Ford recognizes the growth of bike commuting and invests in GoBike progra

You would never expect a major automobile manufacturer to invest in bicycles, but that's exactly what Ford announced last month as they jump on the bandwagon for cities to offer more bicycles, more bike lanes and more bike parking racks as an alternative means of transportation.

Their investment in buying Chariot, a crowd-sourced shuttle service, and establishing Motivate, an urban bike sharing program, confused some investors and customers. But the investments are a timely decision that actually go hand-in-hand.

The newly popular position of city bicycle transportation engineer is responsible for everything from bike lanes to outdoor bike racks

By Gerald Dlubala

Bicycling and bike commuting are up overall across the nation. So are the number of bicycle transportation engineers.

Here's why. Bicycle ridership figures are up 60% over the last 15 years. But if you look at communities designated as "bicycle-friendly", meaning infrastructure, roads, outdoor bike racks and facilities conducive to bike riding and commuting, that figure jumps to more than a 100% increase. The willingness and desire to at least consider bicycling is there, given the opportunity through safe roads and ease of travel.

More bicyclists

Bike parking racks and cycling can help cut traffic jams like this at the Brooklyn Bridg

By Gerald Dlubala

Bike parking racks are more than just a place to lock a bike. They can have a substantial positive effect on saving cities a ton of money when it comes to overcrowded streets.

 "The overall economic impact is greatest in the U.S. where the estimated cumulative cost of traffic congestion by 2030 will be $2.8 trillion."

That's the findings of INRIX, a traffic intelligence

 

Adding more commercial bike racks will alleviate situations like thi

It's getting ugly out there. There are just not enough commercial bike racks on streets today to accommodate the growing surge in bicyclists. So defenseless trees are picking up the slack.

Be a hero. Give a bicyclist a place to park. Give a tree a break.

According to Statista, the number of Americans who biked in the past 12 months grew from 47 million in Spring 2008 to a whopping 66.7 million in the Spring of last year.

That's nearly 20 million more people who now ride a bicycle.

This type of behavior

Recovered bicycles waiting for owners (Source: Santa Cruz Police Department)

If your city has quite a few "sucker poles" where bicycles are stolen, adding commercial bike racks could make your business a hero to bicyclists.

What is a "sucker pole?" It's a name given to sign posts and other objects that at first appear to be a safe place to park a bike. However, these poles are generally not as secure as they look and can easily be unscrewed from their mountings or even just yanked out of the ground.

Many a disgruntled bicycle owner has returned to where they thought they parked