- AT-Network - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

Grist: Pedaling away from the health care crisis
by Beth McKechnie 29 Mar '11

29 Mar '11

Pedaling away from the health care crisis by Elly Blue <http://www.grist.org/people/Elly+Blue> 28 Mar 2011 11:36 AM [ http://www.grist.org/biking/2011-03-28-pedaling-away-from-the-health-care-c… ] *This is the third column in a series focusing on the economics of bicycling. Part 1 is "How bicycling will save the economy (if we let it)<http://www.grist.org/article/2011-02-28-how-bicycling-will-save-the-economy>." Part 2 is "Tearing down freeways to make room for a new bicycle economy<http://www.grist.org/article/2011-03-14-tearing-down-urban-freeways-to-make…> ."* * *In the United States, we have the most expensive health care system in the world. We collectively invest more than 15 percent of our GDP<http://www.visualeconomics.com/healthcare-costs-around-the-world_2010-03-01/>-- that's around $2 trillion, or $5,700 per person -- into health care every year. The tragedy of these enormous numbers is that they fail to stem the tide of our increasing ill health. "Most of the money we're spending on health care is going to treat preventable chronic diseases," Michael Pollan told Grist<http://www.grist.org/article/2009-11-06-michael-pollan-on-agriculture-and-h…>in 2009. Our poor diet, he added, is responsible for most of those illnesses. But it's not just about what we eat. The other part of that equation is our national and increasingly desperate need for physical activity. We need to rethink our transportation system and built environment on the same scale as Pollan and others have reconsidered our agricultural system. It has become obvious that we can't afford to keep doing things the same old autocentric way. For a fraction of the cost of the world's most expensive health care system, we could all enjoy the world's best bicycling and walking infrastructure -- and with it much, much better health than we enjoy now. Even minor investments in quality bicycle and walking transportation infrastructure, particularly at bottlenecks like bridges, leads directly to increased physical activity<http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2008/may/12/bridge_pedestrian_lane_raise>for people who live nearby. A recent analysis of the health savings resulting from the bicycle infrastructure in Portland, Ore, came up with stunning results<http://bikeportland.org/2011/02/04/research-by-2040-portlands-bikeway-inves…>. If the city builds out only the infrastructure it currently plans, the researcher found, it will break even by 2015. By 2030, Portland will have saved $800 million -- partly in fuel costs but primarily in health care and the value of reduced mortality. For every $1 we spend, $5 is saved. And that doesn't take into account a multitude of other factors. It's been shown again and again that the benefits of bicycling outweigh the risks<http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/info:doi/10.1289/ehp.0901747>, that not bicycling is more dangerous<http://www.ecovelo.info/2008/06/06/the-dangers-of-not-cycling/>in the long run, and that being sedentary is worse for your health than nearly anything else<http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2009/05/05/sitting-death-rate.html>. When kids, particularly, don't get enough physical activity and good food, they are set up for a lifetime of ill health<http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2011/March/22/Obesity-Type-2-Diabet…> . Then there's the mental health factor. People who bicycle and walk to work love their commutes<http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-008-x/2006004/pdf/9516-eng.pdf>[PDF], whereas everyone else is stressed <http://www.vtpi.org/traveltime.pdf> [PDF], even pathologically<http://www.grist.org/article/2011-01-20-new-report-quantifies-just-how-much…>so. * *Stress is often overlooked as an indicator and instigator<http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/archives/2011/03/stress-may-alte.html>of poor health. And bicycling isn't just good for your personal health. There's also a significant public health benefit to having fewer people driving. Air quality is a big one. Cars produce secondhand smoke that none of us can avoid. A parade of studies over the last few decades have steadily linked living near freeways to heart disease<http://www.justmeans.com/Freeway-proximity-can-put-you-on-road-heart-health…>, lung cancer <http://www.ehjournal.net/content/6/1/23>, asthma<http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/11614.html>, impaired lung development<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/26/AR200701260…>, and even autism<http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/16/health/la-he-autism-20101217> . Even being sealed in a car doesn't protect you<http://www.velorutia.ro/blog/util/1281-road-user-exposure-to-air-pollution.…>from the perils of concentrated car exhaust <http://www.icta.org/doc/In-car%20pollution%20report.pdf> [PDF]. Car crashes cost the country $230 billion<http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=130350&page=1>in 2000 alone. Only $33 billion of that was spent on medical costs -- but to put that in perspective, that's the same amount as that year's federal highway budget. Worse, in 2009 car crashes caused nearly 34,000 deaths and 2.217 million injuries <http://www.dot.gov/affairs/2010/dot16510.html>, many of them serious enough to prevent victims from navigating our car-oriented landscape in anything *but* a car. What do we do about this? How do we address the health care crisis through reforming our transportation system? We'd be much healthier, we're always being told, if only we could get more physical activity. Bicycle transportation is uniquely suited to fill this requirement. Bicycling is uniquely suited for quickly and flexibly getting around a city designed for cars. And riding a bike for transportation is as good a workout as exercising at the gym<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10694139>. The cost, time, stress, and inconvenience of exercise evaporates with the bicycle. If only we all could take advantage of it. We are blessed in this country with a chorus of voices urging people to exercise more and try riding a bike -- but very little is being done to make that option safe and comfortable for everyone. I know, because I grew up in suburbia, that people don't eat unhealthy food and sit on the couch all day out of laziness. They end up falling into those behaviors because the options aren't there, or the cost -- in money, time, and stress -- of living differently is simply too high. Of course we want better options<http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/qa-transportation-secretary-on-bi…>. As many as 60 percent of Americans would like to ride more<http://streetsblog.net/2010/12/20/wooing-the-hesitant-cyclist/>, and most of us already have bikes stashed in the basement or garage. But we don't feel safe, and often that's because there aren't safe or convenient routes for us to take. Fortunately, that doesn't stop everyone from getting on a bike. And the more people out there riding, the safer *everyone* becomes<http://bikeportland.org/2011/01/27/not-just-safer-for-bikes-fatal-car-crash…>, whether or not bicycling is an option for them individually. It would be absurd to suggest that bikes will solve our health care crisis or that they can eliminate the political and economic machinations that continue to deepen it. But bicycling, like food, is one of the few areas where people can directly and concretely address the health care crisis in the context of our community. By improving our own health and working towards healthier cities, we're also taking money from a health care system that doesn't improve our health. In this light, bicycling for transportation isn't so much a lifestyle choice as it's a form of civic action.

