Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In

At the end of the day, it's just paint. But green bike lanes and intersection treatments have a powerful appeal to cyclists, writes Dan Malouff at Beyond DC, because of what they say about streets:

Green paint on bike lanes and at intersections sends a strong message to motorists, says Dan Malouff. Image: ##http://beyonddc.com/log/?p=6195## BeyondDC##
Green paint on bike lanes and at intersections sends a strong message about what streets are for, says Dan Malouff. Image: ##http://beyonddc.com/log/?p=6195## BeyondDC##
false

The real reason cyclists love green-painted bike lanes so much is simple: They send the clearest-possible message that roads are not only for cars.

Despite a century of sharing roads, and despite the fact that people walked and biked in streets long before cars came along, there’s a strong mentality among entitled drivers that roads are for cars. A five-second Google search turns up plenty of examples.

Green-painted bike lanes accomplish what a white stripe next to the parking lane cannot. They proclaim loudly and clearly that streets are not merely sewers for car traffic, but fully multimodal public spaces. They send the message that drivers are welcome to use roads just like everyone else, but must not expect to have roads completely to themselves.

Elsewhere on the Network today: Peninsula Transportation Alternatives puts the controversy around San Francisco's Google buses in context. ATLUrbanist, riffing off a Slate article, discusses how greater Atlanta's unwalkable development harms people's health. And Strong Towns says we need "schools on safe routes" more than safe routes to unwalkable schools.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Thursday’s Headlines Are Charged Up for the Fourth

The Republican megabill is bad for the electric vehicle industry, but it could be worse.

July 3, 2025

Why is the Secretary of Transportation Begging Americans to Take More Road Trips?

Instead of making America easier to see on all modes, the US Department of Transportation is encouraging U.S. residents to just get in their cars and drive.

July 3, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines Are for the Children

From mothers with babies in strollers to preteens on bikes, much of the U.S. is hostile to families just trying to get around without a car.

July 2, 2025

Ambulance Data Reveals That Boston Drivers Are 4 Times More Likely to Run Over Pedestrians From Black Neighborhoods

"Overall, residents of predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods are about four times more likely than residents of predominantly white neighborhoods to be struck as a pedestrian."

July 1, 2025

Tuesday’s Sprawling Headlines

Sprawl seems to be having a moment, but it remains a very shortsighted and environmentally disastrous way to solve the housing crisis.

July 1, 2025
See all posts