Bicycle Infrastructure

What would it take to change Atlanta into a place that values and celebrates healthy, active transportation? We just may see, in short order.

Leicester is a city of about 330,000 in England's East Midlands region. Like many other cities, it developed big mid-century plans to drive highways through its city center and paved over much of its historic core. In some cases, it even paved over its history: the bones of King Richard III, killed in battle nearby, were recently discovered beneath a parking lot. In the past decade, however, Leicester has unearthed more than just a king; it's also reclaimed space from the automobile and become a model for other cities looking to create more livable communities.

Whenever street space is allocated for bicycling, someone will inevitably level the accusation that the city is waging a “war on cars.” But it turns out the people in those cars want separate space for bicycles too, according to surveys conducted in two major California metropolitan areas. Bike lanes make everyone feel safer -- even drivers.

Across the nation, many big-city mayors of both political parties are embracing bikes and livable streets. As you'll see, Indianapolis' Mayor Greg Ballard, a Republican, believes that making city cycling safer and more enjoyable will attract young people and families and benefit business.

Let’s get one thing clear: People of color ride bikes. They commute to work on bikes. They ride for pleasure. It saves them money and time, and it keeps them healthy.

Beacon Street in Somerville, just outside Boston, is perhaps the most biked route in the state of Massachusetts. It also has a terrible safety record. There have been 154 collisions involving cyclists on the corridor between 2002 and 2010, according to the state Department of Transportation [PDF].

Today is Day Three of the Transportation Research Board’s annual conference. Interested in pavement composition and performance? There are 200 workshops with your name on them.

In central Detroit, on the site of a former railroad, there's a place just for bikes and pedestrians. In many ways, the Dequindre Cut is a cyclist's (or a jogger's) dream: a separated, below-grade bike path that at no point intersects with car traffic. It's wide enough for a two-way cycle track plus a path for pedestrians off to the side, so bicyclists and joggers don't have to compete for space. It goes right through the heart of the city, serving as a passage between two of Detroit's biggest attractions -- the Riverfront and the Eastern Market.

Once again, the National Association of City Transportation Officials has proven what an agile, modern coalition of transportation agencies is capable of. It was just a year and a half ago that NACTO released its first Urban Bikeway Design Guide and today, it's released the first update to that guide.