The moment I arrived in Copenhagen last week, the climate change talks ground to a halt. Delegates from the G-77 (poorer) countries walked out in disgust, just as thousands of official observers, me included, were queuing up outside the conference hall trying to get in. Neither story made the front pages back in the States but the Danish and European press was not happy at all.
I wasn’t too happy either. I hadn’t traveled 5,000 kms (by air) just to stand out in the cold for hours on end to get the first of two badges that qualified me to get a second badge that might then get me into the conference hall with 15,000 of the 45,000 other registered participants to the COP15 climate summit. And most of those people had not traveled all that way (also mostly by air) to see these critical talks deadlocked in seemingly petty battles and political grandstanding.
Turns out, that was exactly what happened on both counts. I was also profoundly disappointed though not surprised to see that transportation issues, and cycling specifically, were almost totally absent from the conversation. Lots of interest in electric vehicles and alternative fuels and what the Chinese/Americans were doing with wind and solar and wave and nuclear and light bulbs and insulation but virtually nothing about bikes, and really very few people there to talk about it from either the industry, environmental or user group side.
So it’s a good job that Copenhagen is a fantastic city for anyone interested in cycling! Even with frigid temperatures and a few centimeters of snow on the ground, the city gets around on bikes. Right outside City Hall there is a bike counter with a real-time display and 1,500 riders had been by that one spot at 8:43 a.m. one cold weekday morning. An International Herald Tribune editorial writer encouraged delegates to take note of this. Copenhageners are green AND prosperous!
If you don’t believe me, come see for yourself this coming June at the Velo City Global international cycling conference. I guarantee you’ll be inspired by the 37 percent share of trips that are made by bike in this city and in June it’ll be WARM, and the conference registration will be a lot smoother than the United Nations managed last week!
Andy Clarke
President, League of American Bicyclists
In a report released yesterday by USA Cycling, the governing body for bicycle racing in the U.S. marks its seventh consecutive year of growth. Individual membership has increased by 6 percent and the number of affiliated clubs has increased by an impressive 10 percent. These are impressive numbers especially considering the current economy.
Like so many passionate bike advocates, my love for cycling began within the racing community. I am especially grateful to have been introduced to the sport through collegiate cycling, where school pride unifies cyclists of all abilities. There are very few sports that can weave their way into every facet of one’s life. During the weekday, I use my bike to get to work and to maintain a healthy lifestyle; while on the weekend, I use my bike to push my physical and psychological limits on the race course. The relationship between recreational and utilitarian cycling is inseparable; the success of one is in direct relationship to the other.
This reminds me of the League’s own history. In the early years, the League of American Wheelmen were not only responsible for paving roads and protecting cyclist’s rights , they also officiated races. I recently came across an old race report in the New York Times archives from August of 1894 entitled, “More New Bicycle Records: Great racing at League of American Wheelmen meet.” In the late 1800s, before the fall of track racing, the League of American Wheelmen filled a similar role to that of the modern day USA Cycling. It’s interesting to think that I followed a similar path of the organization I work for.
And so, I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing the sport continues to grow. Given more time I would love to see their membership data broken down by age and gender, but alas, I should really get back to work.
It is four days before Christmas; and if you live in the mid-Atlantic/Northeast, you might be trapped in your house, surrounded by 20 inches of snow, and unable to visit the nearest mall. That might be a little disheartening if you haven’t had your chance to visit Santa and get your mall-Santa photo but fear not! The League of American Bicyclists has great, online gift ideas for you!
1) Buy your loved ones a bike! Purchase a Trek, and you will indirectly support the League. Trek graciously supports League programs and initiatives. As part of Trek’s One World, Two Wheels campaign, Trek donates $1 to the League’s Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) program for every Trek helmet sold in the U.S., for a total three-year commitment of more than $1 million.
