improving lives through bicycling
Inside:
p. 7-10 May 2015 / Vol. 45 No. 05
Bike to School Day at Newport High School By Guy de Gouville, Newport High School student
cascade.org
Number of people walking and biking is on the rise By Andrea Clinkscales, Principal Planner
The results are in! Thanks to the help of over 300 volunteers, data from the 2014 annual statewide bicycle and pedestrian counts are in.
At Newport High School in Bellevue, students have organized the school’s first Bike to School Day event.
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Two years ago when I first heard about Bike to School Day, I was surprised that not a single school in my city, Bellevue, was participating in the event. This year it’s about to change. Last fall, along with several other students who bike to school on a regular basis, I formed a bicycle advocacy club at Newport High School. One of our big objectives was to organize a Bike to School Day at Newport in 2015. After several months of planning, we now have an outline for the event. We have collaborated with the Newport HS administration, Cascade Bicycle Club, the city of Bellevue, Interlake High School and local organizations throughout the process. Event planning can be overwhelming, but here’s how we did it: We started with a brainstorming session at a club meeting, added ideas from other successful schools’ Bike to School Days and suggestions from the city of Bellevue. Our list included a bike maintenance party to get students’ bikes ready to ride, food and goodies for students, wayfinding signage to help direct students to school, extra bike parking and a pop-up protected bike lane. Once we had a good list of ideas, we presented them to the school administration for approval. All of our ideas made the cut with the exception of the pop-up protected bike lane. Finally, we armed ourselves with promotional materials. Thanks to our school’s audio/video announcements produced by students every two weeks and Cascade’s Bike Month materials, we have great ways to get the word out. In collaboration with Interlake High School students, who are also hosting a Bike to School Day event, we have created an online survey to help us gauge participation and increase awareness. We are so excited to welcome students to school on National Bike to School Day, Wednesday May 6, and we are hopeful that our student-led bike to school day at Newport High School will encourage more students to take on the two wheels as their main way of commuting.
What did we learn? Between 2013 and 2014, we saw an overall three percent increase in the total number of people traveling by bike or on foot in our annual statewide count. Even more exciting is the Total bikes and peds counted 2008-2014 colossal 280 percent increase in the number of bikes and pedestrians counted between 2008 and 2014, with 19,000 in 2008 and 72,000 in 2014. Growth of the effort The Washington State Department of Transportation launched the Washington State Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project, also known as the annual statewide bike and pedestrian count, in 2008. Over the last six years we’ve added many count cities, locations and volunteers to the program. Between 2008 and 2014, we increased the number of count cities from 20 to 49, count locations from 102 to 418 and count volunteers from 130 to 320. The gender gap In 2012, we began to collect information on perceived gender and helmet usage. In both 2013 and 2014, women represented just 19 percent of counted bicyclists, while men represented 81 % Female Bicycles % Male Bicycles percent. The gender disparity was smaller among pedestrians, with 43 percent representation from women and 57 percent from men. For both female and male bicyclists and pedestrians, there was no change among the two count years. With helmet use, we saw a one percent increase in female helmet use from 2013-2014, with 89 percent of women using helmets in 2013 and 90 percent in 2014. However, male helmet use dropped 15 percent in those years, with 83 percent of men using helmets in 2013 and only 68 percent in 2014. The trend Across the country, bicycling and walking are strongly reestablishing as modes of transportation to work, school and errands as well as a means to stay fit and healthy. The trend clearly illustrates that a growing number of people are getting around on two feet and wheels. Moreover, the data helps inform street design, policy and funding for better bikeways and walkways. If you are interested in helping us count in 2015 or have questions about 2014 data or methodology, email Andrea at andreac@cascade.org.