May, 2000
Volume 6, Number 5
Craig Wilkins, Office of Communications
Conference explores moving biking further
into the traffic mix mainstream
Commuters in Mendota
Heights put their bikes on
their cars, drive to a trail head,
then bike into downtown St.
the 2000 Minnesota State
Bicycle Conference held March
31 and April 1 in St. Cloud.
Participants heard from
joe McKinnon, senior engineer Bemidji, discusses bike design issues with Julia Cucnia, a
park planner and member of the State Bicycle Advisory Committee, during the annual
bike conference held in St. Cloud.
Paul. Other commuters ride
out of Minneapolis' west side,
hit the Cedar Lake Trail and
arrive downtown refreshed and
energized for the workday.
Other commuters, less noticed,
bike on a county road or a city
street.
Increasingly, biking is
becoming a mode of transportation, not just recreation.
Ways to integrate biking fully
into the world of transportation posed the basic issue at
presenters such as Jurg
Tschopp, a biking advocate
from Switzerland, and Dave
Glowacz, a bike educator and
author from Chicago. Tschopp
recounted Switzerland's
change in emphasis from
motorized traffic to transit,
pedestrian and bike transport
in the early 1970s.
The notion that all
European countries have
always been bike-friendly is
false, Tschopp says.
Switzerland, he says, was
concentrating on building new
roads and bridges at the
expense of bike transport until
its program was stalled by the
fuel crisis. That interruption
gave cycling supporters time to
organize.
With cyclists' support
united, the Swiss government
relented and changed its tack.
Since then, Tschopp says,
bicycling is a major part of the
country's transportation
system.
Swiss transit companies
were persuaded to provide bike
instead of car parking adjacent
to rail stations, for example.
Parking shelters for bikes have
evolved into bike centers
where commuters can get bikes
repaired and washed, rent a
bike or buy a new one. Many
commuter trains have cars
reserved for cyclists who carry
their bikes aboard and
continue their trips by bike.
Bikes are used to provide
many services including
package delivery and mail
service. Police officers
frequently ride bikes as well.
Lynn Moratzka, Dakota
County planning director, said
in many ways Minnesotans
■:■
New bike map guides cyclists to most suitable, safest routes
You can get there from here—and you can
do it by bike. Mn/DOT's latest version of its
state bike map makes bike travel easier, safer
and more predictable.
The new map set rates roads for their
Mark Feirs, Sustainable Transportation Unit, shows the latest
version of the state bicycle map to Lynn Moratzka, planning
director for Washington County, at the state bicycle
conference
biking suitability based on criteria such as
paved shoulders, shoulder width and vehicular
traffic volume and speed. The map also shows
off-road trails, major recreational areas and
state parks.
Mark Fiers, Sustainable Transportation
Initiatives, says the new map is based on
geographic information system (GIS) data
which makes it more accurate and easier to
update as biking suitability ratings change. The
map will also be available on Mn/DOT's Web
site. Web users, Fiers says, will be able to print
specific sections of the map for their needs.
Future plans call for an automated program that
will guide cyclists along the most optimal travel
routes.
"This generation of Mn/DOT's bike map
created with GIS data means we can update the
map quickly to reflect changes in the system
and meet cyclists' needs," Fiers says.
have integrated biking more
than we might think.
She said, for example, that
planners count bike trips as
bike trips, no matter what
their purpose, unlike vehicle
trips, which are categorized by
travel, commuting, recreation
or other purposes. She says,
however, that biker might be
going to the store, school or
the library. That means a non-
recreational trip. She adds that
when they get a driver's license
and some adults feel they lack
needed physical skills, says
Dave Glowacz.
Children need safety
education and basic skill
training. Teenagers, he says,
need encouragement that
biking is still "cool." Adults, he
adds, may need a skills
refresher and help with buying
suitable biking gear.
Michael Jackson, Mn/DOT's
A tandem bike and two cargo trailers provide a people-powered alternative to a motor
vehicle for long-distance trips.
children using bikes for such
trips also eliminate the need
for a vehicle trip.
The conference also looked
at ways to attract or keep
Minnesotans riding their bikes.
Teenagers often stop biking
IN THIS ISSUE
biking coordinator, says the
conference combined expertise
from many disciplines and
viewpoints.
"It's important for us to
reach out," he says.
Workers memorial installed in CO	
Quality teamwork honored	
Help for family caregivers .....-.-	
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OFTf
Minnesota Department of Transportation
Office of Communications
Mail Stop 150 Transportation Building
395 John Ireland Boulevard
St. Paul, MN 55155-1899
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