2) Give the gift of League membership! In addition to receiving the premier publication American Bicyclists for cyclists and bicycle advocates, education and industry leaders, your loved ones will become part of the growing bicycle movement, supporting a Bicycle Friendly America and will have access to advocacy updates and education opportunities. Learn more about the benefits of membership.
3) Jazz vocalist Alexis Cole has recently released her latest CD, The Greatest Gift. An interesting element to this release is that proceeds will benefit the World Bicycle Relief — an organization dedicated to providing bicycles to people in developing countries around the world. World Bicycle Relief allows these individuals access to transportation and promotes independence, empowerment, and sustainability. Listen to a track from the album here.
4) And finally, if you would like to give a gift to all of those who ride a bike in America, donate to the League. Protecting cyclists’ rights is absolutely critical. We need your help today to support the work of the League, and we can’t do it without you. Check out the League’s 2009 Report Card to see how your contributions have helped us deliver on the League’s mission.
Happy holidays from the League of American Bicyclists! Hopefully, you can enjoy a wintry ride!
Courtesy of Anna Kelso
Meghan Cahill League Director of Communications
Cahill joined the League in December 2008 and has a BA in Media Communications with a concentration in Italian Studies from the College of Charleston.
Did you miss the latest issue of the Journal of Public Transportation? Don’t worry. They’re posting them free online. The latest issue contains “Integrating Bicycling with Public Transport in North America,” a review of bikes and transit policies in eight North American cities by researchers John Pucher of Rutgers and Ralph Buehler of Virginia Tech. The authors conducted case studies of San Francisco, Portland, Minneapolis, Chicago, Washington, New York, Vancouver and Toronto.
Among the questions considered: what happens when a well integrated system that encourages bicycling and transit use leads to crowding? Many European cities provide ample secure parking at stations. In this article, the authors take a page from Complete Streets and recommend “Complete Stations,” which offer easy bicycle access to platforms and fully accommodate the needs of cyclists — an inexpensive solution compared to Park and Ride stations for cars.
Speaking of bikes on buses here is a great video from Chicago on how the two can safely share the road.
Using some of the findings in the report above, let’s play a little bikes-on-transit trivia.
(Note: the word “subway” is used below as a blanket term and does not refer only to New York City. Answers are subject to change as cities compete for the best transportation network in North America.)
1. Which city provides the most bicycle racks city-wide, including bike parking at almost all subway stations?
(A) Minneapolis
(B) Toronto
(C) New York City
(D) Chicago
2. Which city offers indoor or sheltered bike parking at the most subway stations?
(A) Washington
(B) New York
(C) San Francisco
(D) Chicago
3. Which city offers no secure or dedicated bike parking at rail stations and no bike racks on buses?
(A) New York
(B) San Francisco
(C) Vancouver, BC
(D) Washington
4. Which city allows bikes on subway trains at all times?
(A) Washington
(B) Chicago
(C) Toronto
(D) New York City
5. Which city has a bike ordinance encouraging parking bikes at sign posts, which are within a block of most bus stops?
(A) Portland
(B) Vancouver, BC
(C) Minneapolis
(D) Washington
6. Which city has five of the ten “bike stations” in the United States?
(A) Washington
(B) Portland
(C) New York
(D) San Francisco
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Answers
(B) There are 15,000 post and ring racks throughout Toronto
(D) Secure parking is available at 83 CTA stations, funding is secured for more in 2010
(A)
(D) Cyclists are asked, but not required, to avoid rush hour
(C)
(D)
Darren Flusche League Policy Director
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
But roads quickly became clogged up, forcing the government to limit the amount of time cars can drive. Air pollution has also been a problem.
To solve these issues, the authorities have invested heavily in public transport over recent years, a programme that was accelerated when Beijing was given the 2008 Olympic Games.
But Professor Ou Guoli, from Beijing Jiaotong University, says more needs to be done.
“We need other government policies and measures to reduce the amount of traffic on the roads,” he said.
Prof Ou said city centre parking should be made more expensive and there needs to be more “park and ride” facilities.
