May is Bike to Work month

From Portland Oregon's Department of Transportation website.

Joyce Marin, an elected official in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, writes:

In the trains vs. buses debate, think about role of bikes in getting people from point A to point B and how they interact as a linking tool to transit.

Make a commitment to bicycle access to your communities. May is Bike to Work Month, a good time to remember that many people would commute by bike if only the physical environment of our communities didn't make it so difficult anddangerous. In many cases this is so only because no one was thinking of cyclists when they made all of the decisions. Many times the investment in bicycle infrastructure is so low, comparatively, that it is laughable-- and a shame that no one at the table considers it.

Bicycle infrastructure is a few bike racks*. It's a wider shoulder on your approach to town. It's some covered bicycle parking near the transit. It's bike racks on the buses. It's a few "Share the Road" signs in key places. A well written Transportation Enhancement grant will pay 100% of hard costs of at least some of these improvements. (*Unlike Arlington County Virginia, DC doesn't require that new office buildings install bike racks and showers. Few office buildings install bike racks outside, and DC's plan to go to a different kind of parking meter system--with one mid-block unit rather than poled parking meters along the street--will reduce the number of available places to lock bikes in commercial areas.)

Riding a bike more will at least give you a sensitivity to the issues. I recommend it. For your wallet, your waistline and your health, too. Some resources for those who want to give bike commuting a try:

Bike to Work The person who wrote the commuting guide is a friend of mine. It's good. And Lance Armstrong says, "Do it."

League of American Cyclists' webpage with lots of good information, including some stuff of interest to New Urbanists, like getting your community designated as a bicycle-friendly community

Bike Month. For people who want to organize their whole community into bike commuting. Ambitious for this year, but possible for anyone to make a difference by May, 2006, when who knows what the price of gas will be.
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Of course, in DC we have the great Washington Area Bicyclist Association.