Bicycling and Walking In The United States

Thanks to Suburban Assault  for highlighting this report.  I would have eventually stumbled on it at Bike Texas but I was surfing my favorite blogs first this morning.   You can get a copy of the report (PDF) here from the Aliance for Biking & Walking.

Very interesting report.  I will be reading and re-reading it over the next few weeks, especially as I prepare for the next Bicycle Advisory Council meeting. 

Part of this blog is to discuss/promote cycling as a fitness and health tool.  So, this graphic leaped off the page and grabbed my attention.  It compares levels of adult obesity to biking and walking use.  I’m a little skeptical about how obesity is defined (if it’s that useless statistical nonsense called BMI, I have a problem).  However, there is a correlation between “healthy” populations and increased biking/walking. Probably a pretty good cause-effect relationship there (any bets?).  It shows some other patterns that seem counter-intuitive.  Take a look at the south:  high rates of obesity, low bike use and yet a moderate climate that would seem conducive to more biking and walking.  You can see some interesting opposites in some northern states (Montana and Wyoming?). 

Recommended read.  Some very useful information here.

[Via http://oldguy2wheels.wordpress.com]