New Report Links Decline in Bicycling and Walking to Nation’s Obesity Epidemic

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Kristen Steele, Outreach and Development Manager | 415-513-5281 | kristen@thunderheadalliance.org | www.thunderheadalliance.org

Washington, D.C. – August 29, 2007 – According to a report released today by the Thunderhead Alliance, the dust settling on Americans’ parked bikes is likely linked to our expanding waist lines. Bicycling and Walking in the U.S., Thunderhead’s first biennial Benchmarking Report, shows that bicycling and walking have been in decline in the U.S. since the 1960s. At the same time there has been a surge in adults and children who are obese. The report compares, for the first time ever, bicycling and walking levels, investment in bicycling and walking, and public health. The most striking findings reveal major disparities between cycling and walking levels, traffic fatalities, and federal funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects.

According to Thunderhead’s Executive Director, Sue Knaup, “Most public health advocates already preach the benefits of biking and walking. This report clearly demonstrates that cities and states with the highest rates of cycling and walking almost always have the lowest levels of obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes.”

Besides linking cycling, walking, and public health, the report highlights the challenges the U.S. faces in regards to increasing bicycling and walking. Bicycling and walking make up 9.6 percent of all trips. Yet bicyclists and pedestrians represent 12.9 percent of all traffic-related fatalities, and only 1.5 percent of federal transportation dollars are spent on bicycling and walking projects.

“State and local governments can choose whether their money goes towards expanding highways or improving their communities for bicycling and walking,” Knaup said. “In order to make streets safe and inviting for all citizens and reverse our nation’s obesity epidemic, state and local officials must get serious about investing in bicycling and walking.”

The report was released to Thunderhead Alliance’s network of bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations and government officials throughout the country. Thunderhead anticipates that advocates, officials, and citizens will use this cutting-edge report to promote a greater investment in bicycling and walking in their communities.

Thunderhead Alliance is the national coalition of state and local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations. Bicycling and Walking in the U.S. was made possible by support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Bikes Belong Coalition. On-going support from Planet Bike and the National Bicycle Dealers Association also ensured the report’s success. To view Bicycling and Walking in the U.S. visit http://www.thunderheadalliance.org/benchmarking.htm

For more information, please contact Kristen Steele, Outreach and Development Manager:

415-513-5281, Kristen@thunderheadalliance.org

Commerce Bank Bike Philly Update

With two weeks before the big event Bike Philly has reached 1400 pre-registered participants, the cost has increased to $45 which is still less expensive than the $60 day of registration fee.

The 35 and 50 Mile routes have been finalized with a rest stops in Narberth Park and teh Spring Mill SEPTA Station on the Schuylkill River Trail. Highlights on the longer shared road routes include the the village within the city of Shawmont and Main St. Manayunk on the 50 mile loop and the Barnes Foundation and small town USA Narberth on both routes.

For updates and information such as parking, lodging and bike rental go to the Bike Philly Blog.

PENNDOT Diverted 1 Billion from Bridge Program but AAA Blames Bike Paths

The Bike Path blame game continues with AAA Mid-Atlantic's Catherine L. Rossi with a commentary in the Philadelphia Inquirer regarding the sorry state of Pennsylvania Bridges the most deficient in the country.

While much of the article strives for accountability and the need for user fees (tolls) Ms. Rossi couldn't help but take a jab at the old bike path scapegoat.

Quote: "Nevertheless, our federal lawmakers and policymakers have a responsibility to stop earmarking highway and bridge money for "pork" and unrelated projects such as recreational bike paths, museums and historic lighthouses."

"Pennsylvania also has a responsibility to resist the temptation to divert highway and bridge money to fund mass transit deficits..."

AAA will support reasonable increases in fees and taxes but only if the money is used wisely and exclusively for needed highway and bridge projects.

Looks like AAA got the Secretary Mary Peters Memo.

The statement that “recreational” bicycle paths are unrelated to transportation is baffling. Hundreds of bicyclists commute to the regions core from the Northwest neighborhoods and Montgomery County via the Schuylkill River Trail and from New Jersey via the Ben Franklin Bridge walkway. Both facilities cater to “recreational users” but they also accommodate those who are walking or bicycling to work, school, the store, the doctor, the train etc. and every one of these trips prevents congestion, pollution, and energy consumption while improving the health of the rider or walker.

