The city of Albany observed "Bike to Work Day" today.
Albany's annual observance of National Bike to Work Day, originally been scheduled for June 8th, had been postponed due to air quality issues resulting from Canadian forest fires. Thursday morning Mayor Kathy Sheehan joined officials gathered downtown at Tricentennial Square to celebrate the steady growth of cycling and bike commuting.
"I know we were trying to do this earlier in the month, but our friends up in Canada had different ideas," said Sheehan. "And we're still seeing the effects of those fires today. And the reason that I bring that up is that, you know, we are living through global climate change. And there are many who say, we're the first generation to feel the impacts of it. And we're the last generation who's going to be able to do something meaningful about it. And so while bike to work day, or alternative transportation to work day is really about what we can do to be healthy, what we can do to ensure that we're engaging in the incredible built environment that is being created by New York Parks and Trails and others, including the city of Albany to allow people to experience safer pedestrian alternatives. It is also about reducing our carbon footprint."
Saying a quarter of Albany residents don't own cars, Sheehan says much has been done to make the city cycle-friendly. She added interconnected trails and bike routes allow for bicycle travel from New York City to Albany and west to Buffalo.
CDTA's Carm Basile says Albany has become a community where "getting around is not an issue."
"With the success of CDPHP Cycle, which is now in its seventh season, we are integral part of the of the bike to work day in the Bike to Work initiative, and the Bike To Be Healthy initiative," Basile said. "We're very proud to have about 150 e-bikes, our newest product, those are pedal assist bikes. For some of you that aren't familiar with a new way to get around, that we'll be growing over time over the summer. And by the end of the summer, they'll be 500 bikes, both e-bikes and traditional pedal bikes around."
The celebration of bike commuting was organized by Capital Streets. Co-founder Kyle Hatch says the new regional nonprofit is working to advance sustainable transportation and livable streets across Albany, Saratoga, Rensselaer and Schenectady counties.
"Every major city in the region already has some sort of existing bike or pedestrian advocacy organization that's doing great work," said Hatch. "The issue with our region is there's a lack of coordination across those groups between different municipalities. And really from a practical standpoint, especially with transportation, those municipal boundaries don't matter so much, people just want to be able to get to where they're going. So our goal as an organization is to coordinate across all of those advocacy groups, and across all the municipalities, to come up with a long term regional vision that our advocates can then advance and, you know, think beyond just their community and their municipal boundaries. No one wants to be riding in a bike lane that just ends as soon as you hit a municipal boundary."
Hatch says there a casual evening ride for cyclists of all skill levels scheduled to depart at 6:30 from Washington Park’s Lakehouse that will include a trip on the South End Connector, the city’s first protected bike lane and a ride along the Hudson River, ending with a downtown food and drink gathering.
