Quote:
Originally Posted by marsplasticeraser
Bike lanes only benefit bikers?
Bike lanes benefit anybody who commutes, I’d say most directly benefiting are commuters in cars.
Bike lanes take cars off the road. For the majority of journey bikers are on bike pathways or quiet roads and there is no impact on drivers. It only really impacts drivers downtown, and that is a negligible amount based on all studies, not only on calgary but throughout Western Europe and North America. .
Any increase in bike commuting leads to a direct reduction of cars on the road and people on transit. .
There is also the benefit of better health due to the activity, which leads to reduced health care cost. This benefits every tax payer.
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I am all for bike lanes but not sure that I agree that it benefits all commuters. I think a large number of bike lane users in the summer are folks who live in the inner city (e.g. Beltline) and hop on their bike in work clothes for a quick 10 minute ride, 95% of the way in a bike lane. Without bike lanes, these people would simply make the 20-30 minute walk in. I don’t think having a bike lane makes a big difference to the guy riding in from the burbs, since bike lanes only cover 5-15% of the commute.