Do bike share programs lead to less bicycle accidents?

As New York City is gradually re-opening, many New Yorkers may opt to commute by bike rather than by subway to mitigate the risk of getting infected by Covid-19. Many of them find it more convenient to use a bike share program rather than owning their own bike.

While some might worry that less experienced bike riders using bike share programs might result in an increase in bicycle accidents, a recent study found that bike share programs might indeed lead to a decrease in bicycle accidents

A study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that bike share programs lead to an increase of cyclists on the road but a decrease in the rate of bicycle accidents. The study took place in Philadelphia and analysed the number of people using a bike since the city introduced its bike share program in 2015. While the rate of bicycle accidents doubled between January 2010 and May 2015 in Philadelphia, it decreased by an average 13% yearly between May 2015 the end of 2018.

During that same period of time, the number of cyclists in Philadelphia increased significantly but no major infrastructure projects related to bike safety were initiated.

In an interview by the New York Times,  Ghassan B. Hamra, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the main author of the study explains that when there are more cyclists on the road, car drivers adjust their driving habits and become more protective of cyclists.

In New York, where bike share programs have also lead to a significant increase in the number of  people using a bike, a study by the DOT, found that the rate of bicycle accidents that resulted in severe injuries and fatalities drastically declined between 2000 and 2017. The decline started well before the launch of the Citi bike program in the city and curiously as Citi bike installed more more bike stations during the following years, the decline in the rate of  bicycle accident deaths and severe injuries wasn’t as sharp as before the introduction of the bike share program.  As Lyft is currently investing $100 million to expand the Citi Bike program in New York City and making it the largest bike share program in the country and one of the largest in the world it will be interesting to see how this deployment will affect the rate of deaths and severe injuries caused by bicycle accidents in New York City.

Picture source: NYC DOT