Ride your bike! That’s one of the ways some of us at Wells + Associates are earning points for our team for the 2018 Big Green Commute. Bicycle facilities and bikeshare are also ways our transportation teams help clients build more effective transportation systems and choices.
Here are five examples of how bikeshare is improving living standards for commuters and communities.
#1. New Funding for Bicycle and Pedestrian Projects in Northern Virginia
More than $5 million in funding was recently approved for eleven bicycle, pedestrian, trail, and Safe Routes to School projects in Northern Virginia. The funding was passed by the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB) at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) for 11 bicycle and pedestrian projects in Northern Virginia. Said John Swanson, COG Transportation Planner: “We know that little things – building sidewalks, extending paths – can really make a difference in whether people feel they can safely walk or bike.”
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#2. Cycling to Work Improves Your Health
A study in the BMJ British medical journal found that cycling to work is associated with significant health benefits – including a 45 percent lower risk of developing cancer and a 46 percent lower risk of heart disease compared to non-active commuters. In addition, walking to work is linked to a 27 percent lower risk of developing heart disease and a 36 percent lower risk of dying from it.
While the researchers stated that no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, “the findings, if causal, suggest population health may be improved by policies that increase active commuting, particularly cycling”, they said.
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#3. UCLA’s Bruin Bike Share Network Expands
Bringing more bicycles to campus is one thing, but connecting your bikeshare to surrounding bikeshare systems takes it to the next level. Beginning April 23, UCLA’s Bruin Bike Share joined the bike share systems of Santa Monica (Breeze Bike Share), Beverly Hills (Beverly Hills Bike Share) and West Hollywood (WeHo Pedals Bike Share) to form Bike Share Connect, Los Angeles’ first integrated regional bike share network.
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#4. Houston Completes New Hike-and-Bike Trail Connection
A public ceremony in Houston in April was celebrated by outdoor enthusiasts, active inner loopers, and Houstonians, when a highly anticipated hike-and-bike trail connection between White Oak Bayou Greenway and Buffalo Bayou trails was officially opened.
The hike-and-bike trail is part of a six-part, $30 million “Houston Regional Bike/Ped Connections to Transit” project, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The connector is part of a series of projects by Bayou Greenways 2020, a public-private partnership between the nonprofit Houston Parks Board, the City of Houston, and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, and the Harris County Flood Control District.
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#5. Greenride Bikeshare Launches in Vermont’s Most Populous County
This spring, the initial phase of Greenride Bikeshare, the first public bikeshare program in Chittenden County, was launched on the campus of the University of Vermont. Greenride will allow members to pick up a bike from one of 17 stations located in Burlington, South Burlington, or Winooski – including five stations on the UVM campus and one at UVM Medical Center – for a quick bicycle commute.
With this first phase, 105 bikes are available for use. Greenride expects to triple the number of bikes and stations by the time the third and final phase in completed in 2021. UVM community members will receive a 50 percent discount.
For more, click here.