Sharing the Road: Protected Lanes, Transit, Drivers and Pedestrians

Protected bike lanes can benefit all road users as one part of a street that balances the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, transit users and drivers.

Streetfilms has made a short documentary on how separating bike lanes can benefit all road users, as part of a larger complete streets policy:

Drivers

One common argument against separated bike lanes is that they will increase traffic congestion. However, the ultimate goal of creating safe and attractive cycling infrastructure is to increase the 'modal share,' or proportion of cyclists compared to drivers on the road.

By making cycling a viable mode of transportation, cities like Vancouver are hoping to reduce congestion by creating separated bike lanes. Copenhagen has long promoted cycling to ease traffic congestion. They have been so successful that they now need to deal with the problem of bike congestion.

As Howard Lazarus, Director of the Austin, Texas public works department argues, cycling is an "important component of a multi-modal solution to congestion." Recent studies show that investment in quality cycling infrastructure, such as protected bike lanes, will lead to increased ridership.

Public Transit

On roads with transit routes, special consideration should be given to make sure conflict between cyclists and transit users are minimized. On streets with sufficient space, boarding platforms could be placed along the street side of the bicycle lane. Cyclists would be required to stop behind busses when loading and unloading at these stops, as they are currently required to at streetcar stops.

^{Separated bike lane with transit platform in Copenhagen, Denmark. Cyclists are required to yield to crossing pedestrians. Photo: San Francisco Bike Coalition}

Pedestrians

Protected bike lanes can also make streets safer for pedestrians. Providing cyclists with a dedicated, protected lane helps to keep those people not comfortable cycling with traffic off of sidewalks. To ensure pedestrian safety, it is important to make the separation between bike lane and pedestrian area clear, such as through pavement markings and grade separation. In Prospect Park, Brooklyn, the percentage of cyclists riding on the sidewalk fell from 46% to 3% after the installation of a separated bike lane.

Mobility and Accessibility

Accessibility is another important consideration when building protected bike lanes. Generally, the introduction of a separated lane will not create any unique challenges - curb ramps are still used at intersections so that sidewalks continue to meet the street level.

At mid block along separated lanes, special consideration must be made to ensure parking or passenger zones and transit stops are accessible for all, including those with mobility challenges. Raising the bike lane to the sidewalk level is one way to ensure that protected lanes do not introduce accessibility challenges.

^{Vancouver bike lane with bus loading zone. Photo: Paul Krueger}

In Vancouver, the protected bike lane is raised to meet the height of the sidewalk alongside passenger loading zones and parking areas. Cyclists are required to yield to pedestrians in these areas.

In the case of mid-block intersections without a raised lane, the bike lane's physical separation can be dropped, and ramped curbs used to make sidewalks accessible.

In New York, at major pedestrian loading zones, or areas where emergency vehicle access is key, such as in front of hospitals, there is a break in the physical separation of the bike lane so that the sidewalk can be directly accessed. Cyclists are required to yield to pedestrians and move around the vehicle when it is safe to do so.