Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Bicycle Infrastructure

More Evidence That Adding Bike Infrastructure Boosts Biking

1:58 PM EST on November 13, 2014

If you build it, they will bike. That's the upshot of a new study from researchers at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, examining the effect of bike infrastructure.

Bike commutes rates around Minneapolis' Midtown Greenway soared over the last decade. Photo: Wikipedia
Bike commute rates around the Minneapolis Midtown Greenway soared over the last decade. Photo: Wikipedia
Bike commutes rates around Minneapolis' Midtown Greenway soared over the last decade. Photo: Wikipedia

Researchers charted bike commuting rates across the Minneapolis area, finding, not surprisingly, that the biggest increases happened near the biggest investments in safe, comfortable bike infrastructure.

The research team examined cycling rates over a 10-year period among residents near the Midtown Greenway, an off-street bikeway running along the city's south side, which opened in phases beginning in 2000.

They found that bike commute rates skyrocketed among people living within three miles of the greenway, from 1.8 percent to 3.4 percent -- an 89 percent increase. Among people living father away, between three and six miles from the greenway, bike commuting rose at a more gradual pace: from 1.2 percent to 1.8 percent -- a 50 percent increase.

"These data are supportive, but not proof, that a commitment to urban cycling infrastructure can increase active commuting by bicycle," study author Penny Gordon-Larsen told the Obesity Society, a collective of scientists studying obesity. Previous research from Portland State University professor Jennifer Dill has shown that streets with bike lanes attract a disproportionate share of total bike traffic.

The findings of the study were presented to the Obesity Society at the group's annual meeting earlier this month. The full study has not yet been published.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

The Price Is Right for Tuesday’s Headlines

If congestion pricing works in New York City, City Lab predicts that other U.S. cities will quickly follow suit.

November 28, 2023

Top NJ Lawmaker Proposes Major Reforms to Fight Temporary License Plate Fraud

The new legislation follows a seven-month Streetsblog investigation that found widespread fraud involving temp tags, with car dealers abusing weak state regulations and selling paper plates illegally to drivers using them to evade accountability on the road.

November 28, 2023

DOT’s New Emissions Rule is a Big Deal, Even if It Doesn’t Punish States for Polluting

No states will face penalties for building needless toxic road projects — but they also won't be able to hide those impacts from the public.

November 27, 2023

Monday’s Headlines Need Less Oil

E-bikes are a great alternative for short trips, and they're actually saving more fossil fuels that electric cars.

November 27, 2023

Highway Boondoggles 2023: This Bridge is a Bridge Too Far

Presented by local transportation authorities as a simple bridge replacement, an expensive, oversized highway expansion threatens to worsen congestion in Vancouver and Portland

November 27, 2023
See all posts