Happy New Year Humans!
2014 is going to be a fantastic year for transportation cycling as more of our fellow humans select two wheels to get around, I predict. People will be riding bicycles and cargo bikes in our communities and here's why.
Yesterday (12/31/2013) I rode with my daughter, ice skates, blanket, hot chocolate, chair and extra clothes to White Park pond for ice skating, to the library to check out a couple movies, to the grocery store for pizza and ice cream and home - all without getting in a car. We rode the xtracycle-bike rig! Yes we did!
[Update 1/4/2014] We did it again! Today I rode to White Park to skate with my daughter and then to the library. This is not a flash in the pan. The hot chocolate was yummy, the ice is solid and cargo bikes rule!
Lives are transformed by cargo bikes. I take my kid to school, run errands and even go skating by bike in winter. The Irving gas station lets me know via email they miss me swiping my gas card - sending discounts to fill up my tank! I'm stronger and healthier than in the last several years, have more spending power as a result of not buying so much petrol and have reduced my carbon footprint.
Moreover, the story about cargo bikes frequently is covered in the media as transportation cycling continues to gather steam in major cities from Portland, OR to the Twin Cities, Chicago, DC, NY and Boston, as well as in smaller places like Davis, CA, Boulder and Fort Collins, CO. Concord, NH could be next.
Less Car More Go is LCMG >>>
Illustrating how cargo bicycles transform lives, Liz Canning has announced her long awaited KickStarter campaign, to produce a feature length film "Less Car > More Go: a crowdsourced documentary on the birth and boom of the Cargo Bike", to launch in January 2014. The October 2011 trailer (R)Evolutions per minute, the 2013 update Less Car More Go, as well as the 2013 preview Birth of an American Cargo Bike are all available at lizcanning.com and on her YouTube Channel.
Making Concord, NH Sustainable and Liveable
In Concord, NH the powers that be continue to talk about Complete Streets and liveability improvements which is fantastic. To fulfil that promise though, the devil is in the details. It's the proverbial chicken-egg quandry of course. It's going to take some work but we can do this, together.
Join me and continue to ask for better infrastructure. Talk to your government representatives and decision makers. Ask them to implement National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) design guidance within the community. This can supplement the defacto highway focused AASHTO standards which are often the default. Highways do not promote sustainability but promote car centric suburban development. We live in a city where we need city focused safe infrastructure - the details are essential, to the goal.
Together, we've got a great year to look forward to.
Robert
