A cyclist rides east on Third Street, one of Tucson's most popular low-stress streets.

The Arizona Daily Star published a story this morning using Bike-to-Work Week to highlight the percentage of people who commute by bicycle.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Hundreds of Tucson commuters are stopping at 30 businesses on their way to work this week for a wide range of freebies, taking advantage of what’s become an annual ritual: Bike to Work Week.

But the organizers of that and a flood of other bike-related events this time of year are confronting a disappointing statistic. Bike commuting has stagnated here over the past decade, U.S. census figures show. That’s despite Tucson’s growing national reputation as a bicyclist’s haven and a general local-government policy of painting bike lanes on every new, widened or resurfaced roadway.

But census figures show that only about 4,500 people, or 1.9 percent of all Tucson commuters, bicycled to work in 2009, the most recent year for which such data are available. In 2000, 2.2 percent of all Tucson commuters biked to work. That’s not a statistically significant decline, but Tucson’s rate also slipped compared to other cities.

The 2000 census put Tucson first nationally in percentage of work trips by bicycle, ahead of such urban meccas as Portland, Minneapolis, Seattle and San Francisco. Those and seven other cities passed Tucson in that category in the past decade, dropping this city to 12th.

In the same period, Pima County-area governments doubled the number of bike lanes and other biking facilities to a current total of 956.3 miles. That includes striped bike lanes on roads, bike routes on roads without striped lanes, and bike paths located off-road. Of those bike facilities, more than two-thirds, or about 698 miles, are conventional striped bike lanes on road shoulders. Off-road, bike-pedestrian paths, by contrast, account for 148.2 miles.

It’s hard to put a value on the region’s bicycle infrastructure based solely on bicycle commuters since the cycling here is largely recreational.

The other challenge in calculating the number of bicycle commuters is that many of our residents are transient because they winter here or are students at the University of Arizona.

There is no doubt that we aren’t adding as many bicycle commuters as other cities. Many people in Tucson are calling for low-stress bikeways like bike boulevards to increase the number of commuters in Tucson. Others have said more needs to be done educating and encouraging people to get out of their cars and on to bikes.

What say you? What will get more people on the road?

24 thoughts on “Star highlights bike commuter stagnation in Bike-to-Work Week story”
  1. Just a bit curious about those census numbers, where they came from ? If they were from the bike count, I am pretty sure that 2009 was a really cold day ( for us desert rats ! ), and 2010 had a bad day or so mixed in the middle of the count.

    Also, I wonder if the fact that we have so much recreational weekend use means that not as many people ride their bikes to work during the week…. sometimes commuters and recreational users are two separate groups ( or not ? )

  2. Anybody else love the fact that they spelt Tom Thivener’s name wrong about a dozen times in the article? Anyway.

    What will get more people on bikes? Make car ownership more difficult and more expensive. I know that’s impossible to do in a town that is practically the personal fiefdom of Jim Click et. al., but I think the reason that we’ve stagnated is that everybody who *wants* to ride a bike in Tucson already does. We have halfway decent infrastructure in place (granted, it could use more work, but it’s serviceable.)

    We have bike month, bike to work week, the Cyclovia, etc. as great motivators — But commuting by car is just too easy and cheap in Tucson for the bicycle to be adopted by more than the 2-3% of the population that is dedicated to bicycling for financial, health, or environmental reasons.

  3. I think that incentives matter. And one of the most powerful incentives is price. As in, the price of driving. If it continues to increase, people will seek alternatives.

  4. We need more public transportation. If someone could ride their bike and use the public transit system better then you would see an increase. You also have to figure out how to get more people from the surrounding areas (Marana, Sahuarita, etc.) to Tucson without the need for a car.

  5. I would love to see more folks out on bikes. Here are a few of my ideas that would help entice a few more folks out:

    1) Have local television stations do a media blitz that shows where Tucson’s existing lower stress bike routes are located. Tucson Velo has done their part but it’s sort of like preaching to the chior.

    2) Construct new bike routes that bridge the gaps in the existing low stress system. (Don’t even think that anyone wants to ride on Grant or Broadway)

    3) Introduce a bicycle with one or 2 lockable storage box(es) so a person can make purchases in one store and not fear that those items will be stolen while they shop in a second store. A better solution would be a bicycle folds to become a shopping cart so you can take it into the store with you. There are bikes like this now, but they are not readily available or affordable.

