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Bike Commuting By the Numbers

Compared to Americans, Europeans are way out in front
By Adam Voiland

Transportation planners in the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark have invested heavily in bicycle paths and lanes, discouraged the use of cars, and gone to great efforts to protect the legal rights and safety of cyclists. A few stats:

1 percent of trips in the United States are made on a bicycle. That's 10 percent in Germany, 18 percent in Denmark, and 27 percent in the Netherlands. In Portland, Ore., 3.5 percent of trips to work are made by bike, the highest share among the 50 largest American cities. The lowest: Kansas City, Mo., at a paltry 0.02 percent.

37 percent of short trips (under 2.5 kilometers, or 1.5 miles) are made on a bicycle in the Netherlands, compared with 2 percent in the United States. 1.1 cyclists are killed per 100 million km cycled there; in the United States, 5.8 cyclists are killed per 100 million km.

Motorists are legally responsible for collisions with children and elderly cyclists in the Netherlands and Germany even when cyclists are disobeying traffic rules. (Not generally true here.) However, bicyclists who disobey the rules of the road there are more likely to be ticketed.

Alcohol use, by driver or cyclist, was reported in more than one third of U.S. crashes that resulted in cyclist fatalities in 2006.

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Comfy New Commuter Bikes for Getting Around Town

Neither age nor inexperience need be a barrier to biking
By Adam Voiland

If $4-a-gallon gas has you looking for relief, consider: A concerted effort is underway to attract casual bike riders into the fold. The lure is a range of new commuting bikes that promise to make everyday travel by bicycle as comfortable and fashionable as it is cheap. And if time is the excuse you give for being a bit of a slug, what better way to fit a workout in than to make it your transportation? "It's convenient; it keeps me fit; and it's economical," says Scott Infanger, a professor at the University of North Alabama in Florence, Ala., who regularly bikes his daughter, Elizabeth, 7, to school on the way to his nearby office in an effort to teach her that bicycling is a legitimate way to travel. With Elizabeth hitched behind on a trailer bike, it takes about 10 minutes to get her to school, Infanger says, about the same amount of time the 1½-mile trip takes by car.

In a country where most grown-ups regard bicycles as kid stuff, there are plenty of signs that attitudes are beginning to shift. Bike stores and manufacturers across the nation are reporting a significant uptick lately in sales. "They're selling out of all the commuting bikes—all bikes, by the way—that they can get their hands on," says Bill Fields, a consultant who has followed the bicycle industry for decades and anticipates a 20 percent bump in the "comfort bike" category, which includes commuting bikes, by year's end. Meantime, a bill that will allow employers to offer financial incentives to bicycle commuters is winding its way through the House and Senate. A bike-sharing program launching this month in Washington, D.C., which allows members to use bikes from 10 rental locations with the swipe of a card, has spurred interest in other cities. And, in Austin, Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong recently opened a cycling shop that caters not to racing enthusiasts but to commuters. Barack Obama has met with bicycle advocates and promised to increase funding for bicycling projects.
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Cars and Bikes Can Mix, When the Rules of the Road Are Clear

By JANE E. BRODY
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These are a few of the hundreds of deaths and tens of thousands of injuries suffered by cyclists each year from crashes with motor vehicles. Most of these accidents could be prevented if cyclists and drivers would learn to “share the road,” as a nationwide campaign urges.
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There is some good news. Thanks to the proliferation of designated bike paths and the growing use of helmets, deaths among bicyclists have declined to around 600 a year from about 800. Still, 600 is 600 too many, as are the approximately 46,000 annual injuries that cyclists suffer in crashes with motor vehicles.

Drivers are not always at fault. One study attributed 60 percent of bicycle-motor vehicle accidents to the drivers and 17 percent to cyclists. But another study of crashes involving children on bikes found that 80 percent of those accidents were the fault of the bicyclists.

Learning to share the road safely is especially important in light of efforts to reduce the nation’s energy needs and greenhouse gases and to increase energy expenditure by overweight Americans. More and more people are riding their bikes to work or for exercise, and cities are frantically trying to keep up by building bike paths on or alongside of roadways.

In New York City, the number of cyclists has doubled in the last 20 years, far outpacing the city’s population growth. Prompted by organizations like Transportation Alternatives, the city has created hundreds of bike paths on or near city streets.

If You’re the Driver

Keep in mind that a bicycle is a vehicle and that a person riding one has the same rights as a driver of any other vehicle. Bicycles are legally entitled to use most roads, though they must ride on the shoulder when the speed limit exceeds 50 miles per hour.

Remember, too, that bicycles are hard to see and, unlike drivers, cyclists are unprotected by seat belts, air bags and steel cages.

