Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast
Episode 464: Narrow the Lanes!
Jan 4, 2024
Dr. Shima Hamidi, Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins Univ., discusses a study on the impacts of lane width on traffic safety. They explore the potential to narrow lanes for bikes and peds, challenges faced by larger vehicles, data collection using machine learning, self-driving cars, and the benefits of bike lanes.
37:32
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Quick takeaways
- Narrower lanes can promote biking and pedestrian facilities, creating more space within existing infrastructure.
- Wider lanes tend to encourage higher speeds and result in a significantly higher number of crashes compared to narrower lanes, especially at speeds between 30 to 35 miles per hour.
Deep dives
The Impacts of Lane Width on Traffic Safety
The podcast episode discusses a report on a national investigation of the impacts of lane width on traffic safety. The report found that narrower lanes are actually safer and can promote biking and pedestrian facilities within the existing roadway infrastructure. The main source of standards for lane widths is the ASHTO Green Book, but the study challenges these standards by showing that wider lanes are actually more dangerous and lead to higher numbers of crashes. The report also examines the relationship between lane width and speed, finding that wider lanes tend to encourage higher speeds. Additionally, the study explores the impact of built environment factors such as street trees and building setbacks on traffic safety.
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