Europe grew anxious about her health,

Combines tottered, credits froze,

And business shivered in a banker’s winter…

Very few poets can be topical this way and create a successful poem, as Auden does here, I believe (though he did exclude this poem from later collections). The lines preceding these are memorable as well; they provide a wonderful description of the difficult years of the early 1930’s. But because they pertain less directly to today’s financial crisis, I will simply encourage you to find the poem and read it in its entirety. Try a good library and see if they have Auden’s great volume of poems, On This Island (titled Look, Stranger! in Britain), or read it in the wonderful collection of his writings of the 1930’s, The English Auden.

Now we await the unfolding of history to see if this current “banker’s winter” will last - and whether we can stave off a depression.

Photo by William Ostrem

I worked as a volunteer yesterday in Minneapolis at Freewheelin, the bike-share program that served the recent political conventions. I was at the station above, near the Minneapolis Convention Center.

It was a cool, cloudy day, with temperatures in the fifties and sixties, so the station wasn’t as busy as I’d hoped. The Freewheelin totals for September 1-4, the four days of the Republican National Convention, were 1, 971 rides for a total of 15,141 miles. Those numbers are well short of those from Denver, where there were 5900 trips for 26,000 miles. Don’t be too quick to blame this on the Republicans; perhaps the Minnesotans were less interested in biking than were Coloradans. The “bike-partisan challenge” - 10,000 rides and 25,000 miles - was met in terms of miles but not rides.

It seemed that most of the Freewheelin riders at our station were in town because of the convention, but there were a lot of locals riding too. Nearly everyone liked the idea of a bike-sharing program.

I enjoyed meeting the riders and the other volunteers. I also got to meet the Minneapolis Bike Walk Ambassadors, people hired to help increase biking and walking as transportation. They’re part of the city’s nonmotorized transportation pilot program, which has a large federal grant. The ambassadors led tours and helped people with directions. Lynnea Atlas-Ingebretson is their program manager, and we spoke about bike education as well.

I volunteered largely because I’m interested in bike-sharing, and I was encouraged by my conversations with the Humana employees who were running the Freewheelin stations. They see bike-sharing as a business opportunity. It’s reassuring that a health-insurance company - and such a large one at that - is trying to make this happen. It’s important for those with deep pockets to get on board if we’re going to make progress on this form of transportation.

I got the contact info for the Human employees running the Freewheelin program, so I hope to communicate with them in the coming weeks to see what ideas they might have for a bike-sharing program here in Northfield, Minnesota.

The Practical Cyclist

Designed for those who want to replace car trips with cycling trips or simply travel sustainably and enjoyably, this classroom-based course will examine the advantages of cycling; potential obstacles; equipment and strategies; safety issues; and cycling advocacy. This is not intended to be a road skills course. Taught by Bill Ostrem, who has been a “practical cyclist” for over twenty years.

When: Tuesday, September 9, 7-8 p.m.
Cost: No charge. Donations welcome.
Location: In the Just Food Event Space, 516 Water St. S.

Pre-registration required. Call the co-op  at 650-0106 to register.

I’ve also recently viewed two good videos on bike-sharing from Streetfilms: one on the Smartbike DC program, which is now underway, and another on the Paris Velib’ program, which started in July 2007. The most important thing I learned from the videos is this: bike-sharing can be thought of as a form of public transportation. For some reason, that concept had not yet entered my cranium.

In the Velib’ video, some of the people interviewed make the case that the bigger the program is, the more likely it is to succeed. One person commented that there should be at least one bike for every 200 residents. They gave these numbers for Paris: 20,600 bikes, 1451 stations, and 3 million subscribers. Now the Bicycle-sharing Blog is reporting that by the end of 2008 Velib’ will grow into the inner Paris suburbs and add 7,500 bikes and 300 more stations.

It looks like Smartbike DC, starting with 60 bikes at 10 stations, has begun too small. But I can hardly blame them for cautiously testing the waters in bike-phobic North America.

The Democratic and Republican political conventions will be here soon, with the Democrats meeting August 25-28 in Denver and the Republicans September 1-4 in St. Paul. Both conventions will have an unusual feature: bike-sharing programs that will make available 1000 bikes to the public in each city for free.

The program is a joint venture of the Humana Freewheelin bike-share program and Bikes Belong, a non-profit bicycle advocacy organization funded by the bicycle industry. Humana is a large health insurance company that has had success with an employee bike-share program at its headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky.

