Tag: Bicycles
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Taking Bicycles Seriously
Bike lanes in Arlington County are not a parks & recreation sideshow — they create transportation options, reduce traffic congestion and promote healthy lifestyles.
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Idea Jam: Bicycles and Community Health
The Richmond metropolitan region has one of the highest obesity rates in the country — 29.4% of the population compared to 26.1% nationally, according to the 2012 Gallup-Healthways Well Being Index. The resulting health care treatment costs the region $520 million a year. Cutting obesity in half would save the regional economy roughly $254 million…
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The Latest in Bicycle Design: Munchkin-Hauling Electric Bikes
If anyone is still skeptical that bicycling will continue to gain transportation market share, consider the new bicycle designs that appeal to every conceivable demographic. The latest case in point: Japan’s Bridgestone, known for its automobile tires, has sold 300,000 of the bicycles (displayed at right) that cater to moms with tots. The electric bike,…
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Yeah, Bike Lanes Actually Do Reduce Cycling Accidents
An interesting view about bicycle safety has long prevailed among traffic engineers: Cyclists are better off in the long run learning to ride in traffic with automobiles than having their own dedicated bike lanes. This counter-intuitive idea can be traced back to a certain John Forester, popularizer of “vehicular cycling,” who argued that bikers should…
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Virginia: A Bike Semi-Friendly State
Virginia has received a 17th-place ranking in the League of American Bicyclists’ 2012 list of bicycle-friendly states, communities, universities and businesses. States and communities are scored on the basis of physical infrastructure, education programs, incentives and promotions, law enforcement and a commitment to plan for the future. Given the recent emergence of a bicycle movement…
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The Bicycle Movement Builds Momentum
Cyclists flexed their muscles — quadruceps and gluts, mostly — as almost 1,000 of them took part Saturday in the “Martin’s Tour” in the Richmond region, a set of 29-, 59- and 102-mile rides around the metropolitan region. (The Times-Dispatch has the story here.) The event, organized by Richmond Sports Backers and sponsored by Martin’s…
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Thinking Big: a “Park in the Sky” over the James River
Two weeks ago Ella Kelley and Mike Hughes ran a brief op-ed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch highlighting their idea for building a “park in the sky” across the James River. Inspired by the success of New York City’s High Line bridge project (pictured above), which converted a 1.45-mile stretch of railroad line slated for demolition…
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The Political Economy of Utility Bicycling
by James A. Bacon Last week Richmond Times-Dispatch Publisher Tom Silvestri asked in a commentary what plans local governments had to make their communities more bicycle friendly. The City of Richmond and County of Henrico responded. Here’s the bottom line: By the year 2015 Richmond plans to have 140 miles of dedicated bike lanes and…
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Richmond Biking Gains Momentum
Having given wall-to-wall coverage of the bicycling fatality of Lanie Kruszewski (see “Richmond’s First Bicycle Martyr“), the Richmond Times-Dispatch has ratcheted up to top gear on its coverage of bicycle issues. Publisher Thomas Silvestri has been plugging bicycle-friendly policies in the weekend op-ed pages for some time, and now even the newsroom is treating it…
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Richmond’s First Bicycle Martyr
by James A. Bacon Authorities recorded 92 fatal bicycle accidents in Virginia between 2004 and 2011, but it wasn’t until Lanie Kruszewski died in a hit-and-run a week ago that bicyclists displayed what could be construed as a political consciousness. For the first time in my memory, large numbers of cyclists are getting assertive, insisting…
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Live Longer, Ride a Bike.
Riding bicycles is safer than most people think, and a whole lot healthier, argues bicycle commuter and activist Tom Bowden. With modest investment, biking could become even safer.