1 0

Wed, Mar.30 webinar: How to increase the number of women cycling for transportation, 2-3:30 CST
by Beth McKechnie 28 Mar '11

28 Mar '11

Green Action Centre will be hosting a local group viewing of the following APBP (Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals) webinar on how to increase the number of women cycling for transportation. If you would like to join us, please let me know at *beth(a)greenactioncentre.ca*. Hope to see you then! cheers, Beth 925-3772 p.s. Sorry for the late notice -- we just heard about it this morning. ------------------------------ Webinar: * How to increase the number of women cycling for transportation *Date: *Wednesday, Mar. 30th, 2:00-3:30 p.m. CST * Location: *EcoCentre boardroom, 303 Portage Ave, third floor* (enter via elevator inside front doors of MEC) *Description* Learn how to increase the number of women cycling for transportation in your community. This webinar builds on last year's APBP session, "Writing Women Back into Bicycling". Five speakers offer compelling insights about cycling projects run by inspiring women, illuminate what women told APBP they want in a cycling environment, and suggest best practices to help you make a difference in your community. Don't miss the stories of some of the wonderful women leading the cycling movement, and results of APBP's 2010 survey on Women Cycling.

1 0

Costs and Benefits of Cycling Investments in Portland, OR
by Beth McKechnie 28 Mar '11

28 Mar '11

*Journal of Physical Activity and Health 2011, 8(Suppl 1), S49-S58 Costs and Benefits of Bicycling Investments in Portland, Oregon Thomas Gotschi* http://journals.humankinetics.com/jpah-pdf-articles?DocumentScreen=Detail&c… *Background: *Promoting bicycling has great potential to increase overall physical activity; however, significant uncertainty exists with regard to the amount and effectiveness of investment needed for infrastructure. The objective of this study is to assess how costs of Portland’s past and planned investments in bicycling relate to health and other benefits. *Methods:* Costs of investment plans are compared with 2 types of monetized health benefits, health care cost savings and value of statistical life savings. Levels of bicycling are estimated using past trends, future mode share goals, and a traffic demand model.* Results:* By 2040, investments in the range of $138 to $605 million will result in health care cost savings of $388 to $594 million, fuel savings of $143 to $218 million, and savings in value of statistical lives of $7 to $12 billion. The benefit-cost ratios for health care and fuel savings are between 3.8 and 1.2 to 1, and an order of magnitude larger when value of statistical lives is used. * Conclusions: *This first of its kind cost-benefit analysis of investments in bicycling in a US city shows that such efforts are cost-effective, even when only a limited selection of benefits is considered. -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

