Lower Downtown District, Inc.

Guilt trips or bike rides? Alternatives to Car Commuting

Jun 15, 2000

There are a lot of reasons to ride your bike -and if you get a cramp and can't think of any just ask James Mackay, the City's Bicyclists and Pedestrian Planner.
"Americans have an excessive reliance on automobiles?…only about .5 percent get anywhere by bike," says Mackay. "They fire up a SUV to go 500 feet. When everybody drives, noise is excessive and air quality suffers." Not convinced? "Most of the grime that's on downtown buildings comes from car exhaust. Then that gets washed into the river and the water becomes more polluted and air quality suffers."
Ok, ok, you get the point. But what's the solution? Mackay's not asking that you trade in your four-wheel drive for a ten-speed, but he would like you to consider other options. "If everyone would realize, 'I have a choice?…I can bike, I can walk, I can take a bus,' and use an alternative form of transportation just one day a week, we'd see a real improvement in noise and pollution."
And, according to LDDI's Barbara Gibson, Denver makes it even easier to use alternative forms of transportation by having one of the nation's largest and best sets of bicycle paths of any city its size -and it's getting better. Now the city's made "rider-friendly" improvements throughout Denver and Lower Downtown including"
Bike racks on buses -allowing commuters to bike once they've reached Lower Downtown.
Bike lanes -the City recently added bike lanes on Wynkoop Street between 15th and 19th Streets.
Lighting -the City recently invested $200,000 just on lighting, some of which was spent on the Cherry Creek bike path that extends to Lower Downtown.
Bike parking lots -Over 700 bike racks were added to the city, many of them downtown.
Bike station network -Perhaps the most innovative and aggressive effort to attract bicyclists is the proposed Bike Station Network. Still in the planning stages, this station would act as "social hub for downtown bicyclists." Says Mackay. "The concept is that bicyclists can roll up, hand over their bike and have someone keep an eye on it." Where will roll up? Throughout the city?…eventually. The Union Station site will become the principal facility in a regional network of stations that will initially include a second station at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center. In addition to having someone "watch their stuff." The plans for the Bike stations include:
Bike accessories
Services, including secured "valet" bicycle parking and storage, bicycle repair and maintenance
Changing rooms, lockers and dry cleaning
Trail maps, transit information, safety instruction and promotional programs
For more information about bike services in Denver, call 303-640-BIKE.