Follow up: Biking to Work
Posted on June 13th, 2008 - 10:30 AMAbout the author: Kay Morrison joined EPA’s Office of Public Affairs in January.
I moved to DC in January without a really good idea of what it would be like to live in an urban setting, but one thing I knew was that a city like this doesn’t play nice with bikes. So much for what I know - I’ve learned that my neighbors can ride bikes through Rock Creek Park all the way down town … I could do it too if I had a bike. From reading the answers to the May 12 question of the week, “Why are you or aren’t you biking to work,” I have learned that a surprising number of our readers do bike to work, all over the country.
The question really hit a nerve for our readers. Back when we “only” had 704 comments we counted them up (thanks to our intern, Dominic) to see who does, and who doesn’t, bike to work, and why. I assumed that far fewer people would bike to work than those who don’t, but it turns out to be really close. 345 commenters said they do bike, 359 said they don’t. Some of you combine biking with public transportation, some bike part of the time, some can’t bike to work but you use your bike when you can.
Of those who do bike to work, you do it to be green (saving carbon emissions not to mention $$ on gasoline and parking), or for the exercise, or for the pleasure it brings to be out in the air with critters and birds.
Those of you who do not bike to work were concerned for your safety - it’s clear that there aren’t enough safe biking routes, bike trails, or driver awareness of bicyclists. You also live pretty darn far from where you work.
What have you or your bike club or town planning commission done to make your community more bike friendly? How did you get your employer to support biking to work? Share your success stories and current projects. What steps can we, as citizens and bike to workers, take to make our communities and work places more bike friendly?
Thanks so much for all your interesting and thoughtful comments on this topic. I’ve learned a lot about biking from reading them – one of these days you may see me biking to work too!
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Question of the Week
June 14th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
When I worked for Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund in DC they had a designated set of bike hooks in their storage space (w/ access to the alley) for bikers. It’s not something that’s expensive or very intensive to put in place, but it was really nice to have that place to put my bike.
Another cool bike commuting story is the new bike shop started by Lance Armstrong in Austin (http://www.austin360.com/recreation/content/recreation/stories/2008/02/0214bikeshop.html). It’s not just a bike shop, but also has facilities for downtown workers to shower, change clothes, and store their bike. Pretty amazing stuff.
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June 16th, 2008 at 7:34 am
EPA should work with the next generation getting them prepared to bike to work by helping them bike to school.
Safe Routes to School programs are being set up across america to promote biking and walking to school safely. Something many of us used to do, but is seldom done by todays youth. This coincides with the trend of youth being overweight ironically.
Biking and walking help address a myriad of community and individual issues ranging from not knowing your neighbors to lowering your gasoline bill, to getting some much needed exercise. Unfortunately when you look at just one aspect of how wonderful biking is it may not measure up (say the environmental benefits) for investment, but overall it is a great community investment
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June 17th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
The Safe Routes to School program is brilliant. We need a Safe Routes to Work program. And a Safe Routes to Just About Everywhere Else program. Its sad that people are detered from biking because they feel like they’re going to be run over by a car (yes, even Priuses can hurt). Understandably, there are many people that lack confidence on bikes. City riding is not easy. Suburban riding can be even worse. We need to throw money (buckets of it) into viable, SAFE routes around cities and towns. Also, its all about connections. The routes actually need to go somewhere. I’ve been on too many trails that suddenly end in a busy intersection/narrow bridge/highway on-ramp/etc. You can have a beautiful trail for 10 miles, but if for a 100 feet bikers feel endangered, most people won’t even bother.
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June 19th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
I don’t bike anymore because I’m over 60, self employed,
the old carcass can’t take it any more, and I travel around
too much.
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June 21st, 2008 at 9:24 am
When I accepted a job in Washington in 1988, I specifically looked for a house near the Potomac so that I could cycle to work. As a UC Davis graduate, I had been accustomed to cycling, but more than eight years in Cambridge MA had reduced my interest. (Anyone who thinks DC is is bike-unfriendly needs to learn about Boston in the 1980s, where drivers did not merely sideswipe cyclists — the aimed.)
So beginning in 1988 I cycled (weather permitting) 35 miles round trip from Mt. Vernon. The route is safe as long as there is sunlight. (I bought heavy-duty headlights to ride at dusk and dark, but I noticed that trees still tended to jump out and attack.)
The major hazards are casual afternoon users of the Mt. Vernon Bike Path, who think nothing about allowing their children or dogs to wander just about anywhere. C’mon, EPA: Figure out a way to ban those retractable leashes! I’ll write the RIA for you.
There were no casual bike path users at 7 o’clock in the morning. I was able to reduce my inbound trip to 1:15, which closely approximated the time needed to drive to Huntington and Metro in. (There was a bus, and in winter I often used it, but it added another 45 minutes to the commute.)
My cycling days ended on March 15, 1994, when I was rear-ended by an SUV driven by an inexperienced and inattentive teenager. The neck injury caused me to lose months of work. I became dependent on medication to make it through the day, and my exercise program tanked. It is ironic that this happened while driving a car; never during my cycling days did I have a blunt-force encounter with a motor vehicle.
Riding defensively helps a lot, but my chief advantage was that I chose a place to live where one can commute safely by bicycle. Too many people worry about silly things, such as the (alleged) quality of the nearby public schools or the crime rate. Give me a place where cycling is feasible and safe, and everything else falls into place.
I’m self-employed now and work at home, so my contribution to transportation congestion and environmental impacts cannot get any lower. But if I needed to commute to DC I’d go back to the bicycle, age and injuries notwithstanding. I’ve just bought a Townie, an 8-speed cruiser that allows me to sit upright instead of lean forward, which I no longer can do. It might take me 2 hours now, but so what? It sure beats the highways, and Metro. And you get a secret, perverse pleasure: Riding at 15 mph on a bike path past a ribbon of vehicles traveling 0 mph.
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July 28th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
I try to be an ambassador for biking to work. If people are hesitant to ride their bikes, I remind them of a few things:
1) I used to think I lived too far from work (12 miles) to bike there. Then I tried it and found I am able to handle the round trip three times a week.
2) You don’t have to bike every day. If it’s raining, or too hot, or too cold, or you feel tired–don’t beat yourself up about not riding. If you start biking in conditions you are comfortable with, you will enjoy it more. Maybe you will enjoy it enough to try biking in less-than-ideal conditions too someday!
3) It’s not as hard as you think it will be, but start small. If you don’t ride your bike much, start riding it regularly on quiet streets in your neighborhood to get in shape and get used to a bit of traffic.
4) It’s no more dangerous than driving a car (statistics back this up), it’s just that you’re used to driving and not used to biking. Remember that it took you a while to learn to drive; take the time to learn to bike safely too.
Sometimes we all need a bit of encouragement; there are so many people giving reasons why they can’t bike to work, and a number of them need to hear: “I can do it, and there’s nothing extraordinary about me, so you can do it too!”
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