1 0

New Yorkers support bicycle lanes, poll finds
by Beth McKechnie 21 Mar '11

21 Mar '11

Nice to see this article given some recent backlash by a select few in NYC where they are setting new standards in bike infrastructure for other cities in N.A. -Beth [ http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/new-yorkers-support-bicycle-la… ] * NY TIMES - City Room March 18, 2011, 4:55 pm* New Yorkers Support Bicycle Lanes, Poll Finds By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM <http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/author/michael-m-grynbaum/> Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News The Bloomberg administration’s new bicycle lanes, the subject of one of the more heated civic controversies in recent memory, are supported by a majority of New Yorkers, according to a poll released on Friday<http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1302.xml?ReleaseID=1569>by Quinnipiac University. More than half of registered voters — 54 percent — said they believed the expansion of bicycle lanes had been a positive development for the city. The only demographic groups opposed were Republican voters and, by a smaller margin, residents of Queens. Over all, 39 percent of respondents said they were unhappy with the lanes, and 6 percent said they had no opinion on the matter (or did not answer). The survey question was fairly stark: either that the bike lanes are “a good thing because it’s greener and healthier for people to ride,” or “a bad thing because it leaves less room for cars, which increases traffic.” The poll asked which statement was closer to the respondent’s point of view. “On balance, people like it,” said Maurice Carroll<http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x2011.xml>, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute<http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x271.xml>. “It’s not overwhelming, but it’s a plus.” Support for the lanes was strongest in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Voters in Queens disapproved of the lanes, but by 48 to 45 percent. Only 35 percent of Republicans supported the lane, while 59 percent of Democrats approved. Support for the bike lanes seemed to wane with age. Voters between ages 18 and 49 supported the lanes by wide margins, but support fell below 50 percent among voters older than 50. Still, supporters outnumbered opponents in each age group. The poll, which surveyed 1,115 registered voters earlier this month, had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Hundreds of new bicycle lanes have been installed since 2007, part of the administration’s plan to encourage environmentally friendly modes of transportation that cut down on traffic congestion. Arguments for and against the bike lanes typically go into more detail than the survey’s questions. The city’s Department of Transportation, led by its commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/nyregion/06sadik-khan.html>, argues that carving out street space for bicycles has resulted in slower car traffic and, in turn, fewer accidents. Critics of the lanes complain about lost parking spots, additional difficulty in driving in the city, and the risk to pedestrians from bicyclists who disobey traffic laws. Some opponents have also faulted the Transportation Department for installing the lanes without sufficient community outreach, and not disclosing all the relevant data related to the lanes. Those are among the arguments in a lawsuit filed last week<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/nyregion/08bike.html>by a group of well-connected Brooklyn residents who have called on the city to remove a two-way bike lane along Prospect Park West. Biking advocates cited Friday’s poll as evidence that the city should continue expanding its bicycle network. “Whether they drive a car, ride a bike or get around by train, this poll shows that New Yorkers understand that bike lanes make our streets better for everyone,” Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, wrote in a statement. The survey also found that New Yorkers were unhappy with a plan to rename the Queensboro Bridge<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/nyregion/09bandt.html>for former Mayor Edward I. Koch. Nearly two-thirds of voters opposed the plan, proposed last year by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, with opposition particularly pointed in Queens.

1 0

Leisure Guide: Commuter Cycling Course
by Beth McKechnie 21 Mar '11

21 Mar '11

Please circulate widely. Thanks! -Beth *****active adult workshops* *****city cycling: commuter cycling skills* *****new!* Start commuting by bicycle or just feel more comfortable riding your bike. CAN-BIKE certified instructors from Bike to the Future will clarify the rules and teach you how to ride on the road with confidence. You will learn the skills you need to ride just about anywhere your bike will take you. The course includes both in-class and on-road training. Each participant will receive a free copy of the***** new* 2011 version of the Winnipeg Bike map. *****Fee:* $36.00 1 day Sport for Life Centre:145 Pacific Ave. *394547 Sat May 14 Noon–4:00pm* *394548 Sun May 29 Noon–4:00pm* You can find it on page 81 of the guide or at: * http://www.winnipeg.ca/cms/Leisure/pdfs/leisureguide.pdf*<http://www.winnipeg.ca/cms/Leisure/pdfs/leisureguide.pdf> Pass it around!

