Skip to Content
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Log In
Streetsblog USA

More Evidence That Adding Bike Infrastructure Boosts Biking

If you build it, they will bike. That's the upshot of a new study from researchers at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, examining the effect of bike infrastructure.

Bike commutes rates around Minneapolis' Midtown Greenway soared over the last decade. Photo: Wikipedia
Bike commute rates around the Minneapolis Midtown Greenway soared over the last decade. Photo: Wikipedia
false

Researchers charted bike commuting rates across the Minneapolis area, finding, not surprisingly, that the biggest increases happened near the biggest investments in safe, comfortable bike infrastructure.

The research team examined cycling rates over a 10-year period among residents near the Midtown Greenway, an off-street bikeway running along the city's south side, which opened in phases beginning in 2000.

They found that bike commute rates skyrocketed among people living within three miles of the greenway, from 1.8 percent to 3.4 percent -- an 89 percent increase. Among people living father away, between three and six miles from the greenway, bike commuting rose at a more gradual pace: from 1.2 percent to 1.8 percent -- a 50 percent increase.

"These data are supportive, but not proof, that a commitment to urban cycling infrastructure can increase active commuting by bicycle," study author Penny Gordon-Larsen told the Obesity Society, a collective of scientists studying obesity. Previous research from Portland State University professor Jennifer Dill has shown that streets with bike lanes attract a disproportionate share of total bike traffic.

The findings of the study were presented to the Obesity Society at the group's annual meeting earlier this month. The full study has not yet been published.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Los Angeles

Reclaiming Streets from ICE with Music, Dance, Altars, Mutual Aid, Community, and Resistance

The Mariachi Plaza event was one of four held across LA. Tuesday night. The June 19 abduction of street vendor Emma de Paz from the Hollywood Home Depot was a touchstone of the Eastside gathering.

July 4, 2025

Santa Monica and West Hollywood Bus Lane/Stop Enforcement Programs Start Today

Don't block the bus! Parking in a bus lane or at a bus stop will result in a $293 ticket

July 1, 2025
See all posts