Promoting safe biking in cities during COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

Anne Lusk, research scientist in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, recently has been speaking and writing about ways that cities can encourage more people to bicycle by creating safe and appealing cycle tracks.

On May 12, 2020, she presented her research proposal, “Temporary Separated Bike Lanes to Increase Safety and Demonstrate Demand,” at the UMass Amherst MassDOT Zoom roundtable.

In a May 27 letter to the editor of The Boston Globe, Lusk encouraged an expanded cycle track network as a way to promote safe and healthy transportation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She also spoke at a Newton Free Library webinar this spring. Her talk focused on taking advantage of decreased traffic amid the COVID-19 pandemic to test temporary cycle tracks and route amenities for bicyclists, such as signs, bike parking, and bike signals.

Lusk also participated in two other online panel discussions, including:

Street Trees and Tree Roots (Hosted by BayState Roads at UMassAmherst, June 3)

Mobility in a Post-COVID Era (Hosted by BuroHappold Engineering, June 5)

Learn more

Op-ed: Cycle tracks good for health and safety, environment, local economies (Harvard Chan School news)