Nov 02 '09 - 680 W, 2 I - Vote Good + 8 :: Bad - 3 Bicycling Considered an Impractical Transportation Choice for Some Families: C.I.C.L.E. Seeks Solutions
Published November 2, 2009 by C.I.C.L.E.
By Shay Sanchez
Some local families consider city bicycling to be a drag, but with you, we can make it FAB.
:: Take our short online questionnaire to help out ::
As many of you may know, C.I.C.L.E. is excited to be working with a group of enthusiastic parents to develop a new branch of our Encouragement and Education programming called “Families and Bikes”... aka FAB. FAB is dedicated to growing city bicycling as a healthy and fun activity and transportation choice for the entire family.
With epidemic obesity and Type 2 diabetes rates continuing to rise, promoting city bicycling, as a family activity, can be a great way to (literally) get entire families moving toward increased levels of fitness and a greater quality of life. Unfortunately, many parents living in the Los Angeles area are choosing not to bicycle with their children on city streets, and many view bicycling as an impractical or even an unpleasant transportation option for their families.
It’s not just Los Angelenos
Apparently, this trend is not isolated to the Los Angeles region. A recent UK report conducted by Kellogg’s found that fewer children are riding their bikes, and many are not bothering to learn how to ride a bike at all. Almost half of UK parents indicated that they don’t ride their bikes anymore either. The reasons for this are manifold, and hectic lifestyles, computer games and television are certainly playing their role as major competing factors.
But other primary impediments are keeping families and kids from cruising their neighborhood streets on two wheels.
Many of the families that we’re working with locally cite the fear of automobile traffic and the lack of convenient and safe bike facilities as foremost deterrents. This is hardly surprising, since this is what usually prevents most would-be bicyclists from exploring their communities by bike. Outside of the built environment, other challenges include concerns about their child’s riding ability and confusion about specialty gear.
But wait... there’s good news!
Despite these various challenges, bicycling families (and would-be) bicycling families are telling us that they are excited about city bicycling, and that they are eager to get started. They want to transform their communities into places where they can ride their bikes to school, to work, for short errands and for play. Well, this is glorious music to C.I.C.L.E.’s ears, and it’s is why we’ve launched FAB to respond to this current need in our community.
FAB is: for every kind of family, for children and adults of all ages, fun, safe, and healthy, eco-conscious and environmentally friendly. Our goals with FAB are multi-faceted. FAB will promote bicycling as a healthy lifestyle for the entire family and work to build a greater sense of community via exciting rides and engaging events. FAB will develop educational workshops and resources to support families as they begin riding with children. FAB will also work to build a strong political front including campaigns to support the continued push for a bike-friendly city.
Help us Build a FAB Program
C.I.C.L.E. can greatly benefit from your input. How can we get more families (and their children) on bikes? Your first hand experience will help us develop effective programming that will help serve the growing FAB community. Please take just a few moments of your time to answer a few questions via our online questionnaire. Or, feel free to respond via the comments section below. Better yet, get directly involved with the FAB working group by emailing us at info@cicle.org. We look forward to working with you!
Would you like to contribute to C.I.C.L.E.? Do you a have bike-related article, news story, event, idea, suggestion, etc...? Check out our submissions page.
There is a great article about a cargo bike “fair” that was held in Portland. It would be awesome to get to try something like this out. http://totcycle.com/blog/a-pilgrimage-to..
Cosmo (URL) - November 03 '09 - 10:26
Great suggestion! I think that this could definitely be one of our next up-and-coming FAB projects. Thanks for the link.Shay Sanchez (Email) (URL) - November 03 '09 - 12:20
Hey Cosmo, that really is a great idea. So many families are really in need of this. Would you like to be involved??Liz Elliott (Email) (URL) - November 03 '09 - 21:47
Recently, NYC Streetsblog did a story on how parents that bike were encouraging the school to have bike fairs and “bike to school days” where the parents who biked helped inform and educate the parents of kids that didn’t.http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/10/28/how..
Damien Newton (Email) (URL) - November 04 '09 - 14:24
Thanks Damien. Wow, good ol’ Missoula, MT. Liz and I lived outside of Missoula for a couple of years. Good to see that bike culture there is alive and well.Shay Sanchez (Email) (URL) - November 05 '09 - 15:28
Nice blog!.. Good to see that bike culture there is alive and well… keep posting..bike (Email) (URL) - November 07 '09 - 08:22
Fostering bicycle transportation within families is a vital addition to bicycle culture. Utility cycling is not for everyone, as you point out, but it can work brilliantly for some and should be an option open to more citizens. Quality of life is all about the options we enjoy, right?I’m involved with Paul Moore, and his Eugene OR shop, Arriving By Bike. Carrying this stuff and people of daily life by bike—safely, comfortably—and raising children with that possibility is what it’s all about.
Pete van Nuys (Email) - December 13 '09 - 11:46