Going by bicycle

Local government and advocacy groups have made noise recently about making the greater Boston area safer and more hospitable to cycling as a form of transportation.

They cite multiple benefits for the cycling transportation option including physical fitness, environmental benefits such as low carbon emissions, and national security benefits such as the reduction of importing oil and gas from middle eastern countries that finance terrorist activities.

People who have not lived in a bicycling culture may not have a sense of its viability. As food for thought consider this video "A shopping trip by bike" from Devid Hembrow in Assen, Netherlands, formerly of Great Britain.

The Netherlands has similar space problems as Boston on city streets and in neighborhoods and yet they've found a way to make the country more hospitable to cycling. A recent study by Pucher and Buehler (Buehler?, Buehler?) at Rutgers University, Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, shows how the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany have made bicycling a safe, convenient and practical way to get around their cities.

Which of the following of these things stands in the way of a bicycle culture in Boston? Are there alternative approaches that would deliver the same benefit? Would addressing some of these issues be a good project for using the infrastructure stimulus package Obama wants to pass early next year?

The key to achieving high levels of cycling appears to be the provision of separate cycling facilities along heavily traveled roads and at intersections, combined with traffic calming of most residential neighborhoods.

Extensive cycling rights of way in the Netherlands,Denmark and Germany are complemented by

• ample bike parking,
• full integration with public transport,
• comprehensive traffic education and
• training of both cyclists and motorists,
• and a wide range of promotional events intended to generate enthusiasm and wide
• public support for cycling.

In addition to their many pro-bike policies and programes, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany make driving expensive as well as inconvenient in central cities through a host of taxes and restrictions on car ownership, use and parking. Moreover, strict land-use policies foster compact, mixed-use developments that generate shorter and thus more bike-able trips. It is the coordinated implementation of this multifaceted, mutually reinforcing set of policies that best explains the success of these three countries in promoting cycling. For comparison, the article portrays the marginal status of cycling in the UK and the USA, where only about 1% of trips are by bike.
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