This week we are spotlighting Austin as city to look to for bicycle urbanism. Mikael Colville-Andersen, author of Copenhagenize and CEO of Copenhagenize Design Company, has chosen Austin as one of his five favorite cities in America for bicycle infrastructure.
"The MoPac bicycle and pedestrian bridge in Austin is well worth a mention here. Bicycle infrastructure is the best investment with the best cost-benefit in the history of transportation. Where many cities struggle merely with painted bike lanes, a project on this scale is brilliant. No planner in their right mind would mix bicycles with motorized traffic doing 40 mph or more and the MoPac bridge demonstratively and elegantly makes this point by providing a safe traverse of the valley, far from the vehicles on the pre-existing bridge off to the side. I’ll politely refrain from exploring what infrastructure has been implemented on either side to provide access to the crossing and merely revel in the fact that this bridge was planned, financed and built." - Mikael Colville Andersen
Bike Austin envisions Central Texas as a place where everyone recognizes and embraces the benefits of cycling, whether they ride or not, and where cycling is a common aspect of daily life for everyone. Central Texas has a comprehensive bicycle network enabling people in the region to comfortably, safely, and efficiently use a bike for transportation and recreation. Bicycling supports the community as a whole by increasing roadway capacity and user mobility, strengthening the economy and household affordability, improving the environment, and promoting an active, healthy lifestyle.
Over the last two and a half years, Bike Austin and our volunteers and supporters have:
- Won nearly $220,000,000 for protected bike lanes and safety improvements throughout Central Texas
- Helped elect bike-friendly City Leaders
- Worked to ensure all city departments collaborate to build a complete network
- Grew our Neighborhood Bike Advocacy program to run Complete Street campaigns in four City Council Districts
- Collaborated with partner organizations to ensure CAMPO (our six-county metropolitan planning organization) included an effective Active Transportation Plan, and
- Educated 280 motorists on the 3’ / 6’ Passing Law, through the purchase of the BSMART technology in tandem with the Austin Police Department
In a recent interview, Executive Director Katie Deolloz higlighted Bike Austin's Bike Month programming:
"At Bike Austin we are preparing for Bike To Work Day on May 18 and encouraging individuals and workplace teams to sign up for the Love to Ride Biking Challenge. We are focusing on people who would consider themselves 'interested but concerned' when it comes to riding a bicycle as traffic, rather than on a trail or in a protected bike lane. These are individuals who will tell you honestly that they are 'afraid' to ride, and their concerns are not without merit. However, the more people who are outside riding their bicycles, the more normal it will become, the greater the demand will be for improved infrastructure, and the safer everyone will be on the streets of Austin."
If you're in Austin, help Bike Austin celebrate Bike Month and get more cyclists on the road by signing up for their Bike to Work Day Ride and Love to Ride Biking Challenge!
Don't forget to enter our bike month sweepstakes below.
