More Schools Encourage Commuting by Bike

The tandem bicycle that Meghan Faux and her 7-year-old daughter Ryan use to get to school got a flat tire last week on the first day of classes. No matter. The next day Ms. Faux arrived at Public School 261 in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, with Ryan following closely on a trail-a-bike, a child-size bicycle frame that attaches to the back of her mother’s bicycle.

The 10-minute ride from Fort Greene to Boerum Hill would take at least 30 on public transportation, Ms. Faux said. Forecasts of afternoon rain are not enough to stop them. Nor is the cold — Ryan happily puts on a snowsuit and a mask in the winter. When Ms. Faux cannot ride Ryan to school, her partner, Marie Tatro, tries to. And when one bicycle is out of service, the family has another to rely on.

“We have pretty complicated bike lives,” Ms. Faux said.

There are no estimates about how prevalent bicycle commuting is among parents, students and teachers at New York City’s schools, but a morning spent in front of P.S. 261 gives credibility to Ms. Faux’s claim that she is not an anomaly. P.S. 261, which has about 830 students, is one of 34 schools to have requested that the Department of Transportation install bike racks through the department’s CityRacks program. Last spring, the department installed five bike racks in front of the school, giving parents an alternative to the chain-link fence that they had been using to lock up bicycles to that point.

The school’s principal, Zipporiah Mills, said that the racks had made it easier on parents, and that the popularity of bringing children to school on bicycles had been growing for several years.

Several minutes before Ms. Faux showed up with Ryan in tow last Thursday, Hilda Cohen pedaled up to the school on Pacific Street. Sitting just behind her handlebars, on a custom seat made from a skateboard, was her daughter Esme, 7.

Esme, who has been known to strut through the halls of school with her helmet still on her head, said she preferred riding on her mother’s bicycle to other forms of transportation.

“I don’t like to ride the bus,” she said. “You just sit there.”

Pacific Street slowly filled with young children and their parents. Children jumped from idling cars and climbed out of school buses. One rode by on a Razor scooter. And parents pedaled up on bikes built or rigged to accommodate their elementary-sized passengers, or alongside children who rode their own bicycles. A woman carefully stowed the seat of her daughter’s bicycle in her backpack, rather than leave it to tempt any bike thieves who might walk by during the day, then rode on to work. A man rode past with a young boy and girl riding a seat made for two mounted over his back tire. The bike stopped for less than a minute in front of the school. The boy jumped off and headed inside; father and daughter made a U-Turn and pedaled away to another school nearby.

These commuters described the incentive to get their children to school on bicycles as a combination of convenience and the desire to instill an interest in bicycling and exercise early in life.

“I’m trying to raise two children to be bike riders, so I’m going through all the steps,” said Kim Wiley-Schwartz, the director of Livable Streets Education, an environmental group. She has two children at the school, Nora, 7, and Isaac, 5.

“Some people just attach their kids to their bikes to get them from place to place as fast as they can,” Ms. Wiley-Schwartz said. “That’s also viable.”

For Selina Cardoso, the morning ride from Sunset Park with her daughter Michelle, 7, takes half an hour, about the same time it would take to ride the train. The decision to travel by bicycle, she said, comes with a financial benefit as well.

“It’s exercise, and we don’t have to buy a MetroCard,” she said.


SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES

Bike commute in London

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Chinese Bike Commute

Frustrated Berlin commuters discover pedal power

"There's a giant explosion of interest," Stark said. "People sitting in a traffic jam see the bikes filing past and it makes them think twice about sitting in their cars."

There are 68 million bikes in Germany, a country with a population of 82 million. The total has risen by 2 million in three years. Bike sales have also remained strong in the past year, defying the economic crisis.

Cycling is a big industry with annual turnover of 1.7 billion euros ($2.40 billion) for cycles and a total of 3.5 billion euros for equipment. It employs about 9,000 people.

In Berlin's government quarter, hundreds of journalists, lobbyists, politicians and businessmen can be seen on bicycles at any time of the day between April and October. There are a growing number of die-hards who ride through mild winters.

Some prominent Germans take advantage of Berlin's bicycle-friendly wide avenues and bike lanes to pedal to work.

Deputy Finance Minister Joerg Asmussen and Martin Wansleben, managing director of the Chambers of Industry and Commerce, are regular bike commuters.

"We're always looking for ways to improve the infrastructure for cyclists to make it even a more attractive alternative," Berlin's Economy Senator Harald Wolf said in an interview.

