Check out this NPR story/podcast about the rising popularity of riding a bicycle to work.
I like this part:
“It’s almost like a snowball effect,” says researcher John Pucher of Rutgers University. “People see other people cycling and they say, ‘Wow!’ ” As part of a three-year research project for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Pucher has completed a preliminary report that documents the increase in biking in nine major North American cities.
I cannot find a link for this study (hello! NPR … it’s called the ethic of the link, or tell us there is no link possible). But a Google search for Pucher (and a couple of terms related to this story) turns up quite a bit of stuff.
I’m not sure “wow” is what they say unless it’s “wow, that guy must be crazy.” But I do think that when people see otherwise normal-looking people on bicycles riding safely in traffic it begins to have some positive effect. So perhaps Pucher is correct.
Comments 7
John’s recent publications are on his Rutgers faculty web site. I emailed him asking for a reprint of one paper and got a very quick and courteous reply, with attachment.
http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/
For example:
Walking and Cycling to Health: Recent Evidence from City, State, and International Comparisons,” American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 100, No. 10, 2010, in press (with Ralph Buehler, David Bassett, and Andy Dannenberg).
“Infrastructure, Programs and Policies to Increase Bicycling: An International Review,” Preventive Medicine, Vol. 50, No. S1, January 2010, pp S106-S125 (with Jennifer Dill and Susan Handy). Prepared for the Active Living Research Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Posted 29 Nov 2010 at 2:45 pm ¶Click here for PDF.
One added comment, Andy. Sorry to waste so much bandwidth.
I’ve seen an uptick in Los Alamos bike commuters since we finished a major set of bike lanes through town. But also heard from the occasional cyclist who tried it and had a close call with Mr. Traffic and went back to the Chevy. Some of the newbies definitely need some peer support from we old farts who have been commuting for decades. If there is one thing that individuals can do, regardless of what Congress or the State Legislature do, its act as peer support.
Posted 29 Nov 2010 at 2:48 pm ¶Khal… You da man! Thanks for the link!
Posted 29 Nov 2010 at 4:38 pm ¶Andy said: “…I do think that when people see otherwise normal-looking people on bicycles riding safely in traffic it begins to have some positive effect.”
I think so to. And specifically seeing people riding safely and confidently in traffic vs riding in bike facilities. Seeing people looking confident on roads without facilities shows it’s possible to ride anywhere on any road.
A lot of people have told me they’ve seen members of the UCF bike bus (sometimes only one or two of them) on University Blvd. That’s a road that has always been considered impossible for cycling. Yet the remarks I hear are about how good they look and how nicely the traffic changes lanes and goes around them. They’ve busted the myth by making it look possible.
Posted 29 Nov 2010 at 6:08 pm ¶Folks should go back and re-read Andy’s “The One Mile Solution”. I’m going to link to it on the BombTown site in the context of Neale Pickett’s latest post.
Even in mountainous Los Alamos, most of the town (as in most towns) first built on the most easily buildable land, i.e., that which is flat. So there are plenty of places one can bike that are either flat or reasonably flat even up here on the Pajarito Plateau.
Of course, YMMV.
Posted 30 Nov 2010 at 7:22 am ¶People at work say things like “you bike to work? Gee, I really ought to get a bike” to me all the time. And over the past year, the number of bikes locked up in our building’s bike cage during the day has slowly but steadily increased (to my occasional annoyance, I must admit).
If it’s raining, there’s much more of a “you must be crazy” sense to it, but they usually phrase it as “You rode in this? Wow. You are hardcore!” I just smile and say something about how much I love my rain gear made in Scotland.
Posted 30 Nov 2010 at 11:58 am ¶Lexia… I find that I actually arrive at work drier than my colleagues who drive. I have excellent rain gear. I pack dry shoes. What they do: Scramble from far-flung parking lots under tiny umbrellas. And they think THEY are having a higher quality experience! Too funny.
Posted 01 Dec 2010 at 8:33 am ¶Trackbacks & Pingbacks 1
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