Claire Thompson reports on new findings presented in the Alliance for Biking and Walking's 2012 Benchmarking Report demonstrating the rise in biking and walking, and the incongruity with recent attempts to defund bipedal infrastructure.
Thompson points to significant gains in bicycle commuting in the last decade, which is up 57% since 2000, and finds that "While biking and walking make up 12 percent of all trips in the U.S., they receive only 1.6 percent of federal transportation funding, according to the report. If House Speaker John Boehner & Co. get their way, that percentage would drop to zero."
Thompson also writes about the chicken-and-egg way in which increased biking and walking lead to increased funding and participation in non-motorized transportation. Perhaps more important are the safety implications of increased biking and walking. Cities and states with more biking and walking see far lower fatality rates than places with low levels of bipedalism.
With, "40 percent of all trips in the U.S....less than 2 miles. Clearly, we could be doing a lot more biking and walking, and a lot less driving."
Read the full story: Bipedal? Curious? Americans give walking and biking a try
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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DSA members accuse Mamdani of 'abandoning values' over housing redevelopment
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All sides of BRT debate unhappy with CDOT’s most recent move
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Massachusetts bogs generate both power, and cranberries
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City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello