Thursday is the annual Bike to School Day that will shut down Main Street at the height of what passes for the morning rush hour in my pleasant Vermont village on the banks of the Connecticut River. As this post now proves, there is only one person in all of Norwich who is willing to offer public opposition to this whole idea.Maybe it is nothing but a cranky expression of self-interest. I live downtown. When the segment of Main Street affected by this event is closed down, I can't leave my house in my automobile. And, like essentially everyone else in the bedroom community of Norwich, I can't get to work by bike or on foot. At least my car won't sit idling somewhere, waiting for the Norwich police officer to wave them through when Main Street reopens.
I love bicyling as much as the next person. My seven-year-old is thrilled to pedal around, now that she knows how to ride a two-wheeler. My three-year-old is stuck on his tricycle, desperate to learn the skill his sister so proudly displays. We'll be biking to school on Thursday for sure.
But -- really. The problem with events like Bike to School Day is that they sweep under the rug -- or maybe under the asphalt -- the fundamental land-use and transportation issues we would need to confront if we really wanted to see people biking en mass to school and to work regularly.
Most people in Norwich don't live the way my family does, on 0.23 acres, within ready walking distance of shopping, eating and public schooling. Most folks live on dirt roads that require SUVs or pickup trucks to access, in secluded farm-like settings that have no real justification for people who do not live off the land. (I realize that some people do live off the land -- I am not talking about them.)
I worry that when these people pile into their SUVs on Thursday, drive down to Huntley Meadow, unload their bikes and those of their kids, and join the parade for the final mile to the Marion Cross School, they will honestly believe they are doing something meaningful to promote transportation alternatives.
While we have a decent mass transportation service with a stop near my house -- Advance Transit -- it goes nowhere near where I work (Vermont Law School) and doesn't run on weekends, which is the only time I could plausibly make use of it. Many, many other Norwich people are in a similar situation.
So, let's all join the fun on Thursday. But let's not forget the inconvenient truths about Bike to School Day.
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3 comments:
Don, I actually agree -- there's something fundamentally wrong about perpetuating the myth that biking is "an event" that needs to involve road closures and much fanfare. The whole point should be that bikers be accommodated like any other group of commuters, with a safe route on safe roads with drivers that respect their presence. We shouldn't need a police escort.
As someone who has been involved in organizing Bike to School Day in Norwich, I would respectfully point out that the day can possibly inspire bicycling on other days, when there is not a big event. The number of student bicycle commuters at Marion Cross has grown as Bike to School Day has become an institution. Events like these might also help show the constituency and thus build the political will that is needed to adequately fund the type of infrastructure improvements that would be needed to support 200 kids biking through a Vermont village without a police escort.
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