Morning Metro: Bike City USA, Walk and Roll and I-85 Toll-sanity
Decatur Metro | October 3, 2011- Why Minneapolis is the bike capital of America [grist]
- No screaming headlines yet, but Lanier’s water level is getting low again [AJC]
- Walk and Roll Pep Rally – October 4th [CSD]
- 11alive’s Doug Richards is blushing [LAF]
- We say we want salads, but burgers are what’s sellin’ [AP]
- Lauren moves to Scotland and Catherine goes dog-wild! [AsianCajuns]
- The most confusing toll lanes in the world first rush-hour test [AJC]
Latest from Decaturish
Minneapolis looks like they have it really going on. However, I wonder. They have really, really long and really, really cold winters, right?
They cross-country ski everywhere then. Ditto for Anchorage, Alaska. Snow and level ground are great facilitators of self-propelled transportation! Skis are not as fast as bicycles but one can really make time on them, especially if there are set tracks.
And skis are a lot easier than a bike to stash in the corner of your office during the day.
And a lot of intrepid souls bike all winter on studded tires.
Just like this guy.
Wow, that dude goes through a lot of trouble for a 2 mile ride. It must take longer to put on all the stuff than it does to ride to work.
Yes they do, but they also have very mild summers. One major obstacle to getting more people biking in Atlanta is the weather. In MN you can ride 5 miles and not need to change your clothes afterwards. Here, not so much.
I have never been there so I don’t know, but I wonder if it’s any flatter than Decatur/Atlanta?
If a combo of decent riding weather, and easy road conditions (not too many major hills) meant tons of people were on their bikes already, then there’s probably more acceptance than push-back, for projects like this. Not trying to discount their efforts, it looks like they put serious thought into making it work.
It’s definitely flatter! We are in the Piedmont; downtown Minneapolis is flat terrain.
In trying to corroborate this impression, I came across this interesting article: “Bicycling renaissance in North America? An update and re-appraisal of cycling trends and policies” by John Pucher, Ralph Buehler, Mark Seinen; journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/tra.
“This paper reviews trends in cycling levels, safety, and policies in Canada and the USA over
the past two decades. We analyze aggregate data for the two countries as well as cityspecific
case study data for nine large cities (Chicago, Minneapolis, Montréal, New York,
Portland, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington). Cycling levels have
increased in both the USA and Canada, while cyclist fatalities have fallen. There is much
spatial variation and socioeconomic inequality in cycling rates. The bike share of work
commuters is more than twice as high in Canada as in the USA, and is higher in the western
parts of both countries. Cycling is concentrated in central cities, especially near universities
and in gentrified neighborhoods near the city center. Almost all the growth in cycling in the
USA has been among men between 25–64 years old, while cycling rates have remained
steady among women and fallen sharply for children. Cycling rates have risen much faster
in the nine case study cities than in their countries as a whole, at least doubling in all the
cities since 1990. They have implemented a wide range of infrastructure and programs to
promote cycling and increase cycling safety: expanded and improved bike lanes and paths,
traffic calming, parking, bike-transit integration, bike sharing, training programs, and promotional
events. We describe the specific accomplishments of the nine case study cities,
focusing on each city’s innovations and lessons for other cities trying to increase cycling.
Portland’s comprehensive package of cycling policies has succeeded in raising cycling levels
6-fold and provides an example that other North American cities can follow.”
2011 Elsevier Ltd.
Sorry if this has already been posted.
+1. They don’t call it the Plains for nothing
Think Fargo, the movie, except with a big downtown area. Last time I was there, I enjoyed the wide biking/jogging pathways along the river (both sides of the river, as well as across the river), that seemed to go on forever. You could look up and see the city (and the trees), since you are near the level of the river’s banks.
But for their winters, they’ve had to build above-street-level pedestrian walkways (heated) that connect major buildings in the heart of downtown. Otherwise, people would never leave their offices. I doubt the biking/jogging trails get used a lot then, but I could be wrong.
The banner says Rock and Roll To School’s pep rally is on Tuesday, the 4th. The event is the following day, Wednesday.
Nice, if cool, weather for family walking and cycling.