Don't look now, but we have a burgeoning bicycle movement in the Tampa Bay area.

We're not Portland, Ore., or Minneapolis or Boulder, Colo., quite yet. But more people are riding two-wheelers.

It means urban professionals such as architects at national architectural firm HOK are biking to their jobs in downtown Tampa.

It's the more than 50 bicyclists in Seminole Heights who recently pedaled on a tour of eight restaurants in that neighborhood.

It's the University of South Florida students and staff members who are riding bikes to classes and jobs at that campus.

It means baseball fans riding bikes to spring training baseball games in Clearwater and Dunedin.

And it means the hundreds of commuters who follow the Pinellas Trail and bike lanes in St. Petersburg.

It means the city of Tampa - long criticized for not being a bicycle-friendly city - is trying to switch gears and stripe bike lanes. A 2.2-mile stretch of Euclid Avenue in South Tampa will see new bike lanes as part of a resurfacing project.

With gas nearly $3 a gallon and a "green" lifestyle going mainstream, it's now cool to ride bicycles, whether to work or to the store or for health reasons.

Bicycles were on the scene in the United States long before cars, and bicyclists helped get the first roads paved.

Bicyclists are back.

Of all the trips made in the United States in 2009, bicycling and walking represent 12 percent, or one in eight. Since 2001, bicycling is up 25 percent. Bike commuting has increased 43 percent since 2000.

The bicycle industry is big business, supporting 1.1 million jobs and generating $18 billion in federal, state and local tax revenue nationally.

Bicycles are vehicles under the law and have a right to be on the road. Tragically, bicyclists and pedestrians constitute 13 percent of traffic fatalities in the United States. Regrettably, less than 1 percent of traffic safety funds address these types of crashes, according to the League of American Bicyclists.

Florida and the Tampa Bay area have received black eyes this year for the news stories and reports that show the area is among the most dangerous in the country for bicycling and walking.

At the 2010 National Bike Summit on March 9 to 11, I was among more than 725 bicyclists who lobbied local congressional members to support several proposed bills that will help get more funding to make our roads safer for bicyclists.

I ask that you contact your local congressional member to support HR 4722, the Active Community Transportation Act of 2010. The bill would create a funding program in the surface transportation bill for investment in communities to complete active transportation networks.

I have asked Rep. C.W. Bill Young to be the Republican sponsor of HR 4722. My hunch is that Rep. Young will get quite a bit of support from the folks in St. Petersburg, which has a comprehensive bike program and is home to thousands of bicyclists.

It's also a big year for transportation in Hillsborough County, which will likely place a penny sales tax increase proposal on the November ballot. I am asking Hillsborough County commissioners to increase bicycle and pedestrian projects in the transit and road project initiative, which currently includes only a fraction of funding for bicycle projects.

Bicycling's three E's

I propose that local governments in the Tampa Bay area initiate or expand programs that deal with the three E's of bicycling: education, enforcement and engineering.

On the education front, we need the state Department of Transportation to show the same public and media commitment to bicycle safety that it has shown for drunken driving and seat-belt use. Electronic signs across the region advise drivers to buckle up. Why can't the same signs advise motorists to safely share the road with bicyclists?

On the enforcement front, we need police to make sure that motorists pass bicyclists on the road by a minimum of three feet and understand that bicyclists have a legal right to share the road.

And on the engineering front, we need our road builders, planners and designers to include safe space for bicyclists and pedestrians, and to be creative in retrofitting a road system that was designed for cars.

Cities and counties that embrace bicycling and invest in bicycle infrastructure flourish. For example, cities with bicycle programs have seen their bike commuting rates increase three times faster than cities without bicycle programs.

St. Petersburg is a classic example. After former Mayor Rick Baker invested in bike lanes and bicycle infrastructure, the city drew national attention for its turnaround and receives annual recognition from the League of American Bicyclists.

Bikes and community

Creating space for bicycles on roadways costs a fraction compared with building highways and streets. Sometimes it's a bike lane. Sometimes it's a paved trail along a river or canal into a downtown.

Bicycling is practical transportation and a useful tool in creating flourishing, healthy and economically thriving cities and counties.

Get on a bicycle - any bike will do - and ride. Your life will change for the better, and you will improve the quality of life in the place you call home.

 

Alan Snel is director of South West Florida Bicycle United Dealers, an alliance of retail bicycle dealers; co-founder of the Seminole Heights Bicycle Club; and blogger of www.alansnel.blogspot.com.