The government wants to know: Why Are You or Aren't You Biking to Work?
Photo by Joe Shlabotnik. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.
Each week, the EPA asks a question on its blog, Greenversations, to see how people around the country feel about a particular question and opens up the comments section to generate answers. Pretty standard Web 2.0 stuff, but this time the government tells you they're watching.
Although the EPA's short press release announcing this week's question (after the jump) doesn't mention the League of American Bicyclists' Bike-to-Work Week that is going on now, the agency's latest Blog Question of the Week fits perfectly with the event. The question is: Why Are You or Aren't You Biking to Work? Specifically:
Biking is healthy, it prevents air pollution, and it can even save you money (filled your tank recently?). So why aren't you biking to work? Need more bike paths? Different policies from your employer? Government sponsorship or policies? Or are you just a couch potato? If you ARE biking, tell us about your route and experiences!
As a guy who rides a bike for a lot of regular errands (post office, groceries, etc.), I make due without new and better bike paths. More would certainly be nice, but I find that cruising the residential streets is a good way around the issue. You?
Press Release:
Blog Question of the Week: Why Are You or Aren't You Biking to Work?
Ever wanted to tell EPA what you thought on an environmental topic? Each week, you have your chance in the EPA blog, Greenversations. Each question is an open-ended blog entry; please share your thoughts as comments.
This week's question:
Why are you or aren't you biking to work?
Biking is healthy, it prevents air pollution, and it can even save you money (filled your tank recently?). So why aren't you biking to work? Need more bike paths? Different policies from your employer? Government sponsorship or policies? Or are you just a couch potato? If you ARE biking, tell us about your route and experiences!
Share your answer: http://blog.epa.gov/blog/2008/05/12/qotwbikingtowork/
Get email when we post a new question: http://service.govdelivery.com/service/subscribe.html?code=USAEPA_345
Read the rest of the blog: http://blog.epa.gov/
[Source: EPA]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ron 12:54PM (5/14/2008)
I bike to work, but I don't travel on roads. I stick to the sidewalks, which is fine with me but seems to piss off pedestrians. Too bad for them - I am not going to risk my life on the roads.
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James Bowe 1:21PM (5/14/2008)
agreed. i've been forced off the road numerous times. riding with traffic is dangerous because you don't see the cars until they're past you, go against traffic and drivers tend to push as close to you as possible to teach you a lesson. Damn the law, I ride to get where I'm going safely. so I roll mostly on sidewalks myself.
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Erik 5:36PM (5/14/2008)
My wife bikes to work when the weather is nice (basically summer only). I think we need to change our land-use and suburban development planning to encourage medium and high density growth. I live in Eugene, OR and we have an Urban Growth Boundary that some developers want to expand, yet we still have a lot of in-fill opportunities. Some of the older lots in town are 1/4 or 1/2 acre. Townhomes or small-lot homes would allow a lot more people to live close to downtown and jobs, making it easy to bike. Eugene has decent bike paths, pedestrian bridges, etc. Actually it's our pothole-filled roads making the news this election year.
As someone who's traveled to and around Germany and other European countries I'd suggest anyone who wants to see how to to "do it right" needs to hop a train and buy a Eurorail pass and check out how Europe solved this problem forever ago.
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Whopper 1:50PM (5/14/2008)
Many cities have laws against riding bikes, skate boards or roller skates on sidewalks. Obviously you feel that your rights are superior to those of pedestrians...somewhat like the actions of "cagers" (car drivers) with respect to you.
I ride a motorcycle to work most days and have to avoid "cagers" in spite of the fact that motor vehicle laws give me the same right to a traffic lane as a car. You just have to accept the fact that most drivers are inattentive (cell phone, swapping CD's, changing radio stations, shouting at the kids etc.). Bikers "ride like you're invisible" because the excuse is often "I didn't see him.".
But Ron, you might want to consider that the pissed pedestrian has the same opinion of you as you have of drivers...except the pedestrian is where he belongs and you are not!
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Wildgoosechase73 1:41PM (5/14/2008)
Why don't I bike? I work 20 miles from home by freeway, probably 50 miles on surface streets. Can't move closer to work, it's too expensive in that area.
