Good News and Bad for Local Cyclists

By John Bennett

September 6, 2008

Lesley Conn’s story in today’s Savannah Morning News, reports on the City of Savannah’s quest for a Bicycle Friendly Community designation, the addition of bicycles to the city’s vehicle fleet and the impending arrival and installation of new bicycle parking. These efforts show the city is pedaling in the right direction.

This good news comes against a backdrop of a bleaker picture, statewide. Earlier this week, the League of American Bicyclists released its Bicycle Friendly States rankings. To say Georgia did not score well is an understatement. We are next to last. A press release explains how the rankings were calculated:

The League of American Bicyclists has announced our first annual ranking of Bicycle Friendly States, scoring all 50 states on more than 70 factors.The states were scored on responses to a questionnaire evaluating their commitment to bicycling and covering 6 key areas: legislation; policies and programs; infrastructure; education and encouragement; evaluation and planning; and enforcement.

In the six key areas, Georgia scored 46th  in legislation, tied for 42nd in infrastructure, tied for 42nd for policies and programs, tied for 48th in education and encouragement, tied for 44th in evaluation and planning and tied for 34th in enforcement. The top five most bicycle friendly communities are Washington, Wisconsin, Arizona, Oregon and Minnesota. But there are success stories closer to home in North Carolina (13), South Carolina (15), and Florida (20). Some reasons Georgia’s dismal ranking are described this way by the LAB:

Georgia offers a state-wide bike route network, but offers no routine accommodation or complete streets policy to guarantee the inclusion of facilities for cyclists. Additionally, the state does not offer information on the rights and responsibilities of cyclists in the state driver’s manual.

More bad news comes in the form of an announcement that Cog, Savannah’s bicycle co-op, was shutting its doors. Organizer Patrick McLaughlin and his band of volunteers did heroic work teaching people (including plenty of kids) how to repair their bicycles. The co-op also provided access to tools and low cost parts, enabling many folks—who depend on their bikes for daily transportation—an affordable way to keep their vehicles safe and dependable.

Cog struggled with a variety of issues, from a less than ideal location to the lack of formal organizational status to volunteers who didn’t always show up when they said they would (I’m afraid I fall into that category). All limited the co-op’s ability to accomplish its mission. Still, a glimmer of hope remains. McLaughlin made it a point to say that the co-op was closing “for now.”

Posted in Advocacy, Government, Transportation