    4) Have the police do sting operations to catch bike thieves. Use a $5000 bike so the charge will be grand theft.

    5) Have the electric company add some benign substance to their generation units that will create thick clouds over Tucson in the summer. : )

    In the end, the reality is that a car is a fantastic tool and it is hard to beat it for most people for most trips. If you raise the taxes on gasoline and diesel, you will cause the prices on all products and many services to go up. I haven’t looked it up, but I think the cities who have higher bike ridership have higher fuel prices and higher costs of living than Tucson. I’m sure someone here will correct me if I’m wrong.

  6. One of the commenters on the Star comment section (a former Tucsonan, now Portlander) emphasized political and cultural support attributing to their 7% ridership for trips. Our weather is better, our terrain easier and our bike facilities and infrastructure, although different, probably as good – maybe better – I find little to debate his point. Tucson may not find its ‘bicycle way’ by copying Portland directly but by discovering its own particular spark for the support that Portland has. You know, people don’t flock to Portland from all over to ride like they already do here. Maybe we need to exploit that to the max.

  7. What say you? What will get more people on the road?

    More people won’t start biking unless Tucson’s motorists don’t change their attitudes and sometimes dangerous behavior toward cyclists. Even though I bike to work every day, I perfectly understand when someone is reluctant to cycling in a city where texting while driving is not only legal but rampant. Also, our climate doesn’t make bicycling easy in the summer months. I have the privilege to be able to shower at work and change clothes, but many cyclists are in a different situation.

  8. Living at the eastern edge of the 3rd street bikeway it seems like most of the ‘low-stress’ cycling infrastructure is in place around downtown & mid-town. From the east side of town it seems as though the only options are major roads which many would be commuters are not comfortable travelling on, though I haven’t explored them as thoroughly yet this seems to hold true with the other edges of town as well. From what I have read the majority of slated improvements are in these same mid & downtown areas. If we really want to get more people on bikes seems as though a big part of the solution is providing more route options for folks living in the less hip parts of town.

  9. Out of sight out of mind is our biggest problem I think. We need to ride during the day instead of early mornings or nights when no one can see us. During Tour de Tucson everyone is out during the day and last week (I think) there was that beer thing and everyone was out during the day. Tons of bikes on the road is hard not to notice. If people see you do it they want to do it too.

    We need TV. Better bike shop commercials are needed. Ones that tout cycling in general instead of individual bike shops. Instead of saying my bike shop has this and that, say stuff like, cycling saves the planet, cycling is healthy, everyone is going green by cycling, so stop in at my bike shop. The commercials should portray cycling in a positive light and encourage people to cycle. If you say my bike shop has this and that only people who already ride bikes will go there but newbies won’t be created. In business terms, you need to create the market so you can fill their needs.

    Bike to Work Week needs to be 4 times a year like the 4th Ave Street Fair. This will keep it in the media’s eye and in people’s minds. It will also help to get more sponsors. Maybe sponsors should offer bikey discounts and freebies all year long (I wish) and in return the city could give those businesses a tax break of some kind. Like special coupons where the business gets double the tax break on bicycle related coupons or something. Some kind of incentive so businesses get something out of it for encouraging ridership.

    Co-operate with non-profits. The Food Bank co-operates with WMG and WMG likes BICAS. The non-profits always send each other customers. Bike shops and PAG and whatnot need to co-operate more. The bicycle needs to become a part of sustainable permaculture so that those people see riding a bike as a natural fit to a sustainable future, not a quick fix until oil prices come down. The future should belong to bikes not electric cars.

    Invent car insurance by the day. This one might not increase ridership but everyone reads this blog so maybe it will come true if I post it here. 😀 I only drive my car like, 2 times a month yet I still have to pay car insurance. Invent a thing where I can sign online, paypal $2 and have car insurance for tomorrow. Just for the day. Then tomorrow I can go buy lumber or something and not worry.

    Separate protected bike lanes.. with shade. 😀 Whaaat? Well everyone wants protected bike lanes so I added a twist so I wouldn’t be the same. Put those fabric shade covers over the multi-use paths. Heh.

  10. I agree with you Kevin. Only two spots forbikes on the Suntran bus bike rack. During rush hour, if I am not sure I’ll get one of those spots, that seriously effects my decision to bike.

