Don’t delay – get out the paint pots to make city streets bike-friendly overnight

Jon Orcutt is director of policy and Kate Fillin-Yeh is bike share program director at the New York City Department of Transportation. They visited the UK in December for a series of conferences and meetings about bike-friendly cities.

Jon Orcutt is director of policy and Kate Fillin-Yeh is bike share program director at the New York City Department of Transportation. They visited the UK in December for a series of conferences and meetings about bike-friendly cities.

During a recent visit to London, Leeds and Manchester we found tremendous interest in creating more bicycle-friendly communities. But we also observed significant barriers in perspective and approach that could slow or hamper the UK cycling transformation that many are looking for.  

In New York, we have seen annual counts of bicycle traffic increase by two-and-a-half times since 2006, and massive usage and demand for CitiBike, the bike-share system launched in May 2013. Much of this success – as well as ongoing demand for additional bike-friendly streets and CitiBike expansion – has been driven by implementation of an extensive bicycle lane network. And these dramatic increases have taken place without any increase in cycling injury and fatalities, so that the rate of injuries per bike trip has plunged by 75%.

British cities have the raw ingredients – density, high public transit usage and relatively low car ownership – to become world-class cycling cities. How can they accomplish this?  

For starters, planning for cycling needs to replace the “design cyclist” that in too many UK conversations is a fit road cyclist willing to cover tens of miles per journey. To increase cycling for practical transport and recreation, look beyond people who bike already and plan for the majority who would be interested in cycling if safer options existed. These potential cyclists are characterised by an unwillingness to take on fast, high-volume car traffic without protection, a tendency toward short, local trips and a desire for interconnected infrastructure. In fact, the Census of England and Wales shows that nearly three-quarters of people cycling to work make trips under 5km, and about 90% ride less than 10km.  

Connectivity within local networks is critical. Bike lanes must lead to other bike lanes and serve destinations people want to get to. Newer, less nimble riders need consistent treatments that do not strand them and leave them guessing about how to get to the next bike lane. But not all streets need the same intensity of treatment. In New York we put the most robust, protected lanes on heavily-trafficked avenues and connect them with less intensive treatments on small, calmer streets. Creating good networks in focused areas can demonstrate success in generating new cycling trips and minimising crashes, which in turn builds support for more ambitious future strategies.  

One of the most innovative aspects of New York’s cycling transformation is the speed of implementation. Whereas UK conversations about cycle-friendly streets focus heavily on construction projects and scarce resources, New York’s mode of change has relied primarily upon street markings and regulation to spatially re-arrange city streets. This has allowed development of real networks rather than a series of isolated facilities.  

It should be possible to develop a similar generation of inexpensive ‘overnight’ projects in the UK. If there are aesthetic objections to the use of paint and temporary materials, capital projects can later make them permanent and more attractive. In the meantime, local authorities will have proven the idea and provided an expanded, improved cycling network. In London, we saw several examples of quickly implemented protected bike lanes – one on Royal College Street in Camden and another on Hanover Street in the West End. These examples can and should be replicated on a large scale.  

Just as stranded facilities will not lead to more cycling, bike-friendly streets are also difficult to forge in a design vacuum. Streets that are hostile to pedestrians are more difficult to retrofit for cycling because they are so thoroughly engineered for speeding traffic. So many British streets – even in city centres – include pedestrian fencing, two-stage foot crossings, numerous slip lanes at intersections and corners that are substantially cut back. These features increase vehicle speed and make streets less permeable and inviting to people.  New York and increasing numbers of other American cities now embrace a “complete streets” philosophy that accommodates all street users, with emphasis on pedestrians and cyclists. The resultant designs keep car traffic moving, but not at dangerous speeds.  

Finally, many cities have looked to bike share systems to jump-start cycling. But New York’s experience suggests that bike share best unlocks cycling’s potential if significant bicycle infrastructure is already in place. Demand for CitiBike in New York – 96,000 annual members and five million trips in five months – was built on a foundation of 350 miles of bike lanes added since 2007, including 30 miles of protected lanes in the heart of the city. Heavy use of CitiBike has become a normalising force. New Yorkers who don’t think of themselves as cyclists jump on when it is convenient, navigating the central city on a robust cycling network. Half of these annual subscribers don’t currently own a bicycle.  

Complaints that streets in British cities and towns are too narrow and irregular to easily become “complete streets” miss a key point. Creating pedestrian and cyclist-friendly streets is a public policy decision, not simply a matter of engineering. If Amsterdam with its small, twisty streets can be one of the world’s bike capitals, British cities can become safe and inviting for cyclists as well. Paris is a great example of an historic city that has become much more accommodating to bicyclists in a short time. New York’s rapid transformation into a cycling city is as much a story of enlightened policy and determined leadership as it is one of design innovation. 

Discuss this at LTT's Cycle City Leeds event on the 1-2 May 2014