Blog
Last Friday, the League hosted a live discussion about the term “invisible cyclist” with Dr. Stephen Zavestoski, of the University of San Francisco; Najah Shakir, of Boston Bikes; Do Lee, of the Biking Public Project; and Erick Huerta, of Multicultural Communities for Mobility.
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Their claim that bicycling has become much more dangerous is based on only data from 2010 to 2012 and is extremely misleading. Using official data from the US Department of Transportation, the total number of bike trips more than tripled from 1,272 million in 1977 to 4,081 million in 2009. During the same period, the number of cyclist fatalities fell from 922 in 1977 to 628 in 2009, a decrease of 32%. Taking into account the increased level of cycling, the cyclist fatality rate fell by a dramatic 79%. In short, cycling has become roughly four times safer per bike trip over the past three decades.
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Scores of you have already declared: I Bike, I Vote. With Election Day just a week away, join us in recognizing that bikes bring us together, uniting us across political lines for a common bipartisan goal: Building a bicycle friendly America for everyone. Whether or not you bike to your polling place on election day, you are a citizen cyclist — and your values for safer streets makes a difference no matter who’s on the ballot.
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The current federal transportation bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) was a two-year bill that started on October 1, 2012. Two years later, MAP-21 was set to expire on October 1, 2014 but has received a slight extension through May 31, 2015. This week, Advocacy Advance held a webinar looking back on MAP-21, and looking ahead to what’s next for federal transportation funding for bicycling and walking.
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Under current law people who drive to work get almost twice the parking benefit as transit riders get for transit. It’s time for Congress to respect ALL commuters. Starting this past January, transit benefits slipped from $245 a month to $130, and parking benefits increased from $245 to $250. Meanwhile, the bike benefit stayed at $20 a month — but under a current bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, the bike benefit would be repealed all together.
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If all you read was the press release of a new report by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), “Bicyclist Safety,” you would be forgiven if your take-away was: More bicyclists are being killed on American roads but they’re mostly helmet-less drunks — and there aren’t enough deaths to make it a national issue anyway. The tone-deaf press release focuses on the share of fatalities of helmet-less riders and those with a high blood-alcohol level, without a single mention of speeding or driving behavior, and only a passing reference to Complete Streets.
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At the University of Vermont, the word “BUG” has a whole new meaning. Last week, we announced our latest round of Bicycle Friendly Universities, including the University of Vermont, a new Silver-level BFU. Vermont advanced from Bronze this round, and the program now has 100 BFUs in 37 states and Washington, D.C.
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Electric bikes are undeniably part of a future in which bicycles are a common transportation solution for all types of people. As members of the League, or people interested in bicycling, you have a wealth of bicycling experience that’s important to our efforts in effectively integrating these new vehicles into our laws, infrastructure and culture. Please help us by completing our survey and sharing your thoughts.
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Earlier this week, Steve Clark gave a powerful first-hand account of riding with Cherokee Schill in the exurbs of Lexington, Ky., putting a real human face on the sometimes abstract concept of bicyclists’ rights. Ken McLeod followed up with a deep dive into the legislative and regulatory environment that make her case challenging and somewhat unique — thank you, the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
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This week, my colleague, Steve Clark, wrote about his experience riding with Cherokee Schill and the conditions she faces while biking to work in Kentucky. Her fight for her right to road reflects our society’s decisions about how we create roads, how we create laws for those roads, and the culture of safety we choose to create for our roadways. So what’s the legal background for her fight? And are their signs of hope for Kentucky’s future? Keep reading…
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