Insights on bike-sharing from Harvard researcher
The yellow-and-green bicycles of the California bike-sharing startup LimeBike have popped up in more than a dozen Massachusetts communities in recent weeks, the latest fleet to follow in the tracks of Blue Bikes, which launched as Hubway in 2011. Anne Lusk studies bike environments, including safety and crashes, as a researcher at the Harvard Chan School. She’s also a cyclist. We asked her about the progress of bike-sharing systems. Q&A Anne Lusk GAZETTE: Some research has found that bike-sharing riders are less prone to collisions with cars than regular cyclists. Is there a safety lesson that can be drawn from that data? LUSK: Research has shown that if a bicyclist appears to be confident on the road — drop handlebars, cleats, no fenders, no wicker basket with flowers and a loaf of French bread — drivers feel they can pass more closely. Bicyclists riding their own bikes are more confident and may take more risks...