The more people biking on a city’s streets, the safer each individual bicyclist becomes. Dubbed the “safety in numbers” phenomenon, this pattern was originally identified by researcher Peter Jacobsen back in 2003. Now the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) has run the numbers in 7 American cities to see how their initiatives to increase cycling have paid off both in ridership and individual safety, and their recent report confirms what Jacobsen had already found to be true.
NACTO undertook a survey of 7 cities, highlighting the policies and projects which have been successful at increasing ridership, including in low-income communities and communities of color. The resulting report, Equitable Bike Share Means Building Better Places for People to Ride, makes a clear case for the “safety in numbers” approach to bicycle planning, with bike share and bike infrastructure at the forefront of the effort.
“In cities that are building protected bike lane networks, cycling is increasing and the risk of injury or death is decreasing,” the report begins. “Pairing appropriately-scaled bike share with protected bike lanes increases ridership and is essential to equity and mobility efforts.”
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