Ideally, all users would share the street, as streets were intended, but if there are to be bike lanes, they must lead somewhere and be connected just like streets are for cars. Driving your car, you expect to be able to get somewhere and return. The same is true of a bike ride. Bike lanes are an obvious improvement, though less so if their existence is political grandstanding without connectivity.
Macon, Georgia, Striped a Good Network of Temporary Bike Lanes and Cycling Soared, by By Angie Schmitt (Streetsblog)
What would it take to get people biking in midsized Macon, Georgia? Short, disconnected bike lanes haven’t done much, but a recent experiment demonstrated the power of a safe, connected network of bike infrastructure.
Helena Kotala at Bicycle Times Magazine reports on Macon Connects, a project of the local non-profit Newtown Macon …
In the past, the city government had put up three non-contiguous blocks of bike lanes and then claimed no one rides. Macon Connects set out on a mission to change that perception. With eight miles of temporary bike lanes, the increase in bike traffic was astounding, proving that if you build it, they will ride.
