Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Bicycle Infrastructure

Connecting Cities’ Scattered Bikeways Is Going to Be Harder, But Worth It

When the low-hanging fruit has all been eaten, there's only one thing to do: climb higher.

According to a new project from the federally funded Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center, that's what's happening with bike infrastructure in many North American cities. For 20 to 30 years now, many cities have been laying down bike infrastructure where it's cheap and easy:

    1. streets with more passing lanes than they really need
    2. streets whose lanes were striped dangerously wide
    3. streets that are being built or rebuilt from scratch

This catch-as-catch-can method has left cities with bike networks that look like so many pick-up sticks: better than nothing, but far less intuitive or comfortable than the cities' driving networks.

Is it any wonder that bike transportation, though growing, remains fairly unusual even in the bike-friendliest big cities?

According to a memo accompanying the project, cities are now looking systematically for possible connections between their existing bikeways.

These examples [in Austin, New York City, Tallahassee, Seattle and Vancouver B.C.] demonstrate the value in shifting away from focus on the "low-hanging fruit" of bike infrastructure – streets with excess auto capacity or unused parking – and toward the most important roads for bicycle connectivity, even if they require difficult tradeoffs. These changes may be more politically difficult, but if chosen well they promise bigger payoffs in ridership and safety.

(Full disclosure: PeopleForBikes contributed this memo to the project ourselves, as a subcontractor for the PBIC.)

The PBIC is also circulating the Bike Network Mapping Idea Book published last year by the Federal Highway Administration. It includes 23 examples of bike maps of different scales: state, regional, county, city, campus. The book identifies the key features of each map.

austin analysis 600
false

This isn't the sort of bike map you'd use to plan a picnic -- it's the sort that city planners, advocates, and others use to figure out where the existing network is strong, where it's weak, and what the most valuable new connections might be.

PeopleForBikes is working to make this process a little more quantitative by developing the Bicycle Network Analysis, a numerical score that can be calculated for the current or future biking network in any community. It'll be one factor in the PlacesForBikes city rating system, but as it develops, we hope it can give local planners the ability to calculate the value of any given parking lane, if only it were to become a protected bike lane instead.

That won't in itself make it politically easier to remove parking. But it might help cities calculate which such battles will actually result in the best results.

PlacesForBikes is a PeopleForBikes program to help U.S. communities build better biking, faster. You can follow them on Twitter or Facebook or sign up for their weekly news digest about building all-ages biking networks.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

How the Sausage Gets Made: Republicans Force Meaningless Vote on Congestion Pricing Repeal

... And will the Idaho Stop become a victim of the current bikelash? It's all in today's Capitol Idea by Amy Sohn.

May 13, 2025

‘Chaos’ Candidate? DoorDash Gave $1M to Super PAC Backing Cuomo, Who Decries Delivery Workers

Cuomo says he'll fix the chaos on the Streets by reining in app companies, but DoorDash just donated $1 million to help him win.

May 13, 2025

The Dave Colon Challenge: Whitney Tilson Is Pro-Bike, Pro-Business And Pro-Police

The political novice has 30 years experience cycling in the city but doesn't have a political record to help predict what his safe streets governance strategy would be.

May 13, 2025

Can New York City Fix Its Deadly ‘Conduit’ to JFK Airport?

The extra-wide medians on Conduit could fit 46 football fields, which combined with extra-wide travel lanes makes the strip prone to speeding and crashes.

May 13, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines: Bike Your Mayor to Work Day

It's the final day of our mayoral questionnaire week. Plus other news from a busy day!

May 13, 2025
See all posts