• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Download full size image

High Gas Prices Aren't Creating More Bikers

Posted on: Friday, 16 May 2008, 13:00 CDT

Friday marks the U.S. National Bike to Work Day, and as Americans face record high gas prices, most commuters are forced to stick with their cars.

The annual campaign that urges people to peddle to work might just get some help from gas prices that are nearing $4 a gallon.

Bicycle advocates and dedicated motorists say that the majority of people won’t use the bicycle as a regular means of transportation because they either have too far to go or feel nervous about riding on streets with heavy traffic.

"It's never just a matter of picking up a few things you could carry on your bike," said Crystal Kelson, 33, a nurse and mother from North Philadelphia. "You need a car."

She said there was no real alternative to her Dodge Charger even though it now costs her $65 a week in gasoline, even for short trips to the supermarket.

The number of Americans who bike "frequently" (110 days a year or more) fell almost 10 percent to 3.7 million people in 2007, according to the National Sporting Goods Association.

In 2006, the number of people who rode bikes at least six times a year fell to 35.6 million, the lowest since the survey began in 1984, from 56.3 million in 1995.

“The decline was probably due to the aging population, reluctance by parents to allow children to ride bikes and more children using wheeled toys such as scooters and skateboards,” said Thomas Doyle, vice president of information and research at the association.

The League of American Bicyclists, a Washington-based advocacy group, said the proportion of personal trips made by bike is less than 1 percent.

This is compared with 27 percent in the Netherlands and 18 percent in Denmark, both of which have networks of bike-only paths, bike lanes and calm streets where people of all ages can feel safe riding.

American bicycle advocates say gas prices and concerns over climate change as well as air pollution, energy security and personal health could reverse this trend.

"All the indications are that people are looking at cycling and other transportation alternatives, and gas prices are pushing them to do that," said Andy Clarke, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists.

Cities like Portland, Oregon, and Washington have higher rates of bike use than the national average due to a bike-friendly infrastructure.

Alex Doty, director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, said, “the jump in gas prices has become the "tipping point" for getting more people on their bikes.”

Doty said bike use in the city rose 25 percent in 2007 and is up 6 percent this year, but only 1.4 percent of personal trips in Philadelphia are made by bike, compared with 30 percent in Amsterdam.

More people are buying bikes for commuting, according to Jesse Gould, a salesman at Assenmacher's Cycling Center in Flint, Michigan.

"Gas prices give them a kick, but the big thing that makes them start riding to work is that they see their friends doing it," Gould said.

Edgar Gil bikes seven miles every day to work in Washington from his home in Arlington, Virginia. About 60 percent of his trip is on traffic-free bike paths. He will be making the trip on Bike to Work Day to show seven coworkers how he does it.

Gil, 35, said he enjoys biking and it saves him about $100 a month in bus fares.

"You enjoy it more, you get to work relaxed," he said. "You have a better day."

Catherine Williams, a retiree, said she said she uses public transportation when she can, but wouldn't feel safe on a bike.

"This is the U.S. and people will kill you out there riding your bike," she said. "I would not take my life in my hands and ride a bike."

Source: redOrbit staff and wire reports

More News in this Category