Investigating the effects of bike lanes in Minneapolis

Based on feedback from local businesses in early 2020 (pre-Covid), ~40% of food and beverage businesses reported that business had become either "worse" or "much worse" since the changes. Reports from "dry retail" businesses are slightly better and service businesses slightly worse.

This is compared with https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bc63eb90b77bd20c50c5... (page 21)

Traffic also increased substantially on some of the nearby streets, as expected.

A reasonable discussion on the impact of these kinds of changes can be had; but not if we're going to make up statements about what the impact of the changes was.

> I'm curious what a 69% increase looks like in real numbers - a 20% increase on next to nothing is still next to nothing.

It's a good question. User Cenk just provided a link to the full paper in another comment: https://oa.mg/pdf/10.1016-j.trip.2022.100604.pdf

If my skimming is accurate, the answer seems to be that they surveyed two hours of afternoon commute in September in 39 locations, and saw an average increase from 138 cyclists to 211. So likely a real increase rather than a statistical artifact, but also quite small in terms of absolute numbers given the costs involved.

People not familiar with the US may not realize just how hostile US cities are to cyclists (and pedestrians). Some examples:

1. Turning right at red lights. Legal in most of the US. This is a huge safety issue for pedestrians and cyclists;

2. Many streets don't even have widewalks;

3. Many major roads don't even have any form of pedestrian crossings. For example, I had Google Maps tell me to just run across an 8 lane highway (at least there was somewhere safe to stand in the middle) where the speed limit was 45mph. Why? There was absolutely no alternative.

In comparison, many freeways or highways in other countries will regularly have dedicated pedestrian crossing bridges.

4. In cities with a dedicated cycling lane in many US cities it gets used as extra parking, forcing cyclists out onto the road. Some I have sympathy for (eg delivery drivers) but many other people just don't give a shit they're blocking a lane of traffic and creating a safety issue.

5. Many Americans never walk anywhere so are an annoyance (if not an outright safety hazard) on any space shared with cyclists. I routinely see runners refuse to get out of the way in a dedicated cycle path. Many are oblivious and will just walk onto a cycle path without looking. I've had many near-misses this way.

So there are a lot of things you can do to improve this situation, most of which doesn't take exttra room. For example:

1. Netherlands style intersections designed to improve cyclist safety [1];

2. Suburbia is dominated by cul-de-sacs to avoid car through traffic. These back streets should have dedicated cycle paths (to avoid cycling on highways) combined with car-free connections to allow through-traffic and safe crossings o fhighways with lights if necessary;

3. Instead of road->cycle lane->parked cars create separation with road->parking->cycle path where the cycle path has a physical barrier to avoid people using it as parking;

4. Have islands separating traffic on roads. In addition to making driving safer, this island can make cycling safer as you can half-cross the road and then cross the rest when it's clear without impeding traffic or risking being hit;

5. Splitting straight and turn right lanes. This will create another island for safety and less guessing on what motorists will do.

I guess I could summarize this as "just do what Amsterdam does".

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlApbxLz6pA

Do they also get lots of rain, or only snow?

I find that biking (and more broadly, being outdoors) sucks during rainy winter days, but I live in a place with no snow and only humid, rainy winters. Also, having something waterproof to cover your head has a negative impact on your ability to see properly (even as a pedestrian).

I've been a few times to places where it snows in the winter (nothing extreme, NYC in February and Ottawa in January) and found that it is more tolerable for me to be outdoors (given proper clothing) during snow than during rainy winter days.

I'm surprised nobody else bothered mentioning this: Hands, feet and ears. For an hour-long ride, keeping your legs/arms/torso warm is not particularly hard, but extremities are, because you're making your own 20-30mph wind. I recommend expedition-quality gloves, a balaclava, and something along the lines of sock liners/covers (might need to check shoes/helmet for fit with all that underneath). Not a particularly big expense though.