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Why the Bike Lane is the Golf Course of the 21st Century Posted on January 26, 2012 Hello Dear Readers, The Sightline Daily, a blog affiliated with a Northwest policy think tank, published an article I wrote about my Stevens Fellowship experience. You can read the article here! A funny story about how the opportunity with Sightline came about. I was waiting at a stoplight near Mercer Street in Seattle in late November and this guy pulled up to me (on his bicycle) and commented on how bad the bicycle infrastructure was at that particular intersection. He noticed that I had no "biking clothes" on and asked me if I'd ever heard of Copenhagen Cycle Chic.  "Copenhagen Cycle Chic is my favorite blog!" I told him. Then we started talking bike politics and eventually I realized he was Alan Durning, the founder of the Sightline Institute. I've been reading the Sightline blog and using their research in my work for years. I really like that this Sightline article came about because of a conversation that started on the bike lane (or..errr…lack of bike lane).  Who needs the golf course when you cycle! Cycling is such a social form of transport. Sean and I were biking in to work a few days before Christmas and bumped into our friend Jed who I hadn't seen in almost a year.  (Jed and his wife recently had a baby!) We rode together along the cold, but sunny, shores of Westlake for about ten minutes and caught up.  It was a great way to start the day and I was happy to know that Jed was doing well. Then, the next morning, Sean and I bumped into Jed again-in almost the same place as the day before-and we shared another pleasant commute together while joking about how we were becoming a bike commuter gang. The morning before I left for Copenhagen I biked downtown alone after saying goodbye to Sean. I was feeling the weight of the goodbye and also some anxiety about professional challenges ahead.  I pedaled slowly along Dexter, my pace matchi

BIKING Virtuous cycle: 10 lessons from the world's great biking cities 9 BY CHRISTINE GRANT 30 JAN 2012 7:04 AM Cross-posted from Sightline Daily. In the Seattle suburb where I grew up, the main transportation choice most residents face is what kind of car to buy. I moved to the city after college and, inspired by the "car-lite" lifestyles of several friends, decided to give cycling a try. I fell in love with it. Urban cycling freed me from slow buses, parking meters, and mind-numbing elliptical machines. I arrived at work with more energy. I lost weight. I discovered charming neighborhood restaurants. I could smell fresh laundry and dinners in the oven while I pedaled home through residential streets. Getting from A to B on my bike became the best part of my day. Recently, I won a fellowship and got to spend six months living life on two wheels in the world's most bike-friendly cities. I brought home 10 lessons for us here in the States: A bike lane in Denmark. (Photo by Christine Grant.) 1. It's the infrastructure, stupid! Amazing infrastructure makes cycling normal and safe in bike meccas. For example, parked cars to the left of the bike lane not only provide a barrier between motorized traffic and cyclists, they also minimize a cyclist's chance of getting "doored." Most cars only have one occupant, the driver, and drivers get out on the left. Bikes move at different speeds than cars or pedestrians, so intersections are safer for cyclists if they have their own traffic signal rhythm. Cyclists in Copenhagen generally get a slight head start over cars so that they'll be more visible as they cross the intersection. 2. Bike share! Bike-share programs are sweeping the world, and they are very successful at boosting bike numbers. About 130,000 trips are made each day in Paris on public bikes thanks to the pioneering Vélib bike-share program. Barcelona's bike-share program has been wildly succesful at boosting ridership. (Photo by C

BIKE-FRIENDLY WORLD Bike Tour Will Visit London's 10 Most Dangerous Intersections to Call for Cyclist Safety A bike tour this weekend will stop at all ten of London's most dangerous intersections to call for measures to promote cyclist and pedestrian safety. Toyota Funds Bike That Reads Minds This new "Prius of bicycles" switches gears based on your brain waves. Pretty smart, huh? Clever Dutch 'Traffic Garden' From 1950s Teaches Children About Road Safety It's a great idea to teach children about road safety (on foot, bikes, and in cars) long before they apply for their driver's license. This makes the road safer for everybody, and encourages biking. The Top 20 Most Bike-Friendly Cities According to the 2011 Copenhagenize Index A very comprehensive ranking of cities around the world based on many criteria that matter to cyclists. How does your city rank? Does it make the cut? Profile: An American in Amsterdam Talks About Bike Culture (Video) Julie A. Ruterbories, the U.S. Consul General in Amsterdam, discusses her experience with bike culture in the Netherlands and what we can learn from it. What Gets Measured Gets Managed: Cracking The Tracking of Bikes and Pedestrians Clever system picks up the bluetooth signals from cellphones to monitor how many people are using a street or sidewalk or bike lane. Police Confiscate Generators, Occupy Wall Street Switches to Bike Power (Video) Occupy Wall Street Turns To Sustainability With Bike Energy 'Green Phase' Traffic Signal is Great for Cyclists! This special traffic signal makes busy intersections safer and more bike-friendly. Cycle Chalao! Bike Sharing Comes to India Cycle Chalao! is bringing bike-sharing to Pune -- and the federal government is looking to help the program expand around the country. Penny Farthing Racing is Surprisingly Intense (Video) This summer, the IG Markets London Nocturne, perhaps the premier urban cycling competition, featured a variety of challenges that included straight-forward races

