Brandon Tesh: Biking advantages

In response to the July 23 Point of View “An unjustified expense in Raleigh”: As a visitor to Raleigh, I have enjoyed the choice to make trips by bicycle instead of automobile to businesses and recreationally on the ever-growing greenway system.

Rises in biking adoption rates are not due to new interests, but by investments that allow for choices between modes of transportation.

The 2015 Raleigh budget numbers are initial investments in future growth. In 2008, the start of the U.S. Census Bureau Study cited, only three on-road bicycle lanes, totaling five miles in distance, could be found in Raleigh.

My other home, New York City, is taking the initiative to invest in miles of on-road bike lanes. Though far from perfect, biking has tripled in 15 years to over 400,000 trips every day. These same improvements can be seen in other cities including Portland (7 percent ridership) and Minneapolis (4.7 percent).

I’m leaving out of the other advantages of walking and cycling including healthier residents, lower ownership cost and cleaner air, but that is for another time.

I applaud Raleigh traffic planners on their initial steps and look forward to bringing my bicycle back every summer.

This story was originally published August 3, 2016 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Brandon Tesh: Biking advantages."