  11. A few thoughts:
    * I realize this is a cycling site, but every motor vehicle-mile reduced on Tucson streets benefits us as cyclists; do we really care if we get people onto bikes as opposed to walking or ridesharing or taking transit or telecommuting?
    * Actively advocating the penalization of automobile ownership strikes me as unnecessarily antagonistic. It’s not cars that are the problem, it’s people that drive fucking everywhere, that live far away (also avoiding paying city taxes to support infrastructure), it’s infrastructure policies that encourage this kind of behavior. Leave people their cars and give them good reasons to not use them so much.
    * I think the *adverse* climate issue is underrepresented. When it’s chilly and wet you can always add more layers and a rainslicker; but when it’s 90 degrees more than half of the year, you can only take off so many layers, and you have to compensate with sunblock (ick). I love cycling, and I love Tucson’s climate (it’s a big reason I moved here ten years ago), but I don’t often want to be cycling in it during the daytime, at least not to somewhere where I need to be presentably put-together like work. I *do* have the benefit of a highly flexible schedule and showering facilities there, but it’s mostly not worth it. For those of us so inclined, are we going to haul our entire cosmetic and haircare armory to work to do everything after we have to shower? Cycling in hot weather totally cramps your style. I won’t even start on helmets… (Frank mentioned shaded bike lanes. +1!)
    * Now that the bike parking issue has blown over for now (at least on this site ;), I’ll bring it up, if only to say it’s only a big deal to me inasmuch as “out of sight” leads to theft and vandalism. Anyone who can ride their bike somewhere can walk an extra 100 feet. What we really need is a smackdown on punk bike thieves, not forcing businesses to put in racks that are going to go largely unused, and still won’t entirely solve the problem. Maybe fully enclosed bike lockers, but that’s a big expense and are they big enough to hold oddball bikes? (3wheeler mentioned the issue of keeping the stuff *on* your bike from getting stolen. +1, although not so much an issue in commuting I don’t think)

  12. I think the infrastructure isn’t there yet. Friends in my neighborhood would bike more except that the routes to store feel dangerous and most stores have inadequate bike parking.

    The bike lanes are acceptable if you live near the University. I live 6 miles East of Speedway. There are bike lanes out here, but only on major roads. The third street path basically ends at Alvernon. This is no safe way to cross Swan or Craycroft.

    In many parts of the city streets were laid out to actively discourage cars using them as cross city routes. For example between 22nd and 5th it is virtually impossible to travel from Kolb to Speedway without using Broadway, 5th or 22nd. All pretty scary roads to bike on.

  13. I also live in east Tucson, and it is hard to find safe bike routes towards the downtown area. I refuse to ride on Broadway, Speedway, Grant, etc. My husband has already suffered a fractured hip from being hit from behind by a car that drifted onto the bike lane. You won’t find the average person wanting to commute by bike here because there are too many nutcases and impatient drivers out there. The penalties for crazy driving are negligible. Just the other day we were dong the speed limit (35mph) on Wrightstown Rd. A lady behind us was tailgating and flashing her lights. She got around us, flipped us off, and continued at high speed towards Tanque Verde. I don’t want to be a cyclist sharing the streets with drivers like that. The rush hour traffic heading back to the neighborhoods is crazy; people speed and drive recklessly. They don’t care about their own lives; how can you expect them to be considerate of bicyclists.

  14. I’ve been following the comments here and I feel the need to address the several remarks made about bad drivers in Tucson. Over the years, I’ve been hit twice by cars while on a bike so you won’t hear me say that Tucson doesn’t have some horrible drivers. My point is that I don’t think it’s any worse here than most other cities in the U.S.
    The reason I bring this up is that we want folks to get out and ride, but if we talk like Tucson is the locus of dangerous drivers in the world no one would ever risk getting on a bike here. I advocate caution at all times but not paranoia. I said I’ve been hit twice, and that sounds horrible but let me put that in perspective. Both times were about 30 years ago and I was in almost the exact same place each time. It was a busy and narrow section of highway that I had ridden on hundreds of times without incident. In all the many thousands of miles I’ve ridden in my life, those were the only times I’ve ever been hit. That’s a pretty significant statistic, really. Of course there are those who would say that it only takes one collision to kill you. I agree, I was lucky that I wasn’t seriously hurt or killed by either of my accidents. Here’s the rub, statistics show that large numbers of people die in accidents in their own homes every year. It may be safer to get out of that deathtrap you call a house and go for a ride, even a ride on the streets of Tucson.

