Ed's Bicycle Advocacy Page

Over 20 years ago I began looking at climate change impacts on infrastructure. Since about 2003, I have been more focused on human-induced climate disruption and its impacts on water resources. As I pursued this research, I have had the good fortune to work with some world-class scientists, and the findings of all of them have framed this issue as one that transcends discplines and crosses political and geographical boundaries in a way that demands more of us than most other issues.

While I already have lots of web space devoted to climate change and water issues, one passion that is not well represented is bicycling. Our inefficiency in transportation (accounting for nearly 30 percent of U.S. energy demand) produces a huge proportion of the greenhouse gases that will dramatically alter the climate our children and grandchildren inherit. I'm not sure what shape this page will eventually take, but I will use it to link to articles and resources that will at least help me keep track of things. Maybe if anyone else lands here they'll find something useful too.

The True Cost of Transportation Energy

The report by the National Research Council, "Hidden Costs of Energy: Unpriced Consequences of Energy Production and Use" summarizes some of the externalized costs of energy generation and use. Of particular interest is that motor vehicles are responsible for about 1.5 cents/mile in nonclimate-related damages, such as health impacts. At 10,000 miles/year, this is maybe $150/year. Interestingly, electric and hybrid vehicles are about as bad, and vehicles using biofuels are generally the same or worse.

Development and Bicycle Advocacy

Here's the civil engineering connection: planning and construction often leaves out bicycle (and pedestrian) considerations. A great movement to include this in neighborhood and city design is the National Complete Streets Coalition, where lots of resources are available.

A Place for Optimism

While maybe contrary to my nature, optimism is far more effective at promoting change than doom and gloom. The global wamring talks of a friend and colleague Eugene Cordero emphasize not all the sacrifices we'll need to make, and changes we'll adopt, and so on to preserve a world for the next generation that resembles the current one, but how exciting it is to imagine a better world. Of course, creating that better world encompasses the same things, but we're creating, not sacrificing. This sort of creative optimism infuses David Byrne's bicycle advocacy, where to show that people can change their behavior he uses the analogy "who would have believed that those independent-minded New Yorkers, with all their attitude, would stoop to picking up doggie shit in little baggies and carrying it steaming in their hands to the nearest trash can? No one. But they do. Pretty much all of them." So changing human behavior to use non-destructive transportation alternatives is possible, desirable, and has a precedent!

Other Links

• World Carfree Network http://www.worldcarfree.net/
• The National Center for Bicycling & Walking http://www.bikewalk.org
• Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition http://bikesiliconvalley.org/
• The mighty, influential Santa Clara Bicycle Advisory Committee
• The Alliance for Biking & Walking http://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org/site/
• Bay Area Bicycle Coalition http://www.bayareabikes.org
• The California Bicycle Coalition http://www.calbike.org/
• San José Bike Party
• Bike Route on-line mapping:
  • http://www.ridethecity.com/ (NYC, Austin, Seattle, Chicago, Louisville, San Diego)
  • http://bycycle.org/ (Portland, OR and Milwaukee)
• Walking school bus/biking school train
• Safe routes to school - bike train
• Bike train guidelines
• A fine product to make cycling safer

Articles

• NY Times Magazine on bicycle highways
• Pucher Transportation Review article "Making Cycling Irresistible: Lessons from
  The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany"
• Reynolds Environmental Health review article "The impact of transportation infrastructure on bicycling injuries"
• Civil Engineering magazine article on New York's Broadway bicycle project
• Article on parking reform; but then parked cars still kill.
• Benefits of a cycle-based economy
• In UK, auto exhaust kills more people than accidents

[more to come...]

Last Updated: September 5, 2012