Friday May 16 is National Bike to Work Day shut up and do it

With gas prices being what they are, here's a chance to start finding better ways to work.

If you’re tired of traffic and grieving over gas prices, here's an idea: why not ride a bike?

The NCTCOG offers a nice, dfwmaps.com colorful bike trail map of D-FW. Excuses are dwindling.

Conveniently for you, Friday, May 16th marks National Bike to Work Day, when workers throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area and the nation will call attention to this often-overlooked transportation tactic.

"Bike to Work Day is really about building support for the bicycle community and re-enforcing the fact that all types of commuters, regardless of mode choice, should have access to safe and connective routes," said Jennifer Ebel, Transportation Planner for the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

As it is now, routes to work in D-FW might not seem so safe, friendly or...existent. In 2005 the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (link) ranked Dallas #41 out of the country's 50 most bike-able cities.

"Dallas-Fort Worth may not be viewed as bike-friendly compared to cities such as Portland or San Francisco," said Ebel, "but we are changing. There are many efforts underway to manage trends, implement new developments, and retrofit the existing infrastructure to accommodate growth."

In particular, cities throughout D-FW have been working on what's known as the "Regional Veloweb," (link) a 644-mile, designated off-street trail network that will provide bicycle and pedestrian connections across. Also, it continues our trend of giving big things weird names, e.g. the Metroplex, the Mixmaster, Victory Park, etc.

"As of now, 112 miles of the Regional Veloweb are complete, including the Trinity Trails, River Legacy Trail, Katy Trail, Preston Ridge Trail, and the Denton-Rail Trail," Ebel said.

On Bike to Work Day, a holy day set aside 52 years ago by the League of American Bicyclists, the NCTCOG will be tracking commuter data through TryParkingIt.com. Here's how to partake.

1. Map Your Route.

DFWmaps.com can assist you with locating existing facilities and you can create a map using your home address as a starting point.
If the bike thing ain't going to work, you can still take public transit. Bus and Rail schedules and locations: DART, The-T and TRE, and DCTA.

2. Ride Your Route on May 16.

Texas state law allows bikes to share the roadways with cars. Texas Bicycle Coalition guidelines and League of American Bicyclist guidelines.

3. Log Your Ride.

Create an account at TryParkingIt.com. From here you can log the commute you took—either biking, transit, walking, or carpooling—by May 23.
logging your commute, you will be eligible to win a gift card!

4. See the Results.

In yourself, physically and mentally, of course, but also:
After May 27th, the NCTCOG Bicycle and Pedestrian Home Page will show the number of alternative commuter miles for May 16, the number of people logging trips for May 16, as well as the number of trips and vehicle emissions that were reduced.

Numbers do a body good

2000 Census data revealed the following statistics for North Texas commuters:
- 79% of drive alone, 14% of workers carpool, about 2% use public transit, and 1.5% walk
- The current mode share of bicyclists and pedestrians for all utilitarian and recreational trips in the Metroplex is 5%.
- 20-25% of morning traffic is contributed by parents driving their kids to school. National Center for Safe Routes to School
info from NCTCOG

"With how high gas is now, many people are recognizing that modern lifestyles are unsustainable and asking themselves what they can do to live a more economical, healthy, and environmentally friendly lifestyle," said Ebel.

Some prominent workers have already made their plans. More than 40 Texas Instruments employees plan to ride their bikes to work, while Dick Ruddell, president and executive director of The Fort Worth Transportation Authority, has also planned his bike commute, a whopping 15-mile ride from his home at 7 a.m. Meanwhile, Betsy Price, Tarrant County tax assessor-collector, aims to ride nine miles to work and meet Ruddell at 8 a.m. at the Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center.

"I think people are eager to find other means but holding back for various reasons," Ebel said. " My recommendation is to just tune up your bike and join."

Pavel Lishin, verified:

I bike to work every day (unless it's raining), but I live a quarter mile away from the office.

I don't know how feasible this would be in the summer if your office didn't have some sort of shower facility (which ours does not.)