I’m excited about the convention bike-share opportunity because I’ve been following the spread of “new generation” bike-sharing programs for the past year, particularly the enormous Velib’ program in Paris, France, which started last summer. These newer bike-sharing programs are more high-tech than the “yellow-bike”-type of program that some cities and college campuses have had. Those older programs have usually been plagued by theft, vandalism, and disrepair, since the bikes are not locked, there is no system of checking the bikes out, and there are few resources for maintaining the bikes.

The newer bike-sharing programs typically make bikes available at stations, where they are locked. Users register for the rental program and use a credit card to obtain a bike. If the bike is not returned, the user is charged a large fee. Just this month, Washington, D.C., became the first North American city to launch a bike-share program. (See a Washington Post article on that subject). Montreal, Canada, will follow, as will St. Xavier University in Chicago.

The Velib’ program in Paris - which, like many other bike-share programs, is supported by outdoor advertising revenue - has been a huge success. It makes 20,000 bikes available at over 1000 locations. According to an article in The Times, in its first year its users have made 27 million trips by bicycle, an incredible number, and bike use in Paris has increased 70 percent.

Eyeing that success, North American bike advocates are hoping bike sharing will make a difference here as well. They even have some help at the top. Several U.S. Congressmen, including Jim Oberstar of Minnesota, issued a “bike-partisan” challenge to bike-share users in the political convention cities: take 10,000 trips and tally up 25,000 miles of riding in both cities collectively. If you’ll be in Minneapolis-St. Paul September 1-4, you can register now to ride the bikes.

I hope the Freewheelin program at the political conventions does lead to lasting change. After the convention, 70 bikes will remain in each convention city for use by the public. The rest of the 1000 bikes will be donated to a variety of organizations.

I’ll be up there in Minneapolis-St. Paul helping out as a volunteer. You can register online if you want to do the same. You’ll receive food, beverages, and a t-shirt in return for your service.

The county transportation engineer, Dennis Luebbe, proposed a policy that concerned me: banning county funding of facilities such as sidewalks and bike paths in future transportation capital improvement projects. The policy would immediately effect county funding of a recent local project that has been contentious: the Woodley Street/CSAH 28 project here in Northfield. Note also that the county receives funding from the state for transportation infrastructure; state funds, of course, come from our income tax, sales taxes, and other taxes and fees that we pay.

Mr. Luebbe said that bike/ped facilities might be considered in projects outside of the CIP, but that hardly seems satisfactory. I will await further comment until I locate the text of the policy and receive an answer from Mr. Luebbe regarding my questions:

1. Is the proposed policy available for viewing online? If not, would you send us a copy? If a rationale is not included in the text of the policy, we are interested in learning that also.

2. Do other counties have a similar policy? Which ones do you know of?

Here is the PDF of the policy, which was sent to me by Fran Windschitl at Rice County:

proposed-highway-cost-participation-policy

The article provides an excellent summary of the many benefits of nonmotorized transportation, and it attempts to quantify some of them. Litman conservatively estimates that trips shifted from motor vehicles to walking or biking can yield a benefit of about 50 cents to about 5 or 6 dollars, and probably the benefits are much greater than this. Presumably some of these benefits accrue to an individual, while others accrue to a government or society in general.

Here are the main benefits that I would mention to decision makers in terms of how nonmotorized transportation can be an economic benefit to my city:

• Roadway cost savings: walking and biking do less damage to roads and lead to lower road maintenance costs
• Vehicle cost savings: driving a motorized vehicle is more expensive than walking or biking; money spent on vehicles and fuel typically leaves a community
• Air pollution reductions: these have a positive impact on health
• Health benefits from exercise

Here are some excerpts from the paper:

[S]mart growth supports nonmotorized travel and nonmotorized travel supports smart growth. As a result, mobility management programs that increase nonmotorized transport usually leverage reduced motorized travel, causing proportionately larger reduction in vehicle-miles, although exactly how much depends on the situation. (p. 4)

Recent studies indicate that residents of more walkable communities exercise more and are less likely to be overweight than residents of automobile-oriented communities (Ewing, Schieber and Zegeer, 2003; Frank, 2004). (p. 15)

