Since you are transportation reporter for the Star I thought you might want to know what is going on around the BikeKC issue.
You might know that BikeKC has been held in the P-Z committee since about last September.
Now, at the request of the Mayor and others the committee is re-hearing the issue and it looks as though it may come before the full city council. The P-Z committee hearing is set for August 7th at 1:30PM, 26th floor city hall.
Since I became interested in the BikeKC initiative just a few months ago I have been amazed at the citizen support for BikeKC. It seems to have real broad-based grass roots support from many sectors of the community.
A few loosely-knit individuals, bike clubs, and internet discussion forums are putting together a grass-root effort to let the city council know how much support bicycling issues have in Kansas City.
We're writing and email the city council, spreading the word via email lists and bicycle club newsletters, talking to friends and neighbors, writing letters to the editor, putting flyers in area bike shops, and so on. I think the city council will be rather amazed at the support for bicycling if we can really get the word out to Kansas Citians (we still hear, ALL too often, even from dedicated bicycle riders, the same old question, "What is BikeKC? I've never heard of it . . . ").
(By the way, I submitted an "As I See It" article to the Star about BikeKC & I understand it will be published some time soon.)
I thought you might want to know about this and also know about some of the materials we're putting together, just so you know how we see the issue.
Some of the material has been put together specifically to address objections brought forth by key members of the P-Z committee--they believe that on-street bicycling is dangerous, few people will use bicycle facilities, and that extra right-of-way required in new developments will cost developers money.
There are strong arguments and data to refute each of these points--you can find them in the web pages below.
Thanks for your attention!
--Brent Hugh
bhugh@mwsc.edu
(816)356-1740
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BikeKC-related Web Pages
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Printable Flyer Summarizing BikeKC & Appealing to Community Members to Support BikeKC:
http://griffon.mwsc.edu/~bhugh/bikekcsummary.pdf
More information about the Bike KC Plan:
http://www.bikekc.org/
Bike KC summary from the KC Public Works Department:
http://www.kcmo.org/pubworks.nsf/web/kcbike1
Article by KC Star columnist Mike Hendricks about Bike KC:
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/3588452.htm
My own letter explaining the advantages of the Bike KC proposal:
http://griffon.mwsc.edu/~bhugh/bikekcadvantages.html
My letter responding to the safety concerns with on-street bicycle routes:
http://griffon.mwsc.edu/~bhugh/bikekcsafety.html
On-street Bicycling Safety Fact Sheet:
http://griffon.mwsc.edu/~bhugh/bikesafetyfactsheet.html
The "Fact Sheet" was made to dispute the claim by some city council members that on-street bicycling is dangerous. This idea, although believed by many motorists and even many bicyclists, is demonstrably false. Here are some data points from the fact sheet:
On-street Bicycling is Safe
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* Bicycling on-street (whether measured per hour, per mile, or per trip) is about as safe as driving. (*Many* studies back this up.)
* Bicycling on-street is at least 12 times safer than playing soccer, 22 times safer than basketball, 38 times safer than football. No one considers these activities terribly "dangerous", yet bicycling, which is actually safer than all of them, is somehow labeled "dangerous".
* Health benefits of bicycling outweigh risks by 20 times. Bicycle commuters have a 40% lower overall mortality rate.
* Experienced bicyclists are actually safer yet than the average--club cyclists, who ride a lot and practice vehicular cycling technics, are 5-10 times safer than the 'average' bicycle rider.
On-street Bicycling is Actually Somewhat Safer Than Cycling on
Off-Street Bicycle Paths
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* Bicycling on the street is 2-3 times safer than riding on multi-use paths (for example, major roads with bicycle facilities are 3.4 times safer than multi-use paths).
* Bicycling on the street is >20 times safer than riding on the sidewalk (for example, cycling major roads with bicycle facilities is 40 times safer than sidewalk cycling).
On-street Bicycle Facilities Improve Safety Even Further
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* Major roads with bicycle facilities are safer than the same roads without such facilities (bicycle accidents are reduced by 38% on roads with facilities).
These are not just the wild-eyed claims of a bunch of cycling nuts. All of these conclusions are backed up by solid scientific studies, and many points have been verified by several studies. Complete background information with references and online links to articles (if available) is on the web page (http://griffon.mwsc.edu/~bhugh/bikesafetyfactsheet.pdf).
posted by Brent Hugh at
Sunday, August 25, 2002 |
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