San Jose, CA Should be America's #1 Bicycle City
Or maybe all of Silicon Valley should be the #1 bicycle region in the US. The valley is mostly flat. The weather is dry most of the year. The temperature is almost never below freezing. Residents either care about the environment, their health or saving money; sometimes they care about all the above.
An article in the 11/15/2009 Mercury News describes how the San Jose city council will approve the first comprehensive plan to support bicyclists. It will double bike lanes to 500 miles in the next 10 years. They will also do a trial bike share program based at light rail stations.
The VTA (Valley Transportation Agency) will spend $160 million bucks to improve conditions for cyclists and walkers in the future. About $40 million has been spent recently building overpasses and tunnels for bikes and pedestrians. While these seem like large numbers they are insignificant compared to support for cars and mass transit.
The bridges and tunnels are needed to cross highways and expressways. These impenetrable barriers block many important routes. It is a great start but many more are needed. The plans include increased bike lanes and changes to traffic control lights to recognize and accommodate bikes. Busses can hold 2 or 3 bikes in racks out front. Trains can accommodate some bikes. The plans include a trial bike sharing scheme with bicycles located at transit stations. For a fee commuters can get off a train, grab a waiting bike, go to work and return the bike on the way home.
These plans are truly a great start. We should applaud the city councils and transit authorities and encourage them to expand their support for human powered transit systems.
To get ideas they are looking at places where bicycles are very popular like Portland Oregon and many European cities. Portland has a successful bike share program. Despite harsher winters and more rain some European cities are just bike crazy. Because San Jose is less densely populated than many other areas we need to be creative. Commutes on mixed forms of transit will be more common because of the sprawl.
Several small rivers drain the valley and meet up near downtown San Jose to make the final trip to the bay. Many of these have bike trails next to them. The Los Gatos creek trail has been around a long time and is beautiful. Guadeloupe river park in downtown is new and also beautiful. Coyote and Penitencia creek trails need developing. All these trails need to be extended all the way to downtown and connected. Building parks with trails along these creeks are beneficial for other reasons too. Since the rivers sometimes flood it is best to have a buffer between the river and developments. These buffer area support a riparian ecosystem which not only makes for super nice bike riding and walking but provides habitat for birds.
Railroad tracks and right of ways are not so beautiful but provide flat, straight, paths to and through our industrial areas. These are great places to build bike paths. Many short cuts and link ups are possible. It helps if bike trails have alternatives to busy streets. Shorter bike routes are more competitive with other means of transportation.
Since the weather is so nice so much of the year people should ride their bikes more. It is super healthy and a fun way to get exercise. If you can exercise while eliminating a trip by car you are doing so many positive things it is crazy. A family that whole heartedly embraces bicycle travel and is fortunate enough to live close to work, school and shopping may even be able to reduce the number of cars they own. Bicycle commuters save money, pollute less and improve their health all at the same time.
I whole heartedly approve of San Jose, the VTA and other transportation agencies support for bicycles and pedestrians. All planning should consider the impact on bicyclists and pedestrians and invest in supporting them. By biking and walking more all citizens would benefit themselves, help the global warming problem and contribute to making the Santa Clara Valley one of the cleanest and healthiest places on earth. Go ride a bike!
Copyright © 11/15/2009 Carl Wohlforth
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