1 0

Grist: Cyclists shouldn't 'share the road', they should have their own
by Beth McKechnie 21 Mar '11

21 Mar '11

[While reading this article, note that Winnipeg got its first cycletrack, i.e. physically separated bike lane, late last fall on Assiniboine Ave! - cheers, Beth] Cyclists shouldn’t ‘share the road,’ they should have their own by Elly Blue <http://www.grist.org/member/386213> 14 Feb 2011 1:14 PM It's long been the most controversial issue in bicycling: Should people on bikes ride in traffic with cars, using the same infrastructure and following the same procedures (a style of riding known as "Vehicular Cycling")? Should we ride on the sidewalks and off-road paths, with pedestrians? Or should we have our own place to ride that's designed specifically for bicycling? <http://www.flickr.com/photos/pwkrueger/5134415882/in/set-72157625160007617/> [image: Cycletrack-Vancouver(Paul Krueger copyright).jpg] A physically separated bike lane in Vancouver, BC. Looks nice, right? Photo: Paul Krueger<http://www.flickr.com/photos/pwkrueger/5134415882/in/set-72157625160007617/> -- Like Goldilocks, we've tried all these options. Riding with faster, heavier cars is hard on us. Riding with slower, roaming pedestrians is hard on them. Only when we have our own place in traffic are things anywhere near just right. Or so says a study released last week in Montreal<http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Separated+Montreal+bike+paths+lower+ris…>, which shows that not only does dedicated bicycle infrastructure work in North America, it borders on negligence for cities *not** *to build such infrastructure. (You can download the entire study here<http://gobiking.ca/risk-of-injury-study.pdf>[PDF].) We're not talking about the old, familiar bike lane, marked by a line of white paint -- which so often functions more as a symbol and reminder of our right to be in the road than as actual bicycle infrastructure. Car doors, intersections, potholes, and misinterpretations by law enforcement are among the many pitfalls of the old-school bike lane. But on any road where car traffic is traveling significantly faster than a person can pedal, a bike lane, flawed compromise that it is, is better than nothing at all. Cities across North America have in the last two years been discovering a better way to build a bike lane -- separating it entirely from motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic alike. It's called the cycle track. Though we recently discovered it, we didn't invent it: It's been the backbone of the world's most attractive, comfortable, safe bicycling environments for decades in European cities like Utrecht<http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2010/05/cycle-rush-hour-in-spring-in-utrecht.ht…>and Groningen <http://www.camcycle.org.uk/events/visits/groningen/> (see the system in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-AbPav5E5M&feature=player_embedded). Cycle tracks, also called segregated bike lanes or separated bike paths, are basically bike lanes that use the same right of way as a major street but are set off from car traffic by a barrier more substantial than a single painted white line. They may be separated by bollards, a concrete barrier, or a curb. On many streets, parked cars provide the barrier. Some cycle tracks are one-way and others carry two directions of bike traffic. Unlike their more dangerous cousins, the off-road bike paths<http://www.grist.org/article/2010-11-07-we-need-real-bike-paths-for-real-bi…>, cycle tracks are for bikes only and are not intended to be shared with people walking or running and more than with cars. Montreal, the focus of the recent study, has an unusually large number of cycle tracks for a North American city. Still, unlike their European cousins, these are mainly two-directional and have what the study calls a "less than ideal design," particularly at intersections. Even so, the researchers found, these lanes enjoy 2.5 times more bicycle traffic than alternate bicycle routes without cycle tracks. On Montreal's cycle tracks, the risk of injury is 28 percent lower -- or to be exact, 10.5 crashes, but only 8.5 injuries -- per million kilometers bicycled. Despite strong evidence from now two continents, the Montreal researchers point out, United States federal guidelines actively discourage cities from building cycle tracks. Everywhere cycle tracks are proposed and built there is some amount of local pushback<http://www.citycaucus.com/2010/10/why-are-separated-bike-lanes-so-controver…>. We're seeing an extreme degree of this in New York City, where a powerful group that includes the city's former transportation commissioner (who just happens to be married to Sen. Chuck Schumer [D-N.Y.]) have filed a lawsuit to remove a successful two-way cycle track recently built along Brooklyn's Prospect Park. The media has embraced the campaign<http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/02/14/have-you-seen-the-latest-marcia-krame…>, with a local politician contributing the most venomous and spirited rhetoric<http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/01/24/markowitz-on-ppw-data-its-a-vast-biki…> . There is also a vociferous cadre of bicyclists who organize against bicycle infrastructure of all kinds<http://bicyclealliance.blogspot.com/2011/02/gravity-bike-lanes-and-limits-o…>, with the slogan: "bicyclists fare best when they act, and are treated in return, as drivers of vehicles." One such Vehicular Cycling organization in Ottawa, Ontario is rallying against<http://www.ottawacitizen.com/travel/Even+some+cyclists+oppose+cycling+lane/…>a high-profile cycle track planned in Canada's capital city. But as the research keeps rolling in, I suspect we'll continue to find that real bicycle infrastructure is going to be an amazing boon to bicycle transportation. For instance, we already knew that the air quality is better<http://bikeportland.org/2010/10/28/study-cycle-tracks-mean-better-air-quali…>, whether you're riding on a cycle track or walking on the sidewalk next to one. We know that, despite shopkeepers' fears, increased bicycling is good<http://therecord.blogs.com/take_the_lane/2010/06/cyclists-are-good-for-busi…>for business<http://www.vancouverobserver.com/blogs/transit/2011/02/10/businesses-see-bi…> . We know that people will ride in greater numbers<http://communities.canada.com/montrealgazette/blogs/greenlife/archive/2010/…>on dedicated, separated bicycle infrastructure, and that with numbers comes safety<http://www.grist.org/article/2010-10-11-theres-safety-in-numbers-for-cyclis…> . As long as we continue to allow our streets to be dominated by cars, we need to go the extra mile -- or thousand miles -- to ensure that everyone who isn't in a motor vehicle at any given time is still able to move freely around the city. Separated infrastructure, like sidewalks and cycle tracks, are necessary if a car-oriented city is to be navigable by unarmored humans. Some day, I hope we don't need them. Until then, I hope we build them as well as possible. Elly Blue is a writer and bicycle activist living in Portland, Oregon.

