Bicycling for Thinner Texans and New Businesses

Air Langhi · Aug 19, 2013

In Fort Worth, the mayor hosts occasional bicycle rides called “Rolling Town Halls.” The Dallas City Council may soon require new businesses to set aside space for bicycle parking. Over in El Paso, officials are developing plans for a bike-share system, which is expected to be the fifth such program in the state after Austin’s makes its debuts this year.

In car-clogged communities around Texas, a biking movement is gaining speed. Midsize and large cities are expanding bike trails and putting roads on "lane diets" to accomodate bike lanes.

"Biking has just exploded over the last year in Houston," said Laura Spanjian, director of Mayor Annise Parker’s office of sustainability.

While curbing traffic and air pollution prompted earlier interest in such initiatives, those concerns are now overshadowed in some cities by other motivating factors, particularly boosts to public health, quality of life and economic development.

"It’s really being embraced for solving a lot of problems. It’s not this sort of fringe, tree-hugger issue anymore," said Linda DuPriest, a former bicycle-pedestrian program coordinator for Austin who is now a senior planner for Alta Planning + Design, a Portland, Ore.-based design firm that focuses on bike infrastructure. In June, DuPriest opened the agency’s Texas office in Dallas.

"Texas is really ripe" for an expansion in bike infrastructure, said Mia Birk, the firm’s president and a former bicycle program manager with the City of Portland, widely regarded as a national model for biking infrastructure. "There’s so many cities that are growing and thriving, and really looking for ways to create healthier opportunities for residents and businesses."

Rising obesity rates across the country have drawn increased attention to Texas, where two-thirds of the state’s residents are overweight or clinically obese. The unwanted publicity of landing high on various "fattest cities" lists has heightened interest in doing more to encourage bicycle use, according to some city officials.

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Since we have so many weight loss threads, I thought this article is appropriate. I think San Antonio has a done a great job with the bike lanes along the riverwalk. I have ridden the SA bike share. I have not used the Houston one since I don't want to get hit be a car.

However I kind of hate cyclists in Houston because they go on the road and slow down the traffic.

Air Langhi · Aug 19, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/us/bicycling-for-thinner-texans-and-new-businesses.html?_r=0

macalu · Aug 19, 2013

I love bicycling. Unfortunately, some *******(s) stole mine while I was inside a bar 3 weeks ago. Been scanning craigslist daily hoping it'll show up.

Since I've picked it up, i look forward to getting on a bike every day. It's such easy and "cheap" exercise.

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Bicycling for Thinner Texans and New Businesses

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