May 03, 2016

 

 

The Shuswap, British Columbia – With May designated as Shuswap Bike Month, advocates are highlighting the growing body of research pointing the way to creating healthier communities. The health and economic benefits of getting people out of cars and onto their own two feet or a bicycle are now well documented. Consistent studies also show small improvements to safety for bicycling result in significant increases in people using bicycles.

 

When using a bicycle becomes the more attractive, convenient, and comfortable choice, writes Elley Blue in her book, Bikenomics: How Bicycling Can Save the Economy, bicycle use jumps dramatically. Studies show increases as high as 40-60%. And small cities and communities are well positioned to take advantage of this knowledge, given most of the places people want to go fall within a comfortable ride distance (about 20 mintues).

 

Evidence also shows the speed and number of cars on a street seem to have the biggest effect on how safe a street is for bicycle use. “The busier the street, the greater the intervention required to make it comfortable to bicycle on and safer for all users,” writes Blue. And even then, the solutions are not always that expensive. Many communities are discovering that road widths can be narrowed to 10 feet or less (cars are only 6 feet wide), which result in drivers reducing their speeds below 30 km/h (the point fatalities are less likely). Parked cars can then be slid out from the curb to create a protected corridor for bicycles against the sidewalk.

 

“We’d like communities in the Shuswap to think about these simple design solutions,” says Al Journeau, President with the Shuswap Bike Club and one of the organizers behind Shuswap Bike Month. “Take a look at street widths in your neighbourhoods. Could they be narrower and create slower car speeds or protected space for bicycles?”

 

Shuswap Bike Month continues this weekend with a full on street festival of everything cyclical including bike swap, demos, displays, prizes, and music at the Annual Salty Street Fest on Hudson Street, Salmon Arm Saturday. The Salty Dog Mountain Bike Race welcomes cyclists from around the BC and Alberta this Sunday. And the Shuswap Pie Company in Salmon Arm invites people to grab bikes and welcome everyone with a Friday concert from 5 – 7 pm featuring Father G$ and the Sunday’s Cool Band. Check the details online at saltystreetfest.com and shuswapbike.com.  And be sure to register for Bike to Work Week at www.biketowork.ca.

 

The Shuswap Bike Month team includes the Shuswap Bike Club, Downtown Salmon Arm, Salmon Arm Economic Development, Salmon Arm Chamber of Commerce, Shuswap Tourism, the Shuswap Trail Alliance, Shuswap Events, and Skookum Cycle and Ski.

 

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Photo Caption: Bike lanes in downtown Vancouver are transforming how people move in that City. When using a bicycle becomes the more attractive, convenient, and comfortable choice, writes Elley Blue in her book, Bikenomics: How Bicycling Can Save the Economy, bicycle use jumps dramatically. Studies show increases as high as 40-60%. Shuswap Bike Month organizers are asking how these principles could be put to use in the Shuswap.

 

For more information on this release please contact:

 

Phil McIntyre-Paul

Executive Director, The Shuswap Trail Alliance

250-804-1964, phil@shuswaptrails.com

www.shuswaptrailalliance.com

 

For more information on Bike Month, Salty Street Fest, and Bike-to-Work-Week Events contact:

 

Al Journeau

President, The Shuswap Bike Club

250-253-7689, ajourneau@me.com