Abstract
In recent years, many local authorities have sought to accommodate cycling and active transportation in urban areas by creating dedicated spaces for them. However, densely populated cities face a land shortage, making it challenging to introduce measures such as bike lanes without impacting existing road users. Therefore, understanding the potential impacts of these initiatives is essential for informed decision-making, effective policy formulation, and successful urban planning strategies. In 2020, Bogotá, Colombia introduced extensive bike lanes along important corridors previously exclusively designated for motorized vehicles. The modifications were made possible in response to the unique context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this study is to provide a data-driven assessment of the impacts of some of the implemented bike lanes by utilizing traffic speed data from 2019 (prior to the lane modifications) and 2021 (after the modifications). Rigorous statistical analysis and modeling were employed to measure the changes on speed levels of road traffic, on both, the treatment group with modified roads as well as on the control group with non-modified roads within the study area. Due to the intricate factors influencing traffic speeds, spatial relationships between road segments and estimation errors were explicitly accounted for. Findings revealed a maximum speed reduction of 4.5 km/h (equivalent to a 19 % decrease), for users on modified roads. Apart from quantifying the worsened speed conditions because of the reduced road space on treated segments, results also highlight that certain parallel road segments experienced an increase in speed levels. This observation lends support to the intervention and emphasizes the importance of comprehensively assessing the entire road network when considering the implementation of bike lane projects in similar context cities.
Published Version
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