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In a new report, Bicycling and Walking in the United States: 2012 Benchmarking Report, the Alliance ranks all 50 states and the 51 largest U.S. cities on bicycling and walking levels, safety, funding, and other factors.

This report comes at a critical moment, as Congress takes up the imminent passage of the next federal transportation bill, which dictates how billions of tax dollars will be spent over coming years. The Benchmarking Report reveals that, in nearly every city and state, pedestrians and bicyclists are disproportionately at risk of being killed, and currently receive less than a fair share of transportation dollars. While 12 percent of trips in the U.S. are by bike or foot, 14 percent of traffic fatalities are bicyclists and pedestrians. Pedestrian and bicycle projects receive less than 2 percent of federal transportation dollars.

“The Benchmarking Report shows that biking and walking are smart solutions to many of our country’s most pressing challenges when it comes to transportation, job creation and health,” Jeffrey Miller, Alliance President/CEO, says.

Click here to download the report and media fact sheet.

The report compiles persuasive evidence that bicycle and pedestrian projects create more jobs than highway projects, and provide at least three dollars of benefit for every dollar invested. The report also highlights the health benefits of active transportation, showing that states with the highest rates of bicycling and walking are also among those with the lowest rates of obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure. “The data points to one conclusion: Investing in biking and walking projects creates jobs, leads to more people biking and walking, and improves safety and public health,” Miller says.

John Pucher, a professor at Rutgers University, emphasizes: “The wide range of environmental, social, and economic benefits of walking and bicycling, so clearly documented in this report, justify greatly increased investment in facilities and programs to encourage more walking and cycling, and to improve the safety of these most sustainable of all transportation modes.”

The 2012 Benchmarking Report compiles important state and city rankings, including:

Other highlights from the report include:

• In 2009, 40% of trips in the United States were shorter than 2 miles, yet 87% of these trips are by car. Twenty-seven percent of trips were shorter than 1 mile. Still, Americans use their cars for 62% of these trips.
• While bicycling and walking fell 66% between 1960 and 2009, obesity levels increased 156%.
• Seniors are the most vulnerable bicyclists and pedestrians. Adults over 65 make up 10% of walking trips, yet comprise 19% of pedestrian fatalities. This age group accounts for 6% of bicycling trips, yet 10% of bicyclist fatalities.
• Bicycling and walking projects create 11-14 jobs per $1 million spent, compared to just 7 jobs created per $1 million spent on highway projects. Cost benefit analysis show that up to $11.80 in benefits can be gained for every $1 invested in bicycling and walking.
• On average, the largest 51 U.S. cities show a 29% increase in bicycle facilities since the 2010 report. Cities report that 20,908 miles of bicycle facilities and 7,079 miles of pedestrian facilities are planned for the coming years (much of this contingent upon funding).

Bicycling and Walking in the United States: 2012 Benchmarking Report was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and made possible through additional support from AARP and Planet Bike. To view rankings of the 50 states and 51 largest U.S. cities, and to download or purchase a hard copy of the report visit http://www.PeoplePoweredMovement.org/benchmarking.

Last year, a case study from Baltimore showed that bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure created twice as many jobs as road-only construction projects. Now, a larger study confirms those job creation numbers on a wider scale. With the debate on a federal transportation bill imminent, this report provides valuable insight about the important economic benefits of biking and walking. Read the press release from our partners at America Bikes and download the report below.

Washington, D.C. (June 20, 2011) — Bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure projects create more jobs per dollar spent than other road construction projects, according to a new study, Pedestrian and Bicycle Infrastructure: A National Study of Employment Impacts, conducted and released this month by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

The report builds on an earlier PERI case study of Baltimore, Maryland, and is the first national study to compare job creation of bicycling and walking infrastructure with other roadway construction projects. Using actual bid price and cost data, the study compares 58 projects in 11 cities and finds that bike projects create 46 percent more jobs than road projects without bike or pedestrian components.

