Originally Posted by mgerdes
Atlanta is alarmingly anti-bike or pedestrian (or handicapped people, for that matter). The few sidewalks that do exist -- the only safe place to ride in most parts of the city -- are grown over or crusted with dirt or end abruptly after a few blocks. Curiously, it is illegal to bike on the sidewalks, but to put your bike on a street with NO shoulder and drivers who seem oblivious to anything on two wheels or two feet, constitutes a death wish. People are so vehicle oriented here that a push just began to encourage kids to walk to school -- they've never done it before!
So, don't expect to be two-wheeling casually here. You have to plan it, and you have to transport your vehicle someplace.
Much of what mgerdes says is true but there are LOTS of bike commuters here.
I work for the
Atlanta Bicycle Campaign (Atlanta's only bicycle advocacy organization) and find that there are many neighborhoods and areas of town where commuting and recreational riding are common. It's true that the area has a long way to go on becoming bike-friendly, and we are working hard to change things.
If you are intimidated by motorists and traffic, take an
Effective Cycling class. We have several LAB trained and certified instructors who teach cyclists how to ride with traffic. We also teach bike commuting classes.
Originally Posted by mgerdes
Efforts are under way, but it appears it will be at least a decade off before any sort of convenient bike path system for commuters is in the works. People here still think of bikes as toys for kids.
True, but we do a nice recreational path system. The
Path Foundation is continually adding more miles and new paths/trails to the network.
If you have a long commute or don't want to ride the entire distance or the weather changes for the worst during the workday, bikes are allowed on all
MARTA trains and all the MARTA, Cobb County Transit, and Gwinnett County Transit buses have bike racks.
I completely agree with what GTcommuter said,
Originally Posted by GTcommuter
Bike commuting in Atlanta is great year-round, though it often takes some creative and dedicated route finding.