Benefits of Protected Bike Lanes

Accessibility & Safety

Safe, accessible walking and bicycling infrastructure makes communities safer for everyone, especially for people with disabilities. 

People with freedom of mobility can work and care for themselves. Ability to move around provides additional opportunities for communities to grow and take care of themselves. This might include gaining access to work opportunities, education, and local medical resources. Strong community connections have been shown as a key elements to saving lives during heatwaves, floods, and other climate-related dangers. In other words isolated communities experiencing more preventable deaths than communities where people of all ages and abilities can easily visit one another or public resouces like pools or community centers.

Walkable and bike-friendly infrastructure slows down traffic which results in less death or injury for people inside or outside of motorized vehicles. People in wheelchairs or guardians with push chairs can safely use protected bike lanes. Those who can't use standard bicycles or walk, may find tricycles or electric bikes provide the support needed to help them travel safely and efficiently.

Bike-Friendly Infrastructure Gives Us Safer Communities

Some motorists see cyclists as nuisances, not realizing how much danger their own vehicles pose to everyone else on the road and the community. Studies have found that bikes, especially in conjunction with safety improvements such as protected bike lanes actually increase public safety. Protected bike lanes and bike-friendly paths can be used by wheelchair and push-chair users, meaning accessibility and safety is improved. Dangerous air pollution and traffic-related run off is reduced. Potential customers travel at slower speeds which boosts local economies, and since regular riders have more spending money than car-owners, they statistically spend more than drivers). More eyes and ears on community roads which come with increased walking/biking has been shown to reduce crime rates, while the explosion of car-use has been linked with increased crime rates, deaths, and inequality.

Despite a growing understanding of how beneficial increase bike usage is for society and reducing emissions, one survey found that 52% globally say cycling in their area is too dangerous a further 62% of those surveyed also "say new road and infrastructure in their area should prioritize bicycles over automobiles". - A Survey of 28 Countries Found that Only 12% of Adults Commute by Bike

High Value Infrastructure

4:51 minute video "America's first parking-protected bike lane came to New York City in 2007. Here's what happened next.

...

When Janette Sadik-Khan was hired as chief transportation official for New York City in 2007, she took a page out of Denmark’s playbook and created America’s first parking-protected bike lane, right in the middle of downtown Manhattan.

A parking protected bike lane created a buffer between the traffic of cars, trucks and buses and cyclists. But it also eliminated parking spots. 

The protected lanes didn't just make the streets safer for those on bikes; they also improved traffic flow for vehicles and spurred increased retail sales for businesses nearby. 

You can read more about the 9th avenue protected bike lane pilot program here:

https://nacto.org/case-study/ninth-av...

And you read a full study on all of the data used in this video here:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads...

Here is a full inventory of all implemented + planned protected cycle tracks in New York City:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads..."

Health Benefits

Healthier Communities with Lower Medical Costs

When people are able to move actively instead of passively, they get much more exercise, and this can translate into lower medical costs which is great no matter whether you have national medical coverage or your country requires costly health insurance.