San Francisco CA was named the #1 most bike friendly city in the US in a recently released report by the Alliance for Biking & Walking. Austin TX was second on the list with Long Beach CA coming in third. The ranking was produced based on the number of square miles of bike facilities (bike lanes, multi-use paths, and signed bicycle routes) per city square mile. Here's a list of the top 20 cities in America for bicyclists:
| 1. San Francisco (CA) 2. Austin (TX) 3. Long Beach (CA) 4. Philadelphia (PA) 5. Mesa (AZ) 6. Albuquerque (NM) 7. Seattle (WA) | 8. Minneapolis (MN) 9. Boston (MA) 10. Washington D.C. 11. Sacramento (CA) 12. Fresno (CA) 13. Tucson (AZ) 14. Denver (CO) | 15. Portland (OR) 16. San Jose (CA) 17. Honolulu (HI) 18. New York (NY) 19. Chicago (IL) 20. San Diego (CA) |
The 2014 Alliance Benchmarking Report summary points out two interesting facts worth calling out:
1. People are healthier in states where more people bike and walk.
This could be correlational rather than causal, but the research shows that states where more people bike and walk have fewer people with diabetes (as a percent of the state population). It's great to see studies published on the positive health benefits of bike commuting.
2. Very little federal spending goes towards bicycling and walking, compared to trips taken and fatality rates.
Despite the fact that 11% of trips taken are by bicycle or on foot and 15% of roadway fatalities involve a bicyclist or pedestrian, only 2% of federal transportation funding goes to bicycling and walking projects. It seems that the lion's share of this is falling on the states themselves to fund. It's great to see that more and more cities are starting to dedicate budget and initiatives to bike facility development (over the next eight years Austin plans to expand its bike facilities by 1,100 miles) but the disparity in federal spending is still massive.
The study also points out that more people bike or walk to work when the city has strong biking and walking advocacy. The more that we support our local, regional, and national advocacy groups and promote bicycling and walking to work, maybe we can ultimately draw more federal transportation dollars to bike and pedestrian facilities, and make all of our cities safer, greener, and healthier!
1. People are healthier in states where more people bike and walk.
This could be correlational rather than causal, but the research shows that states where more people bike and walk have fewer people with diabetes (as a percent of the state population). It's great to see studies published on the positive health benefits of bike commuting.
2. Very little federal spending goes towards bicycling and walking, compared to trips taken and fatality rates.
Despite the fact that 11% of trips taken are by bicycle or on foot and 15% of roadway fatalities involve a bicyclist or pedestrian, only 2% of federal transportation funding goes to bicycling and walking projects. It seems that the lion's share of this is falling on the states themselves to fund. It's great to see that more and more cities are starting to dedicate budget and initiatives to bike facility development (over the next eight years Austin plans to expand its bike facilities by 1,100 miles) but the disparity in federal spending is still massive.
The study also points out that more people bike or walk to work when the city has strong biking and walking advocacy. The more that we support our local, regional, and national advocacy groups and promote bicycling and walking to work, maybe we can ultimately draw more federal transportation dollars to bike and pedestrian facilities, and make all of our cities safer, greener, and healthier!
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