Finding the zone: The Zen of urban cycling 36 BY JOEL GWADZ 27 JAN 2012 2:49 PM Photo by Choh Wah Ye. I am a mountain biker and mountain bike racing is a big part of my love for cycling. There's only one problem: I live in the city. To get to the hills, I have to put my bike on the car and drive an hour out of town. Luckily for me, there are many aspects of urban riding that fulfill a similar sensory experience to the high I find on the trail. I'm no World Cup racer, but hammering down the mountain biking trails, I still have moments when I find myself in a state of athletic euphoria that riders call "the zone." When you're in the zone, your bike and body operate as a single unit. Your thoughts and actions are intertwined. Your mind measures the variables as they approach at warp speed and you respond without thinking, arcing tight twists and turns through gaps just inches wider than your handlebars. Riding in the zone is an amazing, Zen-like experience. It is the cyclist's version of a "runner's high." This immense state of focus not only happens in the woods. The zone can be achieved when riding in the city, too. In a mountain bike race, the competition adds to the adrenalin. The effort required to chase the racers in front of you or escape the racers behind you can fuel the experience. In town, encounters with car drivers can act in very much the same way. In the woods, it is about flowing over logs in the trail, cruising through seemingly lineless rock gardens, and dipping between tight trees. On the city streets, it's about weaving past the guy on his cell phone who steps out from between parked cars, adapting to an aggressive lane change by a soccer mom in a minivan, or avoiding a car door swinging open into your lane. In so many ways, urban riding is just a series of close calls. Yesterday, I was taking a standard route across town. I was moving at a pretty good clip, when a driver behind me laid on the horn. Instead of ridin

SFMTA Tries New Bike Lane Treatments to Keep Cyclists Clear of Door Zone by Bryan Goebel on August 30, 2011 In a five foot standard bike lane, bicyclists really only have about one to two feet, if you consider the door zone. Animation/graphics by Carly Clark. Photo of Polk Street between O'Farrell and Geary by Bryan Goebel. The door zone is one of the biggest urban threats to bicyclists. Conventional bike lanes that squeeze bicyclists between the door zone and automobile traffic leave little room for error, but the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is piloting a series of projects designed to encourage bicyclists to steer clear of the door zone. On sections of Polk Street, pictured above (and yes, we added the green but do hope to see green bike lanes on Polk Street some day soon!), the SFMTA has painted in a batch of T's in the bike lanes that are supposed to guide bicyclists away from the door zone. While the treatment seems to be an improvement over typical door zone lanes, it also highlights how little street width is available for cyclists to ride safely. I asked our graphics designer Carly Clark to do a little photoshopping to illustrate how much real space bicyclists have if you consider the door zone. If you take a standard five foot bike lane, like the one above, and factor in the door zone, you realize bicyclists are only given a sliver of a space that is about one to two feet wide, depending on the width of the lane, and the size of a car door. According to the SFMTA, dooring is the second most common form of injury collision involving cyclists, behind unsafe speed, though the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC) points out that dooring is the highest injury collision type caused by motorists or their passengers. A "T" on Howard Street. Photo: SFMTA The SFMTA has installed the T treatments on Polk between Post and Golden Gate and in the bike lanes on Howard Street between 5th and 7th. So far, according to the agency, they seem to b

