Work

Provisional COVID-19 infrastructure induces large, rapid increases in cycling

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: The bicycle is a low-cost means of transport linked to low risk of transmission of infectious disease. During the COVID-19 crisis, governments have therefore incentivized cycling by provisionally redistributing street space. We evaluate the impact of this new bicycle infrastructure on cycling traffic using a generalized difference in differences design. We scrape daily bicycle counts from 736 bicycle counters in 106 European cities. We combine these with data on announced and completed pop-up bike lane road work projects. Within 4 mo, an average of 11.5 km of provisional pop-up bike lanes have been built per city and the policy has increased cycling between 11 and 48% on average. We calculate that the new infrastructure will generate between $1 and $7 billion in health benefits per year if cycling habits are sticky.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2024399118

Authors: Sebastian Kraus, Nicolas Koch

Institutions: Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, Technische Universität Berlin, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Language: English

Topic: Urban Transport and Accessibility

Subfield: Transportation

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Sustainable cities and communities, Good health and well-being, Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: hybrid

OpenAlex ID: W3150052136

FWCI: 32.67

Cites: 28

Cited by: 227

Related to: 10