There should also be policies to encourage people to get back on their bikes, he said.
Darren Flusche League Policy Director
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
Odense has two major claims to fame. The first is that it’s home to Hans Christian Andersen, celebrated author of fairy tales. Second, it’s from this Danish city that the Safe Routes to School idea emerged in the mid-1970s and more recently Odense was Denmark’s national cycling laboratory. OK, so this last one didn’t somehow make it into the tourist literature I picked up at the railway station and information center today…but it should in there right up alongside Denmark’s “cosiest zoo”!
Rather than battle long lines at the COP15 Bella Center headquarters, and possibly either police or protesters, I decided instead to head west and island-hop over to Fuyn, where Odense sits astride a river of the same name, and the main train line from Copenhagen. As I watched from the train window, we headed into a heavy band of snow just as we arrived in Odense. I felt a bit like a secret shopper, showing up unannounced to see how this cycling city copes with a heavy snowfall.
Odense citizens bundle up for the ride!
The answer is they seem to keep on riding right along. The only concession I saw to the 10-12cms of snow was some folk who would walk their bikes where the streets or cycle tracks had not yet been cleared – and yes, the cycle tracks were being cleared of snow at least as extensively as the motor vehicle lanes, and there were special pieces of equipment out there sweeping the sidewalks and bike facilities. Through the snow, I could just make out the colored lanes, advanced stop bars, bicycle signal heads and other common features of Denmark’s bicycle friendly communities.
Obviously the first snow day of the season wasn’t the best to view the city’s credentials. Traffic of all kinds was down, and the city had that slightly eerie, snow-dampened quiet about it – with the exception of the bustling pedestrian-only shopping streets which seemed to be doing a brisk business. There were lots of people out riding still – and that wouldn’t be the case if there weren’t a LOT of riders on better weather days! The city has an automatic traffic counter on one key route into the city center and some 635 riders had passed by at around 10:30 in the morning already. (A similar counter in Copenhagen was over 1,500 riders as I passed by at 9 a.m. on my way to the train station.)
Check out the photos I took in Odense, and a couple from Copenhagen. Expect to see more like this tomorrow; the snow followed me back along the train line and there’s now a few centimeters on the ground in CPH. Should make the wait to get into the climate change talks that much more ironic, chilly, and damp.
Andy Clarke League President
Andy Clarke was appointed to the position of Executive Director in April of 2004 after successfully leading efforts to create, interpret and implement the various transportation programs that are available to improve conditions for bicycling and walking as the League’s State and Local Advocacy Director. Before joining the League in February 2003, Clarke was on contract to provide technical assistance to the highly regarded Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center on site at the Federal Highway Administration. He is on the Board of Directors for America Bikes, and a member of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycling Professionals.
For those interested in improving bicycle facilities, the 2009 Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) was finally approved and released on December 16, 2009. The League has no comment yet, as we have not yet reviewed the document in depth. Check for updates soon!
As the end of the Climate Summit draws near, tensions between world leaders over emission reduction targets continue to grow. Today, Governor Schwarzenegger told the Climate Summit that international agreements alone will not slow climate change. He calls on states, cities, regions, and provinces to take on the responsibility of reducing carbon emissions. California, for example, is currently on track to reduce carbon emissions 30 percent by 2020.
The US is in need of a more aggressive climate policy especially in regard to transportation. Considering that 33 percent of all emissions in the United States come from transportation, clean transportation is a critical part of reducing domestic emissions. Unfortunately, the current draft of the climate bill, “Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act” (S. 1733) allocates only 2.4 percent of funds towards clean transportation investments. While this is an improvement from the House bill (HR2454) which reserved a meager 1 percent for clean transportation, it is certainly a far cry from the 10 percent included in its predecessor, CLEAN-TEA (S.575).
