🌐 Cities on the Move: Safe, Connected Bike Lanes Built 3X Faster

70% of Americans say they support building out complete, safe bicycle networks, according to national polling conducted in partnership with City Thread. But turning support into safe bike lanes and trails often drags on for years, frustrating citizens and delaying progress.

A complete network of protected bike lanes does more than enable zero-emission commuting and errand running—it enhances health, boosts economic activity, attracts job-creating companies, and raises overall quality of life.

Enter The Final Mile Project—a game-changing initiative designed to break through political barriers and accelerate the construction of complete bike networks in a matter of months. Austin, Denver, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and Providence were the first five cities to participate.

The results? 335 miles of bike lanes built at record speed, taking just 24 months.

According to an independent review by the Urban Institute, that’s 3X faster than comparable cities. 

Curious why it typically takes so long to build rider-friendly bike lanes? Here’s a breakdown of how Portland, OR, a city celebrated for its cycling culture, has struggled for over a decade to build protected bike lanes downtown.

Leading The Final Mile charge was Kyle Wagenschutz, an urban planner with a knack for turning the wheels of government. His journey into the machinations of city halls began in Memphis, where he was tasked with an uphill battle: preventing the city from being named the worst place to bicycle in America by Bicycling Magazine for a third consecutive year.

Against the odds, Kyle and his colleagues transformed Memphis into that same magazine’s "Most Improved City" two years later. By 2015, Memphis stood out as a national leader, earning Kyle the honor of "Champion of Change" at the White House.

Now Kyle and his colleagues at City Thread have developed the Accelerated Mobility Playbook to enable cities across America to accelerate their cycling and mobility infrastructure. 

Kyle joins the podcast this week to share his supercool insights and strategies for cities.

Three Tips from Kyle:

1. 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻 Skeptics into Supporters

↳ Generating and sustaining support means everyone in the community, those who ride and those who don't, must be on board.

From Kyle:

"Our audience has to be people who choose to drive a car and are never going to make another choice because those are the majority of people living in American cities."

2. Move Fast

↳ Once you have support, act with speed to build bike infrastructure. Dragging out bike lane construction risks losing momentum.

From Kyle:

"Orange traffic cones are free advertising that cities put up every single day. And they're not usually a positive communication method for folks."

3. Think Big

↳ Once you're underway, go big.

From Kyle:

"Acting at scale leads to this sustained change over time. If we’re just going to build one mile of trail, people are not going to show up for the next one."

Cities interested in applying for a grant to work with City Thread have until November 24, 2024. See details.

Take me to the podcast: Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and all other platforms.

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Number of the week: 54

That’s how many points Minneapolis shot up (out of 100), going from a score of 17 to 71 last year to claim the #1 Spot in People For Bikes Ranking of the Best Large U.S. Cities to Bike. Anchoring its improvement is one of the nation’s best new protected bike lanes.

Quote of the week

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Related Stories

Protected Bike Lanes Bring Economic Benefits In U.S. Cities

Researchers at Portland State University did a comprehensive economic study on the impacts of bike lanes, reviewing data from six cities: Indianapolis, Memphis, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland, Oregon. For streets with lots of retail and food services, employment and sales increased for most businesses.

Salt Lake City Took Out Car Parking and Installed Bike Lanes

On a busy corridor in Salt Lake City, Utah, in went protected bike lanes, street planters, better crosswalks, public, art, and colored pavement. Out went parking spaces. An internal city study of sales tax revealed a subsequent jump in sales.

In NYC, Bikes and Cars Share The Road And Still Arrive on Time

New York City has over 1500 miles of bike lanes, the most in America. One reason is that the city’s data shows that protected bike lanes don’t slow anyone down. Cars move at the same speed, sometimes faster, and people on bikes increasingly have safe, connected ways to get around.

Over 50% of People Commute By Bike in Utrecht, Netherlands

Is it possible to ditch cars en masse for bikes? Surprise, surprise, nine of the ten most bike-friendly cities in the world are in Europe, and Utrecht is in first place. The majority there are bike commuters.

Below is an underground bike parking garage in Utrecht’s city center.

In London and Sydney, Bike Lane Reduce Overall Traffic Congestion

Here’s another counterintuitive doozy of a quote pointing us toward the low-carbon future: 

"Separated cycle paths, in particular, ease congestion for those who need to use cars. So, if the goal is to reduce traffic congestion for cars in cities, then we need more cycling lanes, not less."

That’s from Professor Mike Harris at the University of New South Whales’ School of Built Environment.

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City Spotlight: Hangzhou, China

Hangzhou, an ancient Chinese capital and now modern metropolis, is the only non-European city to crack the Top 10 of the World’s Most Bike-Friendly Cities. That’s rather extraordinary, and so is this storied Chinese city known for its beauty. 

Italian explore Marco Polo described once Hangzhou as the, “finest and most splendid city in the world.”

Here’s what makes Hangzhou Supercool.

1. Bike-Share Program: China’s climate innovation often happens on a scale that confounds our imaginations. For example, Hangzhou manages the world’s most extensive bike-sharing program featuring 116,000 bicycles and provides an easy, affordable, and safe way to get around the city. For comparison,  Citi Bike in New York City operates the largest U.S. bike share program with 33,000 bicycles. 

2. Urban Trees: The Chinese believe old trees can bestow blessings and convey messages to the Gods (Cha-Ching!). Mature trees in cities also capture carbon, fight crime, reduce depression, and cool temperatures. Hangzhou deploys a professional team to rescue and nurture its ancient trees. As of 2023, the city has 28,952 ancient trees, of which 1,826 are over 500 years old.

3. World’s First Low-Carbon Museum: Set in a building straight out of central casting for the low-carbon future, The Hangzhou Low Carbon Science & Technology Museum offers visitors over 100 interactive displays and exhibits to educate on climate change and showcase how to lead a low-carbon life.

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