The PeopleForBikes Green Lane Project was a five-year program that accelerated the spread of protected bike lanes throughout the United States.

In 2013, New York; Washington, DC; San Francisco and Chicago had built a string of protected bike lanes, but few cities had followed. Across the country, just 24 new protected bike lanes opened that year. By 2014, protected bike lanes broke through into the mainstream and were no longer just a curiosity found in the most bike-friendly cities; they had drawn the attention of forward-thinking street designers everywhere.

In early 2013, the Green Lane Project revealed widespread sentiment that the federally endorsed bikeway design guides didn’t offer enough guidance for protected bike lanes, bike signals, and other facilities — even though more than half of major U.S. cities were already building them. A meeting with top federal officials led to a rapid federal endorsement of the NACTO and ITE guidebooks for protected bike lanes, followed by the 2015 publication of a guide to the designs from the Federal Highway Administration itself.

People on bikes everywhere feel more safe and comfortable on busy streets with a physical barrier between them and motor vehicles. In some places it’s a plastic post or line of parked cars. In others it’s a curb, planter or slightly elevated bike lanes. But no matter what separates people on bikes from people in cars, the results are hefty increases in the number and variety of people bicycling.

The Green Lane Project helped expand the knowledge on how to use these tools, how cities could better get them on the ground, how to refine their design them, and how to make them work better for all riders.