The moment I arrived in Copenhagen last week, the climate change talks ground to a halt. Delegates from the G-77 (poorer) countries walked out in disgust, just as thousands of official observers, me included, were queuing up outside the conference hall trying to get in. Neither story made the front pages back in the States but the Danish and European press was not happy at all.
I wasn’t too happy either. I hadn’t traveled 5,000 kms (by air) just to stand out in the cold for hours on end to get the first of two badges that qualified me to get a second badge that might then get me into the conference hall with 15,000 of the 45,000 other registered participants to the COP15 climate summit. And most of those people had not traveled all that way (also mostly by air) to see these critical talks deadlocked in seemingly petty battles and political grandstanding.
Turns out, that was exactly what happened on both counts. I was also profoundly disappointed though not surprised to see that transportation issues, and cycling specifically, were almost totally absent from the conversation. Lots of interest in electric vehicles and alternative fuels and what the Chinese/Americans were doing with wind and solar and wave and nuclear and light bulbs and insulation but virtually nothing about bikes, and really very few people there to talk about it from either the industry, environmental or user group side.
So it’s a good job that Copenhagen is a fantastic city for anyone interested in cycling! Even with frigid temperatures and a few centimeters of snow on the ground, the city gets around on bikes. Right outside City Hall there is a bike counter with a real-time display and 1,500 riders had been by that one spot at 8:43 a.m. one cold weekday morning. An International Herald Tribune editorial writer encouraged delegates to take note of this. Copenhageners are green AND prosperous!
If you don’t believe me, come see for yourself this coming June at the Velo City Global international cycling conference. I guarantee you’ll be inspired by the 37 percent share of trips that are made by bike in this city and in June it’ll be WARM, and the conference registration will be a lot smoother than the United Nations managed last week!
Andy Clarke
President, League of American Bicyclists
In a report released yesterday by USA Cycling, the governing body for bicycle racing in the U.S. marks its seventh consecutive year of growth. Individual membership has increased by 6 percent and the number of affiliated clubs has increased by an impressive 10 percent. These are impressive numbers especially considering the current economy.
Like so many passionate bike advocates, my love for cycling began within the racing community. I am especially grateful to have been introduced to the sport through collegiate cycling, where school pride unifies cyclists of all abilities. There are very few sports that can weave their way into every facet of one’s life. During the weekday, I use my bike to get to work and to maintain a healthy lifestyle; while on the weekend, I use my bike to push my physical and psychological limits on the race course. The relationship between recreational and utilitarian cycling is inseparable; the success of one is in direct relationship to the other.
This reminds me of the League’s own history. In the early years, the League of American Wheelmen were not only responsible for paving roads and protecting cyclist’s rights , they also officiated races. I recently came across an old race report in the New York Times archives from August of 1894 entitled, “More New Bicycle Records: Great racing at League of American Wheelmen meet.” In the late 1800s, before the fall of track racing, the League of American Wheelmen filled a similar role to that of the modern day USA Cycling. It’s interesting to think that I followed a similar path of the organization I work for.
And so, I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing the sport continues to grow. Given more time I would love to see their membership data broken down by age and gender, but alas, I should really get back to work.
It is four days before Christmas; and if you live in the mid-Atlantic/Northeast, you might be trapped in your house, surrounded by 20 inches of snow, and unable to visit the nearest mall. That might be a little disheartening if you haven’t had your chance to visit Santa and get your mall-Santa photo but fear not! The League of American Bicyclists has great, online gift ideas for you!
1) Buy your loved ones a bike! Purchase a Trek, and you will indirectly support the League. Trek graciously supports League programs and initiatives. As part of Trek’s One World, Two Wheels campaign, Trek donates $1 to the League’s Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) program for every Trek helmet sold in the U.S., for a total three-year commitment of more than $1 million.
