First Cincinnati Bike Report Card Results Just In!

Six hundred area cyclists completed the first-ever Cincinnati Bike Report Card in an on-line survey conducted as part of the Cincinnati Bike Master Plan process.

Overall, Cincinnati was given a "C" grade as a city for bicycling. Initial coverage of the survey and more on the thinking behind the new bike lanes on Dana Avenue can be found on www.soapbox.media.com. More analysis of the results will be done in the weeks ahead.

While non-cyclists may think the weather or hills are the main obstacles to using bicycles as transportation here, the need for more bike facilities ranked higher to survey respondents. 72% of female respondents and 56% of males cited "not enough bike lanes" as a factor preventing them from cycling more.

Other important differences between men and women respondents were also found. 60% of women and 48% of men named "unsafe/unlawful motorist behavior" as a disincentive to riding. For both sexes, this was the second most frequently named factor.

These results show that women are more concerned about on-road safety and making roads safer for bicycles than men. According to national surveys, women are underrepresented among street bicyclists, yet we know that women value the health, environmental, and other benefits of bicycling as much if not more than men. Getting more women to ride will require careful attention to their needs, and at the same time will make riding safer for men - and children - as well.

Melissa McVay of the Department of Transportation & Engineering said in the Soapbox Media article, "The feedback about bike lanes being such an important factor compliments much of the research we've seen on obstacles to increasing mode share - particularly for women. This gives us additional incentive to build as many on-street facilities as we can."

The survey is part of the City of Cincinnati's commitment to measure and improve the area for bicyclists. Michael Moore, Interim Director of the Department of Transportation & Engineering is quoted in the Soapbox Media article as saying, "The City is working to utilize every opportunity we can to install bicycle facilities. Dana Avenue was an especially cost-effective opportunity for us because the street was already being repaved as part of the City's Street Rehabilitation Program."

That's just the kind of commitment we need to make sure that we become the kind of people-friendly bicycling region that everyone at Queen City Bike wants to see.