Urban Cycling Institute’s Post

It’s remarkable how many people still think of #cycling as a purely recreational activity. Far too many of them work in the #transportation field. Are they blindfolded? How much more evidence do they need to see before they accept that they are wrong?

Unprotected #bike lanes aren’t terribly useful in societies with extreme #motonormativity. In such cultures, people think nothing of getting behind the wheel of a car, truck, or SUV while intoxicated, high, or BOTH as in this case. A thoroughly impaired legislator in the US state of #Georgia from the #Atlanta suburbs drove into the city of and hit a #cyclist who was in an unprotected #bike lane. Amazingly, the cyclist was uninjured. The legislator issued a statement that can be best summarized as, “Oops, whew!” He did not offer to resign. Perhaps he can make amends by championing bigger budgets for road diets, protected bike #infrastructure, and a mandate for the Georgia Department of Transportation to do more such projects. It would be the decent thing to do. https://lnkd.in/eHVKT4KP

Choose where you would rather have your kids go to #school: On the left, a #California racetrack(?) with a school in the middle. On the right, a school in a small Dutch city that kids #walk and #bike to. #Motonormativity is ruining childhoods. H/t to Kevin Hardman for the original post.

To quote the film, Field of Dreams: “If you build it, they will come.” Works for ghostly baseball diamonds in cornfields and bike infrastructure.⚾️🚴🏻♀️

Section 4.3.5 of the #Bicycle Design Manual from CROW-Fietsberaad states that attractiveness is a requirement for a #bike network. One great way to achieve that in an era of #climatechange is by planting shade #trees.

Improve the world, repair your #bike. Here’s an article (in Dutch) about the #BikeKitchen at the University of #Amsterdam (UvA), which helps make that more feasible. 👉https://lnkd.in/e7_vZ9Kb

If you follow our feed regularly, you might have seen our Instagram video (crossposted on LinkedIn yesterday) showing a crossing like this in the US tourist town of Townsend, Tennessee. Separating grades is crucial when motorists aren’t forced to slow or stop.

Welcome to small US city of #Townsend, Tennessee. It advertises itself as the “Quiet Side of the #Smokies” (aka the Great Smoky Mountains National Park), but it’s really the bike-friendly side. That’s smart, as this is the closest town to the park’s Cades Cove area. Cades Cove has a scenic loop road that the National Park Service closes to motorists every Wednesday in the summer. So, many people who stay here planning to #bike in Cades Cove end up #cycling to shopping and dining in Townsend, as well. Cycling can benefit #cities large and small. https://lnkd.in/ecmha-Gg

In the US state of #NorthCarolina, the NCDOT and Federal Highway Administration are building a massive interchange linking a circumferential highway around the city of Raleigh with Interstate 40 and another expressway. It’s part of a project running into the billions of US dollars that is financed largely through borrowing (https://lnkd.in/enjTN4MH) This is how the project compares to central #Paris, where far more people are on the move each day relative to Raleigh. Yet, plenty of space remains for #housing, commercial #realestate, #museums, and venues for special events— like the #Olympics. Which would you rather have? A vast interchange or a vibrant world city?

🚴🏻♀️“Anyone can ride a #bike. It can be used as a means of commuting to #work or #school. Or getting fresh air or boosting some endorphins. Or just experiencing the sheer joy that only riding on two wheels can give a human being. But in the United States, where in many #cities cars are given priority over people, the thought of riding a bike on a road might make some recoil in fear.
In the States, #cycling is still on training wheels.”🚳🫤 Perhaps this will soon change, thanks to the example of Kristen Faulkner and her spectacular ride.🥇👏🥳 It’s a good thing that the City of New York made Central Park more bike-friendly years ago, as that is said to be where she got seriously into cycling. A gold medal from the #ParisOlympics is a lot better than a bunch of speeding taxis using the park as a cut-through, don’t you think? ⛔️🚕💨👍 https://lnkd.in/egayaNYJ