  15. Do you east siders have the Tucson bike map? There are lots of green & blue (the good, safe route colors) lines that you can cobble together into a reasonable route downtown. Go exploring and find more routes that aren’t on the map too. They exist! Paul, the way you talk about Speedway makes it sound like it runs north/south “I live 6 miles East of Speedway…For example between 22nd and 5th it is virtually impossible to travel from Kolb to Speedway “? Between 5th & 22nd there is a route that weaves through the neighborhoods all the way to downtown. Are these routes super easy to follow? no. But once you do one a couple times & learn it, it’s a piece of cake.If you live on the Southeast side, aviation bike way goes all the way to Kolb & Escalate, totally separate from roads! 3rd street DOES go all the way to Wilmot, I have biked it at least 100 times and crossing swan & Craycroft has not been a problem, look both ways like your Mom taught you and you will be fine… Pima is a great low volume street as is Glenn and north of that is the river path. If you live east of the Pantano wash then I will concede that it’s pretty well impossible to not use a major artery.

  16. I think the condition of the bike paths can be a major deterrent, in addition to the roads and streets throughout Tucson being in really bad shape – large pot holes (size and number), uneven asphalt, cracks – even around the University. Instead of improving the roads they just pack in asphalt filler, which is not the most enjoyable to ride over.

  17. “Only” 1.9% if enviable for the United States as a whole, which averages around 0.5% nationwide, and puts Tucson at number eight for bike share among American large cities.

    The Star is right that your cycle commuting is basically unchanged from a decade ago, and that’s only because you jumped nearly back up to 2000 levels in 2008 after a steady decline through most of the aughts. Your high point was 2005 with 2.24% of commuters riding to work by bike. The low point was the following year 2006 with 1.58% of commuters using a bicycle. What happened from 2005 to 2006? Major highway project completion? Big change at the University? Big new development open up cheap housing 40 miles away? Major employer move their offices?

    I think the snow birds are irrelevant in discussing the change — you had them a decade ago just like you have them now.

  18. Sad to hear this given all the momentum in towns like Minneapolis, San Francisco, New York, Portland.

    Better infrastructure is definitely a big help but it is so costly that it is often stalled or stopped. Nevertheless, if you get it built, the riders will come. These pics from Basel, Switzerland how it’s done: http://www.planbike.com/2011/03/heaven-on-earth-bike-transport-in.html

    The fact is America was designed for cars and noone has or wants to spend the money to change that so we’ve got to get creative.

    I’m an avid bike commuter but even I drive occasionally because the distances are sometimes too great for the time I have travel. Or the route is so car-focused it is too dangerous for bikes.

    My solution has been to install bike racks on all my and my friends cars so that we can engage in a kind of casual carpool.

    It gets cyclists across treacherous or expansive distances they can’t easily cross by themselves. It also makes those who do drive significantly more efficient while they do it.

    Best of all bikerack-enabled casual carpool can be implemented without any politics. Everyone can start tomorrow if they like. If everyone in America either got a bike or bike rack today, things would quickly look very different. Here are some pics of this idea: http://www.planbike.com/2011/03/planbike-for-motorists-if-you-must_3638.html

  19. Sad to hear this given all the momentum in towns like Minneapolis, San Francisco, New York, Portland.

    Better infrastructure is definitely a big help but it is so costly that it is often stalled or stopped. Nevertheless, if you get it built, the riders will come. These pics from Basel, Switzerland show how it’s done: http://www.planbike.com/2011/0

    The fact is America was designed for cars and few have or want to spend the money to change that so we’ve got to get creative.

    I’m an avid bike commuter but even I drive occasionally because the distances are sometimes too great for the time I have to travel. Or the route is so car-focused it is too dangerous for bikes.

    One solution I have found has been to install bike racks on all my and my friends cars so that we can engage in a kind of casual carpool.

    This bike-enabled casual carpool gets cyclists across treacherous or expansive distances they can’t easily cross by themselves. It also makes those who do drive significantly more efficient while they do it.

    Best of all, bike-enabled casual carpool can be implemented without any politics. Everyone can start tomorrow if they like. If everyone in America either got a bike or bike rack today, things would quickly look very different. Here are some pics of this idea: http://www.planbike.com/2011/0

  20. There was a significant drop in gasoline price about the time the bike count would have taken place (Oct.) that year.
    http://gasbuddy.com/gb_retail_price_chart.aspx
    The effect of the huge slide in price in 2008 may have been offset by improved/expanded cycle counting practices that have been taking place over the past few years. Probably just a contributing factor. Bikes counts are difficult in that they are not automated and done only annually and subject to a lot of variables. I think the results provide only a rough indication.
    There was some noise a while back of Tucson getting some automated bike counters, but I imagine that has ‘funded out’?

