Urban Cycling Developments

[photoLith]

My bike is one of my main modes of transportation, even in this incredibly un bike friendly town I live in. I ride it everywhere, and almost everyday I get yelled at by some rednecks and almost get run over by douches in big trucks. Yeah, for most people a bike isnt their main mode of transportation but for a few of us it is. I could drive my car everywhere but thats wasteful and you get fat. Id rather bike and stay in shape and save money instead of buying gas.

I was also a bike messenger in downtown Houston for a summer, that was awesome. I nearly got doored one time but now whenever there are parked cars I always make sure to ride a good distance so that wont ever happen to me. I love my bikes, dont know what I would do without em.

[village person]

Originally Posted by Nat

So is the horse. So what?

I think... that... was kind of his point.

New inventions don't retroactively invalidate the classification of their predecessors. A transportation device that is used less or ceases to be used is nevertheless... a transportation device!

[SnyderBock]

A bike is not a transportation device when a city starts posting up signs everywhere which say, "bikes not allowed." Signs, signs, everywhere are signs, don't do this, don't that, can't you read the signs?

[village person]

Well, still... it's a transportation device... that you're not allowed to use.

[KevinFromTexas]

One of those signs would look sweet on my wall...next to my bike.

[jodelli]

Originally Posted by SnyderBock

A bike is not a transportation device when a city starts posting up signs everywhere which say, "bikes not allowed." Signs, signs, everywhere are signs, don't do this, don't that, can't you read the signs?

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

One of those signs would look sweet on my wall...next to my bike.

Where are these signs? I wanna steal one.

[SnyderBock]

http://www.ecovelo.info/2008/09/25/no-bicycles-allowed/

[fflint]

Originally Posted by Nat

So is the horse. So what?

So...everything I wrote. Is it your contention there's no controversy about the lack of sufficient bike infrastructure on American streets? Or that bikes and horses are equally used in American cities for transportation? What point are you trying to make?

[SnyderBock]

I totally agree, there are nowhere near enough stables in our cities anymore. maybe we could turn bike sharing stations into hybrid bike sharing/horse stables?

[M II A II R II K]

What we know about bike infrastructure: people want it


April 26, 2010

Read More: http://fastlane.dot.gov/2010/04/what...e-want-it.html

We know that 90 percent of the people are not going to be cycling to work or around town. But that opportunity and that kind of alternative is something people have said they want. They said it in a recent study by Transportation For America. They said it last week in Tupelo and Hernando, Mississippi. They've been saying it in Portland, Oregon, for years. They're saying it in Washington, DC.

They said it after an interview I gave in the New York Times earlier this month. And New York bicyclists have said it loudly and clearly with their pedals, increasing their numbers by 28% in the last year alone according to a study by Transportation Alternatives. And in response to an All Things Considered interview, NPR listeners have been saying it over and over on the NPR website. You can listen to the NPR piece below.

Why devote resources to a transportation mode that fewer than 10% of the nation is using? Well, bike infrastructure is relatively inexpensive--particularly if you compare it to, say, adding a lane to an existing roadway. Now, imagine if those people who do bike around chose instead to make all of their trips in single-occupancy vehicles. Our already congested roadways would be brought to a halt.

[M II A II R II K]

A National Network Of Bike Trails? It Could Happen


April 25, 2010



Read More: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=126263488

A quiet revolution is starting in the world of transportation. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood recently announced what he's calling a "sea change" in transportation policy: He wants to make biking as important as driving. "We’re elevating it to the point where as we develop new road systems, as we develop communities where people can use light rail or street cars or buses, bike trails and walking paths will be equal partners, if you will, and equal components of those kinds of transportation opportunities in communities across America," LaHood tells NPR's Guy Raz.

Right now, about 90 percent of the country commutes to work by car. LaHood, shown at a news conference earlier this year, is pushing the idea of a nationwide interstate biking system. "We’ve put almost all of our resources into roads," LaHood says. "If the commitment when President Eisenhower signed the interstate bill had been to high-speed inner-city rail, we'd be in the same position Europe and Asia are in today." LaHood is also floating the idea of a nationwide interstate biking system — the two-wheel equivalent of Eisenhower’s highway system.

