One of the holy grails of transportation planning is to get commuters out of single occupancy vehicles and into other modes of commuting – carpooling, taking public transportation, riding a bike, and walking to work. This has always been a great challenge, particularly in suburban and rural areas. Of course, with the pandemic, many people have gotten rid of commuting altogether, at least for a couple days a week, by teleworking. Nevertheless, despite some reduced rush hour congestion, encouraging commuters to use alternative modes of transportation remains a key planning goal.
Celebrating Bike to Work Day
May is National Bike Month, and the League of American Bicyclists sponsors Bike to Work Week and Bike to Work Day to highlight biking as a viable commuting option. They note on their website that “40% of all trips in the U.S. are less than two miles, making bicycling a feasible and fun way to get around.” https://bikeleague.org/
In the Philadelphia suburbs, local Transportation Management Associations (TMAs) work tirelessly to promote alternatives to single occupancy vehicles by working directly with employers and their employees. As part of their mission, they support Bike to Work Day and commuting by bicycle.
The Transportation Management Association of Chester County (TMACC) held their Bike to Work Day event on Thursday rather than the official date of Friday, May 20 because many office workers no longer commute on Fridays. Interestingly, Friday has become one of the least busy commuting days of the week, while Wednesdays and Thursdays are often the most congested. For the Bike to Work event, most participants weren’t actually biking to work, rather they rode on the Chester Valley Trail to highlight biking as a commuting option. Beca
Chester County Commissioner Kichline leading the Bike to Work group over the Schuylkill River
use this trail cuts through a number of major office parks, commuting by biking is a very viable option.
The Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association (GVFTMA) also sponsors a Bike to Work day, making their event a race to Valley Forge National Park between Chester County participants, who start in Phoenixville (which is 7 miles away) and Montgomery County participants, who start in Norristown (which is less than 5 miles away). Both teams pedal on the Schuylkill River Trail, one of the great trails of Pennsylvania. Despite GVFTMA’s view that the Montgomery County participants need a shorter riding distance to be competitive with the Chester County folks, the Montgomery County riders did win the race.
