Biking stuff

1. Electric biking. I think a lot of the energy on marketing electric bikes, by locating stores in center cities (such as the now closed store in Fells Point in Baltimore), has been misplaced. I think the opportunity that electric biking provides is for longer distance trips, especially commuting trips, say from 5 to 15 miles from the primary destination for work or school, which is a distance that most people are not normally willing to bicycle.

Yesterday's Baltimore Sun has an article, "Electric bicycle gives commuter a boost on 22-mile way to work," about a guy using an electric bike to commute quite a long distance to and from work. (Although the bike isn't cheap, $8,000. There are less expensive alternatives.)

2. The story in the New York Times about backlash against bike lanes, "Bike Lanes' Growth in New York Brings Backlash," reports on a phenomenon that is not dissimilar from the backlash locally, which is acknowledged in this Post article, "Bicycle program makes District easier place to get around, residents say."

If you look at the reporting across the country, in most places, people who drive are resisting improvements to other ways of getting around, mostly bicycling but also transit.

But this shouldn't be a surprise.

It's been a 40 year process to improve the biking environment in places like Amsterdam and Copenhagen, so that now after a post-war drop in biking and an increase in the use of automobiles, as many as 40% of daily trips are conducted by bicycle.

We have to recognize that we face a similarly long process here, and we are likely to continue to face a great deal of resistance by neighborhood groups and automobile companies, road builders, and lobbying organizations such as the American Automobile Association.

3. One of the statements that people use against biking and streetcars is that somehow these are not 21st century technologies--like the automobile, all technically are 19th century technologies.

The real issue is optimal mobility. Zurich, with its streetcar dominant mobility system, probably has the most efficient mobility system in the world. But it's not about the technologies, it's about the spatial organization of the city, and how optimal mobility is based on walking, transit, and biking, rather than the automobile.

4. There is an interesting NPR story, "Switching Gears: More Commuters Bike To Work," focusing on how the CEO of National Geographic is a bicyclist, and how he encourages bicycling by offering employees the opportunity to talk with him outside of the office by biking with him during lunch.
Caption: National Geographic Society CEO John Fahey talks with colleague Dan Westergren, who is also an avid cyclist. Photo: Maggie Starbard/NPR. From the article:

One way National Geographic staffers in Washington, D.C., can get to know their company's CEO is to take him up on his long-standing offer: to go for a lunchtime bike ride.

"Anyone still downstairs? OK, so we ready to go, guys?" National Geographic Society CEO John Fahey asks a group of about 20 employees

Fahey, an avid biker, says he's just trying to encourage a little exercise — and he wants the opportunity to get to know folks informally. As the group makes the 15-mile trek to Hains Point along the Potomac River and back, Fahey makes a point of chatting with everyone, staffers say.

At National Geographic — which is a hub of outdoorsy, adventure-seeking types who think nothing of biking busy city streets — lots of the staffers who join Fahey for the lunchtime rides also use their bikes to get to and from work every day.

By modeling this kind of behavior at the top, more people are likely to take up biking within organizations.

Amongst other places, sustainable transportation programming needs to be delivered at the level of the individual worksite and school site in order to get significant take up.

5. From a press release:

Casey Trees and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy gear up to beautify Metropolitan Branch Trail
Improvements aimed to encourage greater use of trail for exercise, transportation and recreation.

(Washington, DC – November 30, 2010) Casey Trees will plant 25 trees along the newly extended Metropolitan Branch Trail in Edgewood on December 11. Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC), with funding from The Coca-Cola Foundation, is sponsoring the planting through a special Project Support Grant.

Project Support Grant funds will support two tree planting events.

The upcoming fall planting will add native tree species, including Cherokee sweetgum, Kentucky yellowwood and Eastern Redbud, on the stretch of trail between 8th and Edgewood Streets NE and Rhode Island Avenue NE. Four complementary species — paperbark maple, crapemyrtle, golden rain tree and saucer magnolia — will be planted at 4th and S Streets NE. The spring 2011 planting — date to be determined — will add 10 fruit trees at the trail entrance just north of Rhode Island Avenue NE.

Trees from both plantings will be watered and cared for by Casey Trees’ Water By-Cycle and High School Summer Crew programs the first two summers following the plantings. Casey Trees’ new headquarters at 3030 and 3015 12th Street NE are located near the trail.

Initial structural and non-tree vegetation improvements along the trail were made during the District of Columbia Building Industry Association’s (DCBIA) Community Improvement Day on October 2.

Volunteers from Casey Trees, RTC and Vanguard Realty Group will help plant the trees.