The League is moving to a preferential voting system for the upcoming board election. In order to test our systems, we ran a survey for our members on our website. We asked you to rank a list of 10 cyclists from 1 to 10, and then used the principles of instant runoff voting (IRV) to determine the all-time best cyclist, and the four runners up, in a trial run of how we’ll elect our five board members. Here’s how the vote was calculated.
In the first ballot, Eddie Merckx had a simple majority of the first place votes, with 68 votes of 133 cast. He’s our best cyclist of all time, and was elected to the five member “best cyclist” board.
First ballot, number of first-place votes
Eddie Merckx 68
Fausto Coppi 1
Gino Bartali 1
Jacques Anquetil 2
Jeannie Longo 16
Lance Armstrong 18
Marshall “Major” Taylor 26
None of the Above 1
Bernard Hinault, Francesco Moser, and Graeme Obree received no first-place votes.
With Merckx already elected to the board, we turned our attention to the second slot. Merckx’s name was removed from all the ballots, redistributing those 68 first place votes to the second name on each of those ballots. While Lance Armstrong had fewer votes than Major Taylor before Merckx’s votes were redistributed, he had the lead when the second ballot began, and he would never look back. Here’s how the vote looked at the beginning of the second round.
First place votes at the beginning of the polling for the second slot
Fausto Coppi 13
Jacques Anquetil 4
Jeannie Longo 30
Lance Armstrong 38
Marshall “Major” Taylor 35
Gino Bartali 5
Bernard Hinault 7
There was no candidate with a majority, so we began removing the cyclists with the fewest first-place votes from the ballots, and redistributing their first place votes to the next cyclists on those ballots. First Obree and Moser, who got no first place votes, were removed, then Anquetil, Bartali and Hinault. Armstrong, Taylor, Longo, and Coppi all gained votes as the runoffs were calculated, but their relative order never changed. Coppi was eliminated in the fifth runoff, leaving three candidates:
First place votes for the second slot, after the elimination of Fausto Coppi
Jeannie Longo 36
Lance Armstrong 50
Marshall “Major” Taylor 46
There were more than enough votes in play when Jeannie Longo was eliminated to put Major Taylor over the top, but her ballots were split equally between Armstrong and Taylor, and Armstrong won the second slot by 4 votes over Major Taylor, almost exactly the difference between the two men at the beginning of the ballot.
Armstrong was then eliminated from all of the ballots to conduct the runoffs for the third slot. The third election was very similar to the second — cyclists were eliminated in the same order, and Major Taylor led from the first ballot to the last.
The instant runoff system played a more interesting role in the election of the fourth candidate to our “board,” following the election of Merckx, Armstrong, and Taylor (and their elimination from the ballots for the remaining two slots.
Vote distribution at the beginning of the fourth runoff election:
Bernard Hinault 22
Fausto Coppi 32
Gino Bartali 6
Graeme Obree 6
Jacques Anquetil 18
Jeannie Longo 46
Bartali and Obree were eliminated first, with the order of elimination being unimportant, since six additional votes would not have saved either man from being the next to be eliminated.
Fourth “board” slot election after the elimination of Bartali and Obree
Bernard Hinault 25
Fausto Coppi 35
Jacques Anquetil 20
Jeannie Longo 50
Jacques Anquetil gained only two votes in the redistribution process, and was the next to be eliminated. Jeannie Longo’s commanding lead suddenly evaporated, as 17 of the redistributed votes went to Fausto Coppi, with only 1 to Longo, and 2 to Hinault. (You’ll note at this point in the process that the total number of votes is shrinking a little, as some ballots are “exhausted” as a result voters who did not rank any of the remaining cyclists.)
Fourth “board” slot election after the elimination of Bartali, Obree, and Anquetil
Bernard Hinault 27
Fausto Coppi 52
Jeannie Longo 51
Hinault’s 27 votes could have cast the result in either direction, but at this point you had to suspect where things were headed: a voting block of fans of European men’s road racing was now setting the pace. And indeed, Coppi received 2/3rds of the reallocated ballots, to win the fourth slot by a 10 vote margin.
Vote counts at the beginning of the runoff for the fifth slot
Bernard Hinault 31
Francesco Moser 1
Gino Bartali 11
Graeme Obree 8
Jacques Anquetil 28
Jeannie Longo 50
Jeannie Longo began the balloting for the fifth board slot with a commanding lead. As her competition were dropped, one by one, she slowly added to her vote total, but Hinault was gaining ground, buoyed by the same voting block that had pushed Coppi into the fourth slot. She did attain the required majority in the final ballot, winning 67 votes to 62 after the elimination of Jacques Anquetil.
