Transportation in Bicycle City

By Bicycle City Staff, Updated Mon, 06/16/2008 - 15:50
  • Replacing your car with a bicycle for all travel would have the same effect as planting 170 trees. (League of American Bicyclists)
  • The cost of operating and owning a car around 15,000 miles comes to about $11,000 a year, compared to an average annual cost of about $120 to maintain a bike. (American Automobile Association)
  • The average commuter spends 50 hours a year in rush hour traffic. (Texas Transportation Institute)
  • 462 million gallons of gasoline could be saved if Americans increased cycling from 1% to just 1.5% of all trips in a year. (Chicagoland Bicycle Federation)
  • A four-mile round trip by bike saves as much as 15 pounds of pollutants from being emitted into the air. (League of American Bicyclists)
  • In 2002, 460 US children died as a result of being hit by cars and over 38,000 were treated for pedestrian-related injuries. The total annual cost of traffic-related pedestrian death/injury is over 5.2 billion dollars. (Safe Kids Worldwide)
  • Almost 90% of all bicycle-related deaths are from collisions with motor vehicles. Traffic-related bicycle death and injury costs over 1.5 billion annually. (Safe Kids Worldwide)
  • In 2005, over 107 million people in the US cited walking as a regular mode of travel accounting for 51% of the traveling public. (Federal Highway Administration)
  • Nationwide, 35.3 billion walking trips occur annually, making up 9% of all trips. (National Household Travel Survey).
  • Only 3.4% of walking trips are made for work. Nearly 13% are for social and recreation, 10.5% for school and church, and 6.5% for shopping and service. (National Household Travel Survey)
  • In 2005, 3.2 million cited walking as their primary mode of transportation for daily work commutes. (US Census American Community Survey)
  • 31 million participated in hiking in 2006, up 4% from 2005. (National Sporting Goods Association)

Perhaps Bicycle City’s most unique feature is that cars and other motorized vehicles will not be permitted inside our community. Our residents can own vehicles, of course, but they will have to leave them on the perimeter of the community, in a lot or garage that we will construct.

Bicycle City - Alternative Transportation
Mackinac Island, Michigan

Instead of relying on cars, highways, parking lots, meters, gas and traffic congestion, our residents and visitors will rely on themselves. Human-powered transportation is the cleanest there is, and in addition to keeping the air free of harmful emissions, human-powered transportation will add physical fitness to our daily lives. While it may be hard to imagine walking to the grocery store in the community in which you currently live, Bicycle City will be designed so that everything will be within comfortable walking distance.

Bicycle City - Alternative Transportation - PedicabsImagine the peacefulness of riding a bike on a tree-lined path to the organic market or the convenience of walking your children to school. Think of how fun it might be to strap on a pair of roller blades and meet friends for a movie! All this, free from concern over fast-moving vehicles and without contributing to the precarious climate situation.

Bicycle City - Alternative Transportation - Train

Ideally, Bicycle City communities can be linked via rail and trail lines.