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Ride to Work Day is June 21st, 2010. The details for the day can be found here.

Why do we need a Ride to Work Day? Marketing Ace, Jill Kahlenberg (Marketing Management Solutions) sent me this fascinating factoid from City-Data.com for Bucks County that shows us maybe not as many people ride as we thought.

Drove a car alone: 251,994 (83%)
Carpooled: 25,277 (8%)
Bus or trolley bus: 1,056 (0%)
Streetcar or trolley car: 42 (0%)
Subway or elevated: 442 (0%)
Railroad: 6,806 (2%)
Ferryboat: 19 (0%)
Taxi: 120 (0%)
Motorcycle: 204 (0%)
Bicycle: 553 (0%)
Walked: 5,079 (2%)
Other means: 1,202 (0%)
Worked at home: 10,792 (4%) (City-Data.com)

So, motorcycles beat out the Taxi, the Streetcar and we crushed the Ferryboat as ways to get to work. But there is nothing but a growth opportunity for bikes when compared to other modes of transportation in Bucks County.

All kidding aside, getting folks from here to there, quickly, efficiently and with a smile is what we believe we do. Everyday I leave Doylestown and drive to Sellersville. Almost everyday, traffic coming down Rt 313 is stop and go. Sometimes the stop and go traffic begins before Dublin. SEVEN miles of traffic! Almost *all* the vehicles have one person in them.

Many of them are not smiling.

Contrast that with this video from Taipei, Taiwan.

It might help if I explain how I look at this video. I don’t see a comparison of cultures, countries, money or politics.

I see how many people make it through a green light versus how many get through the average traffic light here. I think it’s stunning.

The winning hand for a “I want to move folks from here to there” scenario is traffic density. You can just put more scooters and motorcycles in a given space. Every scooter beyond a 50cc will accelerate and keep up with most all other vehicles in an urban setting.

We can just fit more people in the same space with bikes. We proved that a long time ago here. Nine bikes and scooters fit in the same space the MPG Motors F-150.

The future modes of personal transportation in SE Pennsylvania will include more scooters and motorcycles. More people will live in this area over time and funding for new roads will probably not keep pace.

With our bikes, we will be able to do more with the same roads.

You, and apparently pretty much you alone for now, are leading the way! Mark your calendar, reach out to your elected officials and get out and ride to work on June 21st.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 at 10:04 pm and is filed under Community, Efficiency, Government, Riding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.