Top five cyclists of all time, as voted by League of American Bicyclists members:
Eddie Merckx
Lance Armstrong
Marshall”Major” Taylor
Fausto Coppi
Jeannie Longo
Scott Williams League Director of Membership
Williams joined the League in April 2010. For the four years prior, he worked providing technology consulting and solutions to nonprofit organizations with Community IT Innovators.
I’ve been poring over the 2009 American Community Survey numbers this morning, looking at the 70 largest U.S. cities and their bike to work data. Notwithstanding my colleague Darren’s caveats about the limitations of the data, all of which are valid and important to remember, it’s pretty interesting to see what’s happening at the 60,000 foot level.
For example, some of the “better” cities were worried that after a year of phenomenal growth in 2008, the numbers would look bad in 2009. That didn’t really happen – Portland and Minneapolis dropped 2% and 10% respectively but are still well ahead of the pack of large cities; Portland’s change is well within the margin of error of the survey; and their long term trends are both still really impressive! Overall, it was encouraging to see that there was no decline given many predictions that use would return to its pre-gas price hike level.
From a Bicycle Friendly Community perspective, we were glad to see that some of our newer awardees consolidated their status with good growth: new bronze’s Pittsburgh (76%), Baltimore (72%), Indianapolis (62%), and Tulsa (50%) all posted impressive gains in 2009, as did San Antonio at 25%. There were BIG increases posted in existing BFCs like Colorado Springs (166%) and Lexington, Ky. (137%) and some similarly whopping increases in un-designated cities that are perhaps more surprising – look at Atlanta (111%), Dallas (219%), Raleigh (122%) and Virginia Beach (192%) among the surprises. We weren’t so surprised to see New Orleans (174%), Omaha (151%), Kansas City (53%) and Boston (36%) on the list, as we know how hard they are trying to get on the leader board.
Again, all these numbers are relative. Try finding a Dutch city with a 5.81% mode share for bikes (Portland’s U.S. chart-topping 2009 number); if there is one, it would be considered terribly bike-hostile and would probably be disowned (or given to the Belgians)!
Another thing I looked for: how are my tips for “cities to watch” in the next couple of years doing? Long Beach had a year of consolidation with 6% growth; San Francisco moved ahead of Sacramento with ten percent growth, and would have had Salt Lake City (SLC) right behind them if the latter was just a little bit bigger. Recently upgraded silver level SLC had a 2.65% bike mode share but isn’t one of the 70 largest cities.
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.
Representative Steve LaTourette (R- Cleveland suburbs, Ohio) has become the first Republican to co-sponsor the Complete Streets Act during this Congress. Thanks in large part to Lois Moss, Walk + Roll Cleveland, and local bike shop owners who have been meeting with the Congressman since he made headlines with comments this spring that appeared to question the benefits of bicycling facilities. Back in April, Representative LaTourette made it clear that he fully supports bicycling, writing on his website, “Nothing has changed my ardent support of bike trails, bike lanes and the right of cyclists to share the road.” Now, with his co-sponsorship of the Complete Streets Act, Rep. LaTourette’s actions are backing up his words in a big way.
Because he is on the prestigious House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, his opinions regarding transportation policy and infrastructure spending are important. “Congressman LaTourette has historically been generally supportive of recreational bicycling; agreeing to co-sponsor Complete Streets demonstrates an understanding that bicycling and walking can also be transportation” said Lois Moss, founder of Walk+Roll Cleveland.
The Complete Streets Act would require transportation agencies to adopt specifically defined Complete Streets policies that within two years and apply them to federally funded transportation projects. Further, according to the Complete Streets website, “the bill directs the US Department of Transportation to develop a mechanism to ensure compliance with the bill and to report to Congress on what State DOTs and MPOs are doing to adopt and implement complete streets policies in accordance with the bill.”
Complete Streets and promoting bicycling need not be a partisan issue. And in the past it has not been. Representative Blumenauer likes to refer to it as bike-partisanship. But we recognize that it can sometimes be difficult to get support from both sides of the aisle these days. And so Rep. LaTourette deserves our thanks and support for being the first Republican to publicly support this bill.
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.
