On a bus ride this morning, I was reading the new issue of Bicycle Times, an excellent new commuter cycling magazine. A short, pg 16 article about the Wisconsin Bike Summit had some quotes that I wanted to share.
From Bicycle Times writer Mark Parman:
Madison mayor, and more importantly bicyclist, David Cieslewicz, led off the Monday evening speakers, addressing the issue of making communities more bikeable, hence more livable. He was unambiguous about his goal of making Madison the most bike-friendly place in the country, just as BFW director Andy Hardman was unequivocal about the Federation’s goal of making the Badger State the most bike-friendly in the nation. “A city that’s good to bike in is a city that’s good to live in,” said Cieslewicz.
“If we can’t do it now [get funding from a bike-friendly Obama administration], we should all be fired,” said Andy Clarke of the League of American Bicyclists.
Madison is 84.7 square miles with a population of 221,551.
Denton is 62.3 square miles with a population of 115,506.
From the bikeleague.org entry for Madison:
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz formed the Platinum Biking City Planning Committee, members included leaders from the business and advocacy communities, to work in concert with city staff and the police department. The committee’s goals include achieving the Platinum BFC designation and to create a roadmap for Madison to become the best city in the country for bicycling.
The bicycle is considered at every level of planning, design and engineering. Specific bicycle policies include a provision of all needed bicycle facilities when constructing or reconstructing city streets and including the requirements of bicycle traffic in the design of all traffic control devices. All or almost all roadway projects funded with STP-Urban Program funding over the past 10 years have included bike lanes.
On University Avenue, in the heart of downtown Madison and the University of Wisconsin campus, the city recorded 10,000-12,000 bicycle trips per day at the peak and 2,000 plus trips per day in January’s bitter cold when the University is out of session for 3 weeks.
