Pop-up Bicycle Lane

A pop-up bike lane (also known as pop-up cycle path or temporary bike lane) is a temporary bike lane that can be used to test new strategies for bicycle traffic. In the event of a successful test phase, this measure can be implemented permanently.

Especially in times of COVID-19, the pop-up bike lane is also known as corona cycle path and is in this meaning an emergency bike lane set up at short notice to quickly provide more space and safety for cyclists in an acute danger or crisis situation or in the event of sudden changes in road traffic conditions. As all pop-up bike lanes it is a temporary solution with the potential to become permanent even after the crisis situation.

Pop-up cycle paths were arranged in several cities during the COVID-19 pandemic and are usually intended as temporary cycling infrastructure for the time during the causal event. Cycle lanes arranged during the pandemic are intended to help cyclists to maintain spatial distance to minimise the risk of infection with the SARS CoV-2 virus. Other reasons for Pop-Up-Bike-Lanes during the pandemic are to relieve public transport, the use of which is associated with an increased risk of infection, and to promote physical activity and thus strengthen the immune system.

The cycle paths, which are usually marked with yellow lines and construction site beacons, were usually established by redesignating the right-hand lane or a previous parking lane as a cycle lane. In Berlin, the cost of one kilometre of pop-up cycle paths is around 9500 euros.

History

The term "pop-up bike lane" originated in North America, where, for example, the US city of New York City has launched a number of experiments with short-term cycling infrastructure.Anja Krüger: Neue Radwege durch Coronakrise: Impuls aus Bogotá. In: Die Tageszeitung: taz. 2. Mai 2020, ISS
0931-9085
taz.de (4. Mai 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic led to the creation of more space for bicycle traffic in Colombia, initially in the capital city of Bogotá, over a total of more than one hundred kilometres of main roads. The measure was reported internationally. In Germany, pop-up cycle paths were initially set up in the Berlin district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. The first pop-up cycle path in Berlin was created on 25 March 2020 at Hallesches Ufer. The pop-up cycle paths in Berlin were laid out for a limited period until 31 May 2020, with the prospect of a transfer to a permanent cycle infrastructure in accordance with the Berlin Mobility Act. However, the deadline was extended at the end of May until the end of the year.

Mexico City announced a 54-kilometre pop up lane in Av Insurgentes and Eje 4 to create a mobility alternative to help decrease mass transit agglomeration in Metrobus lines. Its permanence will be evaluated according to use. Other Mexican cities that have created pop up bike lanes are Zapopan in Jalisco, San Pedro Garza García in Nuevo León and Puebla, Puebla.

Concept

The Berlin Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district authority recommends a concept, after which pop-up cycle paths can be set up within ten days and in eleven steps, from the identification of the areas affected, consultation with the authorities to be involved, the ordering of measures and temporary signage, to completion. The following four basic principles are applied in the design process:

* traffic separation: physical separation of foot, bicycle and car traffic beyond markings, which, if possible, does not need to be crossed by car traffic for parking
* Forgiving infrastructure: infrastructure that minimises the risk of injury in the event of misbehaviour, for example by means of safety distances between the carriageway and the kerb or guide beacons or the use of separation elements made of yielding materials
* Predictability: easily understandable and less complex traffic routing
* Network approach: Establishment of a transport network to relieve individual road sections

On roads with two lanes in both directions, the right-hand lane including a buffer zone for flowing motorised traffic is completely separated as a cycle lane and existing signs for stationary traffic are covered. Parking of motor vehicles is then no longer permitted and driving is possible on one strip for both cyclists and motorised traffic. On roads with two lanes and a parking strip in both directions, the right lane for cycle traffic, including a buffer zone for both stationary and moving motorised traffic, is separated and the parking strip is maintained. Motorised traffic can then drive on one lane in each direction. In this case, however, vehicles must cross the cycle lane when parking or entering, which is contrary to the above-mentioned principle of traffic separation. On roads with three lanes in each direction, where parking is allowed on the right lane, the right lane is separated as a cycle lane with a buffer zone to the middle lane and the middle lane is designated as a parking lane, so that flowing motorised traffic, stationary motorised traffic and cycle traffic are each provided with one lane. At crossroads with traffic lights, there are possible measures to protect straight ahead or right-hand cycle traffic from motorised traffic turning right. This includes the creation of a temporary protected intersection with temporary kerbstone extensions or alternatively traffic light phases with separate, exclusive green phases for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. If this is not possible, it is recommended to switch the green phase for cyclists before the green phase for motorised traffic.

Political debate in Germany

The establishment of pop-up cycle paths in Berlin by the red-red-green senate was praised by cycling associations such as the ADFC and the associations around the Initiative Volksentscheid Fahrrad and was mostly positively received in the social media. The Berlin-Brandenburg regional association of the ADAC criticised the measure and said that the senate would exploit an emergency situation to pursue particular interests. The CDU and FDP also accused the senate of instrumentalizing the pandemic to turn traffic around. The AfD spoke of "left-wing car-hating policies" and pointed to a decrease in the number of cyclists compared to last year. The ADFC, on the other hand, stated that the total number of distances travelled in the Corona crisis had decreased overall and evaluations by the traffic information centre and public transport showed "that this was far more drastically the case with car traffic, buses and trains than with cycling".

As other cities in Germany initially did not want to set up temporary cycle paths, Deutsche Umwelthilfe sent applications to 204 city administrations, whereupon the cities of Cologne, Frankfurt am Main and Dresden, among others, wanted to consider the option. In several cities, including Stuttgart, cycling associations organised campaigns calling for the creation of pop-up cycle paths.

After a female cyclist coming from a pop-up cycle path was killed by a truck driver turning right at the intersection of Petersburger Straße and Mühsamstraße in June 2020, Siegfried Brockmann, head of the accident research department of the insurers, criticised that pop-up cycle paths alone would not provide a safe solution for the intersection areas as the main danger spots and would thus make people think they were safe. To achieve sufficient safety, the intersections would have to be rebuilt and the traffic lights changed. Brockmann also criticised the short-term installation of the cycle paths without prior measurement of the respective traffic flows. The senate administration replied that the police were involved in every installation of a pop-up cycle path, "in order to consider safety aspects of the respective location together with the road traffic authority". The situation at crossroads and junctions would only change as a result of the provisional cycle lanes to the extent that the visibility conditions would improve significantly in each case.

Scientific impact analysis

A 2021 case-control study of cities found that redistributing street space for "pop-up bike lanes" during the COVID-19 pandemic leads to large additional increases in cycling. These may have substantial environmental and health benefits.

See also

* Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the environment#Cycling
* Tactical urbanism

References

{{Cycling Infrastructure

Cycleways
Transport infrastructure