Monday, January 30, 2012

Alliance for Biking and Walking 2012 Benchmark Report

Bicycling and Walking in the United States: 2012 Benchmarking Report can be downloaded for free or purchased as a hard copy edition. This is a great report to consult for statistics of walking and cycling recreation in the US. For more links and general info, also visit Adventure Cycling's blog.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Suburbs and the Roots of America's Health Crisis

America's built environment has centered around the growth of the suburb for the past 60 or so years. At the time of it's conception, the idea was to get out of the city, to separate from work, and to own a place that you could call your own. This dream relied on private transportation, a remodeled infrastructure based on the automobile and the separation of the home from daily amenities such as grocers and entertainment. This paradigm shift has been incredibly lucrative for the construction, oil, and auto industries and has fueled much economic growth, but as time has shown the costs have proven to be steep, as America's people have grown increasingly heavier and been exposed to far more health problems centered around exposure to noxious emissions from factories, cars, construction and food production/consumption.
A paradigm shift has begun, lead in part by researchers like Dr. Richard Jackson, a professor and chair of environmental health sciences at UCLA's School of Public Health. The focus of the shift is back onto walkable, urbanized, mixed-use environments. Admittedly, this kind of renovation is a hard sell in the face of entrenched business interests that profit from the suburban, individual-oriented environment. Perhaps one of our saving graces is that we have failed to properly maintain this infrastructure, and the costs of repaving highways, reconstructing bridges, and modernizing our traffic grids in both intra/interstate settings may not be worth the cost and continued degradation of public health.
Check out this article for more details: http://chronicle.com/article/A-Scientist-Pushes-Urban/130404/

Monday, January 23, 2012

Regional Travel Made Easy!

Great news, folks! The Linx Cooperative has officially begun online ticket sales. This means that if you want to travel in the greater Yellowstone region around Idaho, Montana, or Wyoming you are just a few clicks away. Basically, this booking service brings together travel providers in the region, whether it be bussing, airlines or rails and provides you an easy portal to reserve your seats and travel as you please. Take some time to explore their site and see for yourself how Linx is helping to improve travel and tourism in the region!

Friday, January 6, 2012

Cycling is Actually Cool!

Popular misconceptions about cycling culture and practice alienates many potential enthusiasts before they even spin the pedals. Grist takes a look at some of these issues and provides apt counterpoints to put the curious at ease. You'll have to look for yourself, as there are 10 articles linked and I can't explain them all!

Cyclists and the Role of the Red Light

In Illinois there is a push right now to allow both motorcyclists and bicyclists to move through a red light if it is deemed safe enough and they have waited for an appropriate amount of time to consider their surroundings. This new bill would only affect municipalities under two million people, which is considerable but leaves out Chicago. The issue of contention for this bill lies in the amount of time that a cyclist should wait until proceeding through the intersection, and since it has yet to be clearly defined it has been vetoed by the governor although that was subsequently overturned. Unfortunately the article does not address where the initiative comes from or what sort of theory or evidence based approach backs law. We will keep an eye out to see if or when this comes into effect what changes in accident or traffic efficiency rates there are.