2) Give the gift of League membership! In addition to receiving the premier publication American Bicyclists for cyclists and bicycle advocates, education and industry leaders, your loved ones will become part of the growing bicycle movement, supporting a Bicycle Friendly America and will have access to advocacy updates and education opportunities. Learn more about the benefits of membership.
3) Jazz vocalist Alexis Cole has recently released her latest CD, The Greatest Gift. An interesting element to this release is that proceeds will benefit the World Bicycle Relief — an organization dedicated to providing bicycles to people in developing countries around the world. World Bicycle Relief allows these individuals access to transportation and promotes independence, empowerment, and sustainability. Listen to a track from the album here.
4) And finally, if you would like to give a gift to all of those who ride a bike in America, donate to the League. Protecting cyclists’ rights is absolutely critical. We need your help today to support the work of the League, and we can’t do it without you. Check out the League’s 2009 Report Card to see how your contributions have helped us deliver on the League’s mission.
Happy holidays from the League of American Bicyclists! Hopefully, you can enjoy a wintry ride!
Did you miss the latest issue of the Journal of Public Transportation? Don’t worry. They’re posting them free online. The latest issue contains “Integrating Bicycling with Public Transport in North America,” a review of bikes and transit policies in eight North American cities by researchers John Pucher of Rutgers and Ralph Buehler of Virginia Tech. The authors conducted case studies of San Francisco, Portland, Minneapolis, Chicago, Washington, New York, Vancouver and Toronto.
Among the questions considered: what happens when a well integrated system that encourages bicycling and transit use leads to crowding? Many European cities provide ample secure parking at stations. In this article, the authors take a page from Complete Streets and recommend “Complete Stations,” which offer easy bicycle access to platforms and fully accommodate the needs of cyclists — an inexpensive solution compared to Park and Ride stations for cars.
Speaking of bikes on buses here is a great video from Chicago on how the two can safely share the road.
Using some of the findings in the report above, let’s play a little bikes-on-transit trivia.
(Note: the word “subway” is used below as a blanket term and does not refer only to New York City. Answers are subject to change as cities compete for the best transportation network in North America.)
1. Which city provides the most bicycle racks city-wide, including bike parking at almost all subway stations?
(A) Minneapolis
(B) Toronto
(C) New York City
(D) Chicago
2. Which city offers indoor or sheltered bike parking at the most subway stations?
(A) Washington
(B) New York
(C) San Francisco
(D) Chicago
3. Which city offers no secure or dedicated bike parking at rail stations and no bike racks on buses?
(A) New York
(B) San Francisco
(C) Vancouver, BC
(D) Washington
4. Which city allows bikes on subway trains at all times?
(A) Washington
(B) Chicago
(C) Toronto
(D) New York City
5. Which city has a bike ordinance encouraging parking bikes at sign posts, which are within a block of most bus stops?
(A) Portland
(B) Vancouver, BC
(C) Minneapolis
(D) Washington
6. Which city has five of the ten “bike stations” in the United States?
(A) Washington
(B) Portland
(C) New York
(D) San Francisco
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Answers
(B) There are 15,000 post and ring racks throughout Toronto
(D) Secure parking is available at 83 CTA stations, funding is secured for more in 2010
(A)
(D) Cyclists are asked, but not required, to avoid rush hour
But roads quickly became clogged up, forcing the government to limit the amount of time cars can drive. Air pollution has also been a problem.
To solve these issues, the authorities have invested heavily in public transport over recent years, a programme that was accelerated when Beijing was given the 2008 Olympic Games.
But Professor Ou Guoli, from Beijing Jiaotong University, says more needs to be done.
“We need other government policies and measures to reduce the amount of traffic on the roads,” he said.
Prof Ou said city centre parking should be made more expensive and there needs to be more “park and ride” facilities.
There should also be policies to encourage people to get back on their bikes, he said.