Ms. Rossi left the impression that an enormous percentage of Federal transportation funds are spent on projects such as these. The reality is that less than one percent of these funds are spent on bicycling and walking projects despite the fact that these two modes account for about 5 percent of all trips in the region2 and 17 percent of traffic fatalities each year.1

The commentary also left the impression that critical bridge projects are being left unfunded because of this. But according to the 2003 Report How States Under-Fund Bridge Safety States have spent billions of bridge program dollars elsewhere. Pennsylvania was singled out as an extreme example of deferring bridge maintenance.

Between 1993 and 2002 Pennsylvania, with nearly 25% of its bridges deemed structurally deficient, has left unused or transferred over $1.2 billion in bridge program funding2 Indeed, states have returned to Washington hundreds of millions of “unspent” bridge program dollars as part of recent rescissions ordered by the Congress

We do not support AAA's position that all transportation dollars should default to the all-mighty car. There is a need and there are many benefits for bicycling, walking and mass transit - including economic, environmental, and health.

At a time when individuals, communities and as a nation we are battling congestion, obesity, energy consumption, global warming, and air quality issues, projects and programs to help people use alternatives to driving are a wise investment.

¹ The Surface Transportation Policy Partnership – Mean Streets 2002; Pennsylvania fact sheet
http://www.transact.org/PDFs/ms2002/state%20fact%20sheets%20mt-us.pdf

² US Census SF3 Journey to Work Data 5 County Philadelphia Region

http://factfinder.census.gov

³The Surface Transportation Policy Partnership – Bridge Spending Decoder January 2003
http://www.transact.org/library/decoder/Bridge-Decoder.pdf

So You're Car Free - But Do You Fly?

What has shocked me the most about the so called carbon footprint is the one we leave by flying. Some of you who read this blog are either car-free or more likely car-lite, that is you drive a fraction of the normal American Household Average of 21,252 miles annually.

With the US Fuel Economy average at around 20.8 Miles Per Gallon1 that means that the Carbon Footprint for that Family is 11,000 Lbs of CO2 annually.

Enter the Flight Emission Calculator
You pick two airports and the Calculator generates the CO2 Emissions for a one way trip, for example one way from Philadelphia International to San Francisco releases 983 Lbs of C02 per passenger. So when a family of 4 goes to San Francisco Round Trip the total carbon footprint for that household is 7,864 lbs.

There are other calculators that will give you a ballpark figure of your total carbon footprint such as the this one on the carbonindependent.org website.

By the way if you were to travel 21,252 miles on buses or trains annually (about 42 miles one way for a 5 day a week commuter) your carbon footprint would be around 2,100 lbs of CO2 and of course if you were to travel that distance on your bike that number would be zero and you would be in terrific shape.

Sources
1 EPA stats in the Detroit News
2 NHTS Report - Do More Vehicles Make More Miles

Cities Release Urban Transportation Report Card

Transportation Alternatives, the Chicagoland Bike Federation, the San
Francisco Bike Coalition and the Cascade Bicycle Club in Seattle just
released the first-ever Urban Transportation Report Card, comparing the
four cities' efforts to reduce transport sector greenhouse gas emissions
by switching private motor vehicle trips to biking, walking and transit.

The direct comparison interesting if limited report on how cities that have signed the C-40 initiative.

The report card is online here

Philadelphia is a C-40 City and their climate change action plan is located here. Hopefully we will be working with the above Advocacy Organizations to add Philadelphia to the report next year.

USDOT Secretary: Bicycling is not Transportation

US DOT Secretary Mary Peters was interviewed by PBS News Hour Correspondent Gwen Ifill yesterday. Secretary Peters remarks that raises the question as to whether the administration supports bicycle transportation.

Video Link- http://www.pbs.org/newshour/video/#

Full Transcript of the Interview

Here are quotes from the interview:

GWEN IFILL: The collapse of an interstate bridge in Minneapolis two weeks ago has sparked a number of questions, but few answers, about the state of the nation's aging transportation system. The woman charged with tackling some of those questions is Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters. She joins us now.
Welcome, Secretary Peters.

MARY PETERS, U.S. Secretary of Transportation: Thank you, Gwen.

GWEN IFILL: The president came out after the Minneapolis bridge collapse and said, "Secretary Mary Peters will be my point person on this and will fix this problem." And then he came out a few days later and said, "Taxes will not go up." A $188 billion infrastructure problem, how do you begin?

