PeopleForBikes Begins Accepting Green Lane Grant Applications

 

The Green Lane Project helps cities build better bike lanes to create low-stress streets. Launched in 2012, the Project has worked closely with six major U.S. cities – Austin, TX; Chicago, IL; Memphis, TN; Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA; and Washington, DC – to speed the installation of protected bikes lanes around the country. Protected bike lanes are on-street lanes separated from traffic by curbs, planters, parked cars or posts that make riding a bike an appealing option for more people.

 

In the Project’s first year, the number of protected bike lanes on city streets nationwide nearly doubled from 62 to 102 – with 43 percent of all growth nationally coming from the Project’s six focus cities. After two years of intensive collaboration with the Green Lane Project, its founding cities will continue to build protected bike lane networks and serve as national models, while six new cities will be enlisted as the Green Lane Project class of 2016.

 

The Green Lane Project hosts hands-on workshops and study tours for city leaders, provides technical and strategic assistance, and delivers targeted grants designed to get protected bike lanes on the ground. Protected bike lanes bring predictability and order to busy streets: drivers like knowing where to expect riders, and pedestrians encounter fewer bikes on the sidewalk. The lanes make roads safer for all users, reducing bike, auto and pedestrian injuries by up to 50%. Protected lanes also add vitality to the street, attracting new businesses and helping create a community people want to be in, not just move through.

 

In New York City, local businesses saw a 49 percent increase in retail sales after the construction of protected bike lanes, compared to only a 3 percent increase citywide.

 

To learn more and apply, city government agencies should visit www.greenlaneproject2.org. Applications are open from Oct. 18, 2013 through January 2014. Cities should file a letter of intent to apply by Nov. 15, 2013. The six new cities will be announced in Spring 2014.

 

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The Green Lane Project is a program of the nonprofit PeopleForBikes, which is supported by the bicycle industry and millions of individual cycling enthusiasts. The Project helps cities build better bike lanes to create low-stress streets. It is focused on protected bike lanes, which are on-street lanes separated from traffic by curbs, planters, parked cars or posts.