BIKING Spandex wars: Chicago bike critic looks crappy in tights 27 BY GREG HANSCOM 3 DEC 2011 5:35 AM Photo: Steven Vance The two-wheeled revolution has arrived in the Windy City, thanks to its bike-loving mayor, Rahm Emanuel. (Finally, a way to describe the man without calling him a potty mouth!) During his campaign, Emanuel pledged to build 100 miles of new separated bike lanes within five years. The first of them went in this summer. Under the steady hand of Chicago's new transportation commissioner, Gabe Klein - who arrived in Chicago from Washington, D.C., where he helped create the nation's first bike share program - things seemed to be running smoothly. It was a remarkable feat, particularly when you consider the bad-mouthing New York City's bike lanes have received in recent years. The relative calm came as no surprise to Keith Griffith, who penned a nice piece for Construction on Chicago's rich cycling history, which includes separated bike roads and cycling clubs that boasted a combined membership of 10,000 riders in the 1890s. In the past several years, bike/car relations in Chicago have, if not quite warmed, at least descended from the fiery heights of mutual hatred, to the point where opposition to the separated lane plan seems quaint and goes mostly ignored. Bikes are finally being considered a legitimate piece of the infrastructure-planning puzzle in Chicago … Enter John McCarron, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune who apparently doesn't look so great in spandex. In a barnburner of an op-ed last week, McCarron dubbed the new bike plan and other transportation initiatives "Rahm Emanuel's undeclared war on the automobile." In his 2012 budget, Emanuel has proposed hiking the tax on downtown parking garages, increasing fees for parking violations, and bumping up prices of vehicle stickers. He recently won the state's blessing to install speed cameras around town, and he has famously required city employees to

Pleasures of Life in the Slow Lane By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN Published: November 7, 2011 RECOMMEND TWITTER LINKEDIN SIGN IN TO E-MAIL PRINT SINGLE PAGE REPRINTS SHARE New Yorkers should love bicycling. We're control freaks. We want to get from here to there in a New York minute and moan about the subways and the buses, about lunatic taxi drivers and the gridlock that slows us down. Enlarge This Image Tony Cenicola/The New York Times The Williamsburg Bridge in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. More Photos » Multimedia Slide Show Urban Life on a Bike Related ArtsBeat Blog: After the Splat: Our Critic Is Back on the Bike (November 7, 2011) Breaking news about the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia and more. Go to Arts Beat » A sortable calendar of noteworthy cultural events in the New York region, selected by Times critics. Go to Event Listings » The other day I jumped on my bicycle and rode downtown to meet Janette Sadik-Khan, transportation commissioner for New York City. She is the driving force behind the city's new bike lanes and now also a piñata for their vocal opponents. I started out along the Hudson, then headed east at 40th Street, past that nowhere stretch of depots that muscles its way toward the chaos of the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The waterfront is bucolic and almost Zen-like without a million other bikes around, but I've also come to love those gruff, empty, brooding blocks on the far West Side, which I almost never bother to walk. River gives way to industry then density, silence to the din of Midtown - a classic New York transition, an urban glory best absorbed, I have come to realize, from a bike. It's too bad that so many New Yorkers still complain about the bike lanes' contribution to the inconvenience of urban driving instead of promoting them for their obvious role in helping solve the city's transportation miseries, and for their aesthetic possibilities. I don't mean they're great to look

Active Transportation Alliance News and Events Get a Member in December! Our members are our power - the more members we have, the more successful we will be in creating better conditions for biking, walking and transit in our communities. If you're an Active Trans member, you have an assignment - get just one new member to join Active Trans during the month of December! We're sure you know people who ride bikes, take transit and appreciate walkable communities - we need them to join us in action. And for those of you who are not members of Active Trans, please demonstrate your dedication to better transportation by joining now! Meet Ald. Solis at the Active Trans Social in Pilsen - Dec. 7 Join Active Trans as we celebrate all that has been accomplished over the past year to put Chicago on the path to building a world-class bike network. Ald. Danny Solis will discuss his recent educational trip to one of the most bicycle-friendly countries in the world - the Netherlands! Learn about Dutch approaches to city cycling that could be applied in Chicago: Dec. 7, 6 -7:30 p.m., Simone's bar, 960 W. 18th St., Chicago. The event is free and open members and nonmembers. Come to the Active Trans Social in Logan Square - Dec. 8 Calling all Logan Square Active Trans supporters! Join your friends and neighbors at Cole's tavern to connect with others who have a deep and abiding affection for biking, walking and transit. Local authors Greg Borzo and John Greenfield will be celebrating the release of On Bicycles: 50 Ways the New Bike Culture Can Change Your Life, 8 -10 p.m., Dec. 8, Cole's, 2338 N. Milwaukee, Chicago. The event is free and open members and nonmembers. Active Trans Volunteer Appreciation Party - Jan. 18 If you've volunteered for Active Trans during the past year, we're throwing you a party. We want to recognize all of the dedicated individuals who make our events, campaigns and programs successful. The evening will include light appetizers,