Odense has two major claims to fame. The first is that it’s home to Hans Christian Andersen, celebrated author of fairy tales. Second, it’s from this Danish city that the Safe Routes to School idea emerged in the mid-1970s and more recently Odense was Denmark’s national cycling laboratory. OK, so this last one didn’t somehow make it into the tourist literature I picked up at the railway station and information center today…but it should in there right up alongside Denmark’s “cosiest zoo”!
Rather than battle long lines at the COP15 Bella Center headquarters, and possibly either police or protesters, I decided instead to head west and island-hop over to Fuyn, where Odense sits astride a river of the same name, and the main train line from Copenhagen. As I watched from the train window, we headed into a heavy band of snow just as we arrived in Odense. I felt a bit like a secret shopper, showing up unannounced to see how this cycling city copes with a heavy snowfall.
Odense citizens bundle up for the ride!
The answer is they seem to keep on riding right along. The only concession I saw to the 10-12cms of snow was some folk who would walk their bikes where the streets or cycle tracks had not yet been cleared – and yes, the cycle tracks were being cleared of snow at least as extensively as the motor vehicle lanes, and there were special pieces of equipment out there sweeping the sidewalks and bike facilities. Through the snow, I could just make out the colored lanes, advanced stop bars, bicycle signal heads and other common features of Denmark’s bicycle friendly communities.
Obviously the first snow day of the season wasn’t the best to view the city’s credentials. Traffic of all kinds was down, and the city had that slightly eerie, snow-dampened quiet about it – with the exception of the bustling pedestrian-only shopping streets which seemed to be doing a brisk business. There were lots of people out riding still – and that wouldn’t be the case if there weren’t a LOT of riders on better weather days! The city has an automatic traffic counter on one key route into the city center and some 635 riders had passed by at around 10:30 in the morning already. (A similar counter in Copenhagen was over 1,500 riders as I passed by at 9 a.m. on my way to the train station.)
Check out the photos I took in Odense, and a couple from Copenhagen. Expect to see more like this tomorrow; the snow followed me back along the train line and there’s now a few centimeters on the ground in CPH. Should make the wait to get into the climate change talks that much more ironic, chilly, and damp.
Andy Clarke President, League of American Bicyclists
For those interested in improving bicycle facilities, the 2009 Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) was finally approved and released on December 16, 2009. The League has no comment yet, as we have not yet reviewed the document in depth. Check for updates soon!
As the end of the Climate Summit draws near, tensions between world leaders over emission reduction targets continue to grow. Today, Governor Schwarzenegger told the Climate Summit that international agreements alone will not slow climate change. He calls on states, cities, regions, and provinces to take on the responsibility of reducing carbon emissions. California, for example, is currently on track to reduce carbon emissions 30 percent by 2020.
The US is in need of a more aggressive climate policy especially in regard to transportation. Considering that 33 percent of all emissions in the United States come from transportation, clean transportation is a critical part of reducing domestic emissions. Unfortunately, the current draft of the climate bill, “Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act” (S. 1733) allocates only 2.4 percent of funds towards clean transportation investments. While this is an improvement from the House bill (HR2454) which reserved a meager 1 percent for clean transportation, it is certainly a far cry from the 10 percent included in its predecessor, CLEAN-TEA (S.575).
As one of the world’s top cycling cities, Copenhagen is an international leader in sustainable transportation, exemplifying the kind of lifestyle changes necessary for a sustainable future. In 2008, Denmark’s long-term green transportation plan recognized that “public transport and bicycles must carry the greatest part of the projected growth in traffic”. As a result, Copenhagen is currently on track to increase its bicycle mode share from 36 percent to 50 percent by 2015, saving 80,000 tons of CO2 a year. As the Climate Summit comes to a close on December 18, we can only hope that lessons learned in Copenhagen will translate into a US climate bill that more accurately addresses the need for significant investments in clean transportation.
Here’s a job description from our friends at America Bikes.
Job Title: Project Manager
Education: Bachelors Degree (BA, BS, etc.)