On average, the “road-only” projects evaluated created 7.8 jobs per million, while the “bicycling-only” projects provided 11.4 jobs per million. For example, a roadway-focused project with no bicycle or pedestrian components in Santa Cruz, Calif., generated 4.94 jobs per $1 million spent. In contrast, a bicycle-focused project in Baltimore produced 14.35 jobs per million. The PERI reviewers attribute the difference to the simple fact that bicycle and pedestrian projects are often more labor intensive.

“It’s no secret that investing in transportation infrastructure creates jobs and helps the economy,” said Caron Whitaker, Campaign Director at America Bikes. “This study proves bicycle and pedestrian projects are no exception — in fact, they are especially efficient in creating jobs.”

The study arrives as Congress is writing a six-year Surface Transportation bill, and struggling to continue robust reinvestment in infrastructure while moderating federal spending. Funding for bicycling and walking is part of that debate.

“This report adds to a wealth of studies demonstrating the many economic benefits of investing in bicycle and pedestrian projects and programs,” said Andy Clarke, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists.

Download the full report from the Alliance Resource Library.

Blog contributed by Alliance intern Alex Boardman

Last month, I was lucky enough to travel to Ecuador with my International Environment and Development class. Our trip was intended to be a case study on the trade-off between development and the environment — a topic we’ve focused on over the course of the semester.

The trip wasn’t exactly a vacation, and I was certainly grateful to be back in the United States for Thanksgiving! Luckily, despite all the time off from my internship, the past month gave me some interesting, international insight into bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.

Ecuador was a perfect place to investigate the intersection of development and conservation, because of its constant conflict between preserving such a biologically diverse environment, while simultaneously trying to develop both socially and economically. For example, Yasuni National Park — the world’s most bio-diverse rainforest — has nearly one billion barrels of crude oil buried underneath it, amounting to more than $10 billion in potential revenue for the country. Over the course of three weeks, our trips included stops in Quito, Coca, the rainforest, the Galapagos Islands, and the Otavalo region.

Unfortunately, our first destination, Quito, which is the capital of Ecuador, was not particularly bike-friendly (picture below). Car ownership in Quito has risen more than 45 percent between 2002 and 2008 alone, and it continues to grow at an average rate of 30,000 more cars a year. With this significant increase in cars on the road, even something as simple as crossing the streets in the city is incredibly dangerous. To add further difficulty to bicycling and walking, the city streets are narrow, steep, and incredibly windy. There were virtually no bicyclists or pedestrians throughout the entire city. Our class had to take taxis to even travel three blocks from our hotel. Quito is also built in a valley, surrounded by the Andes Mountains, and suffers from severe air pollution and smog, especially as more and more cars occupy the road.

While Quito, and the rainforest (our second destination), weren’t particularly bike and ped friendly, I was more than impressed by the advanced biking and pedestrian infrastructure in the Puerta Ayora, the main “city” on Santa Cruz, in the Galapagos Islands. Residents and tourists of this small community enjoy streets with broad sidewalks and wide bike lanes. Included along the main road, Avenida Charles Darwin, bicyclists and pedestrians took advantage of two-way bike lanes. Cars seemed largely unnecessary in the town, where nearly everything is in walking distance of the few hotels in town. Residents in Puerta Ayora walked and bicycled everywhere—in fact, the only cars we saw were the white pick-up truck taxis intended for tourists.

In a country where car ownership is on the rise and such a unique environment is increasingly threatened by economic development, bicycle and pedestrian advocacy would be a great asset in Ecuador. In light of the recent holiday, we can certainly be thankful for the amazing groups we already have in place here and can only hope that in the future other countries around the world, like Ecuador will be able to further their bicycling and pedestrian accessibility efforts the way that we have been able to. I’ve certainly seen hope for this in the Galapagos.

According to a press release issued today by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, “Responding to the growing interest in bicycle transportation, the city began installing its first physically separated bike lane on Market Street today, the busiest corridor in San Francisco for two-wheeled transportation.