Cycling Data The collection of data on the number of bicycles per household, number of bicycle journeys and the nature of those journeys helps to inform transport policy and practice. Filter by : All |  Case Studies | Cycling Advocacy | Effective Marketing | International | Resources | Videos | United Kingdom | Australia | Victoria | New South Wales | Queensland | New Zealand | South Australia | Bike Commuting | Bike Share Schemes | Europe | North America | State and Territory Government | Tasmania | Sustainable Urban Transport Plans | Cost Benefit Analysis | Research paper | Austroads | Australian Capital Territory | Local Government | Northern Territory | National Government | Western Australia | United States of America | Canada | Australian Bicycle Council Active Transportation Beyond Urban Centers (USA) 06th Feb 2012 Active Transportation Beyond Urban Centers was published by Rails-to-Trails Conservacy in January 2012. It shows that in large and small "rural cores" of 2,500 to 50,000 residents, the share of total trips made on foot or by bike is only 20 percent below the rate for larger urban cores. Furthermore, when it comes to work trips, rural areas fall right in line with the national rates of biking and walking to work. Read more Local Government Bicycle Account 2011 (Australia) 02nd Feb 2012 In January 2012 the Australian Bicycle Council released the results of Local Government and Cycling Survey undertaken in July 2011. Councils responding to the survey spent more than $72 million on bicycle-related programs in 2009-10. More than two thirds of responding councils either have a bicycle strategy or are working towards one. As at June 2010, councils responding to the survey reported having constructed 11,704km of cycling infrastructure. When their cycle networks are complete the infrastructure will measure 17,842km. Read more Weather or Not to Cycle: Temporal Trends and Impact of Weather on Cycling in an Urban Environment (Canada) 01st Feb 2012 Thi

TRANSPORTATION Zen and the art of urban transportation 7 BY JOHN GREENFIELD 16 DEC 2011 6:18 AM Commissioner Gabe Klein. Photo: Steven Vance This is excerpted from a longer story in GRID Chicago. To read the original, which includes a (somewhat hair-raising) ride to work with the commissioner, click here. When forward-thinking Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) Commissioner Gabe Klein reported for work on May 16 as part of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's new administration, it marked a sea change in the city's priorities. Chicago spent most of the 20th century trying to make it easier to drive. In recent years, as other cities pioneered green transportation initiatives like car-protected bike lanes, large-scale public bike sharing systems, and "ciclovia" events which shut down streets to make room for car-free recreation, Chicago futilely tried to fight auto congestion by removing pedestrian crosswalks, shortening walk signal times, and installing slip lanes and right-on-red signals to help drivers make faster turns. After Emanuel won the election, his choice of Klein made it clear the mayor-elect was serious about sustainable transportation. The new commissioner was fresh from a stint as transportation director for Washington, D.C., where in a mere 23 months, he made numerous pedestrian safety improvements, launched a new streetcar system, expanded the downtown circulator bus system, piloted protected bike lanes, and created the nation's first and largest bike share system. He arrived a month before starting work, so within six months on the job, the commissioner racked up an impressive list of accomplishments and firsts, installing the city's first protected bicycle lane, starting work on new protected lanes on two other streets, and laying plans to install a total of 100 miles of protected lanes within Emanuel's first term. Under Klein, CDOT has begun striping conventional bike lanes continuously through intersections, it has broken the R

