Davis, California has long been known as "The Bicycle Capital of America." In the 1960s, citizens lobbied for bike lanes to make bike travel safer. After two years of lobbying and one year of engineering, Davis created the first bike lanes in postwar America. After 1967, transportation in Davis was oriented toward the bicycle. The city's Public Works staff cranked out many innovative designs and programs, which were fine-tuned in Davis, then exported elsewhere. Subdivisions were required to build bike lanes on all new streets. In the 1980s, greenways were added to the system. Davis now has 50 miles of bike lanes and 50 miles of off-street paths in a 10 square mile city, making a highly functional bicycle transportation system. Since 1990, bicycling levels have decreased. Journey-to-work rates fell from 23% in 1990 to 14% in 2000. City and university staff attribute this to changing demographics, intercity commuting and increased transit. However, during this time bicycle programs have contracted and infrastructure expansion has slowed. Application of theories of public policy change suggest that the advocacy efforts in the 1960s led to a policy shift emphasizing bicycling, and that the retirement of civil servant advocates in the 1990s marked the end of that era. In the future, a resurgence in advocacy may reverse the deterioration of bicycle programs and result in increased bicycle use by Davis residents.
Samenvatting