Location: Washington, District of Columbia – (negotiable)
Type: Temporary Full- time, Contract basis
Salary: $ 4-5,000 a month
Summary
America Bikes seeks an experienced full-time person for a 3-month research project on state and locally planned bicycle and pedestrian transportation projects. This position will work with America Bikes staff and board to create an online inventory of on-going and planned bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure projects from around the United States. The Project Manager would be responsible for populating this database by performing extensive outreach to state, regional and local governments, and the bicycle and pedestrian advocacy community.
America Bikes is a coalition of leaders from the bicycle community advocating for positive outcomes for bicycling in the federal transportation bill. Member organizations include: The Adventure Cycling Coalition, Alliance for Biking and Walking, Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, Bikes Belong, International Mountain Bicycling Association, League of American Bicyclists, National Center for Bicycling and Walking and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.
Primary Responsibilities
1) Consultation with web designer to best structure online database for state and local transportation official and advocate use.
2) Population of database through consistent and extensive outreach to state, regional and local government officials to publicize inventory and request input of bicycle and pedestrian projects planned for development.
3) Coordination of the data collection efforts of America Bikes coalition groups.
4) Production of documents explaining federal transportation funding process for use by advocates.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Extensive knowledge of State Department of Transportation organization, as well as processes for moving a project through the planning, engineering and construction phases.
- Knowledge and interest bicycle and pedestrian issues
- Excellent interpersonal skills
- Experience in Excel and Word applications
- Familiarity with web-based programs
This is a contractor’s position and requires the individual to complete assignments on his/her own computer. All work done by the contractor will become the property of America Bikes.
Since this is a contract position, no benefits are included.
By the time I got on the Metro to head over to the Bella Center this morning the transit information systems were already reporting that the Bella Center station was closed due to overcrowding and that COP15 delegates would have to get off one station before or after the stop and walk. Even worse, they were saying there were major lines just to get one’s accreditation at the center.
Sure enough, long, long lines awaited us as we approached the heavily guarded perimeter. And it was cold. People seemed cheerful, though. At least, at first they did. Then as we stood and waited some more, and folks started relaying their harrowing tales of waiting for six or eight or nine hours the day before to get in, we weren’t so happy. After about 90 minutes and maybe 100 meters of progress, I bailed. There was still at least another 90 minutes of line ahead of me, and I couldn’t feel my feet. Did I mention it was cold? It was cold. It was also more than a little frustrating – especially as people had registered for this event months in advance…
Anyway, I had to head over to the Green Lighthouse – Copenhagen’s first carbon-neutral building – on the university campus, where the Danish Embassy of Cycling was recognizing the leadership of New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg in promoting cycling. The Mayor was getting a tour of the very cool building, and before the tour we made a short presentation standing out in the cold by the bike parking.
The Danish Embassy of Cycling was represented by Jan Gehl (Gehl Architects), Niel Torslov (Copenhagen’s city traffic engineer), and Lise Borg Pederson (Danish Cyclists Federation), and part of the script was to invite Mayor Bloomberg to return to Copenhagen in June (when it will be warm) for the Velo City Global conference. The Embassy is a unique collaboration between user groups, academics, local government and the private sector to promote Danish cycling expertise – of which they have quite a bit!
Once the ceremonies were over, I sat in on the tour of the building and an interesting discussion of building codes, energy efficiency, public-private partnerships, and climate policy. By the time the next set of photos were taken with the architect and university folks, there was a bona fide snowstorm going on. I was on the bus back downtown, but I can assure you that Copenhageners are indeed not dissuaded by snow or cold – they just keep on riding.
Andy Clarke President, League of American Bicyclists
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Once the ceremonies were over, I sat in on the tour of the building and an interesting discussion of building codes, energy efficiency, public-private partnerships, and climate policy. By the time the next set of photos were taken with the architect and university folks, there was a bona fide snowstorm going on. I was on the bus back downtown, but I can assure you that Copenhageners are indeed not dissuaded by snow or cold – they just keep on riding.
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