Bicycle-only infrastructure protects cyclist safety: UBC study

Lanes, paths, and roads built specifically for bicycles do the best job of protecting the safety of cyclists, according to a new UBC literature review.  The review examined 23 studies on how transportation infrastructure affects the safety of cyclists, who have a higher risk of crashes and serious injuries than people in cars.  It was published this week in the open-access journal Environmental Health.

“We know that safety is a key concern for many people considering cycling as a form of transportation,” says Conor Reynolds, lead author on the study and a PhD candidate in UBC’s Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability. 

“Cycling offers all sorts of benefits to health and to the environment.  But in order to get more people on their bikes, we have to figure out the best ways to make cycling safer.”

The research done by Reynolds and his colleagues shows that cyclists using dedicated, bicycle-only lanes or paths are safer than those cycling on roads with traffic, or on paths shared with pedestrians.  Other infrastructure characteristics such as well-paved surfaces, street lighting, and relatively flat paths also do a good job of improving safety.

The findings add evidence to the ongoing debate about how to keep cyclists safe.  Many European cities, which boast high numbers of cyclists and relatively low injury rates, keep bicycle traffic separated from motor vehicles.  Some argue that cyclist-only infrastructure is not practical in North America, but changes in major cities like New York and Montreal are beginning to demonstrate otherwise. 

“This study provides some clear guidelines for how infrastructure in our cities and towns can be improved,” says Reynolds.  And although infrastructure changes may raise cost concerns, the researchers note that making roads safer for cyclists doesn’t have be expensive, especially if improvements are done as part of ongoing road repairs. 

“One of the major advantages of infrastructure-based improvements, compared to personal protective devices such as helmets, is that safe infrastructure provides population-wide protection for all cyclists,” says study co-author Meghan Winters, a PhD candidate in UBC’s School of Population and Public Health. 

“We believe that making infrastructure safer will encourage more people to cycle.”  Currently, only about 2% of trips made in Canada are by bicycle.  “And in cycling, there is evidence for “safety in numbers”—with increasing numbers of cyclists, the risks decrease—there is a positive feedback loop between cycling and safety.”

The study team, an interdisciplinary group representing UBC’s faculties of medicine, applied science, and interdisciplinary studies, analyzed papers published since the 1970s on the impact of transportation infrastructure (including both intersections and “straightaways”) on bicyclist safety.  The authors included studies that examined safety-related outcomes including injury, injury severity, collisions, and falls.  To access the full text of the paper, entitled “The impact of transportation infrastructure on bicycling injuries and crashes: a review of the literature,” visit http://www.ehjournal.net/content/8/1/47.  A shorter summary of the paper is also available at http://www.cher.ubc.ca/PDFs/reviews/infrastructure_cycling.pdf.

The authors are part of a research team that is studying the association between bicyclists’ injuries and the cycling environment in Vancouver and Toronto. See http://www.cher.ubc.ca/cyclingincities/injury.html for more information.  Their work was supported in part by the Bridge Program at the University of British Columbia, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Transportation Association of Canada, and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research.

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Contact:
Conor Reynolds
PhD Candidate
Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
University of British Columbia
ph: 778-998-3609
e-mail: c.reynolds@ires.ubc.ca

Meghan Winters
PhD Candidate
School of Population and Public Health
University of British Columbia
ph: 604-315-0484
e-mail: mwinters@interchange.ubc.ca

Christie Hurrell
Communications
Centre for Health and Environment Research
ph: 604-827-5622
e-mail: hurrell@interchange.ubc.ca