MARY PETERS: Well, Gwen, let's start with the Minneapolis bridge collapse. We don't yet know why the bridge collapsed, and certainly NTSB is continuing their investigation. It's a very important investigation, and we want those answers. And in the interim, our thoughts and our prayers are with those who tragically lost their lives or were injured in that collapse.

But what it has teed up is a larger discussion on whether or not we're spending the money that we have today in the right places, setting the right priorities, and, indeed, if the gas tax is even the appropriate mechanism to use to fund transportation in the future.

GWEN IFILL: So Congressman Jim Oberstar, the head of the Transportation Committee in the House who is also from Minnesota, has suggested a nickel a gallon. He says that's worth it.

MARY PETERS: Well, Gwen, the problem is, I think we have to examine where we're spending money today. And if we think that we're spending money today in the highest and best use, then perhaps we would need to make that discussion, but I don't believe we are.

You know, I think Americans would be shocked to learn that only about 60 percent of the gas tax money that they pay today actually goes into highway and bridge construction. Much of it goes in many, many other areas.

And as we don't -- we're not disciplined today to say, are we spending that money where it is the highest and best use of that money? Are we giving the American public the best return on investment for that money? And we owe it to ourselves to answer those questions before we ask Americans to dig down in their pockets and pay even more gas tax.

GWEN IFILL: Given what we have learned about the state of the nation's infrastructure in this spectacular way and also in all the other ways that have been exposed in the last few weeks, is there time to have this debate about spending before the problem is tackled head on?

MARY PETERS: We must have this debate on spending before this problem is tackled head on. Again, we don't know what happened in Minneapolis. We will find out what happened. I've talked to the NTSB investigators. I've been there three times myself, and the president has been there once.

Again, we don't yet know, but I think it is a mistake to extrapolate that tragedy into the larger system crumbling beneath our feet. The fact is that, actually, the condition of the nation's infrastructure has increased slightly over the last decade. What has suffered the most is actually how the infrastructure is performing. This congestion, delays, bottlenecks that we're seeing on too much of the system today tells me that we're not putting the money in the right places.

Funding Congressional earmarks

GWEN IFILL: Where is the money going instead?

MARY PETERS: Well, it's going into earmarks; it's going into special programs.

GWEN IFILL: Explain what you mean when you say earmarks.

MARY PETERS: Well, an earmark is a project that's designated by a member of Congress specifically to a project generally in his or her district or state. And the level of earmarking has increased substantially over the last couple of decades in terms of the highway bill. The last highway bill that was passed, in the summer of 2005, contained over 6,000 of those marks, those specially designated projects. And the cost of those projects just in that bill alone was $24 billion, almost a tenth of the bill.

GWEN IFILL: Aren't many of those projects, even though they're special interest projects, aren't they roads and bridges, often?

MARY PETERS: Gwen, some of them are, but many of them are not. There are museums that are being built with that money, bike paths, trails, repairing lighthouses. Those are some of the kind of things that that money is being spent on, as opposed to our infrastructure.

***
GWEN IFILL: Who is spending the money inappropriately?

MARY PETERS: Well, there's about probably some 10 percent to 20 percent of the current spending that is going to projects that really are not transportation, directly transportation-related. Some of that money is being spent on things, as I said earlier, like bike paths or trails. Some is being spent on museums, on restoring lighthouses, as I indicated.

GWEN IFILL: Congress, essentially, you're saying is spending...

MARY PETERS: Yes, ma'am.

*****

Secretary Peters' comments cast doubt on the commitment of USDOT to adhere its own national transportation policy as stated/interpreted in the FHWA's February, 1999 (updated in April, 2007) program guidance on accommodating bicycling and walking:

FHWA Guidance - (Updated April 4, 2007)
Bicycle and Pedestrian Provisions of Federal Transportation Legislation
Policy: Mainstreaming Nonmotorized Transportation

The League of American Bicyclists has sent a response to Secretary Peters.

Finally lumping in bike paths as wasteful spending is an old tactic of the Highway Gang, spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation.

Since bicycles are still considered by some as toys we can expect this kind of misinformation to be thrown at our spokes over and over again.

BikePhilly Update

The $40 Bike Philly pre registration rate that includes a T-shirt has been extended to August 22nd. Online Registration will be open until August 31st (no T-shirt).

Day of Registration, if available, will be $60. Finish Line Festival: Celebrate your accomplishments, your healthy life style, and bicycling at the FINISH LINE FESTIVAL, open to all.

