One Day I'm Packing My Bags and Silently Leaving All of You

Getting to work is by car, not bike
Memphis ranks second to last in commuters who peddle to the job
By Tom Charlier

June 18, 2007

Until it almost got him killed a few times, bicycling was Bob Schreiber's preferred way of getting to work.

He lost no fewer than two bikes during frightening wrecks that occurred while he rode to a former job at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

"They got run over -- I had to dive off them," recalls Schreiber, now a financial advisor in East Memphis and board president of Greater Memphis Greenline, a group pursuing plans to create a biking-hiking trail network along a former railroad.

Experiences like Schreiber's -- and the city's reputation for being unaccommodating to cyclists -- might help explain why Memphis ranks low in comparison with other cities when it comes to commuting by bicycle.

Estimates released last week by the Census Bureau show that among the nation's 50 largest cities, Memphis, along with four other cities, ranked next to last in the percentage of commuters using bikes.

However, the city was closer to the middle range of the rankings for the percentage of commuters who walk, carpool and ride public transportation.

Of more than 279,000 workers in Memphis, only 214 -- or 0.1 percent -- commute by bicycle, according to the estimates. That's just one-fourth the national average of 0.4 percent.

Only Kansas City, where the estimates showed a paltry 50 commuters out of a 216,000-strong workforce cycle to jobs, finished lower than Memphis.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, 3.5 percent of commuters bike to work in Portland, Ore., the greatest proportion in the census estimates.

Proponents say commuting by bike could reduce traffic congestion and air pollution and promote healthier lifestyles. The benefits, they say, could be particularly telling in Memphis, which fails to meet federal standards for ozone pollution and fares poorly in rankings for obesity and other health problems.

To local cycling enthusiasts, the city's low ranking is hardly a surprise.

"There's not one bike lane in the entire city of Memphis," said Steven Sondheim, a member of the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee, an ad hoc group working with the Metropolitan Planning Organization.

A decade ago, Memphis and Shelby County developed a regional bicycle and pedestrian plan. It pointed out that while the city is ideal for biking and walking, "facilities are scarce and not located where they would provide a realistic alternative to vehicle trips."

Sondheim and other proponents say biking opportunities have not improved much despite a proposed network of bike routes on streets laid out by a consultant to MPO.

Some recent initiatives could make biking a more practical commuting alternative. They include the planned Wolf River Greenway and efforts by Schreiber's group to develop the CSX rail corridor.

Despite the poor ranking for biking, Memphis had a respectable showing in the estimates comparing cities for carpooling. With more than 29,000 local workers sharing rides, Memphis sped past 20 cities in carpooling, including Portland, Nashville and Atlanta.

Local transportation officials hope to boost the practice even more through a federally funded program in which Shelby County leases vans and provides them at no cost to employers, with riders paying only for gas. At least a half-dozen employers have participated.

Jim Holt, assistant manager of the Health Department's pollution-control section, is one participant in the vanpool program. It has cut his weekly gas bill from $50 to about $10, giving him a "big raise," he said.

"It's a great program," Holt said.