Bicycles. They\u2019re often stashed in the garage until it\u2019s time to take them along on the summer camping trip. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, in parts of the U.S. and many places in the world, bikes are considered a practical part of daily transportation life. In some places, they\u2019re the best way to get to the office, to class, the drugstore \u2014 an efficient, everyday way to get from \u201chere to there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In The Netherlands, 27% of all trips are made by bicycle, and adults average 74 minutes of cycling a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt isn\u2019t that people in the Netherlands just love bicycles more than Americans, it\u2019s that bicycles are a common, cheap, fast, safe, and convenient way to get around,\u201d said Tara Goddard, Texas A&M assistant professor of urban planning, who studies road safety for bicyclists, pedestrians, and other \u201cnon-car\u201d users, as well as road crash reduction and sustainable transportation design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There, and in other places where bikes are part of an everyday routine, such as Denmark and Portland, Oregon, bike riders enjoy the many benefits of riding that have been clearly identified by researchers \u2014 less environmental impact than cars, less spending on transportation, and even more happiness, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPhysical activity, fresh air, the human-scale interactions when we\u2019re biking are so different from the isolated bubbles we experience in vehicles,\u201d said Goddard, citing numerous studies. \u201cWe look at each other face-to-face when we\u2019re walking or biking, we wave, we smell the environment, we hear birds sing. It\u2019s a whole-body experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Researchers have learned that biking increases a body\u2019s serotonin, which has a positive effect on mood, appetite, and memory. Other \u201chappy\u201d brain chemicals such as dopamine and oxytocin are also increased by exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, in Texas and many other places, bikes often sit in the garage until that summer camping trip. The reasons, said Goddard, aren\u2019t surprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur land uses in Texas are spread far apart,\u201d she said, \u201cand road design in Texas is often very unfriendly for bicyclists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have big, wide lanes, which encourages people to drive fast,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is both uncomfortable and unsafe for bike riders. We don\u2019t have a good connected bicycle network, so you\u2019ll be bicycling along and all of a sudden the bike lane, if there\u2019s one in the first place, just goes away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s plenty of research that shows a network of connected bike lanes makes a big difference in whether people bike or not,\u201d said Goddard. \u201cIf you have a three-mile commute, and really nasty and dangerous intersections are part of that commute, it doesn\u2019t matter that 95 percent of your commute is great, because that five percent is going to keep a lot of people from riding, which is fully understandable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Research by Goddard and other scholars also shows how bicycling is a \u201cwin-win\u201d situation for societies and what\u2019s preventing it from more widespread use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The car has been the dominant form of transportation in the U.S. for many decades, but maintaining and improving automobile infrastructure is incredibly expensive, said Goddard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn most of the U.S., the reality is that people pretty much need to get in a car and drive someplace every day,\u201d said Goddard. \u201cWe\u2019re in terrible economic straits for it and our infrastructure is crumbling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best (or worst?) example of the futility of expanding highways to keep up with the rising number of cars is the massive, $2.8 billion Katy Freeway expansion in Houston. It was completed in 2011, but by 2014, commute times, bad to begin with, were even worse than they were before the expansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bicycle infrastructure, on the other hand, is \u201cpennies on the dollar,\u201d said Goddard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to saving major amounts of public dollars, a scenario that includes bikes as a transportation staple could also be great news for families\u2019 bank accounts. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that it costs almost $800 on average to own and operate a vehicle per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cImagine a household that could rely more on bikes for getting around every day and could then subtract one of its vehicles,\u201d she said. \u201cThe savings would include gas money, a car payment, insurance, and major, pop-up expenses like repairs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are more than 40,000 traffic deaths per year in the U.S. Of those, more than 6,000 are pedestrians and bicyclists. Alarmingly, pedestrian deaths have been increasing each of the last few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a public health crisis, but in the U.S. we don\u2019t treat it that way,\u201d said Goddard. Changing this perception is an uphill climb, especially when one considers that the public, as well as many journalists, tend to see fatal driver-bicyclist crashes from a motorist\u2019s point of view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a first-of-its kind study, Goddard and a team of Rutgers University planning and public policy scholars found that patterns in crash reporting in news articles influence readers\u2019 interpretation of what happened and who bears responsibility for the crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study gauged perceptions of subjects who read articles about crashes with slight, but significant wording changes that changed the focus of the article from the pedestrian\/ victim to the car\/driver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe found that shifting from pedestrian- to driver-focused language reduced victim-blaming and increased perceived blame for the driver,\u201d said Goddard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the articles, for example, \u201cA pedestrian was hit and killed by a car\u201d was changed to \u201cA driver hit and killed a pedestrian.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis does not incorrectly assign blame for the crash ahead of time, but it does correctly describe events and give agency to the driver, rather than the car,\u201d said Goddard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a further example of this concept, Goddard gives the example of a hammer. \u201cNo one would ever say \u201ca hammer hit the man\u201d, but rather, \u201csomeone hit the man with a hammer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAdopting simple improvements in crash reporting offers a potentially powerful tool to shift public awareness of traffic crashes from unfortunate, isolated events to a preventable public health issue,\u201d said Goddard in a paper summarizing her team\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGiven the potential to save lives and prevent injury on a large scale, implementing more intentional writing patterns may be nothing less than an ethical imperative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Goddard is currently researching how drivers\u2019 mindsets affects bicyclists\u2019 safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople are brought into a driving simulator and we have them ‘drive’ around a bicyclist while we measure their heart rate, their eye movement, their stress response,\u201d she said. \u201cDrivers are asked about their mindset and implicit viewpoint toward bicyclists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She\u2019s learning how drivers\u2019 behavior is affected by their perceptions of bicyclists: whether they just don\u2019t like bicyclists, or whether they\u2019re just nervous around them, she said. \u201cWe\u2019re looking closely at this because we need to understand the specifics of driver behavior around bicyclists to devise the best measures to protect riders.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Research could also lead to measures to help bicyclists deal with Texas\u2019 summer heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt really is hard to get on my bike to go to campus, even if it\u2019s just three miles, when the heat index is 105 degrees,\u201d said Goddard \u2014 who tries to reduce her driving by riding her bicycle to campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She has discussed a research project with Robert Brown, Texas A&M professor of urban planning, who specializes in microclimates \u2014 temperature, humidity, and other weather elements in a small, outdoor space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Microclimate conditions are important, because they strongly influence people\u2019s everyday decisions, such as whether or not to walk to work, garden in the backyard, or play sports in a park. Microclimatic design can create places that encourage outdoor activity by making places more comfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Such a study would include an investigation of measures to cool bicyclists during the hot summer months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMaybe we don\u2019t need as much of a cooling factor on straightaways, but anytime I have a long wait to get through a signal-controlled intersection, I think about how we could prioritize cooling for people who aren\u2019t in vehicles, and research what kind of measures would work best,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A shade canopy of some kind? A misting station? Something less technology based, like trees and plants?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe can research ways to make biking more pleasant and practical, not as a \u2018war on cars\u2019 or anything like that, but if people even took one or two trips a week by bicycle instead of by car, it would make a huge difference in everything from traffic congestion, the environment, and even our pocketbooks,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not to mention happier people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n