[vid]

I thought the US already had a nationwide bike trail system?

[M II A II R II K]

Bicycles and the ‘Immigrant Effect’


April 25, 2010

By Elisabeth Best



Read More: http://www.miller-mccune.com/health/...-effect-14744/

Immigrants tend to be healthier than native-born Americans when they arrive in the United States, but within a generation that advantage is lost. A new study by UCLA doctoral candidate Michael Smart suggests one reason why. In the May issue of Transportation Policy he describes findings that new immigrants — legal or not — are twice as likely to travel by bicycle than native-born Americans.

The group most likely to bike? Low-income immigrants living in dense urban areas. Using the U.S.-based 2001 National Household Travel Survey, Smart analyzed the ridership rates for the small portion of trips Americans make by bike.

Although in the National Household Travel Survey more foreign-born immigrants over the age of 26 had graduate or professional degrees than native-born Americans, there were also many more immigrants without a high school degree or equivalent than native-born respondents. (It is important to note that the survey did not distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants.) Smart recognizes the need to be careful when studying “immigrants,” as they are clearly a diverse group.

Previous research found that, although Latino immigrants in California have similar travel needs to the native-born, they are more likely to use alternative modes of transportation — primarily ride giving and receiving — because many have limited access to a car.

[Nightshade]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

When a Bicycle Isn't a Transportation Device


Feb 22, 2010

By TENEILLE GIBSON



Read More: http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/lo...-84959792.html

BOY! This dude needs to get out more! With about 2/3 of the world using bikes as personal & commercial transportation this dude is a brick shy of a full load.

[ChicagoChicago]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

Bicycles and the ‘Immigrant Effect’


April 25, 2010

By Elisabeth Best



Read More: http://www.miller-mccune.com/health/...-effect-14744/

Well, don't let the politicians see this. Quickest way to kill funding for something is to point out that immigrants are using it.

[M II A II R II K]

Americans Sick and Tired of Motorized Transportation, Transportation Secretary Says


May 03, 2010

By Christopher Neefus

Read More: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/65068

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Friday that Americans are “tired” of motorized transportation and its attendant hassles, and instead are looking for other options such as bicycle lanes and walking paths, which the government will add to its infrastructure. “People are sick of being stuck in traffic, stuck in their automobiles, and we want to help communities and neighborhoods that want more walking paths or biking paths—more transit,” LaHood told CNSNews.com.

President Obama’s top transportation official was following up on comments he had made on his official blog in March, when he announced a “sea change” in transportation. “Today,” he wrote on March 15, “I want to announce a sea change. People across America who value bicycling should have a voice when it comes to transportation planning. This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized.

“We are integrating the needs of bicyclists in federally funded road projects. We are discouraging transportation investments that negatively affect cyclists and pedestrians,” LaHood wrote. With those comments in mind, CNSNews.com asked the secretary how he would implement that sea change.
“Well, look,” he began, “we have a state-of-the-art interstate system in America. We have the best road system in the world. That’s not going to change, and we’re going to continue to support our road system—our interstates—but we know that people want a lot of other alternatives.

“People are sick and tired of being stuck in traffic, stuck in their automobiles, and we want to help communities and neighborhoods that want more walking paths or biking paths—more transit. Some communities are going to be launching street car programs, more bus programs, but we’re promoting all forms of transportation,” he said.

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by vid

I thought the US already had a nationwide bike trail system?

Yes and no. We have a nationwide national trail system in which most of the trails are multi-purpose trails (but not, for example, the Appalachian Trail), and local trail networks of varying extents and planned extents in the major metros, but no real cohesive national explicitly multi-use trail system.

