“I think there are over 300 people here. It’s just great,” says Bill Nesper as he watches the attendees go in for lunch.
The director of the National League of American Bicyclists is pleased with the lively turnout at the summit at Transylvania University and says Lexington is not alone. There is an increasingly open-minded mood about rethinking transportation in a way that shifts the focus away from just cars and back to sharing the roads.
Nesper says one way to pique the interest of community leaders is to simply show them how other cities have accomplished the seemingly impossible.
“It’s not saying, ‘Well, we can never do that.’ It’s saying, ‘Hey, look, this community that’s kind of like us… they seem to be doing this, and why aren’t we doing this? And why aren’t we?'” he says.
In Kentucky, the outlook for bike and pedestrian friendliness is not too encouraging. Nesper’s national group publishes rankings of states on these issues. Keith Lovan of Bike Walk Kentucky says the state is lagging behind but is starting to pedal a little faster.
“Five years ago we were in 43rd place. Most recently we were in 37th place. And in the fall they will do a new ranking,” he tells WUKY.
As for the Bike Walk Kentucky Summit, the list of panels is far too long to list –
everything from tackling the pedestrian safety crisis to developing mobile apps to report cycling obstructions. But Nesper says the most important takeaway is that this isn’t just a group of cycling enthusiasts chatting about a hobby.
“It’s about results and values that we all share and it is … part of the solution to many of the challenges we face at the local level: health, well-being, quality of life, climate change, sustainability,” he says.
And many other aspects will be discussed in the coming sessions. The summit runs until Friday.
SPACE FOR PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC?
When you hear words like “green” and “sustainable” in discussions about the future of transportation, you probably think of electric vehicles, self-driving vehicles, or perhaps high-speed rail.
In Kentucky, where two large electric vehicle battery factories are planned, electric vehicles are at the top of the agenda for many advocates.
But Nesper tells WUKY that with all the talk about transitioning to more environmentally friendly alternatives, it’s worth taking the time to ask some more general questions.
“Do we want to continue to build as we have done so far, living in such a scattered manner and so on, and do we still want to spend so much time in vehicles?” he asks.
While Nesper hopes that more sustainable energy and transportation options can work together, he says there are communities in the U.S. and elsewhere that are rethinking the impact of the zero-emissions options — namely pedal and foot power.
“If we’re trying to overcome the climate crisis immediately, we need a bigger mix,” he says. “Electric vehicles are part of the solution for the future, but if we make it easier for people to cycle, walk and get around actively, the investment will pay off much more.”
Nesper points out that one of the most popular electric vehicles on the market right now isn’t a car at all, but the XP 3.0 electric e-bike, which ranks just behind Tesla, according to EV tracker Electrek.
