Why Go Green?
Modern bike lane creation through resurfacing involves painting paths green, but why? This is primarily because color can increase visibility, and green is not already used as a visual shorthand for other traffic related issues.
A statement made by the City of Raleigh describing the benefits of these lanes states, “The green paint is intended to increase motorist awareness of bike lanes and bicyclists riding in them. Dashed green bike lanes indicate potential conflict zones between motor vehicle and bicycle traffic, and both motorists and bicyclists should approach these locations with caution.” (Raleigh, NC 2022) The dash indicating potential collisions has already been implemented in some parts of the Triangle, but the fully painted lane is rare. These dashed lines are often seen by entrances to highways and at the right turn lanes of intersections. This reflects the low cost and higher benefit of the dashed lines; the fully green lane betters general visibility, but the dashed line increases necessary visibility.
In their, “Urban Bikeway Design Guide,” the National Association of City Transportation Officials(NACTO) details the reasoning behind green painted bike-lanes when they write that a colored lane, “Increases the visibility of bicyclists. [and] Discourages illegal parking in the bike lane.”(NACTO 2022) This description focuses on practical improvements through this method, describing the issue of parking within bike lanes. The obvious counterargument is that those willing to park in bike lanes will not be bothered by the presence of green. The secondary issue with this argument is the current implementation of such lanes. The widespread instances of these green lanes in the area is the dashed line, which already cannot be parked in; if the primary argument is never acted upon, the argument is no longer convincing.
While these descriptions state the reasoning for a colored bike lane, it does not answer the question of “Why Green?” The required features of the green lane, according to NACTO is, “The color green shall be used to minimize confusion with other standard traffic control markings.” (NACTO 2022) The only discernible argument favoring green lanes is that green is not already used in other traffic control markings.
While I agree that green certainly increases visibility of these lanes, the arguments for green itself ultimately falls short. The green stands out, but it creates confusion for drivers and bikers alike. Modern traffic standards conclude that warm colors (Red, Orange, and Yellow) dictate decreases in speed, while green is associated with an increase or continuation of speed. Standards are always allowed to change, but the transition period will lead to confusion.
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