2024 was a landmark year for bikes at the Newport Folk Festival.
Biking to the Newport Folk Festival has been increasing exponentially every year since Bike Newport starting assisted bike parking in 2012 – from about 200/day then, to an average of 1600/day today.
In response, in 2024, Bike Newport and the Newport Police Department worked together to establish the first-ever temporary separated protected bi-directional bike lane on Harrison Ave approaching Fort Adams, the site of the Festivals. Hooray! For this half-mile, cyclists were given a dedicated corridor up to and into the festival safely separated from the backed up car and bus traffic.
This improvement was greatly appreciated by the 1600 festival-goers who biked to Fort Adams each day, 286 of whom voiced consistent praise for the lane in a comprehensive rider-experience survey.
Due to the historically lower numbers of bicyclists to Jazz Festival (350-400/day), the city opted not to provide the same separated bike lane for Jazz on the following weekend. The absence of this significantly safer experience led to disappointment/dismay by those biking to Jazz.
In the survey, riders were given the opportunity to evaluate their experience biking to the festivals and to provide valuable feedback to inform future event planning and related multimodal transportation management.
These findings, in conjunction with bicycle counter data from Harrison Ave, are synthesized into a comprehensive report, “2024 Biking to Newport Folk Festival and Jazz Festival”. The report summarizes the positive outcomes while identifying opportunities for improvement at future events.
Key Findings:
- The response to lane improvements was overwhelmingly positive among first-time festival-bikers and seasoned veterans alike.
- The response from the festival police detail was likewise affirming.
- Riding separately from the cars on Harrison was a relief to riders.
- Midday opening of the lane to cars led to confusion and dangerous conditions.
- Evening exit inside of the park felt unsafe to riders and needs attention.
- Without the lane improvements, Jazz Festival bikers felt unsafe and unaccommodated.
- Bicycle use exceeded ferry use by ~60%, becoming the second most popular transportation choice to the Folk Festival (behind cars).
Thanks to the Rhode Island Department of Health for funding this demonstration bike lane project; and to the Newport Police Department and the City of Newport for prioritizing road safety and ensuring that this first-ever separated bike lane approaching Fort Adams was installed and supported.
Thanks to our stellar summer intern, Adam DiBiase from Northeastern University, for leading the effort to document and analyze the impact of the bike lane using the surveys and counters, and for compiling this valuable report.
Cyclist on the Harrison Avenue Bike Lane.
(If you have photos of the Folk Fest bike lane, please send them to bari@bikenewportri.org – thanks!)
1600 Bikes at Folk Fest Friday!
Bike Newport