Are You Afraid To Ride Your Bike?

Yeah, me too.

Well, this feels unthreatening!

Perhaps, you know someone who feels like they “should” ride their bike more.  Or maybe that person is you!

We know about all the benefits of biking: that it’s cheaper, greener, healthier, etc.  But yet… there is fear too.  

It’s actually quite reasonable to have fear around biking in Ulster County.  While there are some separated bike paths, such as the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, these trails lack safe connections to destinations such as homes, work, school, stores, etc.  In fact, the design of these trails, bookended with parking lots and not connected to town via protected routes, explicitly means you are meant to drive a car with your bike to the trail in order to use it.  (Of course, this creates an equity issue for the 7.5% of Ulster County households and 17% of Kingston households who do not own a car.)

There are some who bike even in the absence of safe infrastructure, but these folks are in the minority.

Roger Geller estimated that there are four groups of cyclists in Portland, Oregon: the “strong and fearless,” representing perhaps 1% of the population, the “enthused and confident,” about 8%, the “interested but concerned” representing the majority of about 60%, and about another third, who would “no way, no how” ever ride a bike (although I suspect that some of those “never” folks could be converted due to peer pressure).  

From the Livable Cities Initiative

When I think about Ulster County, it’s clear that outside of protected recreational trails, only the “strong and fearless,” and some of the “enthused and confident” folks are really biking as a means of transportation.  This can also partially explain why it seems like there are so many reckless bike riders on the streets; since biking is risky, the cycling population is selecting for people who are more comfortable with taking risks.

The most important thing we can do to enable the majority of people, the “interested but concerned” group, to bike for transportation, is to create a network of protected paths which prioritize the safety of people outside of cars. That means that traffic speeds must be secondary to safety concerns, which is the opposite of how streets have been designed for decades. 

In addition to street safety concerns, there have been several other barriers to cycling found.  The cost of bicycle ownership is a significant barrier, especially for lower wealth households. And not just owning a bike, but also having the right gear and clothing have been found to be essential for encouraging cycling. In addition, we need to pay attention to concerns for personal safety, i.e. racial profiling, sexual harassment, mugging, etc.  

If you are “interested but concerned,” fear not, you are in the majority!  We need to get together and push for streets that are safe and accessible for all.