Controversies around dedicated cycling routes in cities are based on disagreements upon factors including design, safety, financing, road use, and maintenance. There is also debate over the extent to which cycle tracks encourage cycling compared to other factors.
Design
Geographical context A cycle route system that is safe an effecting in one city may not necessarily work elsewhere. It is important to consider factors like different urban designs, such as sprawling suburbs.
Cycling speed It is important to consider different cycling cultures, including where riders may ride bicycles with a wider range of gears and like to travel more quickly, such as those who cycle regularly for sport or to incorporate aerobic exercise into their day. Sidepath systems may work for slower cyclists, but faster bicycle types may not be able to travel on them safely at higher speeds.
The Danish Roads Directorate state that the cycle track system "functions best when cyclists travel at relatively low speeds"Collection of Cycle Concepts , Danish Roads Directorate, Copenhagen, 2000 but what is meant by 'relatively low speeds' is not made clear.
Cycling activists in favour of vehicular cycling have opposed cycle tracks and paths on the principle that they might not be created with the "fast cyclist type" in mind.
The UK's Sustrans guidelines for the National Cycle Network are based on recreational use with a design user who is an unaccompanied twelve-year-old. The Dublin Transportation Office has advertised their cycle facilities as being based on an unaccompanied ten-year-old design user. This raises the issue of what happens if different cyclist types find themselves forced onto such devices either by legal coercion or as a result of motorist aggression. This issue is captured in a 1996 review of the Sustrans approach from the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. The fast cycle commuter must not be driven off the highway onto a route that is designed for a 12-year-old or a novice on a leisure trip, because if that happens, the whole attempt to enlarge the use of the bicycle will have failedBook reviews, The National Cycle Network-guidelines and practical details, M.N. Fargher, Proceedings of the Institute of Civil Engineers, Transport, 117, p. 239, August 1996
However, this is contradicted by members of the Royal Dutch Cycling Union, who state that Dutch competitive cyclists have no problems with training in the Netherlands. Email exchange with Thorvald Veneberg on http://karlmccracken.sweat365.com/ There are instances where cycle tracks / sidepaths can accommodate fast cycling as evidenced in this video of a velomobile on a Dutch cycle track.
Safety
Some critics of bikeways argue that the focus should instead be placed on educating cyclists in road safety, and others that safety is better served by using the road space for parking.
Road use by bicycles and cars Segregated lanes In 1996 the UK Cyclists' Touring Club (now known as Cycling UK) and the Institute of Highways and Transportation jointly produced a set of Cycle-Friendly Infrastructure guidelines that placed segregated cycling facilities at the bottom of the hierarchy of measures designed to promote cycling.Cycle-Friendly Infrastructure: Guidelines for Planning and Design, Institution of Highways and Transportation, Cyclists Touring Club, 1996. However, since 1996, Cycling UK has changed this position and now fully supports physical separation from motor traffic and pedestrians (i.e. protected cycle lanes and cycle tracks) as effective measures for providing cycle-friendly infrastructure. They argue that people 'prefer, value and use off-street bike paths' among other measures which reduce interaction with motor traffic. More recent guidance from Cycling UK states that cycle tracks should be provided along dual carriageways and inter-urban roads. In the Space for Cycling document, Cycling UK says that cycle lanes 'are usually not good enough to make cycling safe and normal for everyone'.
Planners at the Directorate Infrastructure Traffic and Transporthttp://www.ivv.amsterdam.nl in Amsterdam place cyclists and motorists together on roads with speed limits at or below , and segregate them through bicycle lanes at higher limits. This is in a context where most of the measures prioritised by Cycle-Friendly Infrastructure (HGV restrictions, area-wide traffic calming, speed limit enforcement etc.) are already in place – see Utility cycling for more detail.
Restricting road access for cyclists From the advent of the mass-motoring until today, many cycle tracks have been constructed with the intent of prohibiting bicycles from the main roadway, as cyclists have been seen as an obstruction to the free flow of motor traffic.
"War on Cars" Some opponents of cycle infrastructure or cycling in general argue that someone - such as a local government or national government - is fighting a "war on cars" (car-free movement) within their area. A commentator in Portland, Oregon argues that the city is fighting a "war on cars" the "experiment has failed" due to falling cycling numbers. The libertarian e-magazine Spiked argues that there is a "war on cars" active in the UK and that this is a 'war on ordinary people'. They argue that environmentalists 'would like to ban cars altogether' and that 'in the age of Net Zero the car is public enemy No.1'. They argue that the Greens 'seem blissfully unaware' of the necessity of cars. They argue that people 'just like [cars]'. This is not a new phenomenon and not restricted to online commentators. For example, in 2010, after winning election, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, called ending the "war on cars" a top priority. In 2014, the magazine Toronto Life argued that Ford was waging a "war on all forms of transportation except cars". In November 2024, Rob Ford’s brother and Premier of Ontario, Doug, introduced the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, amending the Highway Traffic Act to add sections on an approval process for the installation of new bike lanes that would require municipalities to receive approval from the province before installing new bicycle lanes that would result in the removal of lanes for traffic.