Despite predictions that the number of Americans biking to work would fall after gas prices returned to ‘normal’ in 2009, the percentage has held steady at 0.55 percent. The Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFC) among the 70 largest cities also held steady with a 1 percent increase, while non-BFCs increased their commuter share by 26 percent. BFC cities still have on average about twice the percentage of commuters as non-BFC cities.
The numbers on these tables are estimates produced by the US Census Bureau based on samples of the population. There can be a large margin of error, especially for the smaller cities. See below for a discussion of the limitations of the ACS methodology.
About the American Community Survey and its limitations
The Census Bureau has released American Community Survey data for over 6,600 geographic areas that meet the 65,000 population threshold. Population sizes are based on July 1, 2009 population estimates from the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Program, for most legal geographic areas.
The American Community Survey is the country’s largest household survey with an annual sample size of about 3 million addresses. The survey uses questionnaires and interviews to gather information on demographic, economic, and housing characteristics, including journey to work information. Annual estimates are available for geographic areas with populations of 65,000 or more, although because of limited sample sizes, bike commuting estimates are not available for all of those locations. The ACS replaces the Census Long Form questionnaire, which was given to one in six Census-takers every ten years.
Using the decennial Census and the annual American Community Surveys, the U.S. Census bureau has asked the same question about means of travel to work over time, making it is one of the best sources for tracking trends in bicycling to work levels. However, there are several limitations to using the ACS as a measure of bicycling levels. Bicycling’s share of all trips is nearly three time large than bicycling’s share of commuter travel — the 2000 Census estimated that 0.34 percent of American workers usually bike to work, in contrast, the 2001 National Household Transportation Survey (NHTS) estimated that 0.9 percent of all trips were made by bicycle — therefore, the ACS bicycle commuter percentage should not be interpreted as equivalent to the proportion of all trips.
In addition, the ACS and the decennial Census undercount bicycle commuting levels. They ask for the principal mode of travel the worker usually used to get from home to work during the previous week.
Workers were asked to list only the means of transportation they used on the largest number of days in that week. This means that if the respondent rode a bicycle to work two days but drove three, they would not be counted as a cyclist. Likewise, workers were asked only for the means of transportation used for the longest distance during the trips. If someone biked one mile to a bus stop and rode the bus for two miles they would not be recorded as a bicyclist.
Finally, it is important to note that the results of the ACS (and the Census long form) are only estimates based on population samples. The ACS releases an estimate of the number of workers 16 years old and over and the estimated number of workers who used each mode (drive alone, car-pool, public transportation, walk, bike, taxi, or motorcycle). The estimates are used to calculate the share of workers using each mode. Along with these estimates, the ACS publishes the margin of error, a range within which they can be 90 percent confident that the true number falls. For example, the in 2008 ACS estimated with 90 percent confidence that the number of bicycle commuters in New York City was between 21,162 and 27,694. The given estimate is 24,428 with a +/- range of 3,266. For communities with low counts of bicycle commuters this range can be quite large, in few cases the +/- range can be as large as the estimated number of bike commuters. Plano, Texas, for example, has an estimate of 230 and a +/- range of 235, meaning the ACS estimates with 90 percent confidence that the actual number of bike commuters is between zero (since negative five is impossible) and 465. For simplicity’s sake, these tables use the mid-point in the range, but when reading the tables, keep in mind that all percentages are in fact just estimates, some with large margins of error.
Notes:
As stated above, the ACS numbers are estimates – differences among years or cities may not be statistically significant.
These numbers are based on the “principal city,” not the larger Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).
Population numbers in the tables have been updated to reflect the Census Bureau population estimates.
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.
Big news on the proposed St. Charles County bike ban.
County Councilmember Jerry Daugherty has removed his support for Bill 3620, which would ban bicycling on key routes through St. Charles County, MO. With that, the threat of a bicycle ban is essentially over. Thanks to everyone who took action to help stop this ban including St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation, Missouri Bicycle& Pedestrian Federation and TrailNet. Extra special thanks to local cyclists and bike shop owners who spoke out in public meetings against the proposed bans. Your hard work not only benefits other local cyclists, but the cycling community as a whole.
