{"id":22176,"date":"2017-04-04T05:08:42","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T12:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/averagejoecyclist.com\/?p=22176"},"modified":"2017-03-25T15:52:05","modified_gmt":"2017-03-25T22:52:05","slug":"key-principles-building-cyclist-friendly-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/averagejoecyclist.com\/key-principles-building-cyclist-friendly-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Build it and They Will Come: Key Principles for Building a Cyclist-Friendly Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

Excerpt from an important, brand new book: How Cycling Can Save the World<\/em><\/a><\/strong> by Peter Walker<\/h3>\n

Just about everywhere which has built workable bike infrastructure has seen a resultant rush of cyclists.<\/strong> Conversely there is, virtually without exception, no city or country which has significant amounts of cycling which has not rebuilt its streets for bikes.<\/p>\n

This is one of the oddly fascinating things about infrastructure. It\u2019s not the most alluring of words, reminiscent of power lines and sewage plants. But traffic infrastructure has a huge capacity to shape the way people move about and live<\/strong>, especially in a city. Wherever there are people on the move, much of the way they interact is shaped by the planned environment for different types of transport.<\/p>\n

Often this discussion becomes reduced to talk of various types of bike lanes<\/strong>. As we\u2019ll see below, to create mass cycling you need to shape the built environment in several other ways, too. And for all the occasionally opaque discussions about curb heights, lane barriers, and traffic light phases, this is about something more fundamental. Bike infrastructure is, at its heart, about a changed vision for the place occupied by human beings in the modern urban world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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If another nation suddenly decided it wanted to follow the Dutch or Danish model, then the changes would take time. But the only other real obstacle would be political and public will. How you do it is very well known<\/strong>. The practicalities have been refined and proven in the decades since both countries decided they wanted to reverse the postwar trend for car-dominated streets. A series of towns and cities in other nations have tried very similar things and, more or less without exception, they have also seen success, too. So what\u2019s the secret?<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the most basic level there are a few main principles, with a handful of other associated tenets. First is the idea that, wherever possible, bikes should be kept separate from motor traffic<\/strong> on busy roads<\/strong>. \u201cBusy\u201d can be a matter of interpretation, but should encompass more or less any main route.<\/p>\n

The Dutch bike infrastructure bible Design Manual for Bicycle Traffic<\/em><\/strong> recommends physical segregation on any route where the traffic flow is greater than a far-from-huge two thousand motor vehicles per day. The protection must be continuous, meaning at junctions bikes need a barrier, or their own phased traffic lights. If that seems too technical you can think about it in the more evocative phrase of Enrique Pe\u00f1alosa, the bike lane-building mayor of Bogot\u00e1, who we met in the last chapter: \u201cA bicycle way that is not safe for an eight-year-old is not a bicycle way.\u201d<\/strong> This means the routes are not only safe, but they are forgiving, obvious to use, and inspire confidence.<\/p>\n

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