White, soft-hit posts are being added to the existing bike lane on Market Street between Octavia Boulevard and Eighth Street, creating an exclusive path of travel for bicycle commuters and deterring cars from illegally parking in the busy bike lane.

This first-of-its kind improvement in San Francisco comes as a welcome addition for the more than 120,000 people who bicycle regularly in San Francisco. Biking increased 53% on the streets of San Francisco between 2006 and 2009, according to counts from the SF Municipal Transportation Agency.

“Physically separated bike lanes are a proven way to encourage more people to ride bicycles for transportation, and what better street to add this safety innovation to than Market Street, the city’s most important bicycling corridor,” says Neal Patel, Community Planner for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, an 11,000-member nonprofit group that promotes bicycling for everyday transportation. “We expect to see the numbers of people choosing to bike on Market Street grow dramatically as the city continues to invest in more welcoming conditions for riding.”

Businesses along Market Street are also seeing the positive impacts of more people bicycling. “A lot of our customers arrive by bicycle” says Josefine Gylleback, Manager of Cafe Trieste on Market St. and Gough. “I think these improvements will attract more bicycling customers, which is good for business, and the addition of the posts means bicyclists don’t have to worry about cars parked in the bike lane.”

In a February survey, 90% of bicyclists said the one-block separated bike lane on Market St., which was piloted initially, made them feel safer, and 80% of respondents said they would bike on Market Street more often if the separated bike lane was extended farther.

“The separated bike lane has transformed my commute and vastly improved this stretch of Market Street, making it safer and more pleasant for me and other people riding bikes,” says Steve Hall, a Marketing Director for an investment firm who has been bicycle commuting from his home in the Mission to his office at the Ferry Building for more than a decade. “I would love to see this separated bike lane extended to the full length of Market Street, so I would feel more comfortable bicycling regularly with my 7-year-old son to the Embarcadero.”

The SF Municipal Transportation Agency reported that Market St. often has more bike commuters than automobiles during the peak morning commute, according to counts taken at Van Ness. “We are eager to see the city continue this fully separated bikeway on Market Street from Octavia Blvd. to the Embarcadero, which will encourage more first-time bicyclists to ride comfortably,” says Neal Patel, of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. “This will attract people of all ages and skills to travel our city’s main corridor in a healthy, non-polluting way—whether for work, for shopping, or just for fun.”

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is working with city officials to plan an event to officially unveil the completion of the new physically separated bike lane on Market Street in the coming week.  Please stay tuned for an announcement.”

For more information, visit the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

According to the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, the city of Roswell is now home to the first bike box in Georgia. Bike boxes are common in bike friendly cities such as Portland. Cyclists stop at the traffic light in a busy intersection and wait in the green box ahead of all the cars, thus being more visible to drivers. They are then able to make turns safely. Bike boxes are a cost-effective way to make cycling safer.

For more information, click here…

To learn more about Roswell’s new bike box check out the full story here…

The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin and the entire Wisconsin bicycle community is excited to report major legislative successes from this past month. According to the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, “On June 8th, Governor Doyle signed the “Dooring” legislation in to law. On June 29th, lobbying efforts from April became fully realized when the Governor signed the Wisconsin state budget. The budget contains Complete Streets legislation and an additional $5 million for bicycle infrastructure. The 2010-2011 Wisconsin state budget contains the first-ever state funded source for bicycle infrastructure.”

For more information, click here…

To learn more about WI’s new “dooring” legislation, click here…

Mayor Hickenlooper announces bicycle infrastructure improvements, bike lanes planned in 11 new locations!

The Mile High City is making it easy to leave your car behind!

(Wednesday, June 24, Denver Public Works Press Release) Mayor John Hickenlooper today joined Deputy Mayor/Public Works Manager Bill Vidal to announce improvements to Denver’s “bikescape” or bicycle infrastructure. The goal of the upgrades is to create a comfortable, connected and safe environment for bicycling throughout Denver.

