While Virginia talks the talk about bicycles as a transportation option — the Virginia Department of Transportation is holding hearings around the state to solicit public input about incorporating walking and biking trails into its transportation plans– two cities in Europe are walking the poverbial walk. In Amsterdam, 40 percent of commuters get to work by bike; in Copenhagen more than one third do. And both cities, according to today’s Wall Street Journal, are making significant investments to upgrade their bicycling infrastructure.
The Dutch and Danes have been bicycling enthusiasts for decades, touting the transportation mode as a form of exercise and an antidote for traffic congestion. The impetus now for increased investment comes from the conviction that substituting bicycle trips for car trips can reduce the carbon dioxide emissions believed to cause global warming. In Amsterdam, says the Journal, “the policy goal is to have bicycle trips replace many short car trips, which account for 6% of total emissions from cars.”
Denmark plans to increase spending on bike lanes on 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) of roadway. Amsterdam is undertaking a capital improvement program that includes construction of a 10,000-bike parking garage at the main train station. Norway hopes to raise bicycle traffic to at least of 8 percent of all travel by 2015, double its current level, while Sweden aims to jump from 12 percent to 16 percent by 2010.
The European commitment to bicycling has spurred innovation in bicycle design. There are cargo bikes and bikes with attachments for children. From what I can tell, however, no one has come up with a good all-weather bike. Some days, you’re just going to get wet.
In a world in which obesity is one of the greatest threats to public health, the surge in cycling does not represent a regression to a pre-industrial past, it represents a step forward to post-industrial well being. That’s justification enough for Virginia to invest more in bicycling, even if you’re not into the Global Climate Change thing.
There’s just one hurdle I can’t get over — the idea of arriving at work dripping with persipiration. I suspect a lot of other people feel the same way. Until employers start outfitting their offices with showers and lockers, for me, bicycling will never amount to more than a form of recreation or exercise. Emulating the Dutch and Danes in America will take more than new bicycle paths, it will take a major shift in cultural attitudes.