1 0

Active Transportation Canada - March 18, 2001
by Beth McKechnie 21 Mar '11

21 Mar '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Michael Haynes <activetransportation(a)rogers.com> Date: Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 1:02 PM Subject: Active Transportation Canada - March 18, 2001 Twenty (20) new items have been posted on the Active Transportation-Canada Website today. A complete list of titles may be found in the "Blog Archive" box, located on the right margin of the Website. Some sample items: 1. Cyclists shouldn’t ‘share the road,’ they should have their own 2. Video - Cycling Options for various disabilities: UK 3. Estimating the Employment Impacts of Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Road Infrastructure Active Transportation Canada URL: http://activetransportation-canada.blogspot.com A "Search" function is available on the site. You will find this at the bottom of the page. With more than 1,000 items posted on Active Transportation - Canada, there are links available to dozens of studies and hundreds of news items from communities across Canada and the world. If anyone has a problem reading this message, please let me know. I welcome suggestions for posts, so if you have news items featuring your community, please share them with the other subscribers from Canada, the US, and Australia on Active Transportation-Canada. Thank you. Michael Haynes Director TransActive Solutions

1 0

Post on NYC bike lane backlash
by Hall, Ian 17 Mar '11

17 Mar '11

Great blog post... Street Fight: What's Behind New York City's Bike Lane Backlash? http://citiwire.net/post/2562/

