Western sophomore Ryan Lazzeri brings his bike to school every day. He usually puts it on the bike rack on the bus when he’s going to school and rides back down the hill, but he said he will brave the big hill to school on “Bike to Work and School Day” May 16.
Lazzeri said he puts approximately 20 miles on his bike every week; he only uses a car to travel to the grocery store and on longer trips. Seventy-five percent of the people he knows ride bikes, he said.
May is National Bike Month. Events such as “Bike to Work and School Day” celebrate and reward those using alternative modes of transportation, including walking and busing, said Ellen Barton of Whatcom Smart Trips everybodyBIKE. Bartonsaid she commutes by bike at least 10 miles per day.
Bellingham will have 20 “celebration stations” set up to reward every bicyclist stopping by with treats, refreshments and prizes, including $100 gift cards, May 16, Barton said. Western will have these stations at Red Square and at the Wade King Student Recreation Center.
“Some of those people will be bicycling for the first time,” Barton said. “And those people we’re giving [rewards] to, or it could be people who bike all the time and we’re saying ‘thank you’ to them.”
Groups of people who use alternative transportation can compete for prizes through May by traveling by any non-car mode, including skateboarding, walking and scooters if they register for “Team-Up for everybodyBIKE,” Barton said.
Bellingham has approximately 24 miles of bike lanes on roads and 5 percent of trips made in the city are by bicycle, said Kim Brown, the Bellingham Transportation Options Coordinator.
In the 2007 city budget, Bellingham allocated 20 percent of the transportation budget to bicycling amenities, such as bike lanes and bike parking, she said.
Whatcom Smart Trips, the region’s alternative transportation partnership, encourages car-free transportation by giving away prizes, supplying bus passes and creating a trip log where users can find out how much money and how many pounds of carbon dioxide emissions they have saved by not driving cars on their routes, Barton said.
Smart Trips’ funding from Bellingham and Whatcom County are .8 percent higher now than they have been, Barton said. She said because of greater funding, she is “tentatively optimistic” about the bicycling future of Bellingham.
This year, Smart Trips and everybodyBIKE will host a booth every Saturday at the Bellingham Farmer’s Market called “Pump You Up” that offers free flat tire fixes and a few other adjustments, depending on the skills of the volunteer mechanic on the given day, Barton said.
Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA) became the first public transportation agency in the state to equip all buses with bike racks that fit two bikes in the early 1990s, said Maureen McCarthy, WTA spokeswoman. In 2004, WTA became the first agency in the state to outfit all buses with racks that fit three bikes, she said.
WTA, with 19,000 boardings daily, is the third most productive agency, out of the 28 bus systems in the state, McCarthy said.
WTA gave away free bus rides for Earth Day April 22, a program that McCarthy said she helped become an annual event, beginning in 2008.
Bus ridership is up 46 percent in Whatcom County due partly to WTA’s “Go Lines,” Western’s bus passes and high gas prices, Barton said.
Bicycling for transportation not only benefits the environment by keeping gasoline use and emissions low, but by not driving, she said. By choosing to drive cars or bicycle, people vote to expand funding for bicyclist-friendly public space, as opposed to favoring cars, she said.
Bellingham residents bike more than Seattle residents, but we have a long way to go to catch up with biking in Paris and Amsterdam, Brown said.
Paris has the largest community bike program worldwide, Barton said. People can rent high quality bikes at a rack station with a credit card and return the bike at another rack near their destination. If their trip is less than a half hour, it’s free, she said.
Barton said Copenhagen recently closed a major street to cars for bicyclists and re-programmed the traffic signals to correspond to bicycle travel time.
For those less experienced on two wheels than some, everybodyBIKE hosts classes on biking tips, safety and maintenance.
Wednesday, April 30
Full Cycle “Fixing to Ride & Traffic and Trail”
5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Whatcom Family YMCA, Bellingham, State Street, Mezzanine Room
Thursday, May 1
EverybodyBIKE Month Kick-off Reception
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
The Copper Hog Restaurant, 1327 North State Street, Bellingham
Saturday, May 10
Pedal with your Politician
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Departs from Bellingham Farmers’ Market at Depot Market Square, Railroad Avenue, Bellingham
Friday, May 16
Bike Day Evening Celebration
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Boundary Bay Brewery and Bistro Beer Garden, Railroad Avenue, Bellingham
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