Although I would bet that, just as the Interstates were built around the extant parkways and turnpikes (like the New York State Thruway and the Pennsylvania Turnpike), the bike trail system will be built around the extant and under-construction trails already in place (e.g. the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal/Great Allegheny Passage system from D.C. to Pittsburgh or the East Coast Greenway).

P.S. According to this page, the Great Allegheny Passage also provides a bike bypass of central Pittsburgh, via its south and west, as well as a way to get there. Pretty cool.

P.P.S. It would be cool to be a systematized bike-trail-numbering scheme, like the U.S. Highways or Interstates. It would also easily show how the extant network would fit into the eventual system.

[M II A II R II K]

America's Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities


http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6...1901-1,00.html

Interactive Map & Details


1. Minneapolis
2. Portland, OR
3. Boulder, CO
4. Seattle
5. Eugene, OR
6. San Francisco
7. Madison, WI
8. New York City
9. Tucson, AZ
10. Chicago
11. Austin, TX
12. Denver, CO
13. Washington, DC
14. Ann Arbor, MI
15. Phoenix/Tempe, AZ
16. Gainesville, FL
17. Albuquerque, NM
18. Colorado Springs, CO
19. Salem, OR
20. Scottsdale, AZ
21. Louisville, KY
22. Chattanooga, TN
23. Long Beach, CA
24. Cary, NC
25. Milwaukee
26. Boston
27. Philadelphia
28. Pittsburgh
29. Charleston, SC
30. Arlington, VA
31. Sioux Falls, SD
32. Boise, ID
33. Kansas City, MO
34. Columbus, OH
35. Tulsa, OK
36. Grand Rapids, MI
37. Billings, MT
38. St. Louis
39. Cleveland
40. Greensboro, NC
41. Lexington-Fayette, KY
42. Omaha, NE
43. Salt Lake City
44. Miami
45. Indianapolis
46. Fargo, ND
47. Anchorage, AK
48. Baltimore
49. Little Rock, AR
50. Rochester, NY

To prepare this list, we referenced the Bicycling and Walking in the United States 2010 Benchmarking Report, prepared by the Alliance for Biking and Walking; the League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly America project; data from Mediamark Research, Inc., Dun & Bradstreet and The Nielsen Company; and advice from national and local bike advocates.

[fflint]

There's already a thread about this

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

America's Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities


http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6...1901-1,00.html

Interactive Map & Details


1. Minneapolis
2. Portland, OR
3. Boulder, CO
4. Seattle
5. Eugene, OR
6. San Francisco
7. Madison, WI
8. New York City
9. Tucson, AZ
10. Chicago
11. Austin, TX
12. Denver, CO
13. Washington, DC
14. Ann Arbor, MI
15. Phoenix/Tempe, AZ
16. Gainesville, FL
17. Albuquerque, NM
18. Colorado Springs, CO
19. Salem, OR
20. Scottsdale, AZ
21. Louisville, KY
22. Chattanooga, TN
23. Long Beach, CA
24. Cary, NC
25. Milwaukee
26. Boston
27. Philadelphia
28. Pittsburgh
29. Charleston, SC
30. Arlington, VA
31. Sioux Falls, SD
32. Boise, ID
33. Kansas City, MO
34. Columbus, OH
35. Tulsa, OK
36. Grand Rapids, MI
37. Billings, MT
38. St. Louis
39. Cleveland
40. Greensboro, NC
41. Lexington-Fayette, KY
42. Omaha, NE
43. Salt Lake City
44. Miami
45. Indianapolis
46. Fargo, ND
47. Anchorage, AK
48. Baltimore
49. Little Rock, AR
50. Rochester, NY

To prepare this list, we referenced the Bicycling and Walking in the United States 2010 Benchmarking Report, prepared by the Alliance for Biking and Walking; the League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly America project; data from Mediamark Research, Inc., Dun & Bradstreet and The Nielsen Company; and advice from national and local bike advocates.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

A National Network Of Bike Trails? It Could Happen


April 25, 2010



Read More: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=126263488

I think they should get moving on this if only to have more scenes like the one above. Girls on bicycles.