The route is changing slightly, the 10 mile section is now scheduled to go through University City and the lower portion of Fairmount Park, this should ease fears of congestion on the heavily used Schuylkill River Trail.

The 35 and 50 mile routes are currently being evaluated, those routes will use some of the Main Line roads featured on our Annual Bike Freedom Valley Ride. Riders will travel by the the Barnes Foundation, Merion Botanical Park and the charming borough of Narberth.

For more info go to bikephilly2007.com or the Bike Philly Blog

Weekend Escape 6 – The Trails of Baltimore

Less than 100 miles south of Philadelphia, Baltimore MD shares Philly’s image of endless row homes and a gateway to great bicycle rides. There are 4 major trails - North Central Rail Trail (which connects to the York Heritage Trail), The Baltimore & Annapolis Trail, The BWI Trail and the Gwynns Falls Trail. Baltimore is right in the middle which makes it a great location to spend at least two days bicycling exploring an emerging regional trail network that if were tied together would rival Washington DC’s regional network.

And in a sense they are almost tied together already via the Central Light Rail Line. In fact you could ride from York to Annapolis and skip the city of Baltimore altogether. But why would you want to do that?

So we’ll get you down to Baltimore, and leave the decision of where to go to you.



















Birds Eye View of the Inner Harbor from Live.com


Getting to the trails – Amtrak is the obvious if expensive choice, the rub is that you have box and check you bike at least a day ahead of time so that it’s there when you arrive. The cost of buying a bike box and checking it on the train is about $15. You can bring a folding bike on the train for no charge.

Buses are not much more amenable; Greyhound requires you to disassemble and box your bicycle and is not nearly as accommodating as Amtrak. On the plus side you can save lots of money and take a Capitol Trailways bus directly to York which would allow a one way ride to Baltimore. Check with the terminal ahead of time to make sure that boxes are available. A good trick may be to call ahead to Bike Line adjacent to the bus station on Arch Street in Chinatown to see if they have any bike boxes available (they throw them out anyway). Apex Bus does carry bicycles and runs 3 times daily to Baltimore.

Once your there then getting around on bike is a much easier option Baltimore’s Light Rail and Subway lines allow bicycles at all times, Rabbit Transit in York County has bike racks on all buses as well as Annapolis Transit. C-60 which connects with the Light Rail at BWI Airport also carries bicycles.

Bike Rentals may be the sanest option Light Street Cycles (1015 Light St
Phone: (410) 685-2234, closed on Sundays) is the only place in downtown that we know of that rents bicycles.

Lodging – Downtown and BWI offer the most accommodations. There are plenty of sites that offer accommodations downtown such as Orbitz, Priceline, Hotels.com and Google. Before you make your reservation you may want to ask the hotel about their bicycle policy. Annapolis offers some high end bed and breakfasts as well as the usual chains on the highway, the same can be said to lesser degree for York.

A Real Cure For Conshohocken's Traffic Headache

The Inquirer Article "Bridge a headache for Conshohocken" shows that local planners and politicians are still referring to the old playbook when addressing traffic issues in revitalized communities. They are looking at taking the already monstorous highway-like bridge and widening it for more traffic lanes.

Here is the real problem, Conshohocken is a traditional river town with a walkable, bikeable grid network and scant parking. It has a train station, a riverfront walk and the Schuylkill River Trail. Those are the amenities that make the town an appealing place to live.

West Conshohocken's street grid has been chopped up by highway engineers to connect cars to the Schuylkill Expressway and the Blue Route. Developers were then quick to add standalone office complexes to this highway nexus. Add some uneven terrain and you may have worst place in the Schuylkill River Valley to walk, bicycle or access transit. If you think it's difficult to drive in West Conshy, try crossing the street. People feel that they have no choice but to drive between the two communities.

Widening the bridge will amplify this assault on both towns. I propose an alternate scenario, build a pedestrian bridge to a new West Schuylkill River Trail, improve the pedestrian environment by rebuilding the sidewalks and adding pedestrian refuge islands to negotiate the massive turn lanes. Put bike lanes on the bridge and its connecting streets to improve bicycling. And on the other side of the River build a new and improved SEPTA station at Conshohocken.

Michael Ronkin, Oregon's former bicycle and pedestrian coordinator and one of the nations most highly regarded bicycle and pedestrian planners often says that the most bikeable and walkable cities are the ones where it is most difficult to drive. He says "I often recommend to those visiting the Netherlands to rent a car for a day and drive around Amsterdam – it’s hell."