1 0

LA Times: At 103, he's a three-wheeled wonder
by Beth McKechnie 16 Mar '11

16 Mar '11

[My new role model...] <http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/trb.latimes/news/local;;ptype=s;slug=la-me-l…> At 103, he's a three-wheeled wonder If it were up to Octavio Orduño, he'd still be cruising Long Beach on a two-wheeled bicycle. But his wife insisted he get a tricycle. The city wants to make him an ambassador for cycling: 'He's our poster boy for healthy, active living around here.' By Esmeralda Bermudez, Los Angeles Times March 14, 2011 [image: Long Beach 103 yr old tricyclist.jpg] It's time to ride, but Octavio Orduño, stubborn as ever, won't put on his glasses. His wife, Alicia, insists: "But you can't see without them." "No," he tells her. "I don't want to." Then he starts to head off, on his way. If it were up to Orduño, he would still be cruising the streets of Long Beach on a two-wheeler. But a few years back, Alicia insisted he add another wheel and get a tricycle. After all, he was 100 and beginning to lose his balance. He turns 103 on Monday, so he's probably the oldest cyclist in Long Beach. The city, which wants to make him an ambassador for biking, likes to call him "the oldest in the world." Orduño lives half a block from the beach. Nearly every day, he toddles from his third-floor condo to the garage where he keeps his red Torker tricycle. On it, he pedals around the neighborhood — to the park, the beach and the farmers market — in a ritual honed over nearly 40 years. Not long ago, the city's bike coordinator, a gregarious, gray-haired Texan named Charles Gandy, took notice. He befriended Orduño and shared his story online, posting two videos<http://acgallery.smugmug.com/Bike-Long-Beach/Octavio-Orduno/14894674_Lmmck%…>of him coasting down the bike lanes, propped up by his self-installed blue velvet backrest. And that's only the start of Gandy's plan, if the old man is game. He'd like to have him cut the ribbon at bike-friendly ceremonies and appear in television and radio ads. "He's our poster boy for healthy, active living around here," Gandy said, just what people need "to shake themselves out of a rut." Orduño loves the attention. But his riding around town isn't any sort of campaign. "It keeps me going," he said. "And it's better than sitting in the den all day watching cars go by." Alicia is right. With his glasses off, it's clear he can't see too much at all. No matter. He knows the six-block route to Bixby Park by feel. Aside from a few potholes that rock his hunched frame and make him yell "Ayyyy!," the voyage is smooth. "I can ride this bike all day long," he says as the world whizzes by in a blur: the grind of lawn mowers, the sour smell of garbage, two growling pit bulls — one black, one beige — and a pretty girl in a flowery skirt. The retired aerospace mechanic can't recall how old he was when he first started riding. He just remembers it took him a long time to persuade his father to buy him a bike. The two used to argue all the time over school, which Orduño found boring and pointless. So at 16 he ran away, hopping freight trains from Oregon to Wisconsin to Chicago. For years, he says, he labored on farms and laid railroad track, stashing his cash in an old tobacco tin. When the Great Depression struck in 1929, the trains he rode filled up with desperate men — former doctors and lawyers who had lost it all. His first marriage lasted 20 years and gave him four children — three boys, one girl. With Alicia, he had two more girls. Next year, the couple will celebrate their 60th anniversary. His kids, grandkids and great-grandkids are spread across California and as far afield as New Mexico, Indiana and Missouri. A few times a year, his son Eddie, 79, visits from his home north of Fresno. At the sight of him, Orduño lights up. "I don't know how many days he has left, how many months, how many years," Eddie said of his father. "But he's had a full life." Alicia wants him to keep having one. There are days she has to scold him. When he turned 100 and the state took away his driver's license, she thought he'd be safer. But he returns from his tricycle rides scraped up from falls. Not long ago, on his way out of the garage, his foot slipped going uphill and he flipped over. His face hit the concrete. The bike landed on his leg. He lay on the ground for half an hour before a neighbor came to his rescue. Once, he and the tricycle* *came home in a police car. "That time, I thought I was clear, so I let it roll," he says. "I think I was going about 30 miles an hour when I went over the curb and some guys came to help me." A day or two later, he was back on the street, "like nothing ever happened," Alicia said. A few minutes into his ride to Bixby Park, the grassy knolls come into view and Orduño proudly calls out: "We're here!<http://www.latimes.com/topic/economy-business-finance/media-industry/televi…> " He waits in a driveway for the light to turn green so he can cross busy Ocean Boulevard. Just then, a giant Suburban comes up behind him, waiting for him to move. But Orduño, caught uphill without momentum, can't get his ride to budge. The driver takes in the scene and laughs. "Puchenlo! Puchenlo!" he teases out the window. *Somebody push him!* At the park, Orduño speeds past the grass and the picnic benches, where seniors lounge in the sun. He goes straight to the back, to his favorite place: the skateboarding zone. There, on an open stretch of concrete, young guys with shaggy hair and saggy pants zoom around, grinding the ground with ollies and flips. Orduño hits his brakes and takes it all in. His mouth drops open in a smile. They return the favor, singing his praises. "Hey, sweet ride, man!" "Yo, check him out! He's down." Nick Tarrant, a 21-year-old with a stubbly goatee and a low-slung action bike, asks him his name, practically yelling so Orduño can hear him. "Hey, it's OK. I'm deaf too," Tarrant tells him, pointing to his own earpieces. The two talk bikes and hearing aids, and then Orduño says goodbye. He is ready to ride home, to Alicia and his usual dinner of beans, brown rice and vegetables. "Sometimes," Orduño says, as he reaches his block, "I feel stronger than the year before." With his birthday approaching, there's been talk of getting him an electric wheelchair. Alicia thinks it will make it easier for her husband to get around. But Orduño has grown attached to his three-wheeler and has no plans to give it up. "Why would I?" he said. As for the wheelchair, "I think she can use it and follow me when I ride." *esmeralda.bermudez(a)latimes.com*