Though the proposed ban may be behind us, the fight for fair treatment in St. Charles still remains. Since the introduction of the bike ban bill, other bills have been put forth calling for items such as flags, mirrors and other non-standard equipment for bikes; a requirement to ride 20 inches from the fog line; and a low cap on organized rides unless a special permit is acquired. Like the proposed ban, these requirements would only be along specific state-owned roadways within the county, are inconsistent with current state codes and have been proposed with little to no input from the bicycling community. Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation has put forth its own set of changes to St. Charles County law. Action is still needed from local St. Charles County cyclists! Please attend the next County Council meeting Monday, Sept. 27 at Council Chambers at 7:00 p.m.
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 is announcing 63 new Bicycle Friendly Businesses (BFB) and eight renewing BFBs today, September 23 at Interbike in Las Vegas during the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) Industry Breakfast in the Sands Expo Rooms 106‐107. This round of awards was especially noteworthy because of the number of awardees and because “we’re seeing a growing relationship between Bicycle Friendly Communities and BFBs,” said Andy Clarke, president of the League. “Typically what is good for businesses is good for communities, in terms of bicycling.” We are proud to award three local governments the BFB designation – Bloomington City Hall, Ind.; Arlington County Government, Va.; and the City of Fayetteville, Ark.
There was a 45 percent increase in applications this cycle from the last BFB cycle. “Businesses across the country, from hospitals to telecommunications firms, are using the BFB program to measure their bicycle friendliness and to get the tools they need to better promote bicycling,” said Bill Nesper, Director of the Bicycle Friendly America program. “The BFB program has inspired companies to use bicycling as a simple way to improve worker health and satisfaction while promoting sustainability and social responsibility.” Currently, there are 196 awardees in 31 states that span a wide range of industries.
This is the fifth BFB announcement since the program’s inception in 2008 when the League announced the first 13 designees. BFB recipients promote bicycling into their business culture and give employees and customers the opportunity to be active stewards of their personal and environmental health through bicycling.
“BFBs are innovative businesses that demonstrate their commitment to encouraging healthy lifestyles, creating more affordable transportation, and leading the way in sustainable business practices and environmental stewardship,” said Andy Clarke, League President.
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.
If you are a member of the League or signed up for our e-newsletter, you may have already heard from us on this topic, so consider this a reminder. If not, become a member today and sign up for our American Bicyclist Updates.
In recent years, the bicycle industry has stepped up to support our advocacy and education programs like never before. Much of that leadership has come from Bikes Belong, the industry’s advocacy and education organization. We realize that we have a common interest in getting more people on bikes more often and more safely, and we know we need every voice we can muster to have an impact at the Federal, state and local level. That’s why I am writing to you today to ask for your help.
Bikes Belong recently launched a new effort to unite one million voices to improve bicycling in the United States. It simply asks people to sign a pledge in support of biking. The campaign is called Peopleforbikes.org, and the goal is to help make our nation a better place to ride by sending a powerful message to our elected leaders, the media, and the public that bicycling is important and should be promoted.
I have signed the pledge. To date, more than 90,000 people across the country have signed the pledge, including Lance Armstrong, Gary Fisher, and bike-friendly Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak.
So please take a moment to visit the website and sign the pledge. It is quick and easy. You will help the future of biking and ultimately you will be enhancing the work of the League. All the campaign needs is your name and email address: www.peopleforbikes.org/signpledge
Tim Blumenthal, Bikes Belong’s executive director, wrote me to say “Imagine the power of combining the voices of the League members with those of other bicycling organizations as well as those of individuals who have yet to get involved but already love bicycling. If Peopleforbikes.org can engage one million people to support bicycling that is safer, more convenient, and more appealing for everyone, Washington will listen. This will boost our platform when the next federal transportation bill finally takes center stage. It will also introduce thousands of pro-bike Americans to our organizations and our important work.”
Let’s help push the number of signatures over the 100,000 mark THIS WEEK while the industry is gathered in Las Vegas for their annual trade show! Let’s show them the League is right behind their work just as they have shown their support for us.
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.
There has a lot been going on with Distracted Driving lately. The Secretary of Transportation is holding his second National Distracted Driving Summit this week to draw attention to the issue, share research and campaign best practices. Our advocacy director, Walter Finch, is there. Hopefully, he’ll have an opportunity to let people know about our efforts and research.
We also presented on Distracted Driving at the Pro-Walk/Pro-Bike Conference last week. We had a great panel with Carmen Hayes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA,) Every Day from the Bicycle Alliance of Washington, and Dr. Roger Thompson, a Criminal Justice faculty member at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Thank you to all of them and to those who contributed to the very good discussion.
