Category Archives: bicycling

by | September 16, 2013 · 9:00 am

Multi-Modal Transportation: Car Plus Bike Plus More

By Greg Kagay
(Adapted From GregRides.com)

Folding bikes can be the solution for traveling from public transit to the office. Map: Dallas Area Rapid Transit.

A popular transport term today is “multi-modal”. Although this term encompasses cars, it reaches beyond traditional car-centric travel and emphasizes other transport “modes”. Those modes including buses, ferries, subways, light rail, commuter trains, and more. The term also encompasses combinations of modes, such as “park and ride”.

Of course, the bicycle, too, is a mode. Like the car, and unlike most other modes, the bicycle is personal transport, not public transit (bike share programs notwithstanding). For short trips in good weather, it is hard to beat a bicycle, which can go just about anywhere.

But traditional large-wheel bicycles have multi-modal limitations. Generally, they are great for getting you to one mode or another, but large-wheel bikes do not travel with you easily as you utilize other modes. This is where folding bicycles shine, because you can take them with you easily on virtually all other transport modes.

A folding bike, therefore, can be the thread that ties together multi-modal outings. Think of folding bikes as the master keys to your multi-modal transport universe. Continue reading →

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by | September 8, 2013 · 9:00 am

New York, New York, More Than Ever, A Big Transit Town

By Micheline Maynard

Fewer vehicles, more transit in New York City.

Depending on your view of New York City, it’s a walker’s paradise, a traffic nightmare, or a place where it pays to ride the subway.

Now, the city has come out with its annual Sustainable Streets Index report, and the results show The Big Apple is mirroring the rest of the country in the way it gets around.

Since 2003, citywide transit ridership has grown 9.5 percent, while citywide traffic has declined 3.9 percent. Subway and bus ridership is growing, while driving remains essentially flat.

The changes are most noticeable in the Manhattan central business district, which is the area below 60th Street (the southern border of Central Park). Over the past 10 years, transit use here is up 11.3 percent, while car traffic has declined 6.5 percent.

Meanwhile, there was a 4 percent increase in cycling during 2012, before Citi Bikes arrived on the scene. There has been a 58 percent increase in year-around cycling since 2008, and an 86 percent increase in people cycling during the winter. (As a side note: New York City gets snowstorms, but not the hammering that cities like Chicago and Boston are accustomed to getting.)

Continue reading →

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by | September 4, 2013 · 9:00 am

Bike Share Review: Getting Around The Mile High City

By Micheline Maynard

Denver is known for its Nuggets, the Broncos and its mountains. But many of us don’t automatically think of it as a bike sharing city.

Denver B-Cycle riders.

However, the system known as Denver B-Cycle has a regular rider in Tim Baldwin, an associate with the transportation consulting firm of Steer Davies Gleave.

Here is Tim’s B-Cycle review.

“Our firm recently moved to a new office in the Lower Downtown area of Denver.  While it is a beautiful office in a wonderful location, it is about four blocks away from Denver’s 16th Street Mall and its free shuttle bus, which we use to get to and from meetings around downtown (primarily at RTD-Denver and the City and County of Denver).

Luckily, we have a B-Cycle bike sharing station right outside our office, so we use it at every opportunity to go to and from our meetings. Continue reading →

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by | September 3, 2013 · 9:00 am

Ask The Rabbi: Can I Use Bike Share During The High Holy Days?

By Micheline Maynard

Our Jewish friends are getting ready to celebrate the High Holy Days, which kick off Wednesday with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and continue next week with Yom Kippur.

Bay Area Bike Share bikes at the Ferry Building in San Francisco.

Bay Area Bike Share bikes at the Ferry Building in San Francisco.

This year’s festivities mark the start of 5774 on the Jewish calendar. Last year, when 5773 kicked off, neither New York, Chicago or San Francisco had bike share systems. This year, Citi Bike, Divvy Bikes and most recently, Bay Area Bike Share have become new transportation choices.

But some Jews, especially those who follow the Orthodox tradition, observe restrictions on travel during the High Holy Days. We wondered if that includes bike sharing.

For an answer, we contacted Rabbi Allen Schwartz, at Congregation Ohab Zedek in New York. He was kind enough to provide his guidance about the Orthodox approach to technology during holidays (which include every Sabbath (sundown Friday to nightfall Saturday), Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, Simchat Torah, Pesach and Shavuot).

Said Rabbi Schwartz,

“On all these days, observant Jews refrain from practically all forms of technology. These days are set aside for contemplation of what we are as human beings and is becoming more and more challenging in a vastly changing world. Continue reading →

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by | September 2, 2013 · 9:00 am

Bike Share Review: A Lunchtime Ride In Chicago

Listen to Roger Talk About Divvy Bikes

By Micheline Maynard

Last month, I visited Chicago to check out Divvy Bikes and see what cyclists think of the new bike sharing program. As I was driving through West Town at lunch time, I saw Roger Guerrero cycling by, and asked him if he’d talk to me about his Divvy experience. Click the link above to hear our interview.

Here’s Roger on his ride.