1 0

Tearing down urban freeways to make room for a new bicycle economy
by Beth McKechnie 15 Mar '11

15 Mar '11

Tearing down urban freeways to make room for a new bicycle economy by Elly Blue <http://www.grist.org/member/386213> Grist Magazine 14 Mar 2011 9:31 AM [ http://www.grist.org/article/2011-03-14-tearing-down-urban-freeways-to-make… ] *This is the second column in a series focusing on the economics of bicycling. Part 1 was "How bicycling will save the economy (if we let it)<http://www.grist.org/article/2011-02-28-how-bicycling-will-save-the-economy>." * [image: bikenomics]Here's one way to fund bicycle infrastructure: Stop building freeways in cities. Better yet, tear down the ones we already have. Cities are starting to catch on that becoming bicycle friendly is one of the best investments they can make**<http://www.grist.org/article/2010-09-27-why-an-additional-road-tax-for-bicy…> . Cities are also starting to realize that removing freeways makes more economic sense than maintaining or expanding them. In the last year, with the help of federal and state funding, cities like Baltimore and New Haven have been demolishing<http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0302/Downtown-need-a-makeover-More-cities…>the "highways to nowhere" that have divided their neighborhoods, drained their populations<http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/2009/09/the-cost-of-urban-freeways/>, and damaged their economies<http://www.azdot.gov/Highways/valley_freeways/Loop_202/South_Mountain/artic…>and their children's health<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/26/AR200701260…>since the 1970s. ** Finding room for safe bicycle infrastructure in already strained and contested budgets can be difficult. That's especially true in places where bicycling has no historical place in the transportation budget, and is still seen as either a whim of the elite or last resort of the poor. But the economic benefits of freeway removal make anything seem possible. Our freeway system is crumbling. Freeways in cities are vastly expensive, disastrous for public health and safety, and destructive of community. The damages disproportionately affect the poor<http://www.baltimorebrew.com/2010/09/24/highway-to-nowhere-coming-down-not-…> . Urban freeways are also ineffective as transportation solutions. Caught in the vicious feedback loop of induced demand<http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/2011/03/puncturing-myth-more-r…>, they cannot be expanded fast enough to keep up with increasing traffic -- yet each expansion lures yet more drivers who create yet more congestion and demand more lanes, ad infinitum. The maintenance and expansion of these roadways gobble up transportation funds that could create and maintain less costly and destructive alternatives. The numbers at play are almost too large to comprehend, but comparison is enlightening. Bike lanes cost anywhere from $5,000 to $60,000 per mile<http://issuu.com/bikeleague/docs/economic_benefits_bicycle_infrastructure_r…>to add to an existing road. That includes everything from engineering and design to paint and concrete to traffic signals. Does that seem like a lot? Well, let's compare. Freeway construction in Michigan's countryside clocks in at $8 million per mile <http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-14011-28076--F,00.html>. In the state's cities, with their need for overpasses, underpasses, exits and entrances, and mitigation of construction impacts on health and commerce, the cost jumps to an average of $39 million per mile. And that's a bargain-basement rate compared to many parts of the country. On the other end of the spectrum, Boston has the most expensive urban freeway systems in the country, costing over $1 billion per mile<http://www-pam.usc.edu/volume2/v2i1a3s2.html> . In Portland, Ore., a single mile of urban freeway costs on average $65 million per mile to build; that's about the same dollar figure as the entire amount as the city spent in 20 years on the bicycle infrastructure that made it one of the most famous bicycle cities in the world<http://www.planetizen.com/node/42773>, with a bicycle economy worth far more than that amount every year<http://bikeportland.org/2008/09/11/report-bike-related-economy-worth-90-mil…> .