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Monday, December 10, 2018

Roads less traveled: Attempts by Minneapolis to boost biking aren't paying off

Bike lanes have become big in the Twin Cities. But can the traffic they carry justify the street space they consume?

Minneapolis city officials are committed to a vision of inducing residents and visitors to use public transportation or bicycles (or scooters) instead of automobiles. They believe in the “Field of Dreams” philosophy — “If you build it, they will come.” And inspired by that strategy, the city rolls on with its bicycle lanes and associated engineering changes.

Officials have boasted they are confident they can increase current bicycle use — from 5 percent of commuting (according to census data) to 15 percent in the years ahead. But what do we really know about the use of bicycles in Minneapolis?

The city does traffic studies periodically for a variety of purposes. And, yet, we residents have seen no proof that the 5 percent claim (small as it is) is even accurate. Because of this, I decided to undertake limited pilot research, in search of some actual facts about usage of the Minneapolis bicycle lanes that are, increasingly, inconveniencing those who choose not to, or are unable to, use a bicycle as their main mode of transportation.
Many ways exist to measure traffic, and each should be used to best fit the research objective. The objective here has been to determine whether the proportion of bicycles relative to other roadway vehicles justifies the proportion of roadway space allocated to bicycles.

Hence, the best measuring method is short, 10-minute counts of the number of bicycles and other vehicles that pass a given spot on the road. This method avoids “double counting” that could occur with longer time periods.

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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have noticed everywhere you travel in Salisbury, MD there seem to be bike lanes. The other thing noticed is there is one thing missing, bikes. What a waste of resources to have planned and executed this program.

Anonymous said...

Always stated they were a waste of tax dollars. Why were / are bikers not charged for using these lanes instead of using gas tax dollars. They interfere with the flow of traffic and never obey the laws / rules of the road for bicycles.

Anonymous said...

bikes in winter no such much here, but in minnesoata..not much for many months.

Anonymous said...

Has anyone noticed the so-called bike lanes on Rt. 13 in da Ghetto 'Bury are never ever used??

For one, just because you put down a bike symbol on asphalt doesn't make it a bike lane.

Second, if you want an official bike lane then it would be very advisable to put an official stripe on the road to separate the so-called bike lane.

DUMBA$$ES!!

Anonymous said...

Who's stupid ass idea was it to put the bike lane from Priscilla Street to Truitt Streets on Rt. 50 where it puts the bike lane in the middle of Rt. 50 in between the slow lane and the turning lane. That is extremely dangerous.

Jake Day you are very stupid and you are going to get someone killed. I hope your Daddy has a lot of money when you get sued.

Anonymous said...

Did anyone see Gay Day in the 'Bury Christmas Parade walking with those bike riding weirdos? He is so determined to make this stupid crap work that he walked with the bike lane weirdos.