Some proponents of alternative transport to the car argue that there is no "war on cars". This framing 'implies motorists are victims of violent assaults' and the 'complaints are unfounded'.
Maintenance
Facilities must be made wide enough for the street sweepers and snow plows typically used in a locale, or the locale will need to ensure that they are regularly swept or plowed by machines that will fit.
Some locales have issues with road debris in the cycle paths, such as Milton Keynes, UK, finding that cycle path users are seven times more likely to get punctures than are road cyclists.Two decades of the Redway cycle paths of Milton Keynes, J. Franklin. Traffic Engineering and Control, August 1999. In Ireland some cyclists have demanded simultaneous commitment to maintenance and sweeping as cycle paths are built. Achieving a Cycling-Friendly Ireland: A National Cycling Promotion Policy Version 1.1, Cyclist.ie 19 October 2008.
In areas subject to high leaf-fall in autumn, or high snowfall in winter, any cycle facilities must be subject to regular clearing if they are to remain usable. Danish guidance specifies three different categories of cycle track. Category "A" tracks must be kept clear of snow 24 hours a day, category "B" tracks are swept or cleared daily, and category "C" receive less regular winter maintenance. In 2007 the city of Copenhagen spent DKK 9.9 million (US$1.72 million, €1.33 million) annually on maintaining its cycle track network. German federal law requires local authorities to declassify cycle tracks that do not conform to strict design and maintenance criteria.New rights for cyclists, Allgemeine Deutsche Fahrrad Club (ADFC), November, 1997 In the UK, facilities for non-motorized traffic are not normally salted or gritted in icy conditions, potentially making them dangerous or unrideable.
Cycle lanes sometimes avoid this problem, as they are part of the road and can be easily accessed by maintenance vehicles operating on that road, incurring no extra cost. They only become filled with debris if the road is not maintained or the lane is purposely avoided.
Tracks used at night can be illuminated by conventional means, or by paving with glowing material.Britain Experiments with Glowing Bike Lanes by John Metcalf, Atlantic Cities
Effectiveness in encouraging cycling
There are many factors, such as cycle tracks and other cycling infrastructure, which contribute to cycling levels. A number of cities have demonstrated that particular cycle tracks will increase bike traffic on those routes.
Bike usage increased by 40% in areas of Montreal where the city invested in bike paths and lanes. In Copenhagen bike traffic increased by about 20% because of the construction of cycle tracks.Road safety and perceived risk of cycle facilities in Copenhagen , S.U. Jensen, C. Rosenkilde, N Jensen, Road & Park, City of Copenhagen, Presentation to European Cycling Federation AGM 2006 The construction of separated bike lanes on Dunsmuir Street and Viaduct in Vancouver, Canada, saw bike traffic volumes on the street more than double from before the construction.Dunsmuir Results. City of Vancouver. Retrieved 13 February 2011. NYC likewise saw cycling rates nearly triple on weekdays and doubled on weekends when the bike path was installed alongside Prospect Park West.Prospect Park West Bicycle Path and Traffic Calming NYC Department of Transportation. Accessed on 7 February 2011
Seville, Spain, is an example of what is possible on a city scale when a large investment is made in cycling infrastructure over a short period of time. In 2006 there were around 6000 bike trips made daily in the city of around 700,000. By 2009 there were about 50,000 daily bike trips. During those three years 8 urban bike paths totaling 70 km were built; the city centre was closed to motorised traffic; school projects were funded to create safe school paths; traffic calming measures were provided in school districts and the bicycle sharing system 'Sevici' was launched. The combination of all these factors helped to create a dramatic change in cycling rates.Promotion of Cycling Directorate General for Internal Policies, Structural and Cohesion Policies. European Parliament, 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
As more cycle tracks are built in North American cities, more research is being conducted on the uptake and safety of cycle tracks. North American cities that have recently installed cycle tracks have seen significant growth in cyclists using these roads.More people cycling, thanks to bike paths , posted by Monique Beaudin, Montreal Gazette. 24 Dec. 2010.