Welcome to the Urbanist Update. My job here might be as a tech editor, but I’ve also spent tons of time studying transportation, city planning, and engineering. Here are some of the things I’ve found interesting over the past week related to biking in cities, cycling infrastructure, and urbanism.
What is urbanism? In short, it is the study of how the inhabitants of an urban area interact with their towns and cities. If you care about building sustainable communities that let you live a happy and healthy life, then this is the spot for you. See previous Updates here.
Orientation towards the common good in cities: The role of individual urban mobility behavior
Are cyclists better people than drivers? A recent study published in the Journal for Environmental Psychology found that people who navigated cities by cycle were more interested in the common good than drivers. “Duh,” you’re probably saying to yourself.
The study looked at a pool’s orientation toward the common good by looking at four key indicators: political participation, social participation in organizations, neighborhood solidarity, and neighborly helpfulness. Their data showed that the predominant throughline was that these folks were more likely to participate in active transportation (walking, cycling). This news isn’t necessarily new, as previous studies showed how proper urban street design can increase community engagement. But it does reinforce things we already know.
How does cycling increase that orientation? Being outside helps. Finding yourself around other people makes you more likely to have spontaneous contact. Navigating a community on foot or by bike gives you a better sense of what your built environment is like and a stronger emotional bond around your neighborhood. That bond, the study says, leads folks to be more likely to be active participants in a community’s direction.
In contrast, being in a car removes those sensory connections. A driver’s interaction is predominantly with the origin and destination of their travel, removing them from the diversity within a community. This isolation can lead to more individualistic behaviors, many of which reduce opportunities for social interaction. It’s much easier to be a jerk to someone outside when you’re isolated in a two-ton hunk of metal and glass, as we can all agree on.
Nobody’s going to argue that an increased interest in the common good is a bad thing, but many, many people will argue that the new protected bike lane being installed is bad for our communities. But now there’s evidence that suggests that cities should invest in walking and cycling not only because it lowers noise and air pollution, but because it leads to healthier folks more invested in their communities.
Most people who choose to get around by bike also drive, but that perspective from cycling likely remains. Get someone who wouldn’t normally ride a bike, or take them on a walk to the grocery store. If this study indicates anything, their perspective will almost certainly change.
Boulder Bike Lane Barriers First in Nation
The City of Boulder, Colorado claims that they’re the first city in the U.S. to add tall concrete curbs to separate bike lanes and vehicle travel lanes. These taller curbs are said to replace existing striped (read: painted) buffers and flexible (read: plastic) white posts along different bike lanes across the city. Greater protection and separation for cyclists is almost always a good thing, but is it really the first barrier in the U.S.?
What are bike lane barriers? These physical installations provide a form of protection between auto and cycle traffic. You’ve likely seen are only about curb height, or about six inches (15 cm). More likely, you’ve seen flexible plastic barriers separating lanes. All of these count as barriers, but the barriers Boulder is installing are several feet tall and are made of concrete.
Countless studies are showing the benefits of protected bike lanes. They make cycling more comfortable for everyone riding a bike, obviously. But they also provide a barrier that forces drivers to focus on keeping their car in their lane; otherwise, their car will assuredly be damaged by the concrete.
One thing they’re doing that’s particularly cool is making many of these tall curb canvases for local artists to add to the city’s mural roster. Adding visual intrigue to roads via paint has shown to be positive in previous Urbanist Updates, which makes this a potential opportunity for community investment and beautification.
Anything that turns a car trip into a trip by bicycle is going to be good for communities, but is this really the case of the first barriers of this kind in the U.S.? Not really. New York City worked quickly to replace plastic bollards in key parts of the city with fortified cement barriers, with over 20 miles of those lanes protected by barriers by the end of 2023 and many more installed years prior. They even announced a barrier beautification project to see artists create murals along the barriers yearly.
Regardless of whether or not these barriers are truly the first in the U.S., adding protection for people biking via a physical barrier is only a good thing. Beautifying these barriers draws awareness to bike lanes and moves streets from being purely car-centric. Bravo, Boulder!
Atlanta unveils totally handy app to find bike parking (or lack thereof)
One of the most significant barriers for people to choose to get around by bike is infrastructure. We normally point to bike lanes as infrastructure, but it is just as much quality bike parking that helps people feel comfortable leaving their bikes at a destination. And for Biketober, Atlanta’s Department of Transportation (ATLDOT) has recently unveiled a new app to help cyclists find bike parking.
The app is called ATL Rack ’n Ride. The goal is to demonstrate a map of where people can park their bikes across the city. People lock up their bikes to several things, the least of which are often bike racks. But having a spot on a map you can point to will undoubtedly provide peace of mind to folks and their bikes.
The problem with this map, however, is that there really isn’t a ton of dedicated bike parking around the city. The map is continually updated with user-submitted bike parking notes. you’ll see the map isn’t just about where to park, however; it’s also spots that need parking or need more parking. There are plenty of
A map like this matters quite a bit, and it’s great to see how many blue dots there are along existing bike lanes and bike routes. The city of Atlanta says they’ll use this map to highlight future opportunity areas for more bike parking through the app. I see it as an easy way to crowdsource suggestions on where future infrastructure should be laid out. Based on the format of the app, I suspect most other cities could do something like this quite easily.
@yllw_ap1 Seattle ferry’s be like let’s go!!!! 🚗 🚲 🏍️ 🛵 #seattle #seattleferry ♬ sonido original – Carlos Feria
The Bainbridge ferry is a staple for folks looking to commute into Seattle, Washington. The ferry crosses the 8.6-mile route across the Puget Sound several times a day with cars, trucks, motorcycles, and according to this video, several cyclists ready to go.
This instance is likely the morning commute ferry, with several cyclists queued at the front and ready for the bridge to come down. As someone who doesn’t live by a body of water that requires a ferry to cross, this video feels incredibly wholesome. Just make sure to watch it with sound on.