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ron 2:00PM (5/14/2008)
That's fine, and I sympathize with the peds, but I would rather annoy them than become road kill due to some bimbo in a Sequoia sipping a latte and talking on the phone.
Of course it would be less of a problem if there were adequate bike lanes.
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Richard 2:05PM (5/14/2008)
I too don't ride to work because it's too dangerous. Cars don't respect bike riders especially in the St. Petersburg, FL area. I won't even mention the older car drivers that have no clue whatsoever. We need more bike lanes and stricter enforcement of the 2 foot rule.
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gary_350 2:05PM (5/14/2008)
Are Bicycles Legal Transportation? I bike to the Post Office, Municipal building, grocery store, , hardware store, movie theater, restaurants, book store, etc. Most of these parking lots have signs prohibiting "bicycles, skateboards, rollerblades" & whatever on the property. And of course there is no hardware in sight to actually park a bike. It is my right to choose a bicycle over a car there should be a place to park and lock my bike. But with these signs proliferating all over town, I have to wonder if a bicycle can go everywhere a car or motorbike can go? I ride on back streets through subdivisions if possible. I will not risk my live riding on a busy street. The city police have told me many times to stay off the sidewalks on the busy streets I always tell them I will but I never do. The laws seem to favor cars for the street and pedestrians for the sidewalks. It always makes the pedestrians mad when I ride on the sidewalks but so what! Most of the places I ride to are within 1 to 6 miles of my house I can putt putt along at 10 mph or ride fast at 20 mph if I want. I can actually ride my bike faster than cars during rush hour traffic, while the cars are creeping along at 5 mph burning lots of fuel I cruise right on past. There are bits and pieces of bike lanes all over town the city will paint a white line on the street where it is already wide enough to be called a bike lane but the city does not seem to be willing to do anything other than paint white lines and put up signs. It is hard to ride the bike lanes on the street when a bike lane may be only 2 blocks long then disappear for several blocks then reappear again for a few blocks. It is nice riding my bike especially when the weather is nice. I have side saddle baskets and a back pack I can usually haul just about anything I want on my bike. I have to stop at the grocery store more often if I am at the hardware store or book store anyway I stop at the grocery store on my way home. It is hard to haul $200 worth of groceries but several trips $50 worth each time is easy. I am considering buying a bike trailer there are several companies the sell them. A trailer would make it very easy to buy $200 worth of groceries in one trip. I once hauled a color TV on my bike a trailer would have made that easier. I see pictures of bicycle pickup trucks in China people hauling large loads of lumber, boxes, furnature, etc. I want a bicycle pickup truck but can not find one so I plan to build one myself. If more people start riding bicycles I hope the government does not want bikers to buy license plates or pay a special tax for bikes. Someone always seems to want money for something. When I was young I use to go camping on my bike it was a lot of fun. Now that I am 57 yrs old I can still do all the things I once did only it now takes me 4 times longer. I have seen lots of people killed on bikes you can read the stories online yourself. The police always seem to blame the biker the driver is never at fault. I was a witness to a college student run over by someone talking on a cell phone the police report said the bikers was at fault. I told the police I saw the accident but they did not want to hear what I had to say. I think bikers are not taken serious with gas at $4/gal more people are going to be riding bikes expecially if they feel safe when they ride.
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Gordio 2:28PM (5/14/2008)
I bike to work, but I am fortunate it is near the electric train transit (BART) station. Sure it's 15 min away, but that is reasonable, considering the raod is flat. My only complaint is hot weather.
I also convinced my brother to bart/bike to work, but he only started after gas prices went up. He has a better incentive than me, since his job provides him with 64$ of bart tickets a month. I get no reinbursement.
I think the #1 reason is mentality. The same reason people are afraid of riding the bus, driving a non-SUV, driving a stick shift, is the same as why they aren't biking. More than laziness in my opinion.
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Gordio 2:32PM (5/14/2008)
I notice above people do mention the fear of danger. Bikes are only dangerous because cars exist. That's what people say about driving small cars: "oh an SUV will run you over". Well, that's only true if SUVs exist on the road.
