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Central Standard

Biking in KC

A recent study from the University of British Columbia found that installing bike infrastructure greatly reduces the likely hood of cyclist injury.  In fact, cycle tracks (bike lanes physically separated from motor vehicle traffic) alongside major streets had about 1/10 the typical risk to cyclists.  Our guests, Elizabeth Bejan, of Revolve KC, Aaron Bartlett, Bicycle and Training coordinator at MARC and Deb Ridgeway, Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator for Kansas City Public Works Department, explore these risks in Kansas City and how organizations and the city are working to address them.

The positive health, environmental and even economic impact of biking is well documented.  But, the typical biggest impediment to engaging more people in cycling is concerns of safety.  There are many examples of installing bicycling infrastructure leading to an  increases the number of cyclists.  The same U. of British Columbia study pointed out that there are a variety of ways to improve the safety of urban cycling including designating residential street as bike routes, as well as marking major streets with bike lanes and removing parked cars.  Both options reduce the typical cycling risk in half.  

Our guest also discuss what to look for when bike shopping, and what's important to consider for both men and women.

What options is Kansas City considering implementing and how successful have their efforts been?  Discover on this episode of Central Standard.

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Central Standard bikestransportation
Stephen Steigman is director of Classical KC. You can email him at <a href="mailto:Stephen.Steigman@classicalkc.org">Stephen.Steigman@classicalkc.org</a>.
Matthew Long-Middleton has been a talk-show producer, community producer, Media Training Manager and now the Community Engagement Manager at KCUR. You can reach him at Matthew@kcur.org, or on Twitter @MLMIndustries.