  21. I believe the data comes from a census form which asks how the person got to work the last week.

    If you rode your bike 3 of 5 days you are a bike commuter. If you drove 3 0f 5 days, you are a driver.

    The trouble is the census changed their form to be only 10 questions.

    The American Community Survey asks about people’s commute, but it doesn’t go out to very many people.

  22. Hai every one
    Star highlights bike commuter stagnation in Bike-to-Work Week story

    A cyclist rides east on Third Street, one of Tucson’s most popular low-stress streets.

    =============================
    web design

    The Arizona Daily Star published a story this morning using Bike-to-Work Week to highlight the percentage of people who commute by bicycle.

    Here is an excerpt from the article:

    Hundreds of Tucson commuters are stopping at 30 businesses on their way to work this week for a wide range of freebies, taking advantage of what’s become an annual ritual: Bike to Work Week.

    But the organizers of that and a flood of other bike-related events this time of year are confronting a disappointing statistic. Bike commuting has stagnated here over the past decade, U.S. census figures show. That’s despite Tucson’s growing national reputation as a bicyclist’s haven and a general local-government policy of painting bike lanes on every new, widened or resurfaced roadway.

    But census figures show that only about 4,500 people, or 1.9 percent of all Tucson commuters, bicycled to work in 2009, the most recent year for which such data are available. In 2000, 2.2 percent of all Tucson commuters biked to work. That’s not a statistically significant decline, but Tucson’s rate also slipped compared to other cities.

    The 2000 census put Tucson first nationally in percentage of work trips by bicycle, ahead of such urban meccas as Portland, Minneapolis, Seattle and San Francisco. Those and seven other cities passed Tucson in that category in the past decade, dropping this city to 12th.

    In the same period, Pima County-area governments doubled the number of bike lanes and other biking facilities to a current total of 956.3 miles. That includes striped bike lanes on roads, bike routes on roads without striped lanes, and bike paths located off-road. Of those bike facilities, more than two-thirds, or about 698 miles, are conventional striped bike lanes on road shoulders. Off-road, bike-pedestrian paths, by contrast, account for 148.2 miles.

    It’s hard to put a value on the region’s bicycle infrastructure based solely on bicycle commuters since the cycling here is largely recreational.

    The other challenge in calculating the number of bicycle commuters is that many of our residents are transient because they winter here or are students at the University of Arizona.

    There is no doubt that we aren’t adding as many bicycle commuters as other cities. Many people in Tucson are calling for low-stress bikeways like bike boulevards to increase the number of commuters in Tucson. Others have said more needs to be done educating and encouraging people to get out of their cars and on to bikes.

    What say you? What will get more people on the road?
    You might also like:
    AP reporter covers Giffords’ love of cycling; Tucson …
    KGUN9 responds to criticism about its reporting
    BAC’s education wing to tell cyclists about alternative …
    Mangled signs not an uncommon sight
    LinkWithin
    Related Posts with Thumbnails

    13
    13
    13
    13
    13
    13
    13
    13
    13

    Post a comment below or discuss in the Tucson Velo forums
    April 7, 2011 Post Under Blog – Read More
    April 7, 2011 Post Under Blog – Read More
    Like Dislike

    Community
    Disqus
    Showing 23 comments
    Sort by Subscribe by email Subscribe by RSS

    MikeI 3 days ago
    Just a bit curious about those census numbers, where they came from ? If they were from the bike count, I am pretty sure that 2009 was a really cold day ( for us desert rats ! ), and 2010 had a bad day or so mixed in the middle of the count.

    Also, I wonder if the fact that we have so much recreational weekend use means that not as many people ride their bikes to work during the week…. sometimes commuters and recreational users are two separate groups ( or not ? )

    tucsonvelo [Moderator] 8 hours ago in reply to MikeI
    I believe the data comes from a census form which asks how the person got to work the last week.

    If you rode your bike 3 of 5 days you are a bike commuter. If you drove 3 0f 5 days, you are a driver.

    The trouble is the census changed their form to be only 10 questions.

