Right Travel - Bicycle Rental and Safety

Riding a bicycle is the most efficient and least environmentally damaging form of transportation. Unfortunately for our planet, the bicycle is rapidly being replaced by cars in China and other emerging countries, which adds to their thirst for oil. Bicycle advocates are trying to reclaim space on city streets. I have blogged about companies (Decaux et al.) that have made rental bicycles available in Paris and elsewhere. Here are some updates on business, government and community actions enabling more bicycle travel in cities:

New York City. (1) NYC is planning on bringing in a company that has done public bike rentals for London and Boston. They plan to start with 10,000 bikes in 600 locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn.  However, the company plans to charge a $100 membership fee, which may make it hard for tourists to use. More. (2) The NYC Department of Transportation has put out a terrific bicycle map. One thing to look for is the location of every bicycle shop in New York (identifying which ones rent bikes), as well as details on bicycle paths and special detail on crossover points at highways and bridges. We have biked on the riverfront path up to the West Side and down to the Battery. (Reminder: The Dutch bought Manhattan - Battery Not Included.) (3) Another innovation in NYC is community responsibility for growing flowers in the pits next to the bike lanes.

Paris. I read reports that the bicycles in the Velib’ program were being vandalized and that the Mayor was reducing his commitment to it. But on two visits in the last three months I saw no sign of this. The Velib' program is alive and well.

Transport for Oxford alumni, Said School, Sept. 2011.

London. Bicycling got a boost from the Central London Congestion Charge (about $12 a day to bring a car into the central district) and then from the tube bombings in July 2005.

Oxford rickshaw-cycle with passenger.

Oxford. As Oxford University has grown, so have the bicycle racks. And for Oxford alumni there in September wishing to stay out of the rain, Oxford brought in in cycle-rickshaws for its senior members and their spouses (see photos, in front of the Said Business school ).

Washington, DC. Alice and I have bicycled along the Potomac and along the Mall. I have also ridden many times on the towpath next the canal from Georgetown.

Topeka, Kansas. Elly Blue is is reporting every couple of days on her travels by bicycle with a documentary film-maker and a vegan cook. Most recently in Topeka, she shows how bicycle riders can push their case hand-in-hand with community renewal programs.

Nantucket, Massachusetts. Earlier in September Alice and I visited Adele in Nantucket and we went biking. We needed to rent a couple of bikes and Edgartown has three bike shops in a row. We picked the middle one, Young's, and were each fitted with a bike and a helmet in a couple of minutes. We visited the Coast Guard beach and several other beaches in different parts of the island.

Safety-conscious bicyclist studies map ahead of the trip (left) and reads notices at the Coast Guard beach (above).

Bicycle Safety Issues

Note that even in Nantucket we wore helmets! It's even more important in an urban environment. Hand-in-hand with the growth of bicycle riding in cities, more attention should be paid to bicycle safety. Ross Sandler of the New York Law School has just urged that bicycle safety be improved in four ways. I have slightly edited his list to make it clearer (at least to me):

• Mandate Helmets: These are the equivalent of seat belts. They should be mandatory.
• Mandate Visibility Conditions. Bike riders are not always visible, especially when traveling closely between cars. New York City’s car lanes are narrower than the lanes found in most cities and on all modern highways. This puts a premium on visibility for pedestrians and for cars in tight turning situations. Bicyclists should be required to wear bright-colored clothing and have lights at night.
• Enforce Compliance with Traffic Laws. This should be a police matter of high priority. Bikes are silent and often speed faster than cars on the same street. Only police officers can stop a bike going in the wrong direction or weaving through pedestrians in the cross walk. For bike riders with driver’s licenses, put points on their license and impose a stiff but realistic fine for traffic violations including ignoring red lights.
• License Bikes and Commercial Bike Riders: Register bikes on purchase. Put a license tag on all bikes. Make commercial delivery riders wear shirts with the names of their businesses on their back. Licensing would permit identification of violators and put teeth into enforcement.

Some of these proposed rules are common sense, like wearing bike helmets. Others are more controversial.  For example, should bicycle-riding behavior be a factor in deciding whether to allow someone to drive a car? Does the punishment fit the crime?