When it comes to opinions about bike lanes, few of us are stuck in neutral. Love them or hate them though, new research says a dose of scientific rationality can help locate them in the best places. Congestion is minimized while more people ditch the car in favour of emissions-free, two-wheeled commuting.
Working with two other academics, smart city researcher Sheng Liu pulled data and talked to city planners in Vancouver and Chicago to develop a model that can help municipalities choose optimal locations as they expand their cycling lane networks in response to growing demand.
“Our model provides a systematic decision-making tool for municipalities to design new bike lanes using existing data,” said Prof. Liu, an assistant professor of operations management and statistics…