Guest Editorial by John van Houten, M.D.
The city of Ojai has made a concerted effort to become a “green” city in the past few years. However, it has ignored one very effective way to be more environmentally responsible, and that is by promoting cycling as an alternative form of transportation.
Ojai is a haven for recreational cyclists and even pro level cycling teams due in large part to our beautiful terrain and agreeable year round weather. However, there is no support for cycling as a form of daily transportation.
Aside from the Ventura Bike Path, which is mostly useful for recreational riding, there are no designated bike lanes in the city, no shared bike lane markings, no safe marked bike routes to our local schools for our children to ride, and few bike racks downtown to secure bikes if we do choose to ride.
Because Ojai is a small town with wide roads on flat terrain in which most residents live within five miles of downtown, it is ideally suited for cycling as a means of transportation.
By encouraging cycling in and around our city, we could reduce the number of cars driven in our valley, which would lessen noise pollution, improve air quality, decrease wear and tear on our roads, and result in significant health benefits for those who ride.
In addition, increased cycling would promote and encourage more local shopping. It is also well documented that as the percentage of trips by bike increases, the safety of cyclists and motorists both increase as automobile speeds tend to be slower in areas of high cycling traffic.
A number of larger U.S. cities with much more complex road grids that have successfully promoted cycling as a viable form of transportation include Portland, Oregon, Madison, Wisconsin and even New York City. These cities have actively encouraged its citizens to jump on their bikes rather than jump in their cars for their commute to work or for that short ride to the store for milk.
They have done this by creating greenways that make it safe, easy and convenient to use a bike. If Ojai truly wishes to be “green”, it needs to make cycling an attractive option for those of us wishing to move around our beautiful valley in a more environmentally friendly manner.
John van Houten, M.D, lives with his family in Ojai.
John van Houten highly recommends the following book:
Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities
http://www.amazon.com/Pedaling-Revolution-Cyclists-Changing-American/dp/0870714198
Related Articles
May 16, 2008 - Pedaling Toward Cleaner Cities --When Will Ojai Catch Up?
http://www.ojaipost.com/2008/05/pedaling_toward_cleaner_cities.shtml
May 16, 2008 - Ojai's First Ride of Silence
http://www.ojaipost.com/2008/05/ojais_first_ride_of_silence_1.shtml
May 13, 2008 - May is National Bike Month
http://www.ojaipost.com/2008/05/may_is_national_bike_month.shtml
July 14, 2006 - Oak Grove Cycles
http://www.ojaipost.com/2006/07/oak_grove_cycles.shtml
Suza's Traffic Updates and Ojai Bicycle Articles
http://www.suzafrancina.com/traffic_updates.shtml
Editorial by John van Houten, M.D, published in the Ojai Valley News, Letters to the Editor, 09/18/09
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