MONTPELIER, Vt. — A new set of national rankings finds New England to be a relatively bike-friendly region, with five of the region’s six states scoring in the top half among states nationwide.
The League of American Bicyclists ranked Massachusetts third, behind Washington state and Minnesota, based on factors like enforcement of bike safety laws, infrastructure, public education and encouragement for cycling.
Maine ranked ninth, Vermont 18th, Connecticut was 20th and New Hampshire came in 22nd. Rhode Island was last in the region, ranking 39th nationally.
According the league, “the Bicycle Friendly America program provides incentives, hands-on assistance, and award recognition for communities, universities and businesses that actively support bicycling, and ranks states annually based on their level of bike-friendliness.”
Some suggestions for Maine included the following:
Develop a Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) curriculum for bicycling enforcement both for new officers and continuing education – focus on laws related to bicyclists, interactions between motorists and bicyclists, and bicycle collision investigation.
Adopt a statewide Complete Streets policy. The National Complete Streets Coalition has a model state policy and a variety of other resources to ensure adoption and implementation.
Adopt a statewide bicycle plan that addresses each of the five “Es” — engineering, enforcement, encouragement, education, evaluation — has clear implementation actions, and performance metrics to gauge success.
I always say “hello” when I see a bike. They never say anything back though…
Bikes have no place on roads meant for motorized vehicles. They cause traffic jams, cause drivers to use more gasoline avoiding them, block traffic when they ride in long lines or side by side, often do not follow traffic laws, and are just a plain menace! Get em off our roads. Meanwhile, license them, ticket them, tax them, and make them pay for building their own roads or special lanes next to (not in the middle of!) roads meant for motorized vehicles.
I second that…
Wow, some pretty deep thought there. Careful.
I enjoy commuting to work on a bike, in the bike lane. 8)
Thanks!
Roads are meant to move people around- it’s just that they’ve been exclusively (& ignorantly) engineered for cars & not for bikes/pedestrians (they were actually first designed for bicycles, if you want to know/learn your history). As far as funding goes, there is nothing more subsidized in our culture than automobile transportation- bikers actually pay for roads they don’t get to safely use, not the other way around (the gas tax and other user fees come nowhere close to paying for highways, if you want to know/learn your public financing details). So, put up w/bikes (hey, at least it’s one less car on the road causing congestion, spewing poisons into the air, contributing to our trade imbalance w/tyrant states, and endangering our children) or shut up and start paying your own way.
You’re a pretty rude “in your face person” kind of person aren’t you. Must be a self righteous kid fresh out of school who believes they are the only ones who know anything and think that shouting the loudest makes you right. Well I’m here to tell you that you are wrong!
I would disagree with almost everything you say. First, roads were originally made for the movement of pedestrians AND commerce. Footpaths evolved into roads for horse drawn vehicles, and subsequently motorized vehicles. In the US bicycles never were, and still are not, the primary reason for building roads. As for funding; people who ride a bicycle DO use motorized vehicles all the time. If not for their own personal transportation then for the transportation of the goods (including their bicycles) they purchase and use. I do pay my own way. It’s time that bicyclist’s stop thinking they have the right to preferential treatment on our roads. I also disagree that bicycles reduce pollution in any significant amount. Every time a vehicle must slow down, travel behind, avoid, go around, or otherwise react to a bicycle it increases exhaust emissions from the vehicle. Mixing bicycles and motorized traffic has been, and will continue to be, dangerous. I prefer pedestrians to bikes because at least the person walking knows enough to move over to the side of the road so they are out of the way.