From PCJ Editor Wayne Senville: In yesterday's post, I reported on Reid Ewing's findings on the growing interest in having walkable communities. Today's post is also about walking -- and bicycling.
The Alliance for Biking & Walking, with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has released a remarkably useful report for anyone interested in bike, pedestrian, public health, and traffic safety issues. Bicycling and Walking in the United States 2010 Benchmarking Report is available to download as a pdf file; you can also separately download the Executive Summary.
The Report is replete with data. In fact, there's an almost overwhelming amount of data, covering a wide range of topics. But what's most important is how well organized and designed the report is -- and how easy-to-read the charts, maps, and graphics are (several are included below with permission of the Alliance). It's a pleasure to come across a document like this.
Some of the information that caught my eye:
"States where bicycling and walking levels are lowest have the highest levels of obesity." Not surprising, but well-documented in the report. As with most of the data, you can see how your state ranks; rankings are also listed for major U.S. cities.
Related to this, "states with the highest levels of bicycling and walking have a greater percentage of the population meeting the recommended 30-plus minutes a day of physical activity."
The Report notes that: "Walking and bicycling have great potential to improve public health. In 2001, 41% of trips in the U.S. were shorter than two miles and 28% were shorter than one mile. Since bicycling can accommodate trips of up to two miles and most people can walk at least one mile, there is a lot of hope to use this form of travel in our communities." -- Amen to that.
"On average, states spend just 1.2% of their federal transportation dollars on bike/ped projects (based on the 5-year funding period from 2004-2008). This amounts to just $1.29 per capita for bicycling and walking each year." Distressing information. -- But, on the bright side, there's lots of room for improvement.
"The number of people who bicycle to work has increased steadily, rising 29.8% between 1990 and 2007 from 466,856 to 664,859 people who bicycle to work nationwide. During the same time period the number of people who walk to work fell 12% despite population growth of 21% (from roughly 249 million people in 1990 to roughly 301 million people in 2007)." Again, room for improvement.
"Cities plan for roughly 60% more miles of bicycle and pedestrian facilities as the amount they currently have." -- Ah, good news!
"Cities averaged 22.5 bicycle parking spaces per 10,000 people. Minneapolis has the highest amount of bicycle parking per capita with 430.3 bicycle parking spaces per 10,000 people." -- And it can sure get cold in Minneapolis from November through April (see below).
Finally, something we also think about a lot up here in Vermont where the Planning Commissioners Journal is located: does weather influence the choice to bicycle?
"The Alliance compared average summer and winter temperatures to bicycle share of work trips in 50 states and did not find any compelling evidence that weather is a major influence. Montana and Alaska, for example, are among states with the coldest temperatures, yet are also among the states with the highest levels of bicycling." -- While I'm not totally convinced that weather is irrelevant, it's still good to hear that bicyclists are not easy to deter! See a video about winter bike commuters in Chicago.
Again, those are just some of the highlights. Take a look for yourself, I'll bet there's some interesting information you'll find.
Note: graphics from the Report are reposted here with permission of Alliance for Biking & Walking.
