Outdoor Retailer - January 2021 - 51

THE WINTER SHOW / The Weekly Chat

Jenn Dice

Courtesy PeopleForBikes

PeopleForBikes' executive director talks about
how cities are creating better bike infrastructures,
the benefits of the e-bike, and how cycling is truly
a nonpartisan issue. Read on here and tune in
when she joins us for a deep dive on The Weekly
Chat. By Doug Schnitzspahn
What work are you doing on
the infrastructure level in cities across the country that can
help get more people on bikes?
We have been consistently talking
to Congress about increasing federal investment in active transportation and complete mobility
networks-true connected bike
networks rather than building
bike paths that just go from A to
B. That's what will help change
hearts and minds-and the percentage of people who ride bikes.
So we have been asking Congress
for a major increase in the amount
of federal funding it puts into active transportation and bike infrastructure. Our goal is to make
sure that bikes are a prominent

and essential part of all aspects of
COVID-19 recovery and beyond.
So, when cities are thinking about
how their community moves, we
want to make sure that bikes are
part of the mix. When states are
thinking about how they fund
transportation networks, we want
bikes to be part of the mix. When
people are thinking about climate
change action ... there's no faster
way to reduce your carbon footprint than biking for short trips
instead of driving a car. So we're
basically looking at any sort of
window of opportunity for bicycling, whether it's transportation,
recreation, mobility, equity, climate, you name it. We think bikes
are a solution.

Are there any examples on the
local level where towns that
have not been bike friendly in
the past have adopted connected bike networks?
During the height of stay-athome orders in the spring, a lot
of cities across the world-about
200 in America alone-opened
streets to walking or biking. They
temporarily took away parking and cars and gave people a
chance to get out of their homes
and safely walk and bike. So that
was encouraging. We have also
seen more and more cities looking at electric bicycle purchase
incentives as a creative mobility solution. When it comes to
infrastructure, Austin, Texas,
passed a massive bond measure for active transportation to
build out a complete mobility
network with about 120 miles of
bike lanes. They can't build more
highways in downtown Austin,
so they have decided to make this
major commitment to walking
and biking. We're seeing a propensity for many cities-including New Orleans, Denver, and
Pittsburgh-to think about how
to give people choices for how
they want to move around.
Are e-bikes becoming more accepted across the country?
Once somebody rides an electric
bicycle, they get what we call " the
e-bike smile. " They are just so
much fun. And when people live
far away from where they work,
or they have to bike up hills, or
they have a mobility barrier, an
electric bike is a great equalizer.
It helps people out with that little
boost to get them to where they
want to go. We see a lot of opportunity with e-bikes on the climate
side too. When cities are thinking

about how to incentivize people
to take active transportation or
make clean mobility choices,
electric bicycles are a smart part
of the overall mix.
Do you think that creating
mobility networks and getting
more people on bikes is an issue that can cross party lines in
D.C. and in local government?
We have 28 state electric bicycle
bills now. That's 28 bills where
the bike industry came together
and classified electric bikes into
three different classes. Those 28
state bills have all been bipartisan. They've been noncontroversial. And we hope another 10
states will do the same in 2021.
We expect these bills to be equally
bipartisan. It's been really refreshing to see that, no matter
who you are, you can have fun on
a bike, whether you are riding for
recreation or as a mobility tool.
The bike industry has been experiencing an unprecedented
boom. Do you see it continuing?
In October, we were up 89%
from last year. At the beginning of COVID-19, no one knew
this would happen. We thought
maybe it's just a quick boom, but
month over month, our data has
been so strong. Even in these
winter months, w e are seeing
more people riding. It's a silver
lining to see that so many people
are finding mental and physical
health outdoors. O.R.
-Want to know even more?
Jenn Dice will join us for The
Weekly Chat, our webinar
discussion and question-andanswer session this month.
Find more information and
register here.

January 2021 / OUTDOOR RETAILER 51

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Outdoor Retailer - January 2021

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