In what might be one of the least surprising cycling studies we’ve reported in recent times, new research from the US has found that protected bike lanes encourage more people to cycle than painted lanes or areas without any infrastructure.

Unsurprising as it may be it is still of course necessary to see hypotheses backed up by research and evidence. This six-year study by academics at the University of New Mexico and University of Colorado Denver does exactly that, suggesting that areas with protected cycling infrastructure experienced bicycle commuter increases 1.8 times larger than areas with ‘standard bicycle lanes’, 1.6 times larger than areas with ‘shared-lane marking’ and 4.3 times larger than areas that did not install bicycle facilities at all.

> Bristol ranked eighth best city in Europe for child-friendly cycling – but UK “lags behind” due to unprotected bike lanes and “lack of political ambition”, researchers say

The study analysed six years of longitudinal data across 14,011 block groups in 28 US cities. For each infrastructure type, bicycle commuting changes were studied while controlling for socioeconomic status and built environment factors via three complementary analyses.

The researchers say the results “suggest that cities that wish to encourage more biking activity seem justified in installing bicycle facilities toward that end, and lower-stress bicycle facilities — such as PBLs (protected bike lanes) and BBLs (buffered bicycle lanes) — tend to be significantly associated with larger increases in ridership at the block group level than higher-stress bicycle facilities such as SBLs (standard bicycle lanes) and SHRs (shared-lane markings).”

Cyclists in London stopped at red light
Cyclists in London stopped at red light (Image Credit: Simon MacMichael)

While they admit shared-lane markings correlated with increased bicycle commuting relative to no new bicycling infrastructure in the initial analysis, the “shift became weaker once accounting for extant levels of bicycle commuting in the second DID analysis, and then insignificant once other bicycle facilities were accounted for in the third multivariate analysis”.

Exploring the “build it, and they will come” mantra commonly heard when discussing active travel infrastructure, the study found that “protected bicycle lane mileage installed was significantly associated with bicycle commuter increases 52.5 per cent stronger than standard bicycle lane mileage and 281.2 per cent stronger than shared-lane marking mileage”.

“The results suggest that lower-stress bicycle facilities — such as protected bicycle lanes — are significantly associated with larger increases in ridership at the block-group level compared with higher-stress facilities such as standard bicycle lanes and shared-lane markings.”

Cyclists in London talking in cycle lane
Cyclists in London talking in cycle lane (Image Credit: Simon MacMichael)

Emphasising the point, “cities that seek to boost bicycle commute mode shifts should focus on implementing low-stress bicycle facilities if they want to best facilitate the sizeable population of less-confident potential riders”.

In 2023, researchers from Australia made this point too, suggesting that policymakers need to design cycling infrastructure specifically for “the trips that aren’t taken” currently, enabling people who want to cycle but are put off by road danger and ineffective bike lanes.

> Cycling infrastructure needs to be built with women in mind, study suggests

Specifically the researchers argued that cycling infrastructure should be built with women in mind as their survey of 717 women across 10 areas of Melbourne showed that “gender differences were stark in terms of the barriers” to cycling.

Compared to men the survey showed that the women were less comfortable with the idea of cycling near traffic, and would be encouraged by segregated cycle lanes. Nearly half of the women surveyed said well-lit areas are an enabler of them cycling.