Protected bike lanes and pop-up cycling infrastructure

Temporary protected bicycle lanes are introduced and evaluated in many cities as a simple and quick measure to improve the safety of cyclists and to entice more people to cycle. In this report, we have examined international research on the topic, and have not found them to have a clear beneficial effect on road safety. However, they can invite more people to cycle where conditions for cyclists originally were poor. We have interviewed potential cyclists and find them to be more positive toward temporarily protected bicycle lanes than existing cyclists, but they are still unsure whether this measure will lead them to start cycling. Video recordings show that many people cycle inside the barriers, but that people cycle outside if they have high speed, there are few cars or the barrier is too narrow. Future use of protected bicycle lanes should consider places where safety is perceived as an obstacle to cycling, and particularly places with "holes" in the bicycle network.