If people keep making those arguments, and you're afraid of biking or driving a small car, SUVs will always rule the roads. You have to take that step into deep waters to make a difference.
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Bill 2:32PM (5/14/2008)
No bike lanes - not enough sidewalks yet (that is changing here)
BTW, everyone should really check your local laws - here you can bike on the sidewalk everywhere (the city controls use of sidewalks in the right-of-way)
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eddy 2:50PM (5/14/2008)
I live in Herzogenrath near Aachen (Germany). That little city was awarded as Germany's most bike-friendly city. We have bike lanes on nearly every major street and a special biking road system. On the 100 days with good weather (the rest is cold and rainy) I bike to work (15 km = ca. 10 miles) and I love it. Now the only thing we would need would be weather like in Northern Italy so that I can use my bike every day. I guess global warming will have at least one positive effect :-)
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pacman 4:43PM (5/14/2008)
I would ride my bike to work but its a distance and no matter how ginger I take it I am a sweaty mess when I arrive at work. Not a problem if I could take a shower but that is not available. The trip is only 12 miles but it is all through the hills of Western PA so it is defenitly a work out. I could not go to work and be all stinky for the day, that is my only problem with riding to work.
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Smith 5:36PM (5/14/2008)
20 miles away. All interstate at 70mph. Still takes 30 minutes to get there from my driveway to the parking lot.
Even if I lived "just down the street" from work; it's "only" two or three miles away, down a very busy 4 lane street with no sidewalks. I still wouldn't ride a bike down that street. Plus, it's either raining, snowing, freezing cold, or over one hundred degrees here more often then not.
Electric cars are the answer to fuel issues.
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Cactus 5:48PM (5/14/2008)
I live about 2 miles away from work. Problem is, I'm in Palm Springs -- where temperatures are usually over 110 degrees for 3 months of the year -- and the only road between here and there has a 55mph speed limit.
Besides, since I live 2 miles away, I'll make the case that... there wouldn't be much cost or environmental benefit. Just not having to use the treadmill as much, later on...
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Chris 6:22AM (5/15/2008)
26 miles one way so that excludes my use of a bicycle. Other reasons, the weather and the fact I am saddled with a laptop that must go home with me each night.
Really the big reason will always be the weather. Simply put the south is no place to bike during the summer, even the endurance riders avoid the afternoons; they are out in the mornings only.
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zaedrus 8:04AM (5/15/2008)
6 miles from work with a 'rail to trail' for most of the way. It's wonderful with the exception of our summer humidity, and no available shower at the office. I still do it frequently, and just try to go easy on the muggier days.
This was a huge factor when purchasing our home.
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Azrael4h 8:24AM (5/15/2008)
I don't own a bike. Been meaning to buy one, but haven't yet.
But, I work 20 miles away, so it would be impractical to try to ride a bike that far. My employer also has no places to lock up a bike. Though, they also have no residential areas within 5 miles either.
I've been looking for a new job, closer to home, but the closest town is 7 miles away. I refuse to live in the city, with taxes, criminals like the Mayor of Memphis ruining things, congestion, and the like; as well as poor air quality, I'll stick with my little middle of nowhere.
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Will 9:30AM (5/15/2008)
I would, but Cobb County in Georgia, and nearby Atlanta, is notorious for poor drivers. Not a problem, but the roads are often very narrow, no sidewalks even present, and full of cars doing double the speed limit in a 35mph zone. If there was a "rail-to-trail" or a wide sidewalk with a bike lane I'd be all over it!
I used to ride and race for Ga Tech when I was in college, so I know what it's like to ride a bike in a major city, but the speeds in the suburbs where I am now are way higher. People fly off the road, blame their vehicle for not having adequate stability assist, and no one calls them out for it! I only live 7 miles from work, and I'd ride if I didn't feel like I'd get knocked from the road.
My 4 mile commute when I lived near my old job in downtown Atlanta was much safer because congestion and stop lights kept people from texting while driving and exceeding 60mph.
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peddlin' 9:55AM (5/15/2008)
I do not ride a bike to work because I do not want to ride a bike to work. I do not ride a bike for recreation. I do not buy into the BS that our environment is being threatened by man made global warming.
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