Cities Should Make Open-Street Initiatives Permanent For Cyclists Post-Pandemic
By: Kavya Balaji
Tags: Open Streets, Equity, Biking, Cycling, City Planning

Cities Should Make Open-Street Initiatives Permanent For Cyclists Post-Pandemic

By Kavya Balaji

Cities should capitalize on the cycling surge and need for open public space brought about by the pandemic and make open-street initiatives permanent for cyclists. During the pandemic, city residents have turned from cars and public transit to biking as a COVID-friendly method of transportation and a way to get their daily workout in. Historically, in the United States, cars have been king, and our biking infrastructure severely lagged behind that of Europe, where cycling is seamlessly integrated into their transportation systems.

Biking is an underrated method of transportation and studies show that by cycling regularly, one can save up to $1,175 a year in preventative physical health savings. Not only is it fantastic for physical and mental health, but increases in cycling can lead to dramatic decreases in carbon dioxide emissions and provides cities with innumerable economic benefits.

Researcher Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute estimates that between road and parking savings, pollution reduction, and improvements in traffic safety, each bike journey saves society $2.73 per mile. Furthermore, encouraging people to bike increases foot traffic around local businesses and boosts sales and employment in areas near bike infrastructure.

While making changes to manage the COVID-19 crisis, cities must prioritize long-term sustainable approaches for city resiliency. Cities should use the current pandemic as an opportunity for a transit upheaval. Urban planners have pushed to expand car-free streets and promote biking for years, but these temporary changes during COVID-19 can act as a trial for longer-term permanent changes — they may fundamentally change the way we commute.

This year, bicycle sales increased dramatically and hit $1 billion in April. This was a 75% leap from 2019 at that time. Many cities have caught onto this trend and have closed streets from vehicles to prevent overcrowding in their standard bike routes.

Many residents and visitors of slow streets initiatives have expressed a desire to keep these streets permanently closed to vehicles. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) surveyed around 3000 residents and visitors of their current slow streets program and survey results demonstrated an 86% interest in making these streets permanently open.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan announced that 20 streets from its Stay Healthy Streets pilot will remain open permanently and SDOT will take things further by adding more miles and routes in various neighborhoods.

Oakland, California implemented a slow-streets movement and closed 74 miles of streets from vehicular traffic. They used an equity-based model that worked closely with community members to adapt to their needs and gave special attention to COVID’s disproportionate effects on Black and Latinx communities.

Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City pledged to create 100 miles of streets open to bicyclists and pedestrians. Unlike Oakland’s equity-based implementation, NYC is struggling with its trials as it has a heavy reliance on law enforcement which is not welcome in the current political climate.

“If you have to rely on policing, your plan is probably not going to work — and if it does work, it’s going to be highly inequitable,” says University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Professor Tabitha Combs who has been consolidating crowd-sourced data on pandemic changes regarding cycling.

Black and brown cyclists experience disproportionate risks of being stopped, searched, ticketed and harassed. While these low-income minority groups rely on cycling at higher rates, they also experience high rates of injuries, crashes, and other accidents due to unsafe biking networks and non-existent cycling infrastructure.

In a research study with over 16,000 respondents, more Hispanic individuals (53%) and Black individuals (48%) indicated a stronger desire to cycle more compared with white respondents (44%) if they were physically separated from vehicles. Ethnic-minority and low-income populations are predicted to have the largest jump in bike riding if they have safe bicycle environments. With better transportation options, these minority groups can satisfy their basic needs, access more job opportunities, and have a higher quality of life.

It is time we permanently expand car-free streets while considering equitable distribution. This equity component is critical as currently, quality cycling infrastructure only exists in wealthy white neighborhoods. Hastily slowing down streets in such neighborhoods will exacerbate pre-existing inequalities.

Cities must equitably deliver public space to vulnerable communities that would require access. They should integrate more open-street options into areas that have high population density, and high populations of households without cars and prioritize vulnerable areas farther from open public spaces.

Biking is an excellent method of sustainable urban mobility. Through implementing permanent open-streets with vulnerable populations at the core of the initiative, cities can both increase access to transportation and reduce inequality in U.S. cities in one swift gesture.