Bicycle Related Sites This page lists bicycle related web sites. Our focus is to provide information on bicycling as a mode of transportation. The sites listed below do not represent the views of the Department. They are for informational purposes only and the Department cannot be held liable for misinformation from any of these sites. Every effort has been made to review each site for content, however should a site grossly misstate facts or sources please send an e-mail to Ann Mahaney and the link will be removed. National Organizations: National Bicycle Safety Network - Contains safety and other information concerning bikes. Bicycle and Pedestrian Information Organization - Contains technical information on bicycles and walking. The League of American Bicyclists - ...for a bicycle friendly America, the national organization of bicyclists. Bicycle Federation of America - an electronic information center for bicycle and pedestrian advocates, practitioners, public officials and interested citizens. State Organizations: California Bicycle Coalition (CBC) - A non-profit organization that advocates increased bicycle use, access, safety and education, by promoting the bicycle as an everyday means of transportation and recreation. Smart Traveler - the single place on the internet to get information on all of your transportation options in California. California Association of Bicycling Organization (CABO) - California's bicycle clubs organized into a state federation in 1972 to protect bicyclists' interests state-wide and to encourage, maintain, and improve bicycling conditions. Local Organizations: LADOT Bicycle Services - The purpose of the LADOT Bicycle Homepage is to provide bicycle information to the constituents of the City of Los Angeles. Monterey Off Road Cycling Association (MORCA) - MORCA is an organized voice for responsible mountain biking in Monterey County. SLO County Bicycle Coalition - Transforming San Luis Obispo County into a safer and more livable

BIKING How bicycling will save the economy (if we let it) 83 BY ELLY BLUE 28 FEB 2011 3:08 PM This is the first column in a series focusing on the economics of bicycling. Imagine getting a $3,000 to $12,000 tax rebate this year. Now imagine it coming again and again. Every year it grows by around a thousand dollars. Imagine how this would change your daily life. Sounds like a teabagger's wet dream, but it's actually a conservative estimate of how much you'd save by ditching your car, or even just one of your cars -- and getting on a bicycle instead. Car-centric conditions don't always make it easy to choose the bicycle. Communities designed exclusively for motor vehicles impose a major financial penalty on those who are compelled to take on the expense of driving. But if you're one of those who lives in a bike-friendlier place, you'll be doing your local business community a good turn and padding Uncle Sam's pockets as well as your own if you trade four wheels for two. In the many North American cities where two-wheeled transportation is taking off, a new bicycle economy is emerging. It's amazing how much money can stay in your community when it isn't being pumped into the gas tank, big insurance, and the auto market. What will this new bicycle economy look like? We don't have to guess. It's already emerging along urban, low-traffic bikeway networks nationwide. One thing is guaranteed: it includes a lot of new bike shops like this one on a bikeway in Baltimore -- one of five new bike shops to have opened in the last two years in that city. A 2008 study in Portland clocked bicycle-related industry alone as contributing $90 million to the local economy every year. Bicycle tourism is another huge boon to regions that can attract it -- in 2010, Wisconsin bragged of a yearly $1.5 billion bike economy [PDF]. Less obvious synergies abound as well. People who ride, just like people who drive, buy groceries, visit the doctor, need a new shirt sometimes, and en

Children are the foundation of the cycling culture When you use a bike as a child, chances are that you will also use a bike as a grown-up. In Denmark, the cycling culture is built through more than 100 years. The foundation of the cycling culture is the fact that Danish children learn to ride a bike from their parents, brothers and sisters, or friends. Cycling is inherited from one generation to the next. But the culture is only kept alive, if it is used. If all children stopped cycling, it would not take long for the cycling culture to decline. The Cycling Embassy of Denmark places great emphasis on the creation of the best possible conditions for children who cycle. This article provides insight into three different kinds of projects with the purpose of supporting and improving the conditions for the child cycling. Cycle Games Children should feel encouraged to play and move around, and a bike is an ideal means for that purpose. When children cycle their sense of balance and mobility are stimulated. At the same time, the sense of locality and the perception of space and direction are increased, because the movement is being done at a higher velocity and on a moving vehicle. Furthermore, learning through play is a more effective way of learning than the old-fashioned cycle training with broom handle and supporting wheel. We believe that it is reasonable to begin at the age of two. When children play on their bike, the focus is shifted from the bike to the playing. When the actual cycling "automated" and the attention is on the surroundings, the basis is created for safe children cycling. The safe cyclist does not think about how the bike works, but only has the focus on the surroundings and the other cyclists. Cycle games contributes to better cyclists. Because the children have fun while they learn, chances are that they as adults will use the bike as their everyday means of transport. In Denmark the project "Cycle Games for everybody" consist of the foll

