The bicycle is increasingly being seen as a viable urban transportation alternative in cities worldwide. Bike commuting has clear health, traffic congestion, and environmental benefits, and should be encouraged to help make cities more livable and sustainable.

I love urban biking. The idea of cruising the streets in traffic is my idea of a good time. Recognizing that this practice might not be everyone’s cup of tea, I overwhelmingly support efforts to make urban areas more bike friendly, such as the installation of bike lanes.

I see three benefits to encouraging bicycles as a viable form of urban transportation:

1. Cycling has clear health benefits, particularly with the obesity epidemic sweeping the country.
2. Increasing the number of bicyclists for commuting or running errands decreases the number of cars on the road, thereby helping to ease traffic congestion.
3. It is one of the most environmentally friendly forms of transportation, causing neither greenhouse gases nor various forms of air pollution.

After living in San Francisco for five months, I have found that this a great place in which to get around by bike.

Not only is the city relatively compact, but there are well-defined bike lanes and routes throughout the city. The majority of the bike routes allow riders to avoid some of the more substantial hills and highly trafficked streets. Couple these benefits with the temperate climate, the incredible vistas, and San Francisco is a great place to ride year round.

San Francisco has an ambitious bike plan to expand the network of bike lanes that was developed in 2006. However this plan has been mired in a legal challenge that has stalled improvements in the network. The rationale behind the legal challenge is that the city did not complete an environmental review of the project. The challengers, however, believe that the plan would take space away from cars, thereby leading to more congestion. The main plaintiff, Rob Anderson, has said that the bike plan is an “attempt by the anti-car fanatics to screw up our traffic on behalf of the bicycle fantasy.”

Looking at cities that have made a big push towards the bicycle as a viable means of transportation shows that this argument is simply not the case. Over 35% of the residents of Copenhagen ride their bikes to work, making this city a model for bicycle advocates. Having lived in Seattle, Minneapolis, New York, and now San Francisco, I am encouraged to see bike riding gaining momentum as a form of transportation. But much work needs to be done.

I just finished reading The Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne (formerly of the Talking Heads). The book is a series of meditations on music, art, culture, and urban life as Byrne bikes around cities such as Istanbul, London, Manila, Detroit, Buenos Aires, and New York. After comparing his experiences in these vastly different urban landscapes, he asks the question:”To what extent does the infrastructure of cities shape the lives, work, and sensibilities of their inhabitants? Quite significantly, I suspect.”

On the surface that seems to make a lot of sense. Cities with robust public transit systems, medium to high density mixed-use development, and the ability to walk places seem to be more desirable and culturally vibrant places than others without.
Byrne is a tireless advocate for bicycling as a viable form of transportation in urban areas. In New York where he lives (which saw a 29% increase in the number of bicycle commuters), he has worked with the Department of Transportation on its expansion and promotion of the bicycle network there (mostly by designing some neat bike racks). While not an obvious manifesto for the tenets of new urbanism, The Bicycle Diaries does make a strong case for promoting bicycle transportation and smart urban planning. Not to mention the book being a good read.

With more than half of the world’s population now living in urban areas, making cities a more enjoyable, friendly, and environmentally sustainable is a key challenge. Bikes are a clear way to help achieve this goal.