• Dongho Chang is a South Korean immigrant and bike commuter with Twitter celebrity status among active transportation nerds.
• We took a spin with Chang during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month to learn about his efforts to improve safety for people walking and biking, and his first memories of riding a bike as a boy.

As one of the primary public officials working to make bicycling safer in Seattle, it’s ironic that Dongho Chang crashed on his first bike ride.

He was a 9-year-old boy living in South Korea, where his family lived prior to immigrating to Washington. Chang sold all of his toys to get enough money to rent a bike the day before his family moved. “It’s still one of my most vivid and favorite memories,” he says. 

Inexperienced, Chang lost control and crashed into a store. “My dad was really upset with me. I was in BIG trouble. But I was secretly happy that I finally got to ride a bike.”

These days, it’s Chang’s job to help avoid crashes. As the City Traffic Engineer for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), Chang is involved with nearly all SDOT projects that involve changes to street infrastructure, signals and signage, bike lanes, crosswalks, and more.

Chang commutes by bicycle year-round and, when not riding, is a regular user of mass transit who walks daily with his wife. 

I met up with Chang to check out the construction progress on a multimodal project that will improve safety for people who bike, walk, roll–and drive–around Green Lake, one of the city’s most popular parks and recreation areas.

“Everything we are trying to do is engineer a safer environment for people,” he says.

While critics of Seattle’s car-centric streets have legitimate gripes about the slow pace of change, especially in the underserved neighborhoods of South Seattle, there is no disputing that the city is in the midst of a transformation in how people move through the urban environment on foot, by bike, and by mass transit. According to SDOT, the city plans to add 12 to 21 miles of bike facilities this year as part of its Bicycle Master Plan, including near the new Northgate and University District light rail stations. 

Green Lake Two-Way Bike Lane

We meet at the southern end of Green Lake where the street forks around either side of the lake. The city is building a 1.8-mile, two-way bike lane on the eastern side of the lake. “Once you put in a more comfortable and safe facility, more people will use it,” Chang says.

New concrete sidewalks, curbs, and bike ramps have been installed along with crosswalks and traffic signals, plus a push-button bicycle crossing signal, amongst other improvements. Temporary orange traffic cones currently separate the two-way bike lane from cars. In the future, flexible bollards will be installed, “and eventually we will want to put in hard curbing all the way,” Chang adds, separating cars from bikes along the path’s entire length.  

Although the work is continuing, it already feels safer to ride around Green Lake. Not long ago there was car parking on both sides of the street. People on bikes had to ride in the door zone, with motor vehicles whizzing past. Now the bike lanes are consolidated on the lake side.

“Let’s go ride it,” says Chang, who rides a utilitarian, steel-framed road bike. It’s his second bike of the same model. The first one was stolen while locked up during a night meeting related to the 2nd Avenue protected bike lane project–an infrastructure upgrade supported by Cascade that has vastly improved riding through downtown.

We proceed northward up the two-way bike lane, passing people walking, jogging, riding bikes and pushing baby strollers. We stop at the intersection of Ravenna Boulevard and East Green Lake Way North. In the past it was a baffling and dangerous intersection. Cars funnel through from four directions at odd angles, mixing with people crossing the street and riding through on bikes. To make it safer, the city has poured tons of concrete to shrink the road for cars and extend the pedestrian islands.

“It was a really wide and confusing intersection before, and it was hard for pedestrians to cross. People driving are now having to slow down. We are trying to maximize the space for pedestrians, make the car turns as slow as possible,” Chang says. 

“This is what Vision Zero is all about. Engineering the streets so pedestrians have the right of way, where crosswalks are clear, so that even as a bicycle rider you need to pay attention to pedestrians and yield to them,” Chang says. “We want to slow everyone down, reduce the crossing distance, make drivers take turns in a slow and predictable manner.”

We pedal onward, and Chang stops to chat with city workers painting a crosswalk. He snaps a photo and, sure enough, the image ends up in his Twitter feed a few hours later. 

A Twitter Following

With more than 10,000 Twitter followers, Chang is hardly a Bieber-level social media influencer, but he is well-known among active transportation nerds. He posts photos of new curbs, crosswalks, bollards, bus stops, street realignments, signage and more.

The Seattle Times called Chang’s Twitter feed “a catalog of changes to Seattle’s street grid and urban landscape. Almost all those changes are small, but when taken together, they paint a picture of a city in transformation, one less focused on fast car travel and more focused on making streets safe and reliable for walkers, bikers, bus riders and drivers.”

