The Friday Cyclotouriste

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Minneapolis shares something with my beloved Marin County.

Each is one of the four select communities chosen to be part of the NTPP (Non-motorized Transportation Pilot Project), a $100 million federal program to test how infrastructure improvements can increase rates of bicycling and walking.

I was in Minneapolis just briefly, but I still picked up a strong bicycle culture (Bicycling Magazine named it the most bike-friendly city in the country).

I circled Lake Calhoun (part of the 50-mile Grand Rounds Scenic Byway) and explored adjacent neighborhoods.

I was a bit confused, however, by some of the signage and rules. The bike path circling the Lake is one-way (note the picture above)!

This is great for recreational use, but for transportation purposes it makes it less useful as a bike boulevard or arterial.

WalkBikeMarin Display at Marin County Fair

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The company I’m working with this summer, Alta Planning + Design, is deeply involved as a consultant in a $25 million federal pilot project to test the effectiveness of using federal funds to increase the modal share of bicycling and walking. The mechanism to accomplish these goals is infrastructure improvements and public education.

So I spent a day at the Marin County Fair sharing information about the program with fair goers.

Here’s a link to a comprehensive list of bicycle projects underway in Marin and, just for fun, here’s a few comparative statistics (from Alliance for Walking and Biking):

• The Netherlands invests about $39/resident on bicycling and walking compared to $1.50/resident for the U.S.
• Their share of bicycling trips is 27%; ours is 1%.