Finally, League President Andy Clarke has been busy on Distracted Driving recently, too. The National Journal asked its Transportation Experts to weigh in on Distracted Driving: “Are there reasonable limits on such laws’ scope, such as allowances for gridlock? Is there a solution for the “traditional” distractions, such as talking with passengers? Should distracted driving be a primary offense or a secondary offense — or neither? Are there promising prevention strategies that merit wider use?”
Secretary LaHood was the first to reply. Among other things, he provided an update on the DOTs two pilot enforcement campaigns: “Our pilot programs with police departments in Syracuse and Hartford are reporting that high-visibility enforcement combined with stepped-up public service announcements has resulted in declines in driver cell phone use of 38% in Syracuse and 56% in Hartford. The data on texting in those cities is even more impressive with texting down 42% in Syracuse and a very promising 68% in Hartford.”
Greg Cohen, the president of the American Highway Users Alliance, starts out by saying, “We can all agree on the need to combat distracted driving.” Great. But then he went on to say, “Yet if we are honest, we should admit that we all get distracted sometimes. Hopefully an educated group of “transportation experts” on this blog has put down the cellphone and blackberry while driving. But the reality is that we will continue to make mistakes — enforced legislation and education can only go so far to stop them. So we need to do more than try to stop all distractions — we need to embrace the many engineering solutions that focus on preventing crashes, injurires, and fatalities caused by the distractions that, under any realistic scenario, will continue to occur.” That’s what got Andy going.
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.
I can’t think of a much better way to spend a gorgeous Monday morning than showing up to an event where several hundred spiffy new red bikes are lined up outside the US Department of Transportation headquarters ready to be ridden. Today was the launch of the Capital Bikeshare program – DC’s long-awaited expanded bike sharing program that will have 1,100 bikes in 100 stations around DC and Arlington. On hand for the launch was outgoing DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, DC delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, Arlington County board member Jay Fissette, and the USDOT Assistant Secretary for Transportation Polly Trottenberg – and of course they all had glowing things to say about the project. Which was a good thing because the BIXI public bike folks from Montreal were also there in force. Roger Plamondon, chairman of the board for the Public Bike System Company spoke about the impact of such programs on people in cities around the world.
Then we got to ride! In a cunning plan, the organizers had convoys of riders deliver bikes to the stations around the city. I rode with Group 6 over to the RFK Stadium location, led by Caron Whitaker of America Bikes fame and in the esteemed company of Mr Plamondon and Alain Ayotte, president of the company. We learned about the impact of having 3 million trips on the Montreal system this year (incredible); the feedback they are getting from riders (fantastic); and the interest from cities around the world (phenomenal).
So a big thanks to the District Department of Transportation, Arlington County, Alta Bike Share, and everyone involved in pulling this off. And thanks for a great way to start the week.
The Bixi staff
Here’s a video showing you how to use the system. (Thanks WashCycle.)
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.
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.
The League announced 18 new Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFC) and eight renewing BFCs at the Pro Walk/Pro Bike Conference yesterday, September 15. See the complete list of BFCs here.
“The most exciting thing about this round of awards was seeing communities that had implemented past feedback, improved their communities, and achieved a Bicycle Friendly Community designation,” said Andy Clarke, League president.
The third time was the charm for the Charm City, Baltimore, Md. and Knoxville, Tenn. Both received the bronze designation after previously receiving the Honorable Mention the past two times they applied. Other communities climbing the BFC ranks this round include Bloomington, Ind. and Carrboro, N.C., all of which moved from Bronze to Silver designations. Denver, Colo. is another thrilling success story – they rejoined the ranks of silver communities after having been downgraded to bronze for the past five years.
Climate Action Plans are strategic and comprehensive tools to combat climate change by reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. They are being written and implemented by cities, states, and universities in lieu of aggressive federal action. Bicycling is a convenient, enjoyable, and efficient way to make short trips – 40 percent of all trips in the United States are two miles or less – and it does not emit CO2. As a result, policymakers are increasingly turning to promoting bicycling as a way to meet GHG reduction targets.
Bicycling advocates can help shape Climate Action Plans to include pro‐bicycling policies. Using case studies and examples from existing plans, this report examines: 1. how pro‐bicycling policies have been written into the Climate Action Plans of states, cities, and universities, 2. examples of plans that include bicycling, 3. how bicycling advocates can best support these efforts, and 4. how to ensure that governments follow through on the promises made in their plans.
