Every month, we hear of great cycling news from around the world and wanted to share these stories with you and celebrate the advances that have happened in the world of cycling. In this month’s edition we get a mix of festive cheer with Christmas trees being delivered by bike, new studies around mobility in a post-pandemic world and electric bikes gaining traction in the United States.
In Baltimore, you can get your Christmas tree delivered directly to your home and by cargo bike! But it’s not just that, the Pork’n’Pine come with pulled pork sandwiches and spend some time to connect with the families and communities they deliver to to spread the holiday cheer.
New studies have come out comparing cycling levels from before, during and after the pandemic and they’re showing how cycling levels are continually increasing. In London, both walking and cycling are on the rise with Transport for London’s latest data showing that levels of cycling in autumn 2022 was 40 per cent higher than in 2019. An analysis in usage trends for bikeshares in the United States, showed a deep decline across all modes of travel in 2020 though bikeshare was most resilient only declining 24% while car travel went down by 40%. However by 2021, ridership was already up 18% compared to 2019 and continues to grow.
This increase in biking can only mean good things as bikes are a great way to fight climate change! A new study by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy’s (ITDP) global Cycling Cities campaign showed that investment in urban protected bicycle lanes can significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, lower transport costs, and prevent road fatalities compared to investment in other infrastructure.
Ebikes are gaining traction in the US with Denver setting up an ebike rebate program where you get an instant discount off the purchase of your bike and “nearly 5,000 electric bikes have been purchased as part of the program”. In Ohio, a new ebike sharing company is setting up and is getting ready to launch this year!
Colombia has been a front runner in mobility innovation and StreetsBlog has put together a list of lessons we can learn from them, including the invention of Ciclovía which has exported under the name of Open Streets in Toronto.
We love to hear it! Sacramento is adding more protected bike lanes. Protected bike lanes are the best way to get more people to try cycling as they feel more comfortable and safe doing so.
What does architecture look like when you’re building for cyclists rather than simply meeting the demand for bike lanes? Take a look at ArchDaily’s piece on Copenhagen.
Mayor Adams reimagines Fifth Avenue that is safer, less congested that prioritizes cyclists and mass transit. With the pedestrianization of Times Square and Broadway being huge sucesses we can’t wait to see what this would look like.
A news story all cyclists can celebrate: Pittsburgh has an app where they can report any obstructions in their bike lanes. This data has led to bike lane upgrades stopping cars from being able to block the lane.
Did we miss any stories?
