Delaware 2013 Bicycle Friendly State “Report Card”
Between May of 1997 and March of 2008 (over 10 years), Delaware’s unemployment rate was between 3 and 4%. But for the last four years, unemployment has stubbornly...
We know what we want. And it all comes back to the “Bike and Pedestrian Improvements” program authorization for the Delaware Department of Transportation. We...
by Melissa Nann Burke The News Journal February 15, 2013 Relatively few Delaware workers commute by bike, but they might reconsider when cyclists are whizzing...
See more statistics on BikeGaurd’ website.
Visit BikeGuard’s home page HERE. Check out all 50 states.
Recent Articles
“When I first saw the headline, I figured either LAB had gone crazy or else I had.” – recent comment by Bike Delaware reader Just a few...
The City of Wilmington, Bike Wilmington and its supporters/sponsors are proud to hold the third annual Bike-to-Work Day (May 17th). Bike-to-Work Day is a National...
Cross-posted from Systemic Failure Each year there are tens of thousands of fatalities on the nation’s highways. A disproportionate [number] of those...
The most cost-effective way to increase bicycling in Delaware
We need a lot more bicycling in Delaware. You can make that happen by supporting Bike Delaware.
Copyright © 2013 Bike Delaware. All rights reserved.
3 Comments
Having a simple 7 mile commute, I would love to ride my bicycle to work, but I cannot, as it is extremely unsafe. I work near the Christiana Mall, in a Medical Center located off of Old Baltimore Pike. Along with the hazards of navigating and crossing Rt 273, I would have to navigate a blind hill with no shoulder, often in darkness, as I start my workdays early and sometimes finish in the evening. I hear this from other cyclists, also. Although many people would love to ride their bikes to work, they are afraid to actually do so. I would guess that very few commuters are fortunate enough to have a shoulder or path to travel along on their way to work. Most will have to navigate major arterial roadways. Until we improve and change the infrastructure that we have created to favor cars, and improve on-road conditions for cyclists, we will see few people who can reasonably and safely commute by bicycle.
Kirkwood Highway along the stretch from newark towards wilmington is particularly unsafe in places, though I still commuted that for about a year until moving to a different area. As it stands now I still bike everywhere, and have sold my car (though I still maintain a drivers licence) more than 7 years ago.
The infrastructure is improving (hugely! Yay!), but still I see some mistakes being made — the new stretch of construction along Elkton Rd./Casho Mill Road : Coming along Casho towards Elkton Rd, the shoulder abruptly disappears, and worse there’s a stretch of recently repaved sidewalk that is ‘unclaimed’ as far as maintenance goes, so the weeds and brush have already overgrown it since this summer’s construction on it finished, and it’s unsafe to navigate. Bad Delaware, No Donut!
That graph shows a total of .4% difference over a long period and ends in 2010. With a “walkable, bikable Delaware” announced, a new bike project launched in 2011, and a lot of trails/bike lanes under construction, I figure we’ll see a noticeable uptick on the 2011/2012 for ridership. Still, we need to promote it as an option.
Maybe if we ditch the spandex image and stick with something more people can relate to, we can convince more people out of their cars and get them to do the right thing, for themselves and for the environment.