A record number of children are biking Today - September 6th - more than 140.000 schoolchildren are biking to school. Common to the children are the participation in the cycle campaign, Bike to School. This is the highest number of participants, in the campaigns nine years of existence. The bike gives children the liberty to get around from school, to friends and leisure activities. Furthermore, research from the University of Southern Denmark has shown that children, who bikes to school have a 9% better physical fitness than children who are driven to school. The campaign highlights - along with schools from all of Denmark - the bike as a means of transport to and from school. It is all about introducing the habit of biking in an early age, and in that way help to increase the likelihood of future generations growing up with healthy exercise and transportation habits. You can read about other Danish children campaigns HERE and watch the website of the Bike to School campaign (in Danish Alle Børn Cykler).

BIKING 10 bicycling myths debunked 24 BY GREG HANSCOM 29 DEC 2011 7:12 PM These gents are putting the lie to myth No. 4 in a big way. Photo: Donna Rutherford Here at Grist, we are all about accuracy. So when it comes to bicycling, the pastime that can solve all of America's most pressing problems (well, most of them - see, accuracy!), we're like heat-seeking missiles in search of myths and misinformation. Our goal is simple: to get you to trade in your four-wheeled gas guzzler for a lean, clean, calorie-burning machine. Here are the top 10 myths that we debunked this year, all linked up and annotated for your enjoyment. Read on, ride on - and for god sake, put some clothes on! 1. Biking is for elitists. Yeah, tell that to the good people of Detroit. 2. Bikes are just for young people. Meet Lucette Gilbert, a New York bike commuter who admits to being in her "high 70s." 3. It's a hipster thing. Hipster? What's a hipster? 4. I'd have to wear Spandex. Eat your heart out, hipsters. 5. Bikes are for terrorists! Hmmm … 6. Biking is bad for the economy. Oh man. I can't believe you'd even suggest that. If you're not careful, Elly Blue is gong to open a can of Bikenomics on your ass. 7. It's all a Democratic plot. Uh, no, says the Governator - and it's not just the GOP's left-coast fringe. Check out Ron Paul and his love-me-some-bike talk. 8. It's just for the fellas. Shame on you. 9. It'll make me unattractive to the ladies. GM would like you to think so. Apparently no one told the good people at the nation's largest carmaker that bikes are only, like, the hottest accessory right now. 10. I just can't … Oh yes you can. Come on, try it. Trust us. You'll feel happy of yourself. Grist special projects editor Greg Hanscom has been editor of the award-winning environmental magazine High Country News and the Baltimore-based city mag, Urbanite. He tweets about cities and the environment at @ghanscom.

This article analyzes the variation in bike commuting in large American cities, with a focus on assessing the influence of bike paths and lanes, which have been the main approach to increasing cycling in the USA. To examine the role of cycling facilities, we used a newly assembled dataset on the length of bike lanes and paths in 2008 collected directly from 90 of the 100 largest U.S. cities. Pearson's correlation, bivariate quartile analysis, and two different types of regressions were used to measure the relationship between cycling levels and bikeways, as well as other explanatory and control variables. Ordinary Least Squares and Binary Logit Proportions regressions confirm that cities with a greater supply of bike paths and lanes have significantly higher bike commute rates-even when controlling for land use, climate, socioeconomic factors, gasoline prices, public transport supply, and cycling safety. Standard tests indicate that the models are a good fit, with R 2 ranging between 0.60 and 0.65. Computed coefficients have the expected signs for all variables in the various regression models, but not all are statistically significant. Estimated elasticities indicate that both off-street paths and on-street lanes have a similar positive association with bike commute rates in U.S. cities. Our results are consistent with previous research on the importance of separate cycling facilities and provide additional information about the potentially different role of paths vs. lanes. Our analysis also revealed that cities with safer cycling, lower auto ownership, more students, less sprawl, and higher gasoline prices had more cycling to work. By comparison, annual precipitation, the number of cold and hot days, and public transport supply were not statistically significant predictors of bike commuting in large cities.