So what does the I-35 bridge collapse mean for the future of bicycling and walking?

There is no clear answer as to where this will go, what is clear is that at least for now the 24 News outlets are finally focused on a long standing problem.

The anti-pork constituency is once again pointing to light rail and bicycle infrastructure projects as a waste of transportation funds. These groups, most notably the Heritage Foundation treats anything that is not spent on roads as pork (even though the largest chunk of SAFETEA-LU earmarks were in fact highway projects). If the drumbeats of this issue get louder by 2009 then we may once again have to go to bat to defend bicycle friendly funding sources such as Transportation Enhancements and CMAQ.

On the other hand some news sources are actually questioning highway expansion projects vs. infrastructure preservation, a large chunk of transportation dollars are still spent on new capacity projects. Since 1990 Road capacity expansion in urban areas has averaged about 15,000 lane miles per year *.

Check out this report of bridge repair underfunding issued by STPP in 2003:

...Often, states use their discretion to fully fund traditional highway building programs while under-funding critical repair needs like the bridge program. Several such states are ones that the bridge program’s funding formula is designed to help the most.

If states reallocate some of the highway capacity funds to overhauling bridges it will provide more opportunities to add pathways on bridges And a new focus on maintenance may release funds to repair our crumbling and neglected multi-use paths such as the MLK Drive path and the Schuylkill River Trail between Shawmont and the Montgomery County Line. But these improvements will be made only if the local community pushes the DOT's to do so.

But ultimately this issue may come down with the Katrina syndrome. Key symptom of this disease is a refocusing of public attention on Lindsey Lohan, Dancing with the Stars and IPODs.

*Based on a report from the Surface Transportation Policy Project that used FHWA statistics to determine that 22,000 lane miles were added to the urban roadway network every year between 1990 and 2000 and 69% of that mileage was due to on highway capacity expansion.

Give Us Back Our Bike Lanes!

Here is a a great example of street repair projects that tear up bike lanes. Why has the contractor placed the right lane closed sign in the bike lane? This forces cyclists to move into the traffic lane as the road slips into the dimly lit 5th Street Tunnel under the Ben Franklin Bridge. A disaster (and lawsuit) waiting to happen.

Contact the Streets Department and tell them to move the construction signs out of the 5th Street Bike Lane.

This is not the only case that road work has messed with bike lanes, Slippery bridge plates 2 inches off roads are often used to fill in holes. There is also a problem of crews not replacing the bike lane or simply doing a sloppy repaving job .

Weekend Escape 5 - Harlem Valley Rail Trail

Here is a real escape, and if you are trying to get there by train it could be called an adventure. Your reward is the scenic paved Harlem Valley Rail Trail surrounded by the Taconic Hills that straddle the New York and Connecticut Border.

Less than 2 miles north end of the rail trail from Bash Bish Falls in the southwest corner of Massachussetts.

Getting There - Here is the adventure part, find the best way to get to New York City by bus or train then taking the Metro North's Harlem Valley Line at Grand Central Station to Wassaic, the last stop on the line. Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT trains stop at Penn Station, on weekends mornings it's a 12 minute leg stretching bike ride via 32nd St and Park Ave to Grand Central.

You also need a bike permit for Metro North train which you can buy at Grand Central Station customer service window (Yes they still have bike permits) and beware of some funky bike rules especially during the week.

Driving Directions

Hotels
Since New York City is the halfway point to the start, you may want to spend the first night there and take an AM Metro North Train. If you are driving the nearest chain hotels to the trail are in Poughkeepsie and Fishkill NY. A search on Google yielded a few motels and inns close to the trail in Millerton, Amenia and Copake

B&B's
The Villages of Millerton and Amenia are quite attractive and both communities have bed and breakfast accommodations. http://www.hvpartnership.org/hvp/lodging.htm

Camping
Taconic State Park offers camping at the north end of the trail in the Copake Falls section and just north of Millerton near Undermountain Road in the Rudd Pond Section.

Travel Time From Camden to Center City - 32 Minutes

I timed my trip from the RiverLINE station at Rutgers Camden (2nd and Cooper) to our office at Broad and Chestnut this morning. I rode at a leisurely pace obeyed all traffic laws, took the least stressful route and stopped twice to eat a granola bar and talk to a friend on the street. So anyone who can pedal the upgrade of the bridge should be able to meet or beat this time.


Time 32 Minutes
Distance 3.7 Miles
Average Speed 7 MPH