Tom Held of the Journal Sentinel reports in his article, Census says: more bikes on the road in Milwaukee, that “The number of Milwaukee workers who bicycled to their jobs more than doubled from 2006 to 2008, and now accounts for more than 1% of the total commuter traffic.”

Ride the Drive? Just seventy miles to the west, a successful car-free day, often referred to as a Ciclovía or in the U.S. Sunday Streets, brought thousands of people out of their homes, and into the street to enjoy their city. At its simplest one of these events, closes off a few miles of city streets to automobile traffic for the day, much like a street festival does, but larger and it doesn’t focus on food, beer, and music.

Recently, the American Automobile Association, began offering their Roadside Assistance program to bicyclists in Oregon, and parts of Idaho. Yes, that’s right the American Automobile Association is offering roadside assistant service to bike riders. This is the same organization that in past years had opposing funding for bike infrastructure and mass transit, and of course had pushed for more and wider highways.

An important part of building a more bicycle friendly city, and for that matter state, is to update Wisconsin’s biking laws so that they in encourage more ridership instead of discouraging it. For example, in June 2009 Governor Doyle signed a new “anti-dooring” law that corrected existing regulation which required bicyclist to ride three feet away from parked cars. This law actually protected drivers who opened their doors into bike lanes or streets without looking which often resulted in injured bicyclists.

Over the past forty years Copenhagen has implemented bicycle infrastructure components that have helped make it one of the most bike friendly cities in the world. This transformation wasn’t quick, but it offers many lessons and ideas that can be utilized in making Milwaukee not just more of a bicycle friendly city, but a better city.

This past weekend I took part in the United Performing Arts Fund’s 29th annual Miller Lite Ride for the Arts, it was great to see thousands of people show up bright and early to take part in the ride. This event brought together two goals, supporting the arts and promoting more bike riding, that fit perfectly with the creation of a vibrant city. The day of the ride was cold, and it rained part of the way through, but the experience of seeing so much of Milwaukee at a pace where you can actually take it in got me thinking.

1. Jazz in the Park, it’s back June 4th and despite the drama, will be just like it has been in years past. River Rhythms starts across the river on June 10th, and Chill on the Hill kicks off June 2nd.

Bike to Work Week runs from Sunday, May 11th to Friday, May 16th.  If you’re not already biking to work, here is a great chance to give it a go.  If you haven’t experienced urban biking in Milwaukee before, I suggest you take a look at the city-provided map indicating the good streets to ride [...]