Cargo Cycle Crazy: 30+ Companies Form Freight Bike Federation  For Immediate Release. Cycle delivery companies from across Europe have gathered in Cambridge (UK) to form a European "Cycle Logistics" Lobby July 16, 2012 - Cambridge, United Kingdom - Over 30 companies from across Europe have joined forces to form the "European Cycle Logistics Federation". During a weekend event, the newly formed federation discussed ways to improve urban delivery and will act as a lobby group to promote cycle based delivery solutions.   "As a group we will be able to influence and convince stakeholders that freight bikes are a feasible option for delivering cargo in congested inner city areas. More cargo bikes delivering goods means less trucks in city centres and safer, liveable streets for people," says Rob King, founder of the Cambridge based cycle delivery company Outspoken Delivery which hosted the event. The event received praise from British politicians with Member of Parliament for Cambridge Julian Huppert stating: "Our city, which has the highest number of cyclists riding to and from work and school in the UK and a highly successful bike courier company, is a fitting place for such an event. Any changes that we can put in place to allow freight to be carried by bike have to be worthwhile. This idea has the potential to take vehicles off our roads, easing congestion and cutting carbon emissions. As a keen cyclist, it was very exciting to hear more about such great work."   It also won the interest of academics: "It's fascinating to be here in the early days of a new logistics paradigm. I see a knowledge community taking shape, defining and addressing shared challenges," said Proffesor Rachel Aldred, who directs the University of East London's Sustainable Mobilities Research Group and attended the event.    Participants at the event shared knowledge and experience on how cargo bicycles can reshape urban logistics. Speakers were adamant that cargo

Ed's Bicycle Advocacy Page Over 20 years ago I began looking at climate change impacts on infrastructure. Since about 2003, I have been more focused on human-induced climate disruption and its impacts on water resources. As I pursued this research, I have had the good fortune to work with some world-class scientists, and the findings of all of them have framed this issue as one that transcends discplines and crosses political and geographical boundaries in a way that demands more of us than most other issues. While I already have lots of web space devoted to climate change and water issues, one passion that is not well represented is bicycling. Our inefficiency in transportation (accounting for nearly 30 percent of U.S. energy demand) produces a huge proportion of the greenhouse gases that will dramatically alter the climate our children and grandchildren inherit. I'm not sure what shape this page will eventually take, but I will use it to link to articles and resources that will at least help me keep track of things. Maybe if anyone else lands here they'll find something useful too. The True Cost of Transportation Energy The report by the National Research Council, "Hidden Costs of Energy: Unpriced Consequences of Energy Production and Use" summarizes some of the externalized costs of energy generation and use. Of particular interest is that motor vehicles are responsible for about 1.5 cents/mile in nonclimate-related damages, such as health impacts. At 10,000 miles/year, this is maybe $150/year. Interestingly, electric and hybrid vehicles are about as bad, and vehicles using biofuels are generally the same or worse. Development and Bicycle Advocacy Here's the civil engineering connection: planning and construction often leaves out bicycle (and pedestrian) considerations. A great movement to include this in neighborhood and city design is the National Complete Streets Coalition, where lots of resources are available. A Place for Optimism While maybe contrar

Cycling Copenhagen, Through North American Eyes by Clarence Eckerson, Jr. on July 15, 2010 | 80,950 Plays Email Share While Streetfilms was in Copenhagen for the Velo-City 2010 conference, of course we wanted to showcase its biking greatness.  But we were also looking to take a different perspective then all the myriad other videos out there.  Since there were an abundance of advocates, planners, and city transportation officials attending from the U.S. and Canada, we thought it'd be awesome to get their reactions to the city's built environment and compare to bicycling conditions in their own cities. If you've never seen footage of the Copenhagen people riding bikes during rush hour - get ready - it's quite a site, as nearly 38% of all transportation trips in Copenhagen are done by bike.  With plenty of safe, bicycle infrastructure (including hundreds of miles of physically separated cycletracks) its no wonder that you see all kinds of people on bikes everywhere.  55% of all riders are female, and you see kids as young as 3 or 4 riding with packs of adults. Much thanks to the nearly two dozen folks who talked to us for this piece.  You'll hear astute reflections from folks like Jeff Mapes (author of "Pedaling Revolution"), Martha Roskowski (Program Manager, GO Boulder), Andy Clarke (President, League of American Bicyclists), Andy Thornley (Program Director, San Francisco Bike Coalition) and Tim Blumenthal (President, Bikes Belong) and Yvonne Bambrick (Executive Director, Toronto's Cyclists Union) just to name drop a few of the megastars.