The morning commute may not be the highlight of a typical day, but it doesn’t have to be that way. This year’s Bike to Work Day—on Wednesday, June 26, 2024—beckons commuters to rethink what it takes to get around, and maybe have some fun in the process.
The free event encourages employees across Northern Colorado and beyond to ditch the car for a day and take to the streets on two wheels. It’s an opportunity to get outdoors and enjoy some pre-workday exercise while helping to promote sustainable transportation.
But before taking off on a bike–or whatever mode of transit you plan to use–consider what it takes to ensure a safe ride for all.
Safety first, in the bike saddle or driver's seat
Hopping on the bike saddle doesn’t come without stakes. Twenty cyclists died in traffic-related accidents in Colorado last year. That’s up 33% from 2022, making 2023 among the deadliest years for cyclists statewide over the past decade. Hundreds more riders were involved in non-fatal traffic crashes in 2023, many of them resulting in serious injuries.
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Bicycle Colorado Executive Director Peter Piccolo provided some tips for both cyclists and drivers aching to hit the road:
Cyclists—
- Try to curate routes to prioritize streets and paths with lower speed limits and protected bike lanes whenever possible.
- Visibility is key, so wear bright clothing and install front and rear lights on bicycles, even for trips during the day.
- A helmet provides additional protection–and it’s best to replace your well-used head protection every five years or so, according to Consumer Reports.
- Do not fan out beyond two bikes side-by-side on roads–even if it may be tempting on group rides.
Drivers—
- Keep in mind rules of the road. Cyclists can legally ride two-abreast as long as doing so does not impede the flow of traffic.
- As of 2022, Colorado cyclists can legally roll through stop signs if no other traffic is present, and proceed through red traffic lights in the absence of traffic after first making a complete stop.
- Drivers are obligated to give at least three feet of distance to cyclists when passing.
And at the end of the day, try and remember to take a breath before jumping in the car or hopping on the bike saddle. Reducing stress means fewer excuses to unnecessarily antagonize other road users.
“We're all husbands, wives, moms, dads, brothers, sisters,” Piccolo said. “We're just trying to get to our destination.”
A 'predictable' problem, real solutions
Piccolo said ensuring bicycle safety has to do with far more than individual behaviors alone, though.
“It’s infrastructure,” Piccolo said. “It is so predictable where crashes are going to occur. Where people are going to get killed and injured.”
Some cities, like Hoboken, New Jersey, andr Oslo, Norway, have found solutions that suggest traffic-related cycling deaths are avoidable. Both cities have numbers to prove there are interventions that significantly reduce deaths.
In Hoboken, a small city with a population around 60,000, there were zero traffic-related deaths for seven consecutive years as of January 2024, according to a city update. In 2019, Oslo achieved zero cyclist or pedestrian fatalities, and has maintained low numbers of annual traffic-related deaths since then, according to Daniel Piatkowski, a professor of land use and transportation planning at Oslo Metropolitan University.
To achieve the feat, Hoboken’s city leaders invested in roadway infrastructure improvements, from enhancing crosswalks to redesigning roads, as part of a traffic safety campaign launched by a mayoral executive order in 2019. In Oslo, a series of infrastructure updates initiated about a decade ago made a big difference, including lowering speed limits, increasing tolls into the city and reducing parking availability.
No parking minimums, more protected lanes spell progress in Colorado
Communities in Northern Colorado can implement similar solutions–and some already have. There’s no magic bullet, but there is one bike safety effort that consistently works.
“Getting started,” Piatkowski said. “Usually the best thing is going to be whatever you can make happen in your community.”
Longmont recently became the first in Colorado to eradicate parking minimums across the city, a measure that typically helps promote biking, walking and public transit use over driving. Denver and Boulder have constructed protected bike lanes in certain areas. Those protected lanes can take the form of white posts, raised curbs and more.
Nearly $1 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding was directed to Fort Collins last December to aid in planning and education around bike safety in the city.
Boulder County recently proposed an 11-mile bike path between North Boulder and Lyons along U.S. 36, the most dangerous road for cyclists in unincorporated Boulder County. The county also plans to begin construction this year on a new bike path between Longmont and Boulder along Highway 119, where 17-year-old Magnus White was killed last year.
A new state law this year seeks to combat distracted driving by banning hand-held cell phone use behind the wheel.
Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Democrat who represents Denver, has been a proponent of cycling ever since she invested in her own e-bike using a rebate program. She said investing in bike safety is a win-win situation.
“Making it easier for more Coloradans–regardless of income, regardless of, you know, the zip code that you happen to live in–to be able to tag in to this e-bike infrastructure, you know, the biking world,” she said, “That's good for all of us.”
One pedal at a time
Everyone can play a part in making Northern Colorado a better place for bikes—and that includes advocating for needed changes.
“The people who created these systems, you know, they created them without considering bicycles, because they didn't have to. And so now I think they need to be fixing it," Piatkowski said. "But the onus is on us as citizens to make sure they do that.”
One great way to advocate for cycle safety, of course, is to head out for a pedal around town. Sen. Gonzales said there’s no better feeling.
“It's one of the few times in my life that my brain actually stops buzzing. It's when I actually just stop and I focus on peddling,” she said. “I focus on the wind, you know, in my face. I focus on my breath, and it's almost like meditation.”
