• Kathryn M Parker, Janet Rice, Jeanette Gustat, Jennifer Ruley, Aubrey Spriggs, and Carolyn Johnson.
• Prevention Research Center, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, 1440 Canal Street, TW-19, Suite 2301, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA. kparker1@tulane.edu
• Ann Behav Med. 2013 Feb 1; 45 Suppl 1: S101-7.

BackgroundIncorporating cycling into daily life is one way to increase physical activity.PurposeThis study examined the impact of building new bike lanes in New Orleans to determine whether more people were cycling on the street and with the flow of traffic after bike lanes were built.MethodsThrough direct observation of one intervention and two adjacent streets, observers counted cyclists riding on the street and sidewalk, with and against traffic, before and after installation of the lanes. Data were tallied separately for adults, children, males, females, and by race for each location.ResultsThere was an increase in cyclists on all three streets after the installation of the bike lanes, with the largest increase on the street with the new lane. Additionally, the proportion of riders cycling with traffic increased after the lanes were striped.ConclusionsBike lanes can have a positive impact in creating a healthy neighborhood.

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