When approaching a cyclist, slow down. When passing, clear the bike by at least three feet (five feet if you are driving a truck). Check your rearview mirror and be sure you can see the cyclist clearly before moving back into the lane.

Do not blow your horn behind cyclists. It can frighten riders and cause them to swerve.

Don’t follow closely behind a bicycle, which may have to stop or maneuver suddenly to avoid a road hazard that could cause the cyclist to fall.

Be especially wary around young cyclists, including those on sidewalks, who may cross intersections or dart into the road from a driveway or midblock without looking.

Most serious crashes occur at intersections. When turning right, signal well ahead of time, turn from the middle of the intersection rather than across the bike path, and make sure no bike is on your right before you turn. Do not pass a cyclist if you will be turning right immediately after.

In bad weather, give cyclists a wider berth, just as you would do for other drivers.

When waiting to turn left or to proceed from a stop sign, yield to a bicycle that has the right of way. More than half of collisions occur when cyclists and drivers are on perpendicular paths, and three-fourths of these accidents result from a failure to yield the right of way.

Before opening your car door, check your mirror to be sure no bike is approaching. A passenger on the driver’s side should open the door just enough to turn around to see if the path is clear.

Like it or not, bicyclists have the right to “take the lane” under certain conditions:
  • When overtaking a vehicle moving in the same direction.
  • When getting ready to turn left.
  • When a lane is too narrow to share with a car or truck.
  • When there are unsafe conditions on the road like double-parked vehicles, animals, pedestrians and potholes.
If You’re the Cyclist

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How much money you can walk away with when you fix your shoes

By Anne D'innocenzio | The Associated Press
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According to a survey released recently by market research company Nielsen Co., which tracks consumer habits, about two-thirds, or 63 percent, of consumers are cutting spending due to rising gas prices, up 18 percentage points from a year ago.

According to the study, which queried nearly 50,000 consumers by e-mail during the first week of June, 78 percent of them are combining shopping trips and 52 percent are eating out less often. Consumers are also cutting more coupons, doing more of their shopping at supercenters and buying less expensive brands, the survey found.
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Auto executives predict that consumers' newfound appreciation for smaller cars will be permanent, causing major pain at auto plants. Toyota Motor Corp. was among the latest to announce a product overhaul, saying it will shut down truck and SUV production to meet the changing consumer needs.
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Fred Clements, executive director of the National Bicycle Dealers' Association, said consumers stung by $4-per-gallon gas are shifting toward utility bikes and away from recreational versions. That's forcing bike shops to change their inventories and offer more training for consumers who may not have ridden a bike in years, he said.
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"I am seeing a younger crowd who lives in the disposable world," said owner Barbara Steube. "They are learning an economics lesson. They will see the benefit of the savings and how much money they walk away with when they fix their shoes."

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I Want To Ride My Bicycle! Stop That Bus!

By Nikita R Stewart
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Asher Corson, director of communications for Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), found himself pinned between a parked truck and a Metro bus.

The bus driver, Corson said, apparently did not see him as he cycled in the "rightmost lane" on Thursday on H Street NW near the White House. Corson, 24, just purchased his black and gray Cannondale Sunday and was biking from his home in Foggy Bottom to the Wilson Building shortly after 9 a.m.

"I merge over. Right as I merge over, the bus begins to speed up," said Corson, 24, who found himself being squeezed. "Clearly, he didn't see me. Or I guess he didn't see me."

Happy to see that he had suffered only a busted knuckle, Corson said his relief quickly turned to anger when the bus simply pulled off.

Corson jumped up on his bike and caught the driver at the next stop. "I said, Sir, you almost killed me.' At which point, he closed the door," he recalled. "I was..."

This is a family D.C. Wire, Asher.

He again jumped on his bike and at the next stop, he got all the information he needed to file a police report.

Corson said he has learned in his research that the driver was supposed to "stop, call a supervisor, call the police."

"Instead of it being accident, I filed a hit-and-run (report)."

Corson said he's not interested in suing the city or WMATA. He said he just wants "WMATA and bus drivers to pay a little closer attention to bikers."

"If it (the bus) was an inch over, I could have broken my shoulder. If it had been two inches, I could have been dead," he said. "It scared the daylights out of me."

Corson has every intention to "keep on riding."

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Hal (and Kerri) Grade Your Bike Locking (5:43)

Street Films- Nearly five years ago, legendary bike mechanic Hal Ruzal and I walked the streets surrounding Bicycle Habitat and graded the bike locking ability of New Yorkers - producing many humorous and enlightening anecdotes. The resulting video aired frequently on bikeTV and at many festivals, and because of it - Hal is still frequently asked by complete strangers to judge their bike locking.

