How To Get More Americans To Use Bicycles

In the U.S. regular cyclists are usually athletic men braving dangerous traffic. To get the rest of the population riding bicycles, the U.S. should look at successful solutions implemented around the world.

1 minute read

July 12, 2007, 2:00 PM PDT

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech

"Cycle tracks?...No! Those lanes are easily blocked by vehicles attempting to park. And they leave cyclists within inches of fast cars and monster trucks...Cycle tracks...are actually a separated part of the roadway yet distinct from the roadway, distinct from the sidewalk. In their purest form -- Odense, Denmark, where 50 percent of all city journeys are by bicycle -- the paths even have their own traffic signals."

"Another solution, tried on relatively wide streets in Bogota, Paris, London and elsewhere, is to move the parking lane several feet from the sidewalk, creating a new lane for cyclists between the sidewalk and parked cars."

"if the numbers of Americans who bike regularly remain overwhelmingly male and macho...huge portions of the American population -- women, seniors, children on their way to school, and men who use more caution -- will never join in."

FULL STORY: A New Two-Wheeled Course?

Sunday, July 8, 2007 in The Washington Post Writers Group

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