Nonmotorized facilities (trails and sidewalks) can increase nearby property values and help attract residents and industries that value environmental quality, physical fitness and outdoor recreation (NBPC, 1995; LGC, 2001)…. Reducing automobile expenditures tend to increase regional employment and business activity because fuel, vehicles and parts are generally imported from other areas (Litman and Laube, 1998; “TDM and Economic Development,” VTPI, 2004). (p. 16)

Automobile-oriented transport tends to result in community development patterns that are suboptimal for other community objectives (Forkenbrock and Weisbrod, 2001). Wide roads and heavy traffic tend to degrade the public realm (public spaces where people naturally interact) and in other ways reduce livability. Reduced vehicle traffic tends to increase neighborly interactions and community involvement (Appleyard, 1981). Untermann and Vernez Moudon (1989) comment,

“A deeper issue than the functional problems caused by road widening and traffic buildup is the loss of sense of community in many districts. Sense of community traditionally evolves through easy foot access–people meet and talk on foot, which helps them develop contacts, friendships, trust, and commitment to their community. When everyone is in cars there can be no social contact between neighbors, and social contact is essential to developing commitment to neighborhood.” … (p. 17)

This analysis indicates that typical trips shifted from automobile to walking or cycling provide benefits worth at lease $0.46 to $5.50, and probably much more considering all benefits, including those unsuited for monetization, and leveraged vehicle mileage reductions. If seven motor vehicle-miles are reduced for each increased mile of nonmotorized travel through broader changes in transportation and land use patterns, as the data suggest, then benefits exceed $3.29 per walking trip and $38.50 per cycling trip. Of course, actual benefits vary depending on the type of trip and travel conditions. (p. 20)

However, I’m taking some small actions today that buoy my spirits. They involve my energy-efficient strategy to keep the house cool in hot weather. They aren’t perfect and they won’t work for everyone or every situation, but they generally work for us. Here are the steps I take:

• Open the windows at night to let cool air in
• Close the windows during the day when the outside temperature is higher than the indoor temperature
• Close basement air vents, open air vents elsewhere in house
• Keep the dehumidifier in the basement running
• Turn on the furnace fan to circulate air through the house
• Use other fans as necessary

This strategy moves cooler air in the basement and ground level up to the top floor. The other day it kept our house at 80 degrees or cooler on a 95-degree day.

It’s a bit like a thrifty groundsource cooling solution: naturally cool air in the basement helps to cool the rest of the house. It may also work to some extent in houses without basements.

It may work better in our house than in others, because we share walls with neighboring townhouses. But still, I think it can help many people to minimize their air conditioner use.

Our short trip took us only 100 miles or so from our home in Minnesota to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the largest city in western Wisconsin. We approached from the west, on scenic roads. Well, nearly every road is scenic in this beautiful area. Our route took us through Red Wing, Minnesota, to Highway 63, then Highway 72 and County Road C to Eau Claire. It’s a beautiful route through farming country and forest-covered hills, passing through the towns of Ellsworth, Rock Elm, Elmwood, Downsville, and Dunn. It includes some very hilly, thickly forested country - an area that was not covered by the most recent glaciers, and terrain that most people probably do not associate with the Midwest.

I haven’t yet had time to do more than a cursory reading of the report’s executive summary and its transportation chapter. Here are a few excerpts from the executive summary:

The Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) funded a unique partnership among the University of Minnesota and the consulting firms of Bonestroo and CR Planning to evaluate the state’s natural resources, identify key issues affecting those resources, and make recommendations for improving and protecting them. More than 125 experts, including University scientists and public and private natural resource planners and professionals, participated in the 18-month effort. …

• The key issues for which recommendations are made in this report are:
• Land and water habitat fragmentation, degradation, loss, and conversion
• Land-use practices
• Transportation
• Energy production and use, and mercury as a toxic contaminant related to energy production

Here are the three recommendations from the Transportation chapter:

• Transportation Recommendation 1: Align transportation planning across state agencies and integrate transportation project development and review across state, regional, metropolitan and county/local transportation, land use and conservation programs.
• Transportation Recommendation 2: Reduce per capita vehicle miles of travel (VMT) through compact mixed-use development and multi- and intermodal transportation systems.
• Transportation Recommendation 3: Develop and implement sustainable transportation research, design, planning, and construction practices, regulations, and competitive incentive funding that minimize impacts on natural resources, especially habitat fragmentation and non-point source water pollution.

The report clearly deserves closer reading and the attention of state leaders. Note especially the involvement of leading state scientists and planners.

For more information, see the official press release and a Star Tribune article.