Is America Ready For A Bike-Centric Infrastructure Overhaul?

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Bicycles, despite being an older form of travel, present a host of advantages to both riders and society overall. Bikes are cheap, they’re eco-friendly, they’re physically stimulating, and they’re personally rewarding. Yet, fewer than 50 million people in the United States bike on a regular basis – that’s about 1 in 7 citizens.

So why don’t Americans ride bikes more often?

The Bike Infrastructure Problem

It’s basically nonexistent outside of a handful of major cities in the United States. But even in the most bike-friendly city in America, San Francisco, only 3.8% of commuters bike to work.

The infrastructure problem is multifaceted. Though definitions vary by location, bikes are largely considered to be vehicles, rather than pedestrians. Most of us accept slow-moving bicycles on sidewalks on a personal level, but this arrangement is uncomfortable for both walking pedestrians and bicyclists, given the narrow berth and poor condition of our city sidewalks.

That means bikes must travel on the road, in one way or another, but this is also problematic. Most of our roadways and city layouts were developed from about 1945 to the mid-1970s, during the suburbanization of the United States. Then, a combination of factors pushed people out of cities and into suburbs many miles away. To get to work, people could no longer rely on transportation methods like bikes or buses. Instead, they had to drive personal vehicles on highways. As a result, we got used to driving cars almost exclusively for our travel – and our roads reflect this.

Highways don’t leave much room for bicyclists, given the high speeds and dangerous conditions. And roads in cities often narrowly straddle long-standing buildings, making it difficult and expensive to add bike lanes or expand horizontally.

The Safety Problem

Related to the infrastructure problem is the safety problem; with the prevalence of motorists and few (if any) protected bike lanes, bicyclists are vulnerable to crashes. Los Angeles, a relatively bike-friendly city, is still home to thousands of bicycle collision injuries and deaths per year.

This results in a negative feedback loop. Bicyclists die and are injured unnecessarily because of limited bike-centric infrastructure. The high rates of bicycle collisions make people reluctant to bike. And the small number of people interested in biking is used as a justification for why we can’t overhaul our infrastructure.

The Cultural Attitude Problem

There’s also a cultural attitude problem at play in the United States. Owning and driving a car is a point of pride for many people. Their vehicle is a kind of status symbol, and they like the autonomy, control, and power that vehicle ownership gives them. To start riding a bike would be seen as a downgrade or as an undignified way of travel.

There are also millions of motorists who have a deep resentment for bicyclists. There are many potential explanations for this, the simplest being the fact that bicyclists are entitled to occupy a full lane of traffic, despite going relatively low speeds – meaning there’s significant potential to cause traffic backups. Additionally, because bicycles are often treated ambiguously in laws, some bicyclists deliberately break conventional traffic laws for their own selfish purposes; if you see this unfold enough times, you begin to think that all bicyclists must be self-entitled lawbreakers.

It doesn’t help that Americans have an aversion to physical activity, with 80 percent of American citizens getting insufficient exercise. Some people who might otherwise be interested in biking may avoid it simply because they don’t want to exert themselves.

What Would It Take to Change?

Because America’s bike problem is so complex and deep-seated, it’s unlikely that any single effort would be enough to convert the country to bike-friendly. European cities have demonstrated that pop-up bike lanes encourage more people to get active on bicycles – but would that experiment play out the same way in the United States?  

It’s hard to say. Even if you covered the country in protected bike lanes overnight, it’s hard to imagine there would be a flood of people changing their commutes. We still need to address the cultural attitude problems plaguing America’s development as a bike-friendly country.

One promising advancement is a result of technological innovation: electric bicycles (e-bikes). These vehicles are equipped with a small motor to relieve riders of the need to physically exert themselves (while hitting higher top speeds), but can still function like normal bicycles. E-bike sales are growing 16 times faster than bike sales in the United States, indicating that U.S. citizens are interested in this compromise.

In any case, we’ll need to see a multitude of physical, cultural, and technological changes before bicycles become more popular here. In the meantime, we can focus on developments in our home cities – and maybe stop making excuses for why we don’t individually bike as much as we “should.”

This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.