During Bike to Work week, 2 wheels are the way to go

During Bike to Work week, 2 wheels are the way to go
Rising gas prices offer an incentive

By Dan Tuohy, Globe Correspondent | May 18, 2006

With the price of a tank of gasoline often soaring past $50, some
Massachusetts commuters are replacing four wheels with two.


While commuting by bicycle is not feasible for everyone, advocates on
this Bike to Work Week say the Bay State is slowly warming to the
idea. The latest energy crunch certainly helps, said David Watson,
executive director of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition, also known
as MassBike.

''People are worried about rising gas prices," he said.

The state's journey-to-work statistics from 2000 show there is room
for change. The report found that of 3,102,837 employed residents,
2,290,258 drove alone to work. The public transportation total was
270,742. Walkers numbered 134,566, while bicyclists totaled just
12,355.

Today, MassBike estimates that more than 16,000 people in the state
ride their bikes to work. In Boston, MassBike reports, of 38,000 daily
bicycle trips, 20 percent are work-related. An estimated 761,892
adults ride bicycles at least once a month during the summer.

Nationwide, 488,497 people commuted by bike in 2000, according to the
US Census, little changed from a decade earlier.

The League of American Bicyclists encourages more workers to ride,
even if it is just for a day or two a week.

The national nonprofit group maintains that employers that encourage
commuting by bicycle would see lower health insurance costs because
their employees would be healthier.

''Biking is a great alternative to using the automobile," said state
Representative Anne M. Paulsen, a Belmont Democrat who bikes from her
home to Beacon Hill whenever she can. Paulsen said the trip takes only
about 10 minutes longer than driving into the city.

Paulsen, who sits on the Legislature's Transportation Committee, said
state law recognizes biking and walking as part of a comprehensive
transportation network. When roads are improved, planners are required
to consider means of alternative transit.

''Bicycles used to be thrown in there as an afterthought," said Watson
of MassBike.

Anthony Komornick, transportation program manager for the Merrimack
Valley Planning Commission, said that accounting for bicyclists and
pedestrians in any highway improvement plan would encourage more
people to ride or walk to work.

''The more you can remove the obstacles we have here, then you will
see an increase in the number of people who bike or walk to work,"
said Komornick.

Advocates say that getting the word out that there are established
trail networks, both on- and off-road, will encourage people to get
out of their vehicles for a day or two.

Several bike-to-work events have been scheduled for this week in
Massachusetts and New Hampshire to promote the option.

Nashua is encouraging city employees to walk or ride to work tomorrow.
Angela Vincent, Nashua's long-range planner and coordinator of the
city's event, said various prizes and raffles are incentives.

Fifty percent of the working population commutes 5 miles or less, and
22 percent of all motor vehicle trips Americans take are less than a
mile, according to Vincent, who walks or rides her bicycle the nine
blocks to work when she can.

Vincent said Nashua plans to install a few bike racks on its buses
soon. Already, passengers can bring their bicycles on board at any
time.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority recently announced it
would increase the number of buses with bike racks to 380 by the
summer of 2007, a decision that MassBike praised. Bicycles are allowed
on the Red, Orange, and Blue lines, commuter rail, commuter boat, and
crosstown bus routes during certain times, according to the MBTA.

Boston's ranking as a bicycling-friendly city is improving. Watson
noted a 2003 study that rated Boston 11th of 42 cities surveyed
nationwide for percentage of bicycle commuters.

''You most often hear that people are nervous about riding in
traffic," Watson said. But he said that only about 11 percent of bike
accidents nationwide involve cars.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that 728
bicyclists were killed and 45,000 injured in crashes with motor
vehicles in 2001, or about 2 percent of the total killed and injured
in traffic crashes. In 2000, the number of bicyclists' fatalities fell
below 800 for the first time in a decade, according to the League of
American Bicyclists.

In part to better educate the public, Paulsen continues to work on two
bicycle bills at the State House.

One proposes a bicyclist's bill of rights and responsibilities,
including bicycle safety enforcement training for police. It focuses
on rules of the road, putting bicyclists and motorists on an even
footing. Paulsen is also working on a bill to establish a safe routes
to school program, the goal of which is to make it easier for children
to ride to school.

''The more bikes that are on the road, the safer it is," Paulsen said.


http://www.boston.com/news/local/art...e_way_to_g o/

Nice article on cycling. Thanks for sharing...
----------
Jim Gagnepain
http://home.comcast.net/~oil_free_and_happy/