I got into a debate with someone over the benefits of bike infrastructure - it went round and round for a long time. But I was left wanting for a couple stats to help back up my position:

number of miles of on-road bike lanes in Minneapolis
number of total miles of bike lanes (on-road and bike paths) in Minneapolis
number of total miles of motor vehicle roads in Minneapolis

Is the number of bike trips in Minneapolis ~3%?

My guess, the amount of miles of bike lanes (on-road and total) are less than 3% of bike trips. Therefore, the bikes are under represented by infrastructure.

I honestly know that I should be able to find this, but I am getting nowhere and hope that someone has better (faster) access to these stats. Thank you!

Minneapolis has 46 miles of streets with dedicated bicycle lanes and 84 miles of off-street bicycle paths. (http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/bicycles/)

Minneapolis plows
1,040 miles of streets (A total of 3200 "lane miles" of streets)
57 miles of parkways
3,700 alleys (about 400 miles)
(http://www.minneapolismn.gov/snow/snow_snow-removal-basics)

So, 4% of street miles, roughly, have bike lanes, and bike lanes on and off street may be something like 5% of lane miles (depending on whether the figure for dedicated bike lanes counts both directions or just one). However, a bike lane is something like 1/4 of a traffic lane in terms of space--and often they don't detract from driving lanes at all, just parking lanes.

The other point is that the investment in bike lanes reduces the number of cars on the road. A bike in front of a car is a 15 second delay (the time it takes to slow down and wait for a chance to pass), but a car in front of a car is a 15 second delay at every single stop sign and stop light.

THANK YOU! That's exactly what I was looking for!

With a dedicated bike lane, a bike in front of a car doesn't impede the car at all. However, another car will.

I always point out that traffic jams are caused by cars .... & bikes (by removing cars from the road) help reduce the traffic jams.

It really logical and simple, but so many people fail to see this??!?!

Exactly. Although we do have to be clear about distinguishing bike boulevards and sharrows, which can lead to cars being momentarily inconvenienced, from dedicated bike lanes, which cost more but reduce congestion.

Agreed there is a difference. But still... either way, cars will move better with few cars on the road because of more bikes on the road.

You probably already covered this with your friends, but here are a few other points people can make.

-Fewer cars on the road means less pollution.

-With 2/3 of Americans overweight and half of those obese, anything that gets people outdoors and exercising is a bonus.

-A mile of bike lane costs a lot less than a mile of car lane, so a simple figure like number of miles is a bit misleading as the cost of infrastructure isn't the same.

Not to mention that in order to get more people to ride, bike infrastructure needs to be as pervasive as auto infrastructure so people can safely get from point A to point B. Right now it's still fairly fractured, although improving from year to year.

-And the biggie in my opinion: our nation's infrastructure should take into account all forms of transportation, not just a select few. If you only provide for a few, say cars and planes just for the sake of argument, then you lock out the other forms and limit people's mobility. Pedestrians, bikes, and trains all need to be part of that mix for a variety of reasons beyond just the ones listed above. If you only provide for cars, then people who are too young or old to drive have a hard time getting around. As well as those who aren't physically capable of driving, have lost their license, or are from out of town.

Bike paths, pedestrian walkways, and trains all need to be part of the mix so people can pick and choose which avenue best suits them.

Don't forget that gas taxes do not pay for local roads. So cars are freeloaders.

Thanks!! I do have most of those stats on lock-down. The debate got very focused on cost of infrastructure and usage of the infrastructure.... which is only one small part of the big transportation picture. But it is another good point, bikes are not "taking" more than there fair share "the road".