How Bicycles Mean Good Business: Bringing the Green Lane Project to San Diego on 5/2

April 29, 2013
|In Advocacy, News
|By BikeSD Staff

Mark your calendars for May 2nd (this Thursday) because Martha Roskowski, the Green Lane Project Director, will be in San Diego to talk bikes and how and why they translate into good economic sense.

A conversation with Martha Roskowski, Green Lane Project Director
When: May 2nd, 2013 at 6pm
Where: Business Improvement District Office – 110 W. C Street, Suite 2112, San Diego, CA 92101
RSVP

The Green Lane Project is a campaign by Bikes Belong, the bike industry supported organization, dedicated to putting more people on bikes. But what is a “green lane”?

Green lanes are next-generation bikeways being built on streets across the country, from San Francisco to New York City, from Minneapolis to Miami and from Long Beach to Pittsburgh. Green lanes are dedicated, inviting spaces for people on bikes in the roadway. They are protected from motor vehicles by curbs, planters, posts, or parked cars. They are separated from sidewalks. Some are painted green. The lanes are carefully engineered with rigorous attention to safety, efficiency, and ease of travel for all street users.

A green lane is a name for a growing family of modern bikeways—inspired by decades of experience in European cities and adapted to meet the unique needs of American streets.

In other words, they are exactly the sort of bike infrastructure we’ve been advocating for.
Retail sales increased 49% on 9th Avenue after protected green lanes were installed, compared to 3% growth in the rest of Manhattan Photo: NYCDOT “Measuring the Streets,” a 2012 study from the New York City Department of Transportation provides a new set of metrics to measure the value of protected green lanes and other street redesign projects. The study showed greater increases in sales at local shops and restaurants, reduced vacancies and fewer crashes along corridors where green lanes, plazas and other street improvements were installed compared to similar corridors without changes. 4 of 6nextpreviousclose
Retail sales increased 49% on 9th Avenue after protected green lanes were installed, compared to 3% growth in the rest of Manhattan. Photo: NYCDOT
A few months ago BikeSD member Nicole Capretz, from the Environmental Health Coalition, tweeted a link to Council President Todd Gloria and Councilmember David Alvarez on how to build better bike lanes and get more people on bikes. That sparked a discussion ending with Alvarez asking to meet Martha Roskowski.
On Thursday, Alvarez will get his wish when he meets with Roskowski along with other elected officials and business owners when they all meet to discuss how they can lead efforts to implement the next generation of bike lanes to San Diego. This discussion will include our efforts to have the City of San Diego apply to be one of the six cities that the Green Lane Project will offer technical support and resources to in order to build world class bicycle networks.
Business owners around San Diego and the country have been incredibly supportive of bike advocacy efforts. Here in San Diego, our own city council and Mayor has stepped up to show their support as well. It’s time to merge the political support with the business community’s efforts and we’re excited that this Thursday will mark the beginning of that effort. We’re looking forward to seeing some substantial transformation on our city streets subsequent to that discussion.
Join us this Thursday to learn more about the Green Lane Project and what it will mean for the City of San Diego to actually implement a project on the ground that will truly make San Diego a world class city for bicycling and thus give us an economic edge over other cities.

RSVP here.