The city spends 3 million euros ($4.24 million) a year improving 600 km of cycle paths and lanes.

"There are several big advantages of getting around by bike in a city like Berlin," Wolf told Reuters. "First of all, it's a cheap way to travel, and secondly it's positive for the environment because there's no CO2 emissions.

"On top of that it's healthy and in cities like Berlin that have so much traffic the average speed falls so far that you're almost as fast on a bike as you would be in a car."

HAPPY COMMUTERS

Rolf Dieter Peschel is another happy cycle commuter. He sold his car and bought a bike two years ago. The 48-year-old, who now rides about 6,000 km per year, reckons it has saved him about 3,000 euros each year.

"I feel a lot fitter than before," said Peschel, who works as an ambulance medical assistant and commutes 17 km each way to work. "I look forward to my bike ride home all day. It's really amazing how much money you can save without a car."

Bettina Krause, 40, paused near the end of her 30-minute, 10-km journey to work at the Technical University at a bike lane traffic light, where 50 cyclists waited for a green light.

"I'd rather take my bike than squeeze into a crowded train," she said. "The thing I like about biking to work is that you can integrate a workout right into your day. I can't stand getting into the train any more."

Thomas Geithner, a 32-year-old IT worker, said he left his car at home most of the time because the bike was faster.

"It's only about four km each way so I'd end up spending more time looking for a place to park than it takes to bike," he said. "There's just too much stress with the car. I'm here on the bike in a few minutes and in a good mood all day."


SOURCE: REUTERS.COM

Cycling to work

Cycle fever in Japan as companies offer special benefits to bicycle commuters

Commuters who would rather not be trapped in jam-packed trains, which may increase the risk of exposure to the swine flu, are recently choosing a different option – bicycle-riding to the office.

Men in suits and ties with a backpack traveling to work have become the new trend, and there are several benefits besides the most obvious – escape from enduring train rides overcrowded with passengers.

“Although I have to wear a mask as soon as I get to the office, at least I don’t have to worry about it on the way to work. I bike about 40 minutes, 10 kilometers every day. I don’t go out drinking as much and I’ve lost 10 kilos in a year. My cholesterol level is better and medical exam results are great,” says one Osaka company worker.

Another company employee, a 10-year veteran as a bicycle commuter, explains he’s built stamina by traveling an hour and half to cover the 30-kilometer distance between his home in Kashiwa City and the office in Shinjuku. “I’m also earning extra money from the monthly transportation fee of 15,000 yen provided by the company.”

According to the Japan Bicycle Association, domestic bicycle shipments in 2008 reached 73.4 billion yen (a 21% increase from the previous year), of which sports-type cycles for town riding accounted for nearly 3 billion yen, a 68% increase. Bike related products are drawing attention as well, such as business suits using materials with enhanced breathing-stretching qualities.

Due to the economic downturn, more individuals are selling off their cars and switching to bike riding, according to the Association.

New businesses are following the trend, such as the “Runners Station Plus Bike” which opened in Chiyoda-ku this February, catering to bike commuters’ needs with locker and shower rooms. For the monthly fee of 23,000 yen, members can use the facilities and leave their expensive vehicles in a secure parking area.

Furthermore, an increasing number of companies are encouraging bicycle commuting as a part of the corporate “Eco” policy. For example, since 2006 Sanyo’s manufacturing facility in Gunma has offered continuous payment of commuting allowances to employees who switch from car to bicycle, provided that the distance is between 2 and 5 kilometers one way.

In the case of Yamaha Motor Company in Shizuoka, employees receive special benefits when they change their travel method from car to motorcycle, bicycle or commute on foot. The system has been implemented since 2004, and currently bicycle commuters are paid 1,000 yen per month from the company.

Last August, shochu manufacturer Okuchi Shuzo in Kagoshima introduced a system to encourage bike commute by offering 10 yen per kilometer. More than a third of its employees now ride bicycles to work.

Journalist Tsuyoshi Maeya, who lost 7 kilos in one year by switching to bicycle commuting advises, “You can avoid overcrowded trains, there’s less exposure to the flu virus and you’ll be able to build stamina and strengthen your immune system. But try to take it slow and easy – don’t attempt riding 20 kilometers to the workplace without giving yourself the chance to practice over weekends and gradually increase the distance you can handle.”

Needless to say, please follow traffic rules and remember that riding the bicycle under the influence of alcohol is a no-no.

SOURCE: JAPAN TODAY