Roger On A Divvy

Would you like to send us your Bike Share Review? Send an email to curbingcars@gmail.com.

(*Slight correction in the audio: Bay Area Bike Share stretches from San Francisco to San Jose, but Oakland isn’t part of the system just yet.)

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by | August 31, 2013 · 9:00 am

Bike Share Review: Riding In The Nation’s Capitol

By Micheline Maynard

Capital Bikeshare

Curbing Cars backer Michael Leland is an avid cyclist who spends lots of time on the road in Wisconsin, where he is the news director for Wisconsin Public Radio.

In our inaugural Bike Share Review, Michael writes about his experience testing out Capital Bikeshare in Washington, D.C.

“A few years ago, I was staying in Crystal City, (Arlington), Virginia for a conference, and there was a Capital Bikeshare station in front of the hotel.  I bike a lot at home in Wisconsin and try to exercise when I’m on the road, so I thought it would be nice to use on of the bikes for early-morning rides along the Potomac.

The station instructions were straightforward and I was easily able to adjust the bike so that I fit on it comfortably.  Several mornings that week, I rode a 6-10 mile loop along the river, and crossed into D.C. to ride past the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. Continue reading →

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by | August 30, 2013 · 9:15 am

Have You Tried Out Bike Sharing? Send Us Your Bike Share Review

Bay Area Bike Share kicked off this week.

Bay Area Bike Share kicked off this week.

By Micheline Maynard

It’s been the summer of bike sharing! This week, Bay Area Bike Share (or as we’re thinking of it, BABS) kicked off in the San Francisco area. Meanwhile, Chicago is getting to know Divvy Bikes, and New York has thrown its arms around Citi Bike.

They’re just part of the bike sharing movement that has literally swept the world, from Paris to Shanghai, Montreal to Chattanooga. College campuses have bike sharing, and so do many cities around North America.

Have you tried out one of these systems, either in your home town or as a visitor? If so, we’d like you to send us your Bike Share Review.

As we’re doing with My Transportation Diary, we’ll be running these regularly at Curbing Cars. Our first one is ready to go this weekend.

Here’s what we’d like to know: Continue reading →

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by | August 23, 2013 · 3:37 pm

Would You Like A Free Bike? There’s Only One Catch

Photo courtesy of The Hubway.

Photo courtesy of The Hubway.

By Micheline Maynard

Next week, 100 freshmen will show up at the University of Dayton, and will each get a new bike. There’s only one catch: they had to pledge to keep their cars off campus for two years.

That might be music to the ears of a lot of college students, who can’t afford cars any way. But at a lot of commuter schools, cars are a must. You can read more about the Dayton program in my story for Forbes.

Dayton is far from the first school to offer free bikes; this has been a trend on campuses for years. The offer is an off-shoot of Dayton’s bike-sharing program. It’s among more than 30 schools around the country that offer their students bike sharing.

Would a free bike keep you from bringing a car to school, or is it just a necessity where you are?

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by | August 20, 2013 · 9:00 am

My Transportation Diary: A Hodge-Podge Of Travel Habits

Up in Wisconsin, a fine ride.

Up in Wisconsin, a fine ride.

By Micheline Maynard

Aubrey Burleson-Sanford relies on a mix of transportation: he drives, is driven and relies on his bike.

Aubrey, a student at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, checked in from Door County, Wisconsin, to share his transportation diary for last week. (That’s the Toyota Sienna he took to get to Wisconsin’s vacation land.)

Here’s how Aubrey puts it:

“My own car, a 2005 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor is broken (busted transmission), so I have to use a hodgepodge of family and friends’ cars when I need a car.

I didn’t work or have class at all this weekend, so there’s not any sort of commuting pattern, but there are a few other patterns. I have a couple unusual key locations I go to and from, but it would be interesting to see how someone interprets this without knowing those.

(Editor’s note: We aren’t going to tell you what Aubrey is doing at some of these hours. We’ll let you guess.)

Looking at this, I wish I had biked more, but most of my traveling, since I didn’t really have any obligations, happened because I had a car and decided to go do such-and-such thing, instead of I needed to get to a thing and therefore got a car.  Continue reading →

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by | August 19, 2013 · 9:00 am

My Transportation Diary: Driving And Cycling In North Carolina

By Micheline Maynard

We’ve launched a regular feature called My Transportation Diary, asking you to tell us how you get around. My Transportation Diary

It’s a great way to compare notes, see transportation trends in different parts of the country, and hear thoughts from people who are mixing up their transportation options.

In this episode, Dan Leinbach, who lives in North Carolina, shares his diary. He came to us through Jalopnik, the automotive enthusiast site, where Curbing Cars has a Kinja page. You’re welcome to read our posts and take part in the conversation. Dan’s Jalopnik screen name is Thunder.

Here’s Dan’s diary:

“I work from home full-time.  I think the nearest office of my company is maybe Richmond, VA.  I’m in Apex, a suburb of Raleigh, NC.  My normal day consists of taking my daughter to school (about 2 miles each way); mid afternoon, she’s dropped back off at home.  Most evenings she has some kind of activity to attend, all very local.  Continue reading →

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