Are bicycle lanes effective?

We put passing distance sensors on 162 cyclists across 4 cities and two states in Australia to measure how close cars get when they pass them on the road.

This was the largest study to-date to record passing behavior on public roads, and a large number of road and traffic attributes that might affect passing distance were included in the analysis.

We found that even on narrow roads, putting in a bicycle lane helps. When drivers pass cyclists on roads with painted bicycle lanes, they tend to give more space than on roads without bicycle lanes. This is true even when controlling for the space available on the roadway. Drivers also travel in a more predictable fashion, with less variability in passing distances when a bicycle lane is present.

Protected bicycle lanes completely remove the risk of passing events less than 1 m. However, where it is not possible to build a protected bicycle lane it is preferable to have a painted bicycle lane than no bicycle lane at all. Other protective factors include: wider lanes, single lane roads, smaller vehicles, and the removal of on-street parking.

Read the full study here: Are bicycle lanes effective? The relationship between passing distance and road characteristics / PDF

Citation: Jonathan Nolan, James Sinclair, Jim Savage, Are bicycle lanes effective? The relationship between passing distance and road characteristics, Accident Analysis & Prevention, Volume 159, 2021, 106184, ISSN 0001-4575, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2021.106184.