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Could Building Bike Lanes Become America's Next Big Infrastructure Project?
(usa.streetsblog.org)
this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2023
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Agreed, on why not both.
I prefer bikes for the independence and versatility.
But I empathize with the logic that for a lot of people, a bus pass is more attainable than buying learning to ride and maintaining a bike.
Plus, buses are crazy efficient for issues like parking and congestion - better even than bikes, which are already pretty great in those areas.
Also, I perceive that bus lines are maybe much cheaper to add than bike lanes. I'm not entirely sure about that, though.
Bike lanes can be very cheap to make, put down some of those large planters to forbid car traffic and voila :)
A city close to mine additional had a bike purchase voucher for lower income individuals to help subsidize bike purchases (which is a much bigger upfront investment compared to a bus ticket!)
Overall I think you bring some good points! Ultimately the best choice will depend heavily on the area and its context.
That's a good point. I've seen bike lanes added successfully with some simple paint even.
Getting enough bike lanes to be useful is the tricky bit, but those bus mounted bike racks mad e a huge difference for me, since I could hop a bus to get through the unbikeable areas.
I would much rather have bike lanes though, and I would have more time to shop at local business is they had bike access, of course.
Bus-only traffic lanes (or bus/streetcar shared lanes) are also easy to "add" by repainting existing shared use lanes. Where I live (Portland OR) the city converted a few of our major streets to work like this, and it's noticeably improved the bus experience during heavy traffic.
Some people just aren't in a position to deal with riding around in 100F+ heat like we've had this last week, myself included. Having quick bus access (and busses with AC!) has been so great!