    The American Community Survey asks about people’s commute, but it doesn’t go out to very many people.

    Candide 3 days ago
    Anybody else love the fact that they spelt Tom Thivener’s name wrong about a dozen times in the article? Anyway.

    What will get more people on bikes? Make car ownership more difficult and more expensive. I know that’s impossible to do in a town that is practically the personal fiefdom of Jim Click et. al., but I think the reason that we’ve stagnated is that everybody who *wants* to ride a bike in Tucson already does. We have halfway decent infrastructure in place (granted, it could use more work, but it’s serviceable.)

    We have bike month, bike to work week, the Cyclovia, etc. as great motivators — But commuting by car is just too easy and cheap in Tucson for the bicycle to be adopted by more than the 2-3% of the population that is dedicated to bicycling for financial, health, or environmental reasons.

    Sarah B 3 days ago in reply to Candide
    Agree! Pay to park!!!

    Martha Retallick 3 days ago
    I think that incentives matter. And one of the most powerful incentives is price. As in, the price of driving. If it continues to increase, people will seek alternatives.

    Kevin 3 days ago
    We need more public transportation. If someone could ride their bike and use the public transit system better then you would see an increase. You also have to figure out how to get more people from the surrounding areas (Marana, Sahuarita, etc.) to Tucson without the need for a car.

    Britt 3 days ago in reply to Kevin
    I agree with you Kevin. Only two spots forbikes on the Suntran bus bike rack. During rush hour, if I am not sure I’ll get one of those spots, that seriously effects my decision to bike.

    3wheeler 3 days ago
    I would love to see more folks out on bikes. Here are a few of my ideas that would help entice a few more folks out:

    1) Have local television stations do a media blitz that shows where Tucson’s existing lower stress bike routes are located. Tucson Velo has done their part but it’s sort of like preaching to the chior.

    2) Construct new bike routes that bridge the gaps in the existing low stress system. (Don’t even think that anyone wants to ride on Grant or Broadway)

    3) Introduce a bicycle with one or 2 lockable storage box(es) so a person can make purchases in one store and not fear that those items will be stolen while they shop in a second store. A better solution would be a bicycle folds to become a shopping cart so you can take it into the store with you. There are bikes like this now, but they are not readily available or affordable.

    4) Have the police do sting operations to catch bike thieves. Use a $5000 bike so the charge will be grand theft.

    5) Have the electric company add some benign substance to their generation units that will create thick clouds over Tucson in the summer. : )

    In the end, the reality is that a car is a fantastic tool and it is hard to beat it for most people for most trips. If you raise the taxes on gasoline and diesel, you will cause the prices on all products and many services to go up. I haven’t looked it up, but I think the cities who have higher bike ridership have higher fuel prices and higher costs of living than Tucson. I’m sure someone here will correct me if I’m wrong.
    1 person liked this.

    zz 3 days ago
    One of the commenters on the Star comment section (a former Tucsonan, now Portlander) emphasized political and cultural support attributing to their 7% ridership for trips. Our weather is better, our terrain easier and our bike facilities and infrastructure, although different, probably as good – maybe better – I find little to debate his point. Tucson may not find its ‘bicycle way’ by copying Portland directly but by discovering its own particular spark for the support that Portland has. You know, people don’t flock to Portland from all over to ride like they already do here. Maybe we need to exploit that to the max.

    Daniel Stolte 3 days ago
    What say you? What will get more people on the road?

    More people won’t start biking unless Tucson’s motorists don’t change their attitudes and sometimes dangerous behavior toward cyclists. Even though I bike to work every day, I perfectly understand when someone is reluctant to cycling in a city where texting while driving is not only legal but rampant. Also, our climate doesn’t make bicycling easy in the summer months. I have the privilege to be able to shower at work and change clothes, but many cyclists are in a different situation.
    1 person liked this.

    josh 3 days ago
    Living at the eastern edge of the 3rd street bikeway it seems like most of the ‘low-stress’ cycling infrastructure is in place around downtown & mid-town. From the east side of town it seems as though the only options are major roads which many would be commuters are not comfortable travelling on, though I haven’t explored them as thoroughly yet this seems to hold true with the other edges of town as well. From what I have read the majority of slated improvements are in these same mid & downtown areas. If we really want to get more people on bikes seems as though a big part of the solution is providing more route options for folks living in the less hip parts of town.
    1 person liked this.

