“I think it’s like over 300 people here. It’s just really great,” says Bill Nesper, surveying the attendees heading inside for lunch.
The director of the National League of American Bicyclists is happy to see a healthy turnout for the summit at Transylvania University, and he says Lexington isn’t alone. There’s an increasingly receptive mood, he says, when it comes to rethinking transportation in a way that shifts the emphasis off cars alone and back towards shared usage of the roadways.
Nesper says one way to pique the interest of community leaders is simply by showing them how other cities have managed what might have seemed impossible.
“It’s not, ‘Oh well, we can never do that.’ It’s ‘Hey, look, actually, this community that’s kind of like us… they seem to be doing this, and why aren’t we doing this? And why not us?” he says.
For Kentucky’s part, the outlook hasn’t been all that encouraging when it comes to bike and walkability. Nesper’s national group puts out state rankings on those subjects. Keith Lovan with Bike Walk Kentucky says the commonwealth is behind but starting to pedal a bit faster.
“Five years ago, we were 43rd. The most recent ranking with 37th. And then they’re doing another ranking this fall,” he tells WUKY.
As for the Bike Walk Kentucky summit, the list of panels is far too long to spell out —
everything from tackling the pedestrian safety crisis to creating mobile apps to report biking obstructions. But Nesper says the key takeaway is that this isn’t just a group of biking enthusiasts chatting about a hobby.
“It’s for outcomes and values that that we all share and it’s… part of the solution to a lot of the challenges we face at the local level: health, wellness, livability, climate change, sustainability,” he says.
And there’s plenty more angles to tackle in the sessions to come. The summit runs through Friday.
ROOM FOR FOOT TRAFFIC?
When you hear words like “green” and “sustainable” in discussions about the future of transportation, you’re likely to think about EVs, driverless vehicles, or maybe high speed rail.
In Kentucky, with two major EV battery plants set to locate here, it’s safe to say electric vehicles are top of mind for many advocates.
But Nesper tells WUKY, it’s worth taking the time, during all the talk of transitioning toward greener options, to ask a few broader questions.
“Do we want to keep building the way we do, like being so spread out and whatnot, and do we still want to spend so much time in vehicles?” he asks.
To be sure, Nesper is hopeful that more sustainable energy and transportation options can work together in concert. But he says there are communities in and outside the U.S. that are rethinking the impact of the options that are as emissions-free as it gets — namely pedal and foot power.
“If we’re trying to get ourselves out of the climate crisis right away, we’re we’re going to need a bigger mix,” he says. “Electric vehicles are part of the solution for the future, but making biking and walking trips and active transportation easier for people is going to give you much greater return on investment.”
Nesper notes one of the most popular electric vehicles currently on the market isn’t a car at all, but the electric XP 3.0 E bike — which, according to EV Tracker Electrek, comes in just second after Tesla.
Source link : https://www.wuky.org/local-regional-news/2024-08-15/why-not-us-cycling-and-pedestrian-advocates-talk-shop-about-how-to-make-kentucky-more-foot-power-friendly
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Publish date : 2024-08-15 22:05:43
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