http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/...ess/wbbike.php
Bicycle is king of the road as gas costs rise
By Rick Smith International Herald Tribune
FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2006
Some points:
- Increase bike infrastructure and you increase cycling
- Urban policy can have an effect on cycling
- Increasing cyclist numbers increases the safety of cycling
- Money spent on cycling infrastructure goes further than money spent on auto infrastructure, supports 10 times as many cyclists per unit of asphalt, and thus is cost effective, less pavement, and not a waste of money
- Roadway designs in the US are currently with the automobile in mind, not the cyclist, and American bicycle advocacy organizations recognize this fact and think it should change
Quotes:
[1]
Consider the case of Enrique Peñalosa, the mayor of Bogotá from 1998 to 2000. In that city of seven million, he set in motion a transformation of the transport grid with measures like peak-hour restrictions on cars and about 300 kilometers, or 185 miles, of bicycle paths. He said that cycling has become a primary mode of transport for 5 percent of the population, up from 0.1 percent when he started. The share using the car as primary mode, by contrast, has fallen to 13 percent of the population from 17 percent.
[2]
"If all citizens are equal, urban policy should be democratic and not everyone has access to a motor car."
[3]
London may be the greatest success story in the new wave. When Mayor Ken Livingstone introduced a congestion charge in 2003 on vehicles entering the city center, a surprising side effect was a 28 percent surge in cycling in the first year...What has also been discovered worldwide is that accident rates have dropped wherever cycling has gained momentum, as cars are forced to slow down and as they become more accustomed to sharing the road.
[4]
...about 6 percent of funds spent in the Netherlands on road infrastructure were devoted to the bicycle, although it accounted for more than 25 percent of all journeys.
In Kenya and Tanzania, it is estimated that 60 percent of spending is devoted to the car, which accounts for only about 5 percent of journeys.
Such ratios make it clear why many mayors are recasting their budgets.
...
The standard formula is that one automobile parking space can hold 10 bicycles.
...
Cycle paths are so much cheaper to build and maintain that some cities have gone to extremes to encourage them.
[5]
"We have to start from scratch and retrain city engineers and administrators," Wittink said. "Most still have a mind-set that makes the car the priority and it's a major shift to go to any mixed solution."
...
"A monoculture is dangerous and that is almost what we've created in the United States with the automobile," said Clarke, of the League of American Bicyclists. "We need to own up to that as an example to others."
So there you go. Some numbers showing that cycling and safety increases with the addition of cycling-specific facilities. And that the money is not a waste, or a burden, but a cost savings for cities.