Safe Walking and Cycling

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Lately I have considered purchasing a new road bike. I just started a new job that's in NW Portland. I currently live in SE Portland and don't own a car. I'm left with a few options; I could either ride a 35 to 40 minute bus trip or ride a bike on a 20 minute bike route. With this considered, my best option is to go with the bike route because it will get me to work faster and I don't have to rely on a bus schedule. To be perfectly honest though, I don't feel comfortable riding a bike by myself in the city. It is unsafe to ride a bike in the city unless you've maybe had experience with riding in busy streets before. I would feel more encouraged to ride a bike to work if I knew the streets were safer.
"Promoting Safe Walking and Cycling to Improve Public Health:Lessons From The Neherlands and Germany," spoke out to me in a way that felt like encouragement to bike. I read this article because it states how unsafe most American roads are while adding examples of how different city-lead transportation policies can improve bike and pedestrian safety. The article also presents evidence on public health issues as well like the American obesity rate. When addressing these public health issues, the article makes it clear that the American road system is deemed unsafe for both bikers and pedestrians. It states that, "As documented in this article, walking and cycling in the United States are much more dangerous than car travel, both on a per-trip and per-mile basis.” How can we make American streets safer and encourage more people to choose active modes of transportation?
Implementing a more compact land-use policy to design shorter trip distances in American cities. This would likely help people to choose a healthy option of transportation, like a bike or to walk. German cities have implemented this policy which has given positive effects on their roads. The Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings made a similar report about Germany that says, "Targeted regional land planning policies encourage compact, mixed-use development, and thus keep trip distances short and feasible for walking or cycling." There is a great potential for American cities to implement this kind of policy. It would clear congestion in city and neighboring streets. It would ultimately boost walking and biking average within any city.

There was another point that the article makes about American car use that surprised me. The article states that, "With over 95% of all parking free of charge, and with gasoline taxes, roadway tolls, licensing fees, and vehicle taxes among the lowest in the developed world, the United States makes driving a car almost irresistible." Driving a car might also be the only feasible option for an individual. With the way our roads are designed, driving a car for all trips makes more sense than a bike or taking a walk.



Pucher, John, and Lewis Dijkstra. 2003. “Promoting Safe Walking and Cycling to Improve Public Health: Lessons From The Netherlands and Germany.” American Journal of Public Health 93 (9): 1509–16. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1448001/.

Pucher, Ralph Buehler, Uwe Kunert, and John. 2001. “Making Transportation Sustainable: Insights from Germany.” Brookings. November 30, 2001. https://www.brookings.edu/research/making-transportation-sustainable-insights-from-germany/.









Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 30, 2018 at 11:46 AM

    I agree that compact design is definitely a good idea for creating more walk-able/bike-able cities, however it is a tall order to expect of cities. I wonder about what it will take to get cities to implement a new design structure for creating neighborhoods, but so far it seems like new areas are being built faster than bikers and pedestrians can object. Alternative designs have been shown to work, as in your example, and they have positive effects way past what the designers intended. Great post, hopefully more people will start thinking this way.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 31, 2018 at 12:36 PM

    First of all I agree that Portland streets need dramatic improvements. That is why it is important that City Council approves the Central City in Motion bicycle improvements at their meeting on November 14th. You may check out these improvements at this website:
    https://centralcityinmotion.com/#/

    Perhaps they would be more inclined to pursue bicycle improvements if they read Elly Blue's book "Bikenomics". This book outlines the eye-popping economic benefits of bicycling from savings in healthcare, infrastructure, and road safety. Just like cities in Germany and the Netherlands have done Portland could save millions by implementing an extensive bike network.
    Check out this small report prepared by Roger Geller, Portland's bicycle coordinator. He builds the case better than anyone.

    https://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/article/371038

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownNovember 2, 2018 at 1:44 PM

    I totally agree that safe bike riding environment will improve people's bike riding. It will also greatly help the problem of obesity in the U.S. However, it won't be that easy to make the bike road environment safe by implementing a compact City. Changing land use just to keep walking and cycling safe on the already established urban built environment can cause conflicts among many stakeholders. Nevertheless, I think this subject should be discussed not only for the solution of U.S. traffic problems but also for the health of American citizens.

    ReplyDelete

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