That's the question posed to Mia Birk, Portland's first Bike Coordinator by CBS Sunday Morning reporter Serena Altschul after spending some time there. Says Birk:
"I'll just challenge your viewers to think about substituting one trip a week that they normally take by car, try it on a bike," Birk said. "Try a short trip that's 2 miles or less." According to a recent federal study, that's 40% of all urban trips in America. "See how much easier it is than you think it is," Birk said. "Just try it."
The excellent 10-minute plus story spends some time with Portland's Mayor-elect Sam Adams, who is said to have "rode to victory on a bicycle platform." In the last ten years the number of trips made by bike in Portland is up 150% and is now six percent of all trip. "And it makes me proud because, you know, imagine all the smog we're not producing with these bikes trips. Imagine all the health improvements" says the Mayor-elect.
Can any city catch up with Portland?
Chris Hamilton is the Commuter Services Chief for Arlington County, manager of CommuterPageBlog and The TDM Professional blog and is a biking/Metrorail commuter from Alexandria, Virginia just outside of Washington, D.C.
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