Jul

21

Bicycle Superhighways?

Filed Under Uncategorized 

From Slate here’s a way to get more people biking.  Portland’s doing it, will Seattle be next? 

A common complaint among would-be cyclist commuters is that cycling in a city is simply too frightening. There is hardly a major city in the world that is not trying to increase cycling, both to relieve congestion and to be environmentally friendly, and cities must do more to make cyclist feel and be safer. Cycling is a strong indicator of overall urban health. A recent survey of the world’s 25 most livable cities included many cities, such as Copenhagen, Munich, Stockholm, and Portland, Ore., that have invested heavily in cycling. How to promote cycling in cities is still something of a challenge. In the world’s top cycling cities, it is not just the brave who cycle, but all manner of riders, young, old, and everyone in between, because the roads are designed to accommodate cyclists. For example, in the Netherlands no new road is build without a provision for cycles, and cyclists can ride on paths with a minimum width of 2.5 meters that are at least 1.5 meters from the road. Cyclists even get their own green lights and parking at public transportation stations. The cost of this improved cycling infrastructure is estimated at only 30 euros for each Dutch citizen, well below the cost of a tank of gas. “I do believe the separate facility is the best,” says McGill University researcher Jacob Larson, who studied Montreal’s bike infrastructure.  More…

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