"While walking my son to school a couple of weeks ago, I noticed something odd happening on Court Street, a major thoroughfare that runs through our part of Brooklyn: A lane of the street was being removed, to make room for a protected two-way bike lane. As a father who would like to see his son bicycle more but lives in constant fear of him being pancaked by an SUV while riding in Brooklyn's packed streets, I was elated by the change but also surprised."
"Even in Brooklyn, one of the most densely populated and walkable places in the US, about half of households own a car and I can tell you from experience, they are very territorial about their right to drive them. Yet here was my own neighborhood, taking away a lane for cars and giving it to cyclists. It's part of an effort spreading across New York and cities around the US and the rest of the world,"
"And it's one of the best, most optimistic movements in urban development, one that can make cities cleaner, quieter, and more sustainable. In central London, as the Economist wrote recently, bikes now outnumber cars two-to-one at peak hours. In Montreal, more than a third of people cycle at least once a week, and use of the city's bike-share program has doubled since 2019. In Copenhagen, bike trips make up almost half of all commutes."
Many cities are reallocating road space from cars to protected bike lanes by removing car lanes and installing parking-protected and two-way bike lanes. These designs physically separate cyclists from moving traffic and reduce stress and danger, encouraging more people to bike. Bike-share programs and coordinated networks have dramatically increased cycling in London, Montreal, Copenhagen, and New York. The shift requires deliberate infrastructure rather than simple painted lanes and can yield cleaner, quieter, more sustainable urban environments. Wider adoption depends on political will and overcoming resistance from drivers who consider street space their right.
Read at www.vox.com
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