I’m going to be interviewed about local nonmotorized transportation today on Northfield’s “Locally Grown” radio show, hosted by Griff Wigley, Ross Currier, and Tracy Davis. As a result, I want to use this entry to record some information that I’ve come across recently.

I’ve been reading David V. Herlihy’s book, Bicycle: The History (Yale University Press 2004). I’ve been particularly interested in its discussion of recumbent bicycles, although this is a small part of its overall story. Here is an interesting paragraph with some data on urban trips in different countries:

…[C]ompared with Europeans, Americans make little us of pedal power. Recent figures show that they make less than 1 percent of all urban trips by bicycle, compared with European rates ranging from 5 percent in Italy to 30 percent in the Netherlands. Still, the German experience suggests that the rate of urban bicycle use can rise significantly if communities establish special bicycle lanes, provide parking facilities, and discourage motorized traffic. In 1972, the rate of urban bicycle use in what was then West Germany stood at about 8 percent; by 1995, following an aggressive campaign to promote cycling, it had risen to 12 percent.

Harper’s Magazine had this tidbit in the Harper’s Index from its October issue (pp. 13, 94):

Energy, in megawatt hours, saved over thirty-five years by a bicycle rider who dies not drive a car: 109.

Portion of these savings that will be used up over the extra years the biker will live: 9/10.

Source: Karl T. Ulrich, University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia).

Something to think about, though it’s certainly no reason to stop biking or doing nonmotorized advocacy! What about the economic benefit of having someone live a longer and healthier life?

This entry was posted on Monday, October 23rd, 2006 at 11:12 am and is filed under Biking/Walking, Minnesota, Northfield.