If you have ever imagined what your work day might be like if you rode a bike daily instead of driving a car you no doubt struggled with the inevitable questions:
- What about sweating?
- What could I wear to ride, then change?
- Where to store bike at work.
- What if I got a flat or other broken part?
- What if I have to stay late or leave my bike?
This is called removing obstacles to quality of life choices. The mayor pushed hard for his electric car to have a charging station at the town's center. In all of San Diego County there are a small percentage of electric car owners. Conversely, there are potentially hundreds of thousands of bike riders in San Diego County, with more each year. This bikestation concept represents a creative solution that fulfills quality of life goals of healthy living, economic opportunity (for small business), affordability for commuters, flexibility, resilience, sustainability, lowered carbon dioxide emissions, traffic congestion and parking congestion.
About that parking problem in Encinitas, did you know that 14 bicycles fit in one car parking space? And that traffic congestion? Eight bicycles that fit into one car road space. Even just a beginning of a shift in choices from daily car use to biking would be felt in our parking lots and busy main arteries. Safety is the other leading deterrent to biking and that will be a different post.
There is a longing in this community for innovative planning and visionary leadership. In fact, Encinitas is falling far behind communities all across the state and the nation. How we all get around is just one more challenge we can look to our candidates for office to hear our ideas, look to other leading examples and step away from approaches that belong to another era whose time has passed.
