Michael Andersen
Michael Andersen writes about housing and transportation for the Sightline Institute. He previously covered bike infrastructure for PeopleForBikes, a national bicycling advocacy organization.
Recent Posts
The Motherland of Soul Is Getting an All-Ages Biking Network
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Even as South Memphis has left deep marks on U.S. culture, its neighborhoods themselves have suffered. Now the city is working through many channels to reverse that -- one of which is putting the district at the front of the queue to get one of the country's first connected networks of all-ages bikeways.
Austin Is Starting a Three-Year Plan to Fight Congestion With Bikes
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Its proposed biking network will increase road capacity as much as a freeway expansion.
The Dutch’s Beloved Bikeway Design Manual Just Got an Update
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The guide to Dutch bikeway engineering is a critical darling, at least among the nation's hipper street designers.
Side-Street Bikeways Only Pay Off If You Have Protected Bike Lanes Too
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Building bikeways only on quiet streets might actually be the worst option, one study says.
Protected Intersections in the U.S.: From Zero to 12 in Two Years
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The country’s newest major bike-lane innovation is very young. But so far, it’s spreading faster than the protected bike lane did. Protected intersections — a clever way to rearrange traffic so that people on bikes and cars no longer have to look over their shoulders for each other — have existed for decades in other countries. But […]
The ‘Peanutabout’ Concept Could Be a Breakthrough for Diagonal Streets
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Wickedly good biking ideas continue to pop up in Massachusetts. Last year, it unveiled the country’s best state-level bikeway design guide and Cambridge opened the country’s best new bike lane on Western Avenue. On Tuesday, the Boston Cyclists Union shared the inspiring back story behind a new concept for the long, complex seven-way intersection created […]
Bikes Belong on Main Streets Because Bikes Are Not Mainly for Commuting
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Michael Andersen blogs for The Green Lane Project, a PeopleForBikes program that helps U.S. cities build better bike lanes to create low-stress streets. Trivia question 1: Of all the trips taken by U.S. adults, how many lead to or from somewhere other than work? The answer is 78 percent. Trivia question 2: Of all the […]
Edmonton’s Quick-Build Protected Bike Lane Grid: “A New Model” for Change
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Michael Andersen blogs for The Green Lane Project, a PeopleForBikes program that helps U.S. cities connect high-comfort biking networks. Two years ago, the sprawling Canadian prairie metropolis of Calgary decided to buck tradition and test an entire “minimum grid” of protected bike lanes through its downtown, all at once. Calgary’s proposal survived a nailbiting 8-7 […]
Atlanta Looks for Options Where Bidirectional Protected Bike Lanes Intersect
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Michael Andersen blogs for The Green Lane Project, a PeopleForBikes program that helps U.S. cities connect high-comfort biking networks. Bidirectional protected bike lanes, which put both directions of bike traffic on the same side of a street, aren’t ideal. But they can be useful in a pinch. Like all protected bike lanes, well-designed bidirectionals are […]
AASHTO’s Draft Bikeway Guide Includes Protected Bike Lanes and More
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Michael Andersen blogs for The Green Lane Project, a PeopleForBikes program that helps U.S. cities connect high-comfort biking networks. As the most influential U.S. transportation engineering organization rewrites its bike guide, there seems to be general agreement that protected bike lanes should be included for the first time. A review panel appointed by the American […]
Unless US DOT Changes Course, Building Protected Bikeways May Get Tougher
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Michael Andersen blogs for The Green Lane Project, a PeopleForBikes program that helps U.S. cities connect high-comfort biking networks. “Hey, how long does it take you to get to work?” “Well, on average my car is usually traveling at 36 mph.” No actual human makes transportation decisions this way. But for some reason, the federal […]
Room to Breathe: The Feds Just Made It Easier to Fit Bike Lanes on Streets
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Michael Andersen blogs for The Green Lane Project, a PeopleForBikes program that helps U.S. cities build better bike lanes to create low-stress streets. A large car is less than seven feet wide. But thanks in part to an obscure federal rule, millions of miles of traffic lanes on local streets around the country are 12 […]