Europeans School Bay Area Transportation Agencies on Bike Plans

Of course, if you go to Amsterdam you'll notice two things: (1) it's entirely flat, which makes biking a much more viable option; and (2) European cities are generally organized in a ring fashion, where streets are laid out in concentric circles emanating from a central square. The street layouts tend to discourage large vehicles and the kind of commuter traffic we see in the Bay Area. Coupled with a more functional rail system from ex-urban areas, comparing SF to Europe isn't necessarily an apples to apples measure.

While there is a contingent here in town that things that a) bikes are a magical way to make Everything Better and b) that everyone CAN ride a bike and so on which drive me nuts, it does make sense to make it a viable plan, particularly if motorists and bicyclers make a commitment to obeying road rules more.

One thing I do wonder is what the cost of health care is for those who bike vs. those who never do...perhaps if one could find out, they could show businesses how they could cut health care costs with a healthier workforce? Anyone who can bike up and down some of SF's hills has to be in great shape.

Hi Greg, thanks for your comment. One thing Voerknecht mentioned was that bike commuters had 10% less absenteeism from work. The presenters mentioned lower health care costs but didn't offer statistics that I remember. The full presentations will be available soon on the German Marshall Fund website: http://www.gmfus.org/template/index.cfmhttp://www.gmfus.org/template/index.cfm