Bicycle Infrastructure
Infrastructure is essential for supporting safe and abundant bicycle use, which curbs emissions by reducing the need for fossil-fuel-dependent transportation.
Introduction
Project Drawdown’s bicycle infrastructure solution consists of implementing bike lanes of various types to encourage more bicycle use. This solution replaces the use of—and therefore the need for—construction of motorized road vehicle infrastructure (i.e., more lanes for cars).
In 2018, 2.6 percent of urban passenger kilometers around the world were completed by bicycle, with some places, like the Netherlands, having more than 30 percent of trips made by bike (Blondiau et al., 2016). In the EU, where more than 7 percent of urban trips are completed by bicycle, the net economic benefits of bicycle infrastructure improvements have been estimated to be as high as €513 billion annually (Neun & Haubold, 2016). This includes reduced costs associated with health expenditures, congestion, fuel consumption, air pollution, and more. Research has shown that bicycle infrastructure, most notably separate cycling facilities along heavily traveled roads and intersections and traffic-calming infrastructure in residential neighborhoods, is associated with increased bicycling and walking.
This analysis investigates the greenhouse gas and direct financial impacts of an increase in urban bicycle ridership through expanded implementation of bicycle infrastructure. Bicycle infrastructure is an easy to implement, cost-effective solution that offers significant reductions in emissions (as proven by COVID-19 pandemic pop-up lanes, increased number of cycle tracks and “rails to trails”).
Project ideas to get started
Create an interactive installation using bicycles that teaches the benefits of riding bikes
Create a bike sharing brand that speaks to your community
Design bike helmets and messenger bags
Record local videos highlighting bike routes in your area
Design a bicycle scavenger hunt that encourages people to go to local, small business
Design a map of cool, fun bike-only places for cyclists in your area
Create a campaign to reward cyclists for riding bikes
Hyperlocal murals from local artists promoting bike routes
Design safe bike path marking and infrastructure
