Angie Schmitt, December 20, 2010, StreetsBlog
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Image: Portland Bureau of Transportation
There’s an old debate in the bicycling community. Do bike lanes marginalize cyclists and de-legitimize them as road users, as the vehicular cycling camp claims? Or, as advocates of separate bike infrastructure argue, are they essential for mainstreaming cycling as transportation?
As more places install dedicated bike infrastructure and see big increases in cycling, the question in many cities is largely settled. Network blog Wash Cycle examines survey data from the Portland Bureau of Transportation (and links to one of our favorite graphics), to explain why bike lanes, and, better yet, cycletracks, are the surest way to bring about dramatic increases in bicycling.