Celebrating EXPERIENTIAL Bicycling for 25 Years
Idaho made a significant jump in the national Bicycle Friendly State rankings this year. Utah, meanwhile, appeared to be pedaling a stationary bike, if you compare the 2013 state-by-state rankings given by the League of American Bicyclists (LAB). Utah came in 14th, down one notch from 2012’s 13th place finish.
FFKR Architects of Salt Lake City became the state’s first architectural firm to win a BFB award and the only new BFB in Utah added to the roll in the spring 2013 honors.
The rules of the road – and the bike trail – are about to change. Ready or not, here they come. And bike advocates better get ready because the game is changing come October 1. On that date, the new federal law governing federal funding for bike projects kicks in. And it ends 20 years of guarantees of federal aid to states for for bicycle projects.
One big reason people don’t cycle across cities is the lack of convenience in connecting one cycling route to another. People will only go so far out of their way, ride only so much along heavily trafficked streets or go through so many busy intersections when getting from one bike route to another.
the lion’s share of the bike/ped money is pretty much evenly split among pedestrian projects and off-road trails. States use far less of the money converting abandoned rail corridors into trails, adding bike lanes to roads, educating people about safety and so forth.
The folks in the Boise area sure know how to get credit for improving bicycling conditions in their community. They are winning incredible recognition from the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) Bicycle Friendly America programs. Not only was Boise State University not satisfied with its bronze medal won last year (the fourth highest ranking) that it reapplied and moved a notch above and won silver ranking this year (see May 2012 issue) but two other employers in the area won Bicycle Friendly Business (BFB) awards in the spring announcement.
This year, Utah finished in 13th place, a large improvement over last year’s 31st place finish among the 50 states. Idaho, on the other foot, dropped from 30th place to a disgraceful 36th spot. [Rain soaked Oregon finished first this year while snow covered Minnesota placed 2nd.
The landscape is changing and this means the Utah bicycling community is going to have to switch gears to adapt. No, not just to ride the reconstructed roads, new trails and bridges or added mountain bike trails throughout the state. Bicycle advocates are going to have to change the thrust of their advocacy efforts to keep up with the changing political landscape.
You needn’t look any further than Alpine, right here in Utah to prove the benefits of the endangered Safe Routes to School (SRS) program. SRS itself is traveling an unsafe route to survival, running on a spare tire presently in a seemingly endless series of leases on life while Congress continues to debate its future. But a national study cited Alpine’s use of an SRS grant as a reason to support bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in small towns.
Study harder and improve your grade, they say at school. And that’s exactly what Boise State University (BSU) did. A year ago, it became one of the first institutions to win honors as a Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) in the League of American Bicyclists’ (LAB) latest addition to the Bicycle Friendly America program (which includes Bicycle Friendly Communities, Bicycle Friendly Businesses and Bicycle Friendly States).
