BUFVELO BICYCLE COURIER AN INTRODUCTION TO How Increasing Bicycle Infrastructure Improves Cities

How Increased Bicycle Infrastructure Improves Cities 1 Increased Bicycle Infrastructure Encourages More Biking and Improves Quality of Life 2 Increased Biking Benefits Businesses 5 Biking Cities are the Cities of the Future

Increased Bicycle Infrastructure Encourages More Biking and Improves Quality of Life

When protected bike lanes are added to a city, not only do they make bikers safer and decrease the risk of injuries, but they also bring more bikers out on to the streets. It has been shown time and time again that when bicycling infrastructure is increased or improved, people will feel safer cycling and will be far more likely to choose bikes as a method of transportation. Increased bike lanes also significantly reduce bike related injuries and make drivers more comfortable around bikes, without impacting traffic flows. A study from Portland State University shows how those that commute under their own steam, and especially bikers, are generally happier than other types of commuters.study from Portland State University

Increased Bicycle Infrastructure Encourages More Biking and Improves Quality of Life

One of the primary reasons that Copenhagen, Denmark is consistently rated among one of best places to live is that it is also consistently voted the most bike friendly city on earth. Almost half of the city’s residents bike to work each day, and this is the result of numerous, broad bike lanes and bike highways, along with intelligently designed intersections and traffic flows. In Salt Lake City, Utah, the development of protected bike lanes in place of parking space increased retail sales along the city’s Broadway. According to recent studies, including Measuring the Street and Consumer Behavior and Travel Mode Choices,Measuring the Street many cities have experienced drastic increases in retail performance caused by improved bicycle infrastructure.

Increased Bicycle Infrastructure Encourages More Biking and Improves Quality of Life

With the United Nations Climate Change Conference held this past December, people worldwide are committed to taking a stand against climate change and increasing environmentally friendly practices in all aspects of life. Biking greatly reduces one’s carbon footprint, and if we are going to slow down climate change, this type of lifestyle change is essential. One car emits on average six tons of carbon dioxide each year, and you can have a direct impact on improving our environment by choosing to bike more, and drive less. Pollution is destroying quality of life in cities across the world, from Mumbai to Shanghai, and we all want to ensure that our cities’ air is clean and livable. We’ve already seen how in Copenhagen, ease of biking and quality of life are intertwined, so it’s no surprise that it was voted Europe’s Green Capital in It’s all connected, and bikes are the common thread. As we have seen, increasing bike infrastructure encourages residents to bike. Increasing the number of bikers and decreasing the number of drivers will have a positive effect on the environment worldwide, and of course on the cities we call home. Explore this link for more interesting bicycling statistics:

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