Encourage More City Biking
It is estimated that under 4% of our population fit into the category of "city biker" - i.e. they are comfortable with riding in traffic and are equipped to deal with adverse weather. City planners are hoping to get that number up to 10% and higher. What steps can we take to help achieve that goal?
Barriers to Entry
There are two main factors that contribute to keeping people from riding more frequently:
- Perception of Safety
- Perception of Convenience
Both are addressable with policy for infrastructure and education.
Perception of Safety
Fear of the Rear
Dave - can you give us a good description of it
Advocation:
- Infrastructure: Separate cycle traffic from automobile traffic
- Education: Use a mirror on your bike
Riding in the Dark
During late fall through early spring the odds of riding in the dark are very high. This is a barrier for many riders. How can we improve it?
Advocation:
- Infrastructure: Separate cycle traffic from automobile traffic
- Infrastructure: Better street lighting on dedicated routes
- Education: there's no such thing as too many lights on your bike
- front, rear and side
- reflectors and reflective clothing
- helmet mounted lighting
- Education: Ad campaigns
- Who will pay?
Dangerous Drivers
Advocation:
- Infrastructure: Separate cycle traffic from automobile traffic
- Education: Ad campaigns
- Who will pay?
Others???
Perception of Convenience
End Point Facilities
See End of Trip Facilities for deeper discussion
Weather
We live in a region where rain and cold are a fact of life. This can be a huge deterrent to riding. How do we get more people riding through these conditions
Advocation:
- #Perception of Safety
- Education: How to dress for our weather
- Education: Tips for riding in the rain and the cold
Properly designed dedicated routes
Advocation:
- If hills are involved try and follow contours
- Cyclist accessible signal triggers (sensors and buttons)
Transit
- More bike racks on buses
Others???
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