* *For further perspective, it was just announced that $100 million has already been spent on planning for a contentious $4 to $10 billion freeway expansion project here that may never be built<http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2011/02/a_misfire_in_design_nee…> . Those sums don't include maintenance, which can cost nearly as much as building new miles of freeway, and which, thanks to our interstate system being largely built in a short period of time, is all starting to crumble at once<http://rightdemocrat.blogspot.com/2010/05/us-pirg-report-calls-for-fixing.h…>in the last decade -- just as federal transportation funding is running out fast<http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2011/Mar11/031111/031111-03.sh…> .* *(Remember that bridge in Minnesota<http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-08-02-minneapolis-bridge_N.htm> ?)* *As early as 2000, the amount of spending needed for basic, safe maintenance of our national freeways and bridges was 20 percent higher<http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/2002cpr/ch24.htm>than the $30 billion that was spent that year. By contrast, according to a 2009 report by the League of American Bicyclists, for the $75 million spent repaving three miles of urban interstate, California could have installed<http://issuu.com/bikeleague/docs/economic_benefits_bicycle_infrastructure_r…>1,250 miles of some of the country's most expensive bike lanes. Cities that have chosen (or been forced by citizen groups<http://www.streetfilms.org/lessons-from-portland/>) to stop building or to remove freeways have been rewarded tremendously, and not just economically<http://www.infrastructurist.com/2009/07/06/huh-4-cases-of-how-tearing-down-…> . [image: Woman on bike in SF.]<http://www.flickr.com/photos/martindavidsson/154575832/>The scene today on San Francisco's Embarcadero, where a freeway once loomed.Photo: Martin Davidsson <http://www.flickr.com/photos/martindavidsson/154575832/>Talk of removing San Francisco's Embarcadero Freeway began almost as soon as it was built. When it was taken out of commission by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, it quickly became clear that the predicted traffic snarls weren't happening; it was demolished and replaced with an arterial street and a now beloved linear park<http://www.streetfilms.org/lessons-from-san-francisco/>along the water. When the city of Milwaukee, Wisc. removed a contested, never-finished freeway spur in 2002, the estimated cost for needed safety repairs was $100 million. Removal cost $25 million, and the 26 acres of land freed up for redevelopment attracted over $300 million in investments<http://www.preservenet.com/freeways/FreewaysParkEast.html>. Mayor John Norquist, overseeing the project, famously said, "Highways don't belong in cities. Period." President Eisenhower, the father of the U.S. interstate system, agreed. He reportedly only discovered that freeways were being built in cities, rather than between them, in 1959. He wanted them to be eliminated<http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/faq.htm#question23a>, but the march of progress had already left him behind. He was right: We don't need freeways in cities. And we can't afford them. Not every city has gotten that message. Right now in Seattle, the earthquake-damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct seems destined to be replaced by a costly freeway tunnel<http://www.grist.org/article/2010-12-15-seattle-car-centric-mega-tunnel-car…>along the city's waterfront -- despite the wishes of voters. In San Diego County, the $2.6 billion proposed for spending<http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/feb/25/bicycles-big-part-future-tra…>on bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure over the next 40 years has attracted more scrutiny than the $82 billion slated for roads<http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/dec/17/sandag-approves-40-year-transportation…>in the same plan, including at least one highly contested freeway expansion project. In Portland, planning is underway for a new, widened freeway bridge that will bring more congestion into the center of the city. The ultimate cost of that project is estimated to be between $4 and $10 billion. There's a lot of criticism of the cost of bicycle infrastructure. But look at it this way: the simple act of choosing not to build one mile of urban freeway can buy you a world-class bicycle city with a thriving local economy. We can tear down these freeways and make sure that green spaces, equitable new development, and quality walking and bicycling infrastructure take their place. Soon, we may have no other choice. *Two weeks from today, we'll take on the health care crisis. With bikes, of course. * Elly Blue is a writer and bicycle activist living in Portland, Oregon.

1 0