Biking sure is a great way to get around. Sometimes the benefits of the bicycle are apparent, especially when you’re cruising by cars on congested roadways typically encountered in dense city centers. But what about other urban areas that, comparatively, are lower density?
Did you know that globally there are more people living in urban settings than rural settings, with the percent of urban dwellers tipped to grow anywhere between 60 - 80% (depending who you ask) by 2050? These urban environments are, for the most part, not the dense cityscape you would envision. Instead, over half of that population is attributed to the density of suburban settings. Somewhere between the oasis of parking lots, department stores, open space, and seemingly endless blocks of residential dwellings, you have to wonder: what is the best way to move people?
With infrastructure in suburbs widely favouring automobiles, other modes can sometimes be overlooked. In auto dominated neighbourhoods, the natural spread of suburban infrastructure yields the pedestrian nearly useless as a form of transportation. Bikes, however, may be a different case. Where crossing a strip mall or large parking lot on foot may take upwards of 5 minutes, it takes only a fraction of that time on a bicycle. So, to what scale can bicycles benefit suburbs?