City officials have been making an issue out of alternative modes of transportation for several years and have had some success in promoting biking. The city's Department of Transportation has added about 20 miles of dedicated bike lanes in the past 15 months.
Jamie Kendrick, deputy city transportation director, said the effort has focused on the "college loop" - connecting the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus, Loyola College and Morgan State University - as well as the Hampden neighborhood. Plans are under way for Park Heights and the neighborhoods around Patterson Park, he said.
The parks department, meanwhile, opened the extension of the Jones Falls Trail this year, a 2.75-mile route through Druid Hill Park.
Several bicycle enthusiasts said the city has made strides but that it still has a long way to go. Richard Chambers, executive director of One Less Car, a nonprofit group that advocates for alternative transportation, applauded the parking and other initiatives.
Still, there are far fewer people riding to work in Baltimore than in most other large East Coast cities. Census data from 2000 indicate that less than 1 percent of employed Baltimore residents use a bicycle as their most common form of travel - less than Washington, New York and Philadelphia.
Mark Counselman, who sits on the One Less Car board, said it will take time for people to come around to the idea of eschewing their cars. But he said he believes it will happen eventually.
"The city is making strides to be more bike-friendly," said Counselman, who commutes by bike. "Across the city people have a sense that they see more people out on bikes. That's anecdotal, but we're hearing that."
john.fritze@baltsun.com
More information
For more information or to express an interest in secure bike parking, contact Tiffany James at the Parking Authority by calling 443-573-2800 or by e-mailing tiffany.
james@baltimorecity.gov.
