Cities

Sky Boyer, owner of Velo Cult bike shop in South Park, may have come up with the perfect plan. He has managed to increase the number of transportation cyclists within the City of San Diego’s urban core by devising a very simple, yet ingenious, financial incentive to get more non-cyclists on the saddle.

Boyer’s bicycle discount program encourages both new and experienced cyclists to travel to their destinations by bicycle, and gain a sense of accomplishment, save a few dollars and support locally-owned businesses in the process. Participating businesses benefit from this arrangement by getting more customers into their stores and by becoming popular destinations frequented by hip, forward-thinking residents – visualize rows of bicycles parked outside front doors. The community as a whole benefits through the reduction in car traffic, improved air quality and healthier residents. It’s a win-win situation.

This is taking place in a county of 19 local jurisdictions that has spent a minimum of $1-million per year on bicycle infrastructure since 1987 and still has an abysmal commuter cycling mode share of 0.6 percent. Previous regional bicycle plans didn’t envision a cohesive cycling network and facilities for cyclists. The legacy of these older regional plans is evidenced by the present-day lack of basic bicycle infrastructure, such as racks for parking, well-maintained bike lanes and bike lockers at public transit stations.

County government officials are now reassessing the needs of residents and are in the midst of creating a comprehensive region-wide plan to increase the bicycle mode share to 10 percent by 2020.

Making the Grade

Dr. Esteban del Rio, an assistant professor at the University of San Diego, believes that “one of the greatest things about San Diego is that we have the mountains. So, 40 miles [64 kilometers] out of the city, you’re 6,000 feet up.” It’s this radical topography – made up of canyons and river valleys, coupled with rugged terrain – that can make cycling in the county both challenging and incredibly rewarding.

The terrain, coupled with the rise of the automobile, all but dictated the county’s built environment. The automobile became the dominant mode of transportation and bicycling was soon relegated to fitness enthusiasts – thousands of road racers and triathletes train along the county’s coast every weekend – along with environmental ascetics and those too poor to drive. The few cyclists who were brave enough to venture onto the roads, especially outside of San Diego’s core urban neighborhoods, often didn’t have access to bicycle-specific infrastructure, such as bike lanes or bike paths. Today there is a total of just above 510 miles (821 kilometers) of bike lanes, paths and routes. The percentage of trips by bike in the City of San Diego is a small, but strong, 0.9 percent.

William Karstens, a resident of Rancho San Diego – a suburb of the city of San Diego – has been commuting by bicycle to downtown San Diego for the past decade. He’s noticed that, as the number of cyclists on the road has gradually increased, “drivers seem to have grown accustomed to seeing cyclists on the roads and have learned to give them space.” This is partly due to the fact that the county is composed of what Beverly Franklin-Atkinson calls “many separate, but distinct communities.” As a result, both Karstens and Franklin-Atkinson described pleasant exchanges with other cyclists and drivers they repeatedly encounter on their commutes.