Denver Public Works will assess the need of every designated bike route in the City for increased signage, bike lanes or sharrows (pavement markings that identify lanes that are shared by both cars and bicycles) in order to create a connected and easily recognized system for residents to enjoy. To accomplish this task, a change in standard operating procedure will be implemented: when street maintenance is being performed on City streets, bike facility improvements will be made as part of this new programmed and proactive approach to increasing citywide bike markings.

This practice will allow an existing designated bike route identified by signage only to possibly be upgraded by adding a bike lane or sharrow if traffic conditions permit. Traffic volume and road width are factors that must be considered when streets with designated bike routes are assessed for bicycle improvements to ensure safety. Integrating these street assessments into Public Works’ existing work plans complements the current proactive process of routinely refreshing all bicycle oriented pavement markings.

“Our goal is to make Denver as bicycle-friendly as possible and make it easier for cyclists to commute,” said Mayor Hickenlooper said. “Improving our bicycle infrastructure is an essential component in motivating people to leave their automobiles behind and instead ride a bike; it’s an affordable, clean and simple way to get around town.” In addition to this pro-active strategy to improve Denver’s bikescape, Federal Stimulus funds in the amount of $250,000 have been dedicated to provide bicycle mobility enhancements throughout Denver. The funds are allowing new bike lane installations at the following 11 locations:

Mariposa Street - 8th Avenue to Colfax Avenue
Larimer Street - Broadway to Downing Street
Champa Street - 19th to 24th Street
Welton Street – Colfax Avenue to 14th Street
Tremont Street - 16th Street to Broadway
Stout Street - 30th Street to Downing Street
31st Avenue - Downing Street to Race Street
Martin Luther Kind Boulevard - Elizabeth Street to Quebec Street
Yale - Syracuse Way to Quebec Street
22nd Avenue - Park Avenue West to York Street
East 12th Avenue - Clayton Street to Madison Street
Public Works will be applying new sharrows to enhance the above installations, as well as applying new sharrows to provide connectivity to, and with, downtown Denver. The special arrow markings alert cars to use caution and allow cyclists to safely travel in these designated lanes.

“Traveling by bicycle is quickly becoming the preferred form of alternative transportation for Denver residents, and to encourage this trend we are committed to implementing new standards for bike routes throughout the City,” said Vidal. “Ongoing bicycle facility and roadway maintenance is essential to improving the safety and accessibility of roads and shared-use paths to bicyclists”

Released late last year, the Strategic Transportation Plan (STP) provides a proactive approach to addressing Denver’s imminent transportation needs with solutions that are consistent with our City’s goal to be multimodal in our approach to solving our transportation challenges. This commitment to bicycle connectivity is essential to the success of changing transportation behaviors.

Another project that supports the foundation provided in the STP is the joint planning effort between the Denver Public Works and Parks & Recreation departments on the Multimodal Access and Connectivity Plan. This endeavor is scheduled to kick-off this fall and will assess the on-street bike and pedestrian facilities as well as the trail system and the interface between the two systems. One of the central products of this plan will be a prioritized list of implementation projects to support alternative modes of transportation in Denver and aid behavioral changes.

The largest impact we make on the earth through our personal lifestyle decisions is the extent to which we drive an automobile. Bike riding is a smart choice with its synergistic combination of multiple benefits, both to society and to the rider. As Denver strives to advance the quality of life in our City by encouraging safe bicycling as a viable means of transportation and physical activity, we challenge everyone to do the same: by improving bicycle access to your building or event, you can help reduce traffic congestion and air pollution which benefits the environment as well as the health of the community.

On April 17th, Nancy Schulz, Executive Director of the Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition, had the chance to present to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood at the Vermont State House. In her presentation, she highlighted the pent up demand for funding needs for biking and walking infrastructure and education, and how his help is needed to get increased funding in the transportation bill. Sec. LaHood responded to Nancy by saying he will incorporate a “Livable Communities” program into the next bill so that people who want to bike, walk, jog, and “get out of cars” will be able do so.

For more information, click here…