How to Build a Better Bike Lane (and Get More People Out on
Bikes) Martha Roskowski has been a bicycle advocate in the
United States for some 20 years. It hasn’t always been easy.
These days, though, things are starting to feel different. "In
the past few years, we have seen a sea change," says Roskowski,
who is heading up a two-year effort called the Green Lane
Project (GLP) for the national advocacy group Bikes Belong. "Top
city officials are now seeing bicycling as a really practical,
rational part of the mobility picture." In other words, it’s not
just a bunch of "bike nuts" who see the benefits of building
better bike lanes. Urban transportation officials, facing
growing populations, automobile congestion, and strained transit
systems, are increasingly looking to bicycles as part of an
overall solution. "Cities are really leading this, even when the
feds aren’t," says Roskowski. The GLP aims to foster this
evolving mindset by helping six target cities to adopt high-
quality bicycle infrastructure – bike l