Bicycling language in Climate Action Plans varies, but here are some key points to advocate for:
VMT and GHG reduction targets – plans should identify vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reduction targets to reach GHG reduction targets. They can also include ambitious bicycle mode‐share targets.
Complete the network – plans should call for the prompt completion of the Bicycle Master Plan, if one exists, or the creation and implementation of one, if not. Improvements to inadequate plans should also be called for.
Funding – plans should include increased funding bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
Design practices – plans should call for Complete Streets policies that require the consideration of the needs of all users, and Smart Growth policies that encourage high‐density and multi‐modal land‐use planning. Some plans include incentives or requirements for new buildings to provide showers and changing facilities and secure bicycle parking.
Experienced advocates and climate planning experts recommend that advocates follow these steps:
The process – Know what the public input process is; offer your advice as an expert
The people – Know who is writing the plan; build relationships with the officials
The plan – Contribute ideas, especially existing, well thought‐out ones with quantifiable results
The public – Conduct outreach and build support for the plan
The product – Use the plan to make things happen; integrate the plan into the operating culture of the agency
Read the full report for much more detail and case studies of bicycling advocates who have helped improve their Climate Action Plans.
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.
Thanks to all who responded to our action alert on rumble strips- you have helped get the attention of state transportation agencies across the country. We’ve had some great results:
Pennsylvania DOT is now working with our colleagues at Pennsylvania Walks and Bikes on a strategy and timeline to remediate improperly installed rumbles along the state’s highways.
Ohio DOT is now reaching out to advocates in the state for input on a new edgeline rumble stripe guidance and the issue has even picked up some relatively pro-bike press.
Maryland and Oregon are reaching out to us and state advocates for input on updates to their policies.
Arkansas Dept. of Highways Chief Engineer stated at a conference that they would be clarifying current guidance and developing improved policy- citing response from cyclists as the motivation.
And the list could go on. Yet despite these improvements and new opportunities to have our voices heard, we must keep the pressure up and be vigilant that even where there are good policies in place, that they are followed correctly. Not everyone has won their battle on rumble strips yet. For example, Kansas cycling advocates continue to push for improvements and have created their own action alert here. Also, fresh off some big campaign victories the League of Michigan Bicyclists are making rumble strips one of their priorities.
We’d also be remiss not to mention states like Arizona, Maine, Tennessee, Wisconsin and others who were doing the right thing already, and have led the way on improved designs, creating model practices for us to share with other state. You can read about them in our Advocacy Advance report Bicycles and Rumble Strips- Problems for Cyclists .
Our work also continues at the federal level. The League, Alliance, Adventure Cycling and USA Cycling have collectively been working to improve FHWA guidance and leadership on the issue. FHWA has sent emails to state field staff reminding them of their guidance on accommodating cyclists when planning for rumble strips. We are also pushing for an improved technical advisory regarding rumbles. We’ll keep you updated on our progress.
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 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) National Center for Statistics and Analysis has released new fatality data for 2009. While it’s still hard to fathom that more than 33,000 people were killed in our streets last year, the trend is in the right direction. The total number of traffic fatalities dropped 9.7% from 37,423 to 33,808. Cyclist fatalities dropped somewhat faster: a 12% decline from 718 in 2008 to 630 in 2009. One disappointment is that pedestrian fatalities declined at a slower rate than the others, lowering 7.3% from 4,414 to 4,092.
It’s encouraging that fatalities are down, but what was the cause? NHTSA published a table that includes a line for the fatality rate, showing fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles travels. This line shows that fatalities are down, despite a slight increase in vehicle miles traveled, VMT. (This paragraph was edited to correct an earlier error.)
So, what about cyclists? Once again we run in data collection problems. While the DOT carefully estimates auto VMT, we are still stuck with feeble data on bicycling rates — and none have been released for 2009. Bicycle commuting jumped up in 2008. Was that a spike or did the trend continue into 2009? If the increase continued, then the fatality rate would have lowered and that would be good news. Stay tuned for the future release of the American Community Survey commuter data for 2009.
Injuries, based on estimates from the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) General Estimates System (GES), declined for pedestrians to a statistically significant degree, but not for cyclists. So why are we seeing a decrease in cyclist fatalities but not in injuries?
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.
