Commuting Bicyclists: A Growing Transportation Trend

Biking is gaining popularity as a form of commuting which benefits the environment. Joe Lindsey’s article on www.bicycling.com says that bike commuting saves 20 pounds of CO₂ for every gallon of gas that is not burned by driving to the office. With an estimated 3.2 million cyclists commuting to work in the U.S. at least once a week, which represents a 100% increase since 1985 according to the Seattle Department of Transportation (DOT), the country is experiencing a return to a more environmentally-friendly form of transportation.

In an article noting the cycling trend, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) remarked that early in the 20th Century bicycling to work or to do errands was common in the United States. However, car use rapidly accelerated in the 1950s and 1960s based on innovative automotive designs combined with the new high-speed Interstate Highway System which was heavily subsidized through federal funding. By 1990, the Federal Highway Administration called bicycling and walking "the forgotten modes" of transportation. Federal funding for bicycling and walking projects rapidly increased from $6 million in 1990 to $422 million by 2003, according to EDF, and the 2005 federal transportation bill dedicated $1 billion to bicycling alone.

Long Beach California. www.pedbikeimages.org Photographer Dan Burden

One of the most important environmental benefits of biking is decreased global warming. The EDF suggests that if everyone who lives within 5 miles of their workplace left their car at home just one day a week and cycled to work, nearly 5 million tons of global warming pollution would be saved every year. That is the equivalent of removing approximately one million cars from the road, notes the EDF.

Conscientious people in many parts of the world are returning to bicycling as a means of transportation rather than just for recreation.

White cycles, for free use, in national park Hoge Veluwe, the Netherlands, mei 2005, picture by Wikipedia User:Ellywa

The top spot in the world for commuting bicyclists, according to The Bicycle Friendly Communities Campaign, is Amsterdam, Netherlands, a.k.a. the bike capital of the world, where 40% of all traffic movement is by bicycle.

In the U.S., the city of Davis, California has more bikes than cars and is the only place to earn platinum status on the Bicycle Friendly Communities' list of top cities.

In San Francisco about 40,000 residents commute to work regularly by bicycle, according to Virgin Vacations which has listed top bicycle cities in the world. Virgin Vacations also says that another western U.S. city that is consistently rated as one of the top spots in the country for bicycling is Seattle.

The Seattle Department of Transportation estimates that about 36% of Seattle's 520,000 citizens engage in recreational bicycling, and between 4,000 and 8,000 people commute by bicycle in Seattle each day, depending on the time of year and weather conditions.

Steve Cole, a Portland resident who frequents Seattle, notes that “downtown Seattle and the inner city neighborhoods have primarily commuter cyclists, messengers, and delivery cyclists.” A fan of city living, Steve adds that” having dense cities with healthy neighborhoods, with streets on a grid-system where there are shops, restaurants, and stores in the area makes it easier to bike and walk places, which results in a more vibrant, friendly city.”

Bikes in Beijing China Photo by Sasha Meret

In the 21^st Century, lifestyles are becoming more environmentally oriented says CBN news.

For example, Shanghai aims to build the world's first eco-city called Dongtan on Chongming Island, in the East China Sea. This joint program of the Chinese and British governments will feature bicycle paths and walkways crisscrossing the city as well as battery-powered buses.

Bicycling provides benefits in addition to helping the environment. It is a good form of exercise. In an article by Paul Strand in CBN News he states that biking 30 minutes a day meets the daily exercise requirements for healthy living and fights obesity.

Paris bike rentals started a year ago. The first half hour rental is free.

In a list of bicycle facts and statistics provided by the Seattle DOT, it is suggested that a 130-pound cyclist who pedals 14 miles in an hour burns 402 calories. For a 180-pound cyclist in the same time and distance, 540 calories are burned. That offsets a lot of chocolate!

Bikes are much less costly to purchase than cars, as well as having much decreased maintenance cost, no gas costs and infrequent parking fees. A report by CBN News estimated that the average car costs about $7,000 a year to own and operate, whereas biking costs just about $120. That results in a savings of about $500 a month.

Another benefit cited by the Seattle DOT is that it can take the same amount of time, or less, to commute on a bike during rush hour than to drive to work.

The increased popularity of bicycle use for commuting has been motivated, in part, by government support.

