Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Streetsblog.net

Biking Skyrockets Where San Diego Added Buffered Bike Lanes

Cycling rates have increased 350 percent in 2 years. Image: Bike San Diego
Buffered bike lanes were added in spring 2014. Image: Bike San Diego
false

Build bike infrastructure and they will ride. It's true just about everywhere, including San Diego.

Thanks to bike counters set up around the region, Network blog Bike SD got data showing that cycling has skyrocketed on two streets where the city added buffered bike lanes last year:

Photo: Bike SD

In late 2012 SANDAG, the region’s planning agency, installed bike counters around the entire county. The question to answer was: how many people were actually riding in the region?

According to the count data obtained from SDSU’s Active Transportation Research, the bike traffic in Uptown has gone up -- by an average of 346% since 2012.

And it looks like the biggest jump in bike ridership happened after the buffered bike lanes were striped on Fourth and Fifth Avenues in 2014.

Even in car-centric San Diego, if you build the bike lanes, people will ride.

Elsewhere on the Network today: Wash Cycle reports that 18 percent of households in the DC metro region use bikes for transportation. The Dallas Morning News' Transportation Blog writes that Mayor Mike Rawlings, a proponent of the Trinity Toll Road, says the Federal Highway Administration won't stand in the way of the project. And Bike Portland says a flashing warning signal seems to have reduced right hook collisions involving bicyclists at a problematic intersection.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday Video: Are We All Living in a ‘Carspiracy’?

How does "car-brain" shape the way we think about the world — even in relatively bike-friendly countries like the U.K.?

July 26, 2024

Friday’s Headlines Share and Share Alike

Bikeshares, and e-bikes and scooters generally, are becoming more popular. That's led to more injuries, highlighting the need for better infrastructure.

July 26, 2024

What the Heck is Going on With the California E-Bike Incentive Program?

The program's launch has been delayed for two years, and currently "there is no specific timeline" for it. Plus the administrator, Pedal Ahead, is getting dragged, but details are vague.

July 26, 2024

Talking Headways Podcast: Have Cities Run Out of Land?

Chris Redfearn of USC and Anthony Orlando of Cal Poly Pomona on why "pro-business" Texas housing markets are catching up to "pro-regulation" California and what it might mean for future city growth.

July 25, 2024

The Paris Plan for Olympic Traffic? Build More Bike Lanes

A push to make Paris fully bikable for the Olympics is already paying dividends long before the opening ceremonies.

July 25, 2024
See all posts