What would get San Diegans to Bike More?

A new city bike rack at the Normal Heights Post Office. Photo by Thomas Bahde

Over the past weekend, we received numerous emails about the sighting of City installed bike racks all around the Mid-City area. I couldn’t help but think of Tom Vanderbilt’s post on Slate.com on how bike racks would get more Americans to ride to work.

I was very pleasantly surprised to see them while riding and walking around town last weekend.  To me it signifies a greater shift in thinking where the city is now finally starting to pay attention to the growing number of cyclists who use the streets and patronize local businesses. Having bike racks in front of businesses will also play well with the local bike discount program. Catering to all modes of traffic so that all citizens have a level playing field when it comes to choosing their transportation options will only benefit the city as a whole – both from a budgetary standpoint (a hot button issue these days with everyone and their mom offering opinions on how to balance the City of San Diego’s budget), and from a practical standpoint.

I hope that these new bicycle racks are a sign of things to come and I look forward to seeing more improvements from the City’s Traffic Engineering Department geared toward the city’s cyclists.