As one of the world’s top cycling cities, Copenhagen is an international leader in sustainable transportation, exemplifying the kind of lifestyle changes necessary for a sustainable future. In 2008, Denmark’s long-term green transportation plan recognized that “public transport and bicycles must carry the greatest part of the projected growth in traffic”. As a result, Copenhagen is currently on track to increase its bicycle mode share from 36 percent to 50 percent by 2015, saving 80,000 tons of CO2 a year. As the Climate Summit comes to a close on December 18, we can only hope that lessons learned in Copenhagen will translate into a US climate bill that more accurately addresses the need for significant investments in clean transportation.
Here’s a job description from our friends at America Bikes.
Job Title: Project Manager
Education: Bachelors Degree (BA, BS, etc.)
Location: Washington, District of Columbia – (negotiable)
Type: Temporary Full- time, Contract basis
Salary: $ 4-5,000 a month
Summary
America Bikes seeks an experienced full-time person for a 3-month research project on state and locally planned bicycle and pedestrian transportation projects. This position will work with America Bikes staff and board to create an online inventory of on-going and planned bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure projects from around the United States. The Project Manager would be responsible for populating this database by performing extensive outreach to state, regional and local governments, and the bicycle and pedestrian advocacy community.
America Bikes is a coalition of leaders from the bicycle community advocating for positive outcomes for bicycling in the federal transportation bill. Member organizations include: The Adventure Cycling Coalition, Alliance for Biking and Walking, Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, Bikes Belong, International Mountain Bicycling Association, League of American Bicyclists, National Center for Bicycling and Walking and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.
Primary Responsibilities
1) Consultation with web designer to best structure online database for state and local transportation official and advocate use.
2) Population of database through consistent and extensive outreach to state, regional and local government officials to publicize inventory and request input of bicycle and pedestrian projects planned for development.
3) Coordination of the data collection efforts of America Bikes coalition groups.
4) Production of documents explaining federal transportation funding process for use by advocates.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Extensive knowledge of State Department of Transportation organization, as well as processes for moving a project through the planning, engineering and construction phases.
- Knowledge and interest bicycle and pedestrian issues
- Excellent interpersonal skills
- Experience in Excel and Word applications
- Familiarity with web-based programs
This is a contractor’s position and requires the individual to complete assignments on his/her own computer. All work done by the contractor will become the property of America Bikes.
Since this is a contract position, no benefits are included.
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
By the time I got on the Metro to head over to the Bella Center this morning the transit information systems were already reporting that the Bella Center station was closed due to overcrowding and that COP15 delegates would have to get off one station before or after the stop and walk. Even worse, they were saying there were major lines just to get one’s accreditation at the center.
Sure enough, long, long lines awaited us as we approached the heavily guarded perimeter. And it was cold. People seemed cheerful, though. At least, at first they did. Then as we stood and waited some more, and folks started relaying their harrowing tales of waiting for six or eight or nine hours the day before to get in, we weren’t so happy. After about 90 minutes and maybe 100 meters of progress, I bailed. There was still at least another 90 minutes of line ahead of me, and I couldn’t feel my feet. Did I mention it was cold? It was cold. It was also more than a little frustrating – especially as people had registered for this event months in advance…
Anyway, I had to head over to the Green Lighthouse – Copenhagen’s first carbon-neutral building – on the university campus, where the Danish Embassy of Cycling was recognizing the leadership of New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg in promoting cycling. The Mayor was getting a tour of the very cool building, and before the tour we made a short presentation standing out in the cold by the bike parking.
The Danish Embassy of Cycling was represented by Jan Gehl (Gehl Architects), Niel Torslov (Copenhagen’s city traffic engineer), and Lise Borg Pederson (Danish Cyclists Federation), and part of the script was to invite Mayor Bloomberg to return to Copenhagen in June (when it will be warm) for the Velo City Global conference. The Embassy is a unique collaboration between user groups, academics, local government and the private sector to promote Danish cycling expertise – of which they have quite a bit!
