Twin Cities Streets for People

According to the European Cycling Federation, if the whole of the EU cycled like the Danes, they could achieve significant emissions cuts.

If the EU cycling rate was the same as it is in Denmark, where the average person cycles almost 600 miles (965km) each year, then the bloc would attain anything from 12% to 26% of its targeted transport emissions reduction, depending on what forms of transport the cycling replaced, according to the report by the Brussels-based European Cycling Federation (ECF).

This figure is likely to be a significant underestimate as it deliberately excludes the environmental impact of building road infrastructure and parking, or maintaining and disposing of cars.

These figures are for the EU’s 2050 emissions reduction target.  The figures are even greater for 2020 targets.

Bikes are not a new technology that would require long adoption periods and high initial capital costs.  Almost everyone knows how to use them, and they are cheap.  They also have myriad co-benefits, not least of which is increased physical activity.  To get serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we should take a close look at the bike as a potential solution.

Using ECF’s study as a model and making some estimates, the Twin Cities metro could see some significant emissions reductions if we biked like the Danes, but getting there would be tough.  I’ll get to that, but first some initial thoughts on the Europeans.

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Where did we go wrong with the stimulus money? It seems that alternative transportation did not and is not getting its fair share. Here are some facts about MN over at Transportation for America. Let's keep pushing for the changes we need moving forward.

From Smart City Radio:

Today on the show we'll meet a realtor who specializes in Alternative Commuting.  In previous decades Realtors could use a home's easy access to freeways and roads as a selling point but today's home buyers have other ways of getting around. Kirsten Kauffman is Portland Oregon's Bike Realtor and she'll tell us why location is still a consideration when buying a home, but location near different things.   Read more >

Copenhagen: City of Cyclists, Part 1 of 5: Our very first episode of A Billion Bikes, takes us to the Danish city of Copenhagen, which has one of the most advanced urban bicycling communities in the world. A full third of their city workforce commutes by bicycle! This is an excellent 5-part program of weekly episodes. But first, a brief hello from Tour de France champion Floyd Landis, and a fun open

This post from Across the Great Divide made me think about how people report car crashes, particularly when a pedestrian, bicyclist, or driver dies in the crash. Do reporters call it an "accident" or a "crash"? Do they say that the person "was killed" or that the person "died"?

I remember reading recently about an attorney general in Florida who made headlines by trying to get drivers tried for murder instead of for vehicular homocide, in the interest of reducing inattentive driving. But it poses the question: if you are texting and speeding while driving a car, and hit and kill someone on a bicycle, are you guilty of murder? Or was it just an accident? Read more >