In general, the letters to the editor section of the Victoria Times Colonist are complaints about adding cycling facilities to the city's streets. Comments about the war on cars are not uncommon. It's interesting to note that bike friendly cities may be safer for all road users, not just cyclists.
Bike Friendly Cities Have Safer Roads
A report from a group of 8 U.S. universities called the Mountain-Plains Consortium notes that Davis California, Portland Oregon, and New York City have seen a reduction in crashes that follow an increase in travel by bicycle. It examines the following in an attempt to explain why they are bike friendly:
- Travel behaviour differences, such as bicyclist safety in numbers, and/or shifts to modes that are safer or may reduce exposure
- Built environment differences, such as bicycling infrastructure, that may help promote lower
speed environments and safer streets - Socio-demographic and socio-economic differences, as cities become more populated by
populations with generally lower transportation injury risks.
Bike Friendly Facilities Make Roads Safer for Everyone
According to the research reported in this document:
The results suggest that more bicyclists on the road is not the underlying reason these cities are safer for all road users. Better safety outcomes are instead associated with a greater prevalence of bike facilities – particularly protected and separated bike facilities – at the block group level, and even more strongly so, across the city as a whole.
Victoria's Experience
Victoria’s integration of active transportation infrastructure, like protected bike lanes, often coincides with other safety upgrades such as crosswalks, accessible bus stops, and signal improvements (e.g. Gorge Road improvements). These combined measures are aimed at improving overall road safety beyond just cycling.
Because these efforts are relatively new, data is not yet available to help quantify an increase in general road safety.
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