Once the ceremonies were over, I sat in on the tour of the building and an interesting discussion of building codes, energy efficiency, public-private partnerships, and climate policy. By the time the next set of photos were taken with the architect and university folks, there was a bona fide snowstorm going on. I was on the bus back downtown, but I can assure you that Copenhageners are indeed not dissuaded by snow or cold – they just keep on riding.
Andy Clarke League President
Andy Clarke was appointed to the position of Executive Director in April of 2004 after successfully leading efforts to create, interpret and implement the various transportation programs that are available to improve conditions for bicycling and walking as the League’s State and Local Advocacy Director. Before joining the League in February 2003, Clarke was on contract to provide technical assistance to the highly regarded Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center on site at the Federal Highway Administration. He is on the Board of Directors for America Bikes, and a member of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycling Professionals.
I’ve just arrived in Copenhagen for the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, found my hotel, turned on the TV and the COP15 Climate Talks are stalled. The G-77 nations have walked out of the negotiations. I promise, I never touched anything, didn’t even talk to anyone yet…so I don’t think it was me. Apparently, they are demanding more financial support from the richer nations.
I haven’t been over to the Bella Center yet, where the talks are actually happening, but the circus surrounding the talks started in the SAS plane at London’s Heathrow airport. The in-flight magazine had numerous articles about the talks, including advertorial supplements from companies and regions (Skane, in southern Sweden) promoting their environmental credentials, and the pilot actually discussed the relative efficiency of the plane’s engines during his welcome aboard speech!
The Kastrup airport is a veritable hub of green information and services. Pretty much every advert (displayed in energy-efficient units) on the walls of airport was about green energy, green technology, green places, green people. OK, not green people. There was a delightfully awkward Accenture ad featuring Tiger Woods and the caption ”His next move may his most important,” – that may prove to be the most accurate of all.
More important than the window-dressing – the fact that you can quickly,easily and cheaply get a train to the center of town; walk easily to many of the major hotels; and in mine, rent a bike for just a few bucks a day. Hopefully that’s the sort of message and memory people will take back from Copenhagen.
Time to get stuck in.
Andy Clarke League President
Andy Clarke was appointed to the position of Executive Director in April of 2004 after successfully leading efforts to create, interpret and implement the various transportation programs that are available to improve conditions for bicycling and walking as the League’s State and Local Advocacy Director. Before joining the League in February 2003, Clarke was on contract to provide technical assistance to the highly regarded Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center on site at the Federal Highway Administration. He is on the Board of Directors for America Bikes, and a member of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycling Professionals.
League President Andy Clarke heads off to Copenhagen next week as an official observer to reinforce the need for national, state and local governments to include cycling as an integral part of a sustainable transport strategy – which Copenhagen exemplifies so well.
Maybe he can help power their municipal Christmas tree while he’s there.
When you’re the host city for international climate change negotiations, using energy-efficient LED lights on the Christmas tree apparently isn’t enough.
The traditional Christmas tree in Copenhagen’s City Hall Square will be powered by people, rather than a distant power plant. The square has been equipped with 15 bicycles which, when pedaled, light up the 700 LED bulbs on the tree.
The 17-meter-high tree went up on Sunday during an opening ceremony in which Saint Nicholas climbed a fire truck ladder to the top of the tree and lit fireworks. Even during the ceremony, the lights were being powered by the bicycles, according to a representative from the city of Copenhagen. Children, a mayor, and international VIPs joined in the pedaling during the opening ceremony, he added.
The carbon-light approach to lighting the traditional Christmas tree is one of the attractions being organized for COP15, the latest round of international climate change talks, which start next week. The purpose of these meetings is to establish treaties to limit the amount of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.
Darren Flusche League Policy Director
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
Of the likely asks at our 10th Anniversary National Bike Summit this March, one will involve the Safe Routes to High Schools Act, H.R. 4021 recently introduced by Congressman Blumenauer (D-OR). If passed, it would expand the popular Safe Routes to Schools program to include high schools and would work to improve kids’ health by enabling them to walk and bike to class.
