Previous research on factors affecting bicycling has found that cyclists prefer bike lanes to riding on open streets, but it is unknown whether the bike lanes will attract people who are new to cycling. This project investigated whether or not cyclists would have ridden a bike for their trip if there had been no bike lane present. The City of New Orleans received funding to resurface roads damaged by Hurricane Katrina, and as part of this work approximately 45 miles of new bike lanes were constructed by March 2010. The primary goal of this study was to examine the impact of the physical environment on bicycling for both transportation and exercise through structured observations of cyclists using city streets before and after bike lanes are constructed. Rapid-response funding was awarded to allow for the coordination of data collection with construction timelines. Data on bicycling and walking was collected by direct observation, and interviews with cyclists were used to determine the reason for the trip, start and end points, as well as possible substitution for another mode of transportation or riding location.