U.S. Cities Promoting Bicycling as Gas Prices Soar. By John Hurdle, Reuters, June 13, 2008. "Unlike Europeans, Americans use bikes for transport sparingly, even though 40 percent of personal trips in the United States are two miles or less, according to bicycle advocates... Less than 1 percent of personal trips are by bike compared with up to 30 percent in some parts of Europe... But rates of bike use in some U.S. cities are [gaining]... In Portland, widely regarded as America's most bike-friendly city, 5.4 percent of people said in a 2006 survey that the bicycle was their primary means of getting to work... The city has 171 miles of bike lanes along its 2,568 miles of roadways and plans to increase that to 434 miles... Portland's network includes 114 miles of 'bicycle boulevards' -- quiet streets where bikes have priority over cars and where traffic speed is restricted... In Chicago, pro-bike policies have resulted in 115 miles of bike lanes, more than 11,000 bike racks and 50 miles of dedicated bike paths along Lake Michigan... Around 1.5 percent of personal trips in Chicago are made by bike and the city aims to boost that to 5 percent by 2015... Bike lanes in Washington now stretch to 33 miles -- 11 times longer than in 2001 -- and more than half of the city's subway stops now have bike racks."
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