    Frank Tellez 3 days ago
    Out of sight out of mind is our biggest problem I think. We need to ride during the day instead of early mornings or nights when no one can see us. During Tour de Tucson everyone is out during the day and last week (I think) there was that beer thing and everyone was out during the day. Tons of bikes on the road is hard not to notice. If people see you do it they want to do it too.

    We need TV. Better bike shop commercials are needed. Ones that tout cycling in general instead of individual bike shops. Instead of saying my bike shop has this and that, say stuff like, cycling saves the planet, cycling is healthy, everyone is going green by cycling, so stop in at my bike shop. The commercials should portray cycling in a positive light and encourage people to cycle. If you say my bike shop has this and that only people who already ride bikes will go there but newbies won’t be created. In business terms, you need to create the market so you can fill their needs.

    Bike to Work Week needs to be 4 times a year like the 4th Ave Street Fair. This will keep it in the media’s eye and in people’s minds. It will also help to get more sponsors. Maybe sponsors should offer bikey discounts and freebies all year long (I wish) and in return the city could give those businesses a tax break of some kind. Like special coupons where the business gets double the tax break on bicycle related coupons or something. Some kind of incentive so businesses get something out of it for encouraging ridership.

    Co-operate with non-profits. The Food Bank co-operates with WMG and WMG likes BICAS. The non-profits always send each other customers. Bike shops and PAG and whatnot need to co-operate more. The bicycle needs to become a part of sustainable permaculture so that those people see riding a bike as a natural fit to a sustainable future, not a quick fix until oil prices come down. The future should belong to bikes not electric cars.

    Invent car insurance by the day. This one might not increase ridership but everyone reads this blog so maybe it will come true if I post it here. 😀 I only drive my car like, 2 times a month yet I still have to pay car insurance. Invent a thing where I can sign online, paypal $2 and have car insurance for tomorrow. Just for the day. Then tomorrow I can go buy lumber or something and not worry.

    Separate protected bike lanes.. with shade. 😀 Whaaat? Well everyone wants protected bike lanes so I added a twist so I wouldn’t be the same. Put those fabric shade covers over the multi-use paths. Heh.
    2 people liked this.

    Ellen Shull 3 days ago
    A few thoughts:
    * I realize this is a cycling site, but every motor vehicle-mile reduced on Tucson streets benefits us as cyclists; do we really care if we get people onto bikes as opposed to walking or ridesharing or taking transit or telecommuting?
    * Actively advocating the penalization of automobile ownership strikes me as unnecessarily antagonistic. It’s not cars that are the problem, it’s people that drive fucking everywhere, that live far away (also avoiding paying city taxes to support infrastructure), it’s infrastructure policies that encourage this kind of behavior. Leave people their cars and give them good reasons to not use them so much.
    * I think the *adverse* climate issue is underrepresented. When it’s chilly and wet you can always add more layers and a rainslicker; but when it’s 90 degrees more than half of the year, you can only take off so many layers, and you have to compensate with sunblock (ick). I love cycling, and I love Tucson’s climate (it’s a big reason I moved here ten years ago), but I don’t often want to be cycling in it during the daytime, at least not to somewhere where I need to be presentably put-together like work. I *do* have the benefit of a highly flexible schedule and showering facilities there, but it’s mostly not worth it. For those of us so inclined, are we going to haul our entire cosmetic and haircare armory to work to do everything after we have to shower? Cycling in hot weather totally cramps your style. I won’t even start on helmets… (Frank mentioned shaded bike lanes. +1!)
    * Now that the bike parking issue has blown over for now (at least on this site ;), I’ll bring it up, if only to say it’s only a big deal to me inasmuch as “out of sight” leads to theft and vandalism. Anyone who can ride their bike somewhere can walk an extra 100 feet. What we really need is a smackdown on punk bike thieves, not forcing businesses to put in racks that are going to go largely unused, and still won’t entirely solve the problem. Maybe fully enclosed bike lockers, but that’s a big expense and are they big enough to hold oddball bikes? (3wheeler mentioned the issue of keeping the stuff *on* your bike from getting stolen. +1, although not so much an issue in commuting I don’t think)
    1 person liked this.

    Paul 3 days ago
    Great picture of Physics professor Dr. Bill Bickle!

    Paul 3 days ago
    I think the infrastructure isn’t there yet. Friends in my neighborhood would bike more except that the routes to store feel dangerous and most stores have inadequate bike parking.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.