Every round of Bicycle Friendly Community applications seems to have its own story. The last couple of rounds, for example, have seen some really encouraging applications from a whole bunch of larger mid-western cities who are getting with the program – rather than the plethora of smaller western college-towns that dominated some of the earlier rounds. The emergence of communities with really strong mountain bike and off-road credentials enlivened the program beginning a couple of years ago.
We’ve just been poring over no fewer than 48 new and eight renewal applications from the latest round of contenders, which is actually a story unto itself as we continue to see a better than 20 percent annual growth in applicants. The issue that struck me is that for some reason this set of applicants included a lot of places that have been handed some great assets of which they honestly aren’t taking very good advantage. Without naming names – because a) you have to wait til the official announcement of the latest BFCs in a couple of weeks, and b) we don’t publish the list of unsuccessful applicants – we saw communities with perfect year-round weather, well-educated and wealthy populations, large student populations, and relatively dense land use patterns (sometimes several of these attributes). Santa Barbara, Calif. ; Davis, Calif.; and Boulder, Colo. are examples of BFCs that are really taking advantage of these kinds of assets.
We heard from places with well-established and extensive bikeway networks; all manner of great rides and events; pancake-flat terrain; and even some with already high (by US standards) levels of bike use…and yet I found myself wondering why two or three times more people weren’t out riding in these places. They could be SO much better.
Fortunately, one of the other great storylines from the BFC program is that communities are generally hungry for the feedback we give them – regardless of whether they get an award of some kind or not. So I expect that the feedback to a lot of places this time around will be along the lines of “look around you, see how good you’ve got it, let’s figure out how to step up and take advantage of these things”, so that a year or two from now I’ll be writing “wow, look at all these gold and platinum level communities.”
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.
One constant in policymaking, from the Progressive Era through the New Deal up to today, is the need to support policy proposals with data. Policymakers are expected to quantify the extent of a problem and measure the impacts of policy interventions. Just look at the curriculum of a public policy graduate program today and you will see that it is heavily weighted toward quantitative analysis. While this approach increases our knowledge and our ability to make informed decisions and generally leads to greater government accountability, it does present a challenge for bicycling given the current dearth of data collected on bicycling. (To give just one example of the feeble state on data on bicycling, bikes appear just twice in this 385 page catalogue of “transportation energy data.” Despite their limitations, the Census’ American Community Survey and the National Household Travel Survey remain the best sources on bicycling levels.)
For many of us, the health benefits of bicycling may seem self-evident. After all, traveling by foot and by bicycle requires a physical exertion not needed to drive a car. However, for policy purposes these benefits need to quantified and demonstrated empirically. Researchers Pucher, Buehler, Bassett, and Dannenburg, recently released a study called “Walking and Cycling to Health: A comparative analysis of city, state, and international data,” which uses existing data on health and active transportation to show that higher rates of walking and biking are correlated with lower rates of self-reported obesity at the city, state, and country level. At the city level, active travel has a negative relationship with diabetes, meaning that cities with higher biking and walking rates have generally lower rates of diabetes.
For those interested in statistics, in both figures above, the solid line is the log regression line for the fifty states and the dashed line is the regression line for 47 of the 50 largest cities. The direction of line shows the inverse relationship between biking and walking (the x-axis in both figures) and obesity (the y-axis in the top figure) and diabetes rates (the y-axis in the bottom figure). The relationship is statistically significant at p<0.001 for cities and states for obesity and for states in diabetes. The relationship is significant at p<0.01 for cities for diabetes.
The results effectively show the direction of the relationship. Cities and states with higher levels of biking and walking have lower levels of obesity and diabetes. This may be enough to encourage communities to promote walking and biking. However, the data constraints limit the conclusions that can be drawn from this particular study. First, the data are cross-sectional, a snapshot of one moment, and therefore they cannot tell us anything about change over time. Secondly, the data are aggregated, which means that they speak to population-wide characteristics, not individual results. Third, data were not available to account for other factors that may have contributed to biking and walking levels and health status. For example, they did not take into account diet or family medical history. Finally, even if such data had been available, the relatively small sample sizes would have made it difficult to get statistically significant results if they had added control variables . These data limitations reinforce the need for better data collection.
In a related study, “Evaluating Public Transportation Health Benefits,” Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute reports on the health benefits of living in transit-oriented and mixed used neighborhoods. Litman finds that high quality public transportation and walkable and bikable mixed-use communities located around transit stations reduce traffic crashes and pollution emissions, increase physical fitness, improve mental health, improve basic access to medical care and healthy food and increase affordability.
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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