes. The study shows that separated bike lanes reduce accidents.
Yes, everyone should follow the rules but people don’t, both cyclists *and* drivers.
That’s why we need our streets to be safer. People make mistakes but they still deserve to be protected.