Commuter Dreams

While riding home...

I mentioned in my report of Saturday's not-quite-completed Animalthon brevet ride that I took shelter at a cabin museum where there was a small display devoted to the Pileated Woodpecker, an extremely interesting bird that I have never actually seen. I have read a great deal about one of the most spectacular birds to have gone extinct in the United States, the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, and the Pileated resembles it closely although it is somewhat smaller.

The weather in Ottawa has become quite wonderful, with clear blue skies, although the mornings are still just above freezing. Yesterday I rode home a bit later than usual, enjoyng the sunshine. I ride through residential streets and as I passed a house with a small tree in front I suddenly saw a large black bird swoop down and land on the trunk. It flew so strangely that I stopped to watch and--behold!--there was a male Pileated Woodpecker. It was about the size of a crow and did not pay any attention to me although I was only a short distance away. He ran methodically up to the top of the tree over the next few minutes and then flew away. A marvellous sight and one that I certainly did not expect to see in town.

I enjoy my short commute every day and opportunities like this would never come if I was in the car or on a bus. It is a pleasure to hear the bird singing, or seeing people out walking their dogs early or enjoying the sight of ducks and geese on the Rideau River. This aspect of bicycle commuting is not touched on much compared to the exercise or fuel savings or more prosaic elements but it certainly makes it worthwhile for me. Especially if I don't have to drag the bike through ice and snow to do it!

California, Land of Cars, Encourages Bike Commuters

In Northern California the local train service between San Jose and San Francisco is adding more space for cyclists on its cars. Capacity will rise to the point where some cars will have space for 40 bikes. This must be encouraging for commuters. When I used the trains in Germany, there was space for bicycles but the same area had fold-down seats if nobody needed the bike space. Now, if only all train services were as far-sights. Good on you, Caltrain! Read about it here.

Infrastructure: the missing key to US bicycle acceptance

The good folks at TerraPass have a commentary on a Washington Post article about the need to develop good infrastructure to encourage cycling. I was impressed that 12 percent of trips in Berlin are now done on bicycle, which must represent a considerable increase from when I lived there in 1998-2002. It is interesting to reflect on the fact that Germans are ten times more likely to use a bicycle to go somewhere than Americans, and three times less likely to get hurt while doing so.

Mr. Antony Lo, the President of Giant, the world's largest manufacturer of bicycles, commutes 130 miles/210 kms a week to work. He is probably smiling as he rides since Giant's sales have doubled since 2000, and are up 24 percent in the first half of this year.

Another great statistic from the Post article:

On any given workday, more commuters park their bikes at train and subway stations in Tokyo (704,000) than cycle to work in the entire United States (535,000), according to the Tokyo government and the U.S. Census.

A New Kind of Bike Tour: Selling Houses by Bike

In what appears to be a wholesale adoption of cycling by the mainstream press, including the business media, the Wall Street Journal today had an article about realtors taking clients around to houses by bicycle. Although there are clients who were cyclists and most concerned about accessbility to bike paths for commuting, there are others not used to cycling who enjoy doing this as a way to get a better feel for the market. The article points out that in Northern winters or for longer distances it probably doesn't work, but for a quick way to get a feel for a neighbourhood what could be better than cycling around it?

The Economist notices cycling

The Economist has noticed the increasing use of bicycles in the United States due to high fuel prices. It also has noticed the increased number of cycling deaths and the apparent escalation of motorist/cyclist hostility, suggesting that both sides should learn better manners. After nearly two weeks of cycling in Europe, with its narrow streets, I was impressed by the courtesy shown by drivers. Rarely were we honked at, or forced off to move off the road. Without improved driver education in the United States, the increase in the number of cyclists is going to have dire consequences. It will be interesting to see whether the increase in the number of cycling commuters is a sea-change or will disappear as oil prices ease.

Global Warming and the Bicycle

I have been reading about how systems are developing around the world to trade carbon offsets. As a bicycle commuter, I am concerned with the environment (although the fact that there is no parking at work may also be a big factor!) but there is also the pleasure I get riding to and from the office. It was cold and windy this morning but I dressed properly and felt great.

I received an e-mail newsletter trom TerraPass, probably the largest carbon-offset trader available to consumers. I had originally gone on their website to determine how to make my next trip to Europe carbon-neutral and there is a lot of interesting stuff on the site. What piqued my interest today was a piece by Adam Stein, the director of marketing at TerraPass, about how bicycling has changed his transportation life. But I think his concluding comments are particularly important:

Now it’s been five months of biking to and from work every day. I feel healthier and I’ve gained satisfaction from “riding” the TerraPass talk. This weekend I measured my gasoline usage from January to May (115 gallons) and June to October (55 gallons). My auto-related carbon emissions dropped from 2,249 pounds to 1,031 pounds over a comparable five-month period. I’m not saying everyone can make such changes in personal transportation. But if 20% of urban dwellers in the U.S. would shift from a car to a bike as their primary way to get around town, it would add up to a lot of tons of real carbon reductions.

When I lived in the United States, a lot of people pooh-poohed bike commuting as an alternative to driving but in fact it can serve as a useful supplement for particular kinds of trips.

Tailwinds to everyone!