The video hints at the possibilities of expanding the Safe Routes to School program. Kudos to the students! Join us at the National Bike Summit and help make this a reality in your community.
Jeff Peel State and Local Advocacy Coordinator
Peel joined the League in March 2008 as a Program Specialist for the Bicycle Friendly Communities program. Peel has a BA in American Studies from the University of Southern Mississippi.
The League of American Bicyclists would like take this opportunity to thank Secretary Ray LaHood for his vision for a national transportation system that includes biking and walking as a key ingredient of developing livable and sustainable communities. It is unfortunate that there are still many in Congress such as Mr. Coburn and Mr. McCain who do not grasp that more and more Americans want the option to be able to ride and walk safely within their communities.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of bicycle commuters has grown 43 percent since 2000, truly an indication that the number of Americans that have found bicycling to be a healthy and efficient way of getting to work is on the rise. The League of American Bicyclists also reports that in communities with greater bicycling infrastructure investments, bicycling commuting went up 69 percent.
Clearly, we have seen that increased bicycling helps communities thrive. Case in point, between 1991 and 2008, Portland, Ore. invested $57 million to create a 300- mile bikeway network – roughly the same cost of one mile of urban highway. In that period, bicycling increased significantly, at an annual rate of 10 percent. Since 2006, there has been a 38 percent increase in the value of bicycle-related industry sector, with total economic activity close to $90 million. In addition, Portlanders have saved $12 million in fuel and $10 million in healthcare costs by bicycling.
We also want to thank the Secretary and his Department for working hard to get the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding out to states quickly. Under ARRA, states were required to spend 3 percent of their highway transportation funding on Transportation Enhancements (TE). Transportation Enhancements are federally funded, community-based projects that expand travel choices. Under ARRA, states were also required to obligate 50 percent of their highway transportation funding, including transportation enhancements, by June 30, 2009. Research conducted, by America Bikes, found that, by the June 30the deadline, States had awarded over 64 percent of the funding provided under ARRA. These projects provided much-needed jobs to local communities.
Funding bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure a waste? We think not, we must agree with Secretary LaHood, this is progress.
~Walter Finch Director of Advocacy, League of American Bicyclists
Finch joined the League in 2006 and has more than 20 years of experience in the transportation industry. He worked as a government relations associate with G.S. Proctor & Associates, served as the chief of staff for a member of Maryland’s House of Delegates, and worked at the U.S. Department of Transportation as the Special Assistant, Office of the Secretary, Office of Intermodalism.
The symposium opened with David Byrne of the Talking Heads, who recently published his book Bicycle Diaries. Byrne began with a photo of Columbia, Md. where his elderly parents now live and are stranded due to the autocentric design of the community. He then went on to highlight some of his favorite books including: Twenty Minutes in Manhattan, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, and The Timeless Way of Building. He continued with a photo diary of memorable scenes – both good and bad – of public spaces from his travels around the world on his beloved folding bike.
Following Byrne, Congressional Bike Caucus founder Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) opened with what he proclaims to be the universal question of bike advocates, and it goes something like this, “How many people are currently stuck in traffic on their way to ride a stationary bike at the gym?” A perverse notion, indeed. He then went on to talk about the new bill he recently introduced to congress that would create $2 billion in federal funds for investments in active transportation. Blumenauer described the cyclist as an indicator species of a healthy community. The hobby ecologist in me loves eco-metaphors.
Jannette Sadik-Kahn, commissioner of the New York city Department of Transportation, closed things with the the launching announcement of NACTO’s Cities for Cycling, a new coalition of cities pushing for rapid improvements in bikeway design. Recognizing the lack of federal attention to the issue, the coalition aims to assist transportation planners as they create innovative bikeways by providing them with technical guidance on best practices that have been observed in some of America’s most bicycle friendly cities.