I always endeavored doing another, but as with most sequels you need a new wrinkle. This time we thought we'd give Hal some company and invited former Recycle a Bicycle mechanic Kerri Martin (and founder of The Bike Church in Asbury Park, NJ) to weigh in with her expertise.

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The National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running

[I will encourage all to sign the petition in the link.]
The National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running is dedicated to reducing the incidence of red light running in the United States and the fatalities and injuries it causes. The Campaign has assembled a team of leaders from the fields of law enforcement, transportation engineering, healthcare and emergency medicine, and traffic safety, to tackle this crucial safety issue.

The National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running aims to better inform the public and their elected officials about the seriousness of this all-too-common danger, as well as the law enforcement practices and tools that can make our roadways safer. The Campaign promotes public education about the core safety issues and provides support for broad, coordinated law enforcement, including red light camera technology.

For example, the Charlotte, North Carolina red light camera program cut violations by more than 70 percent in the first year, and crashes dropped by more than 10 percent citywide, demonstrating that these systems have a positive community-wide impact.

The Campaign is an independent advocacy initiative focused on both the national and grass roots levels and is guided by a National Advisory Board.

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Bumpy roads

WITH petrol the price it is, more and more people are riding a bicycle to work. In Broward County, Florida, about 35,000 people a month typically put their bicycles on a bus bike-rack, thereby shortening a cycle commute. In May of this year, 68,000 people did so. Denver saw 25,000 people register for a recent “bike to work” day, up from 15,000 a year ago. In Seattle cyclists complain about a shortage of bike stands, while in Portland, Oregon, some 6,000 cyclists cross just one of the city’s many bridges each morning.

Bicycle-boosters are thrilled with the sudden popularity of their humble machine. “Ridership is just skyrocketing,” says Elizabeth Preston of the League of American Bicyclists, a Washington, DC, advocacy group (even cyclists have lobbyists these days). Performance Bicycles, a retailer with shops in 15 states, says bicycle sales in June were the highest ever recorded.
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After years of federal and local spending on bike routes and other amenities, most cities are ready to handle more cyclists. But many motorists simply don’t see their two-wheeled brethren or, when they do, find them aggravating. Managing more cyclists is going to take more than new bike paths or fresh stripes on the roads. It looks as though there is a need, on both sides, for a revolution in manners.

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Cycling Back Around

By David Montgomery Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 2, 2008; Page C01

This is the summer of women on bicycles riding around town free as anything, wearing long dresses or skirts, sandals or even high heels, hair flowing helmet-free, pedaling not-too-hard and sitting upright on their old-school bikes, the kind with front baskets where they put their laptops, and handlebars that curve gently back in a bow shaped like the upper line of someone's perfectly drawn red lipstick.

They never appear to sweat. They make you think you are in Paris or Rome. No, they make you think you are in a movie about Paris or Rome.

This is the summer of men rolling down 14th Street NW with briefcases in the grocery pannier, ties flipped back over the shoulder by the breeze, wingtips inserted into toe clips. In the movie version, they would return home at day's end with a baguette under one arm and maybe a bouquet of flowers. Instead, their left hand grips the handle of a Whole Foods bag while their right presses a cellphone to the ear.

This summer in Bicycle Washington, it's back to the future. Old bikes are back, new bikes look old. The riders, too, seem sketched from another age.
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"Somewhere along the line, we made biking a hobby and a sport instead of a way to get around," says Alexandra Dickson, an architect who commutes from Southwest Washington to her downtown office on a blue Breezer Villager that she calls Babe, after Babe the Blue Ox. "I'd like to see it get back to being a way of getting around."

Shopping by bike, she says, "feels more like an adventure than a chore." The other day, she tied a milk crate to her rack, biked to a hardware store on Pennsylvania Avenue and carried home a flat of flowers on the crate.

Riding to the office, sometimes "I wear heels and skirts," she says, "and I'm not the only girl in town who does. It's like, Why not? I'm not running. I'm just using the pads of my feet. . . . People need to see bikers dressed like that, so they can say, 'I can do that.' "
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She says: "When you first take off your training wheels, the first excitement of being allowed to ride to school -- that was the first level of freedom. I think that's something you never lose."
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Driver Kills Radford Cyclist, Merely Loses License Temporarily

- July 27th, 2008 by Matt O'Toole

Fess Green was a friend of mine, so this is difficult to write about. He died April 29 from injuries received in an accident April 23, when 20 year old Ryan Sherman failed to yield to oncoming traffic and made a left turn across Fess’s path.

Ryan Sherman had a history of recklessness behind the wheel — driving too fast for road conditions, and driving “outside restrictions on his license.” (In other words, he probably drove anyway while his license was suspended.) But despite this history, after killing a man, Ryan Sherman received only another temporary suspension of his license, and had to pay only $1500 of a $2500 fine. I am speechless.

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