Bicycle Lanes are Really Cheap
Credit: MoBikeFed
Writing about the cash available to states for pedestrian and cycling infrastructure investments in my last point made me think about a recent post up on Bike Portland that shows just how cheap it is to build out a comprehensive bicycle network. Portland only spends 0.7% of its transportation budget on bicycle improvements and with that paltry sum it has grown the highest bicycle mode share in the country of 6.4%, a figure that’s set to keep rising. Now, the city is in the process of finalizing a new Bicycle Master Plan that will dictate the direction of development into the future with the end goal being a 25% bicycle mode share by 2030. But check out these figures:
According to estimates from PBOT, the full “build-out” of the plan (meaning to complete all 900+ bikeway miles) would cost about $500 million dollars. At the Planning Commission hearing this week, Commissioner Chris Smith put that amount into perspective by comparing it to other transportation infrastructure investments we could make.
For $500 million we could complete our entire bike network or get:
* 15 miles of streetcar
* 1 ½ Sellwood Bridges
* 40% of a MAX [light rail] line
* 1/8 of a CRC [I-5] bridge
And here in New York, that half a billion wouldn’t get you more than half a mile of subway tracks.
The Revolution Will be Locally Funded
In praise of bike paths
samb on Wed, Dec 23, 2009 at 12:09pm
and for those cities unwilling/unable to budget appropriately for bike lanes and improvements, cyclists can always create their own with LightLane: http://www.lightlanebike.com. It’s not a lane replacement, but certainly could help.