Bicycles built into the city’s fabric

Only 15 miles west of California’s capital city, the city of Davis is home to about 61,000 people and more than 60,000 registered bicycles. Recognized as a Platinum Level Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists, Davis has transformed its people and urban landscape to accommodate this easy, cost-effective, healthy mode of transportation.

Davis did not institute citywide bicycle planning in response to today’s high gas prices. Davis identified insufficient transportation infrastructure as early as the mid-1960s. In fact, in 1966, when bikeways became a major issue in the City Council elections, several pro-bike candidates won; and the system has been steadily expanding ever since. In the spirit of preventing, not responding to, a transportation crisis, the city of Davis has invested about $14 million on bike projects in the past 10 years.

In this region, cities like Evanston, Elgin, Homewood and Naperville are planning, constructing and expanding their bicycle capacity in their communities. A lack of capital dollars limits the extent of transit investments in many places throughout our region and bicycle investments are now being more widely accepted as a part of a well balanced integrated transportation network.

Wide Bike Lane in Davis, Photo: Kate McCarthy

For additional resources:

Bicycle Friendly Communities - League of American Bicyclists
Comprehensive Bicycle Program - City of Davis

NEWS

Local News

Not your grandpa’s bus service – Chicago Tribune “Bus rapid transit fits that bill: it is three times faster and eight times cheaper to build than a new rail network, but will take comparable numbers of people off the roads.”

CTA test drives digital ad screen on side of bus – Chicago Tribune “The campaign is being tested on one bus on the No. 124 Navy Pier bus route, but plans call for more than 1,500 digital displays to be installed on 100 buses and at all 144 CTA rail stations beginning next year.”

Gas prices drive many to ride – Chicago Sun-Times “This year's gas prices were so brutal that millions of commuters switched to public transit -- and, like James, many plan to stay.”

Senate sends $220 million economic-assistance bill to governor – Chicago Tribune “Sen. Donne Trotter (D-Chicago) said the legislation gives up to $36.6 million to the Regional Transportation Authority to help cover the costs of the governor's program to give free rides to senior citizens.”

U.S. fails to OK bill calling for stricter rules on railroad mergers – Chicago Tribune “Opponents of Canadian National Railway's plan to reroute more freight trains through dozens of Chicago suburbs were dealt a blow Saturday when the U.S. House failed to approve legislation meant to tighten rules on railroad mergers.”

Midway deal likely to cost fliers – Chicago Tribune “City Hall would get a $2.5 billion check from a firm that wants to run Midway International Airport, but passengers could find themselves paying more to park and eat as a result of the latest deal cut by Mayor Richard Daley to privatize Chicago's assets.”

List of Illinois rail projects – Chicago Tribune “The federal government is providing nearly $30 million for 15 passenger rail projects across the country, including two projects in Illinois.”

World News

A Flexible Formula to Fund Transportation – Washington Post “The gasoline tax, our main transportation revenue source for more than 50 years, is now completely inadequate to meet our needs.”

Cities rethink wisdom of 50s-era parking standards – Associated Press “Officials hope that offering the freedom to forgo parking will lead to denser, more walkable, transit-friendly development.”

Everybody’s on board with light-rail plan - IndyStar “In all, 30 officials representing the cities, towns, counties and public agencies in the eight-county region voted in support of the Metropolitan Planning Organization's plan for the first of seven possible transit lines.“

Tickets to 2010 Olympics will include surcharge, extra fees – Canadian News “A surcharge of $4 to $18 will be added to all tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic events to cover public transit and administration costs, organizers said Friday.”

Second Bill Proposes National Container Fee – Traffic World Online “Revenue from the fee would be used to develop freight transportation infrastructure, improve national security aspects of goods movement and mitigate environmental harm caused by freight transportation.”

In Mexico City, bicycles rule the Sunday streets – Los Angeles Times “Every Sunday morning, some of the biggest streets of car-flooded Mexico City are handed over to bicyclists, who roll in by the tens of thousands.”

Amtrak mired in freight traffic – Chicago Tribune “Amtrak ridership has surged thanks to high gas prices, but increased interference from freight trains is causing the passenger railroad's poor on-time performance to suffer, according to a new government report.”

Resources

A Bridge to Somewhere: Rethinking American Transportation for the 21^st Century – The Brookings Institution

Bridging the Gap: Restoring and Rebuilding the Nation’s Bridges – American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials

Contact Information

For comments, suggestions or submissions, please contact Emily Tapia Lopez, Associate, at etapia@metroplanning.org or 312-863-6047.