Think of this Streetfacts chapter as a PSA about how, in just a few generations, we have tightly restricted American kids' freedom to roam, play, and become self-sufficient. The percentage of children walking and bicycling to school has plummeted from almost 50 percent in 1969 to about 13 percent today. Although distance from school is often cited [...]
Major World in Queens is at it again. This time they're using a portable billboard to broadcast the message that bicycling and walking aren't the best choice to get around. One side features a tricycle and asks potential clients if they are being treated "like a kid". Though one could argue the tricycle is just [...]
As some of you may know, many of the big cities in the U.S. are in the midst of expanding their bicycle network by installing protected bike lanes. You've heard much about New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., but some of the newest cities installing them are smaller cities you might not know about.
Places like Missoula, Flagstaff, Indianapolis, Austin and Memphis (just to name a few) have either installed protected lanes or are breaking ground shortly. It shows that even in many places and cities with populations under a million that the health benefits of cycling and the econmoic realities are proving that a successful transportation system demands the inclusion of the bicycle.
How would you make the case to Congress to fund bike infrastructure? That was the question Streetfilms posed to attendees at this year's National Bike Summit. Here's a look at what they told us. You'll also hear from one of the conference headliners, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, who has overseen some dramatic changes in his [...]
At this year's National Bike Summit, we decided to take the pulse of bicyclists as to why they think women riders are growing so fast in number and also get some suggestions as to ways to grow them.
During his decade long effort to understand and improve the streets of New York City, entrepreneur and livable streets advocate Mark Gorton has gathered together a compelling set of examples of how transportation policy impacts the quality of our daily lives.
The Netherlands is widely recognized for having the highest cycling rates in the world. What's not so well known is that the Dutch don't bike so much because cycling is in their DNA. They do it because after the country started down the path toward car dependence, they made a conscious decision to change course. [...]
"Cities for Cycling" is a project of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) to document, promote and implement the world’s best bicycle transportation practices in American cities. As part of the Cities for Cycling program, bikeway design experts take their show on the road, using the streets of different U.S. cities as their classroom [...]
In Spanish/en Español: click here. Watch this film in Spanish Guadalajara, Mexico is showing how amazingly transformative a ciclovia-style road closure can be for its citizens. In 7 years, their inaugural Sunday event Via RecreActiva has grown from just 7 miles with 35,000 participants to 41 miles with 400,000 users every Sunday. It goes from [...]
Cycling in New York City overcame a much undeserved, unfair, zealous media bombardment in 2011. But as usual we just kept biking and NYC's numbers kept growing - doubling since 2007. And as demonstrated over and over, public opinion polls show cycling & bike lanes enjoy broad support in the general public, a fact that [...]
In his campaign for mayor, Rahm Emanuel pledged to make Chicago a more bike-friendly city. And in office, he set his sights high, aiming to construct 100 miles of protected bike lanes in his first term. His team wasted no time. Chicago DOT installed the city's first protected bike lane on Kinzie Street before Emanuel's [...]
Walking and bicycling in Guadalajara can be dangerous in many parts of the city, but there's a big movement among many citizens to alter that. GDL en Bici is a group of wonderful citizens and bicycle advocates who have been organizing multiple weekly bike rides for years, and nothing is more impressive then their first [...]
We are back with another installment of our hit series, "My NYC Biking Story." Recently Streetfilms spent the afternoon with Dr. Janice Turner in the South Bronx, and we toured some of her favorite waterfront trails. As a recreational cyclist for forty-plus years and a board member of Sustainable South Bronx, Dr. Turner believes that [...]
In the Dutch city of Utrecht, kids start learning about traffic safety long before they prepare for a driver's license. And not just "look both ways before you cross the street." The school curriculum includes regular field trips to the local "traffic garden." The City of Utrecht has used this facility, a streetscape in miniature, [...]
In the increasingly heated competition to see who deserves the title of America's most bike-friendly city, Minneapolis has plenty going for it. Last year Bicycling magazine anointed the city tops in the nation, knocking Portland off its long-held perch. The Twin Cities are undergoing a steady transformation into a more bike-oriented region thanks to nearly [...]
Nearly three years ago Streetfilms took a day trip to Washington, D.C. to see their Smart Bike DC in action. We found the trial bike share system a fun ride with great potential, but with only 120 bikes there wasn't a great sense of widespread use. Flashforward to 2011 and with over 1100 bicycles and 110 [...]
This spring, Transportation Alternatives launched a program to promote safe cycling throughout the five boroughs. Bin Feng Zheng, 23, works for this program as an NYC Bicycle Ambassador. Bin started riding a bike just two years ago, so he knows all about the challenges of learning to ride. He's also tri-lingual -- speaking Chinese and [...]
Marcus Woollen is a prime example of what bicycling can do for your mind, body and spirit. Fifteen months ago, after being declared obese by his doctors, he decided he needed to get healthy and find a way to fit exercise into his busy schedule. So he tried bike commuting from Jackson Heights, Queens to [...]
Here's a real favorite of mine, a video that Streetfilms was fortunate enough to work on late last year. Connecting the City is a project from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition all about encouraging a vision of the Bay Area that is more bike-friendly to families, seniors and everyday folks who endeavor to ride more than they [...]
On Sunday, the NYC Street Memorial Project held the 6th Annual Memorial Ride and Walk. According to the New York City Department of Transportation, 151 pedestrians and 18 bicyclists were killed on the streets of New York City in 2010.
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