Change on the horizon?
A national household travel survey says that 40% of the trips we make in our cars are two miles or less, but Americans choose a bike over a car for only 11% of those trips. By contrast, bicycle-friendly Amsterdam sees 28% of their population choose a bike for short trips.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens in New York now that the state has passed the Complete Streets law, mandating the inclusion of facilities to improve travel conditions for bicyclists and walkers on New York’s roadways. Twenty-seven communities in New York have already adopted Complete Streets policies, and at least 11 more communities are working on similar plans. The law applies only to certain roads and projects, though, and there are loopholes for individual municipalities. For more information, visit the New York Bicycling Coalition at www.nybc.net.
Who knows, Ralph, maybe I’ll get fitted for that biking helmet yet. I do already like to wear spandex.
That is so true many times I had to swerve to avoid bring hit by a car turning on red at the main intersection, cars seem to think that you need to move out of their way they generally do not share the road
Same dangerous experience for me, at Main & Partition intersection – drivers seem to have little regard for bicycles sharing the roadway.
I think this would be a great issue for local environmentalists to champion, along with fracking. As Saugerties did with the lighthouse and other communities have done with rail trails, form a group of people dedicated to holding fundraisers and seeking grants. It won’t be cheap or fast but it’s a great cause, addressing obesity and carbon emissions at the same time. Plus I think if you’re on a bike you just naturally get a better feel for the community, you feel more connected, which is good for the community.