The symposium reception served as a perfect kick-off for today’s congressional briefing. This morning Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclist, led a coalition of top advocates from across the country to brief Congress on how bicycling can be incorporated into the transportation bill and pending jobs legislation. This is a pivotal moment for some very exciting legislation that could potentially result in a brighter future for bike transportation in the US. We’ll keep you posted!
Don’t get caught up in an argument over causation – does walking and biking lead to health, or does good health lead to walking and biking? The causation works both ways in a virtuous cycle.
Darren Flusche League Policy Director
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
Earlier this week on my ride home I stopped at a red light, waiting to make a left turn, when I heard a woman’s voice say, “excuse me.” I ignored it once but she politely persisted, so I finally turned to see a woman in a large four-door sedan with her window all the way rolled down in the lane next to me. I said hello and she asked me if I felt safe on my bike. “Sure,” I said. “Not me. Not enough protection,” she said, gesturing to her car and the traffic around us. Before I had a chance to reply with more than a shrug, the light changed and we were on our way. I believe her. I am sure that woman does not ride because she considers it too dangerous. I’ve been talking to a researcher in New York City who is tired of people asking her why a woman who doesn’t ride her bike around the city would be interested in studying bicycling. Her answer, in large part, is a great desire to ride and a strong discomfort with riding with traffic. These women are alone.
Yesterday, Peter Jacobsen, author of the famous “Safety in numbers” study, Francesca Raccioppi, and Harry Rutter published a paper called “Who owns the roads? How motorized traffic discourages walking and bicycling.” The paper gathers the available evidence on the impact of traffic on levels of active transportation. They found that the “real and perceived danger and discomfort imposed by traffic discourage walking and bicycling. Accurately or not, pedestrians and bicyclists judge injury risk and respond accordingly. Although it can be difficult to measure these effects, observed behavior provides good evidence for these effects, with the strongest association being an inverse correlation between volumes and speeds of traffic and levels of walking and cycling.”
Here are some findings taken straight from the report:
In the USA, 14 percent of people on crosswalks ran rather than walked across the road. In a study of driver behavior at Zebra crossings, only 5 percent of motorists yielded to pedestrians.
When the roadways are equipped with sidewalks, nearly four times as many people walk. More than six times as many people walk along two-lane roads as four-lane roads.
Men and women bicycle as different levels, possibly reflecting different attitudes to risk. In communities with low levels of cycling, more men than women bicycle, but, as the number of bicyclists increases, the sex differences diminish.
For children who live within a mile of school, the share of children walking or bicycling to school dropped from close to 90 percent in 1969 to 31 percent 30 years later.
Alarming as these findings may be, the authors observe that traffic can be made less dangerous and more pleasant with relative ease, compared to changing land use patterns and population density. Traffic calming measures, lower speed limits, congestions pricing, proper bicycling facilities, and otherwise prioritizing the safety of non-motorized users can all be implemented without major changes to infrastructure. And if we make these low impact, low cost changes we can expect higher rates of cyclists; and then increased safety from those numbers.
Finally, the authors rightly question the use of fear-based advertising in safety efforts, calling for more research into the discouraging impact such campaigns have on walking and bicycling. Our friend Mikael at Copenhagenize would agree. If there is a dampening effect then, overall heath can be hurt by reducing physical activity.
UPDATE: A commenter asks what can be done to get city planners in local communities to address these safety concerns. One way is through positive reinforcement. The League of American Bicyclists’ Bicycle Friendly Community program recognizes cities that make an effort to improve cycling conditions. The criteria include provision of safe facilities.
Darren Flusche League Policy Director
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.
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The 
Once the ceremonies were over, I sat in on the tour of the building and an interesting discussion of building codes, energy efficiency, public-private partnerships, and climate policy. By the time the next set of photos were taken with the architect and university folks, there was a bona fide snowstorm going on. I was on the bus back downtown, but I can assure you that Copenhageners are indeed not dissuaded by snow or cold – they just keep on riding.
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