Portland, Oregon has a network of bike paths that has grown from 60 to 260 miles since the early 1990s. The paths connect all parts of the city and, according to the Bicycle Friendly Communities, have contributed to the quadrupled growth in bicycle use during that period of time.

Mr. Cole who is married with young children notes that there are combination bike/pedestrian paths, bike boulevards which allow for cars but include traffic-calming devices that give bikes priority, and dedicated bike lanes on busier thoroughfares.

Families often avoid the bike lanes because they are on busier streets. Boulder, Colorado has spent an average 15% of its transportation budget on building and maintaining bicycle traffic over the past five years according to Virgin Vacations.

In a further effort to motivate people to use bicycles new innovative programs are being implemented. For example:

In the United States:

• Portland, Oregon has the Portland's Create-a-Commuter program which provides low-income adults with commuter bicycles as well as a session on commuter safety. The bikes come outfitted with lights, a lock, a helmet, a pump, tool kits, maps and rainwear.
• In Boulder, Colorado, the Boulder Safe Routes to School pilot program promotes safe biking and encourages its use. One school reported that 75 percent of their students walked or biked to school — a 620 percent increase from before the pilot!
• New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently unveiled a bold plan for greening the Big Apple, and one of the "greenprint's" big initiatives is to cut global warming pollution by 30 percent by 2030. According to EDF, in order to help meet that goal and to make the city's air healthier, the plan's transportation component includes an 1,800-mile bike path master plan to encourage cycling, along with congestion pricing and expanding mass transit.
• Chicago’s Bike 2015 Plan, announced in 2006, outlines a bevy of projects and policies to promote bicycling in the Windy City over the next decade.

  A transit bus's bike rack in use. Midway City, CA, USA Photo Wikipedia

• Seattle (DOT) Bicycle Program has been working steadily toward developing an urban trail system to accommodate bicyclists. Urban trails include shared use paths, bike lanes, signed bike routes, arterials with wide shoulders, and pedestrian pathways. Also, bike racks have been installed on the front of all public buses, providing a convenient way to "bike-and-ride." It is estimated by the DOT that the number of times cyclists put their bikes on Metro buses every year is more than 300,000.

Clear Channel Outdoor's Biking program in Barcelona, Spain Credits of photos: Clear Channel Outdoor.

In Washington, DC, Clear Channel Outdoor is launching a Smartbike Program in mid-May 2008 which will be the country’s first public bike sharing program. It is pursuant to the existing bus shelter contract the company has with the District of Columbia.

“Operational for over a decade throughout Europe, SmartBikes will provide an exciting new means of public transportation available from bike stations that the company has installed and will maintain at 10 key locations throughout Washington, D.C.,” according to Clear Channel. Martina Schmidt, President of Clear Channel Adshel said, “Practical and lightweight, the SmartBikes to be unveiled at the kick off event will offer a new form of mobility, complementing Washington, D.C.’s existing transportation networks.”

“The SmartBike program delivers a number of key benefits, chief among them the ability to reduce traffic congestion and pollution,” Clear Channel said. Users can sign up for the SmartBike program through online subscription or by calling Clear Channel Outdoor’s service center (1-800-899-4449).

Clear Channel Outdoor's Biking program in Barcelona, Spain Credits of photos: Clear Channel Outdoor.

The Washington program is an extension of bike programs operated by Clear Channel all of which the company says have proven to be a success.

The company says that nearly eight million trips have been taken on the bikes by a combination of some 180,000 users. It is estimated that in total over 25 million miles have been traveled on public bikes operated by Clear Channel Outdoor.

Clear Channel Outdoor's Biking program in Barcelona, Spain Credits of photos: Clear Channel Outdoor.

“SmartBike has experienced incredible success as a preferred method of public transportation in European markets like Barcelona, where over 100,000 people have now registered to participate. It’s exciting to launch the first U.S. program in our nation’s capital,” said Paul Meyer, President and Chief Operating Officer for Clear Channel Outdoor. “Our SmartBike programs also provide a fantastic sponsorship opportunity for health conscious, sporting and active lifestyle brands.”

In Copenhagen, Denmark:

· Public bicycles are provided throughout the downtown area and used with a returnable deposit of 20 kroner. It was known as “the city of bikes” for many years. Currently 32% of Copenhagen workers bicycle to work and, according to Virgin Vacations, 50 percent of people in Copenhagen say they cycle to work because it is fast and easy.

