Room to Ride: The Language of Bike Lanes

Make Room for the Next Rider

1A town street carries more than cars. It carries students heading to school, workers traveling to jobs, and neighbors buying groceries. Yet a person considering a short bicycle trip may find that the route suddenly becomes uncomfortable or confusing. Towns should add connected bike lanes, beginning with routes that link everyday destinations.

2A useful plan needs a network, not scattered stripes. In transportation planning, a network is a set of linked routes that lets people travel between places. A lane beside a school does little for riders whose route ends several blocks away. Connected lanes can stitch separate neighborhoods together. The streets remain in place, but riders gain a continuous way to move among them.

3Design matters as much as location. Some lanes include a buffer, an extra strip of space separating bicycle traffic from moving cars or parked vehicles. This space gives riders more distance from nearby vehicles. At an intersection, where streets meet, turning drivers and bicycle riders may cross one another’s paths. Clear markings and carefully planned signals can help show who should move and when.

4Adding lanes involves trade-offs: gaining one benefit may require giving up another. A town might replace some curbside parking with a bike lane. For a shop receiving deliveries, that change could be a bottleneck, slowing the movement of boxes from trucks to the door. Town planners should listen to these concerns and consider loading spaces on nearby blocks rather than dismissing the problem.

5Supporters sometimes say bike lanes reclaim street space for people. Reclaim suggests recovering something valuable, making the change sound like a benefit rather than a loss. Still, people already use streets in cars and delivery vehicles. Calling every parking change an improvement would overlook their needs. A persuasive plan should explain who gains space, who loses it, and how problems will be addressed.

6A town need not redraw every road at once. A modest first step could connect a school, a recreation center, and nearby homes. Planners could then observe how riders use the route and ask residents about difficulties. Such a measured approach—careful and deliberate rather than rushed—would let the town adjust its design before extending the lanes. The next rider needs a practical route, not just a promise painted on pavement.