Bike in Amsterdam Photo by Sean McClean

Safety

One of the concerns people have about commuting by bicycle is the risk of accidents. The Seattle DOT reports that head injuries cause about three-fourths of the 800-900 deaths resulting from bicycling-related accidents in the U.S. each year. In a report by CBN, it was estimated that more than 90 percent of the bicycle accidents in America are caused by collisions with cars or trucks.

Reflectors for night riding are one of many available safety accessories. Image: Wikipedia

According to a study conducted by the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, helmets that meet American National Standards Institute or Snell standards can cut the risk of riders' head injuries by 85%. The number of bicyclists wearing a helmet has increased from 71% in 1992 to 89% in 2007, according to the Seattle DOT.

A 2006 study from the World Health Organization (WHO) implicates road design and inadequate pedestrian and cycling infrastructure in injuries from traffic accidents.

Inside a covered pedestrian and bicycle bridge, Cambridge, England. www.pedbikeimages.org Photographer : Michael Cynecki

As more cities improve their transportation design and offer more options for walkers and bikers, the WHO reports that these issues are abating.

Paul Strand of CBN News refers to a recent study that showed that during an hour of biking, compared to an hour of driving, people in cars are twice as likely to be killed in an accident as are people on bikes.

Steve Cole said Portland, Oregon is implementing “bike boxes” at dangerous intersections in. These require cars to stop behind the box, which takes up the entirety of the front of the right lane, and reduces incidences of “right hook” accidents, where cars turning right collide with a biker in the adjacent lane.

Bike lane California. Photo by Dan Burden

The large increase in use of bicycles in Portland, Oregon since the 1990s occurred without any increase in crashes according to the Oregon government report on bike safety.

Another issue that governments are battling is bike theft. Places like Amsterdam, Netherlands have built bicycle sheds to “park” one’s bicycle in a safer venue. It is in the process of building a 10,000-bike parking garage at the main train station according to Virgin Vacations list of the most bike friendly cities in the world.

EDF reports that National U.S. polls and surveys indicate that significantly more adults would bike to work if they had safe routes and secure workplace parking and changing facilities.

Raising safety consciousness is a goal of many who are ardent supporters of bicycling as a means of transportation.

In Oregon, the 2007 Legislature approved a Share the Road license plate, which has a picture of a cyclist on the plate and is available for the regular registration plus an additional $10 charges. According to the Oregon DOT, the proceeds are split between the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and Cycle Oregon for use on bicyclist education.

In California, the California Bicycle Coalition (CBC), a non-profit education and lobbying organization, is working to improve bicycling conditions throughout the State of California. CBC's mission is to create safe, healthy and livable communities in California by promoting bicycling for transportation and recreation.

In Colorado, Bicycle Colorado is another organization whose mission is to encourage and promote bicycling, increase safety, improve conditions, and provide a voice for cyclists in Colorado.

National events also have been created to create awareness of biking. The largest of these is the National Bike/Walk to Work Day which is in its fourth year. This year it will be held on Friday, May 16, 2008.

So get your bike out, dust it off, pump up the tires, and get ready to ride!

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How to Enable Right Clicks Which Are Disabled On Some WebSites

Lots of web sites have disabled the right click function of the mouse button... it's really, really annoying. This is done so that you don't steal their photos or images (via right click-->save picture) or any other goodies, So dont worry in this article i will help to solve this issue and you can easily access any pic or any page.. Do read the article for the details.

Step1

It's easy to enable the right click, just follow the steps :
Click "Tools"->"Internet Options"

Step2

Click the "Security" tab

Step3

Click "Custom Level"

Step4

Scroll down to the "Scripting" section

Step5

Set "Active Scripting" to "disable"

Step6

Click "Ok" a couple of times. You are done, Now reload the page which you want to enable the right clicks, now right click and save any pics or any files.

You'll probably want to turn this back to "enable" when your done (finished with saving)... 'cause generally the javascript enhances a website'.

Step7

Dear Friends, did you like this article as well as my older published articles then PLEASE do leave a comment as it will make me more responsible towards the readers, it will let me know about my mistakes and i can rectify my mistakes.

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