Chang says his tweets are an important source of public comments. “We get a lot of feedback that is very helpful, and we learn about things we are doing well, but we also get feedback that tells us what we need to improve.”

We pedal onward to the northern tip of the lake, where another previously confusing intersection is being re-engineered with better signage, crosswalks, extended sidewalks, and a continuation of the bike lane up to 80th Street, where it intersects with another protected bike lake. 

All of this work around the lake is part of the city’s Green Lake and Wallingford Paving and Multi-Modal Improvements Project. While the project will improve safety and connectivity for the relatively affluent neighborhoods surrounding Green Lake, there is a huge need for similar work in South Seattle. Cascade and other organizations are urging faster action to build safe networks through Georgetown, SODO, Beacon Hill, the Rainier Valley, and South Park. 

Chang hears the criticism loud and clear. Two days earlier, Chang attended a memorial ride for a person killed by a hit-and-run driver in South Seattle, where he spoke about the need for safer bike infrastructure.   

“We need to do more of these projects, especially in our underserved communities in South Seattle,” Chang says. “Connectivity and safety for people on bikes is important. As our city grows we need to think about the values of our society and how we reflect those values in how we build our streets and services, and how we make our society more equitable.”

Childhood Memories of Learning to Ride

As a family man and longtime resident of Seattle who has worked for the city for almost 10 years, Chang certainly wants to make Seattle safer and more equitable for his own family. May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, providing the opportunity for us to speak about his immigration story. Chang and his wife have two children, and they live in a bilingual household with Chang’s mother. “We recognize special holidays and make traditional meals, and we also recognize that the United States is a huge cultural melting pot,” he says. 

Then he laughs: “But my kids are truly American. They haven’t taken on the Korean culture as much as we would hope, but maybe later in life.”

When Chang arrived with his family in Olympia as a child, he quickly tried to learn a few words of English so that he could talk to a neighborhood boy who owned a bike. “I made an instant new friend,” Chang says. “We made ramps with plywood and cinder blocks and took turns jumping and crashing.” 

Those childhood days of riding a bike turned into a lifelong pursuit. As an adult, Chang enjoys the ease of getting around by bike, the friendships it helps form, “and the joy and relaxation that the simple act of pedaling brings,” he says. “I’m so glad that I got a chance to crash that rental bike as a boy.”

The Recipe Book for Roads

Seattle’s bike community can also be happy for that childhood crash. In addition to working to increase the safety of Seattle’s streets, Chang is among the urban traffic engineers who are urging big changes to the federal guidelines that determine the design of American streets. 

The Federal Highway Administration is in the midst of revising one of the main playbooks for traffic engineers such as Chang–the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. It has been called the recipe book for roads, and many safe streets activists and bicycling advocates feel it is outdated and in need of a major overhaul. Many standards in the manual reflect the car-centric philosophy of previous generations.

“That manual has consequences for our streets. How we design our bike facilities is mandated in many ways by that manual. What we hear from the community is that we should separate users where we can, and make those separation barriers more robust. But the manual is sometimes telling us the opposite.”

Tens of thousands of individuals, organizations, and agencies provided comments to the Federal Highway Administration about revising the manual. SDOT provided comments, as did Chang personally. He is hopeful that U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will help direct federal transportation priorities toward a more multi-modal philosophy of street design. 

“We have a lot of work to do,” Chang says.

Our time finished, Chang rides away to look at another traffic intersection, snap some photos for Twitter, and get back to work on the long process of making Seattle safer for people on bikes. With every pedal stroke he lives out the dreams of that 9-year-old boy learning to ride, and preparing to embark on a new life in a faraway land.

We are requesting proposals for the virtual 2021 Washington Bike, Walk, Roll Summit. Submit a proposal today and help us build stronger, more sustainable, more connected communities across Washington.

The 2020 Washington Bike, Walk, Roll Summit brought together more than 600 community advocates, transportation professionals, and planners for our first-ever virtual summit. Thanks to our incredible speakers, thoughtful panels, and engaged audiences we were able to have in-depth conversations on everything from bike connections through Yakama Nation to policing in transportation. Expanding our focus to include folks walking and rolling allowed us to build stronger connections and brainstorm equitable and accessible solutions for communities across Washington.

This year’s summit will be held virtually from September 27 to October 1 and will highlight the intersections between transportation, climate, housing, public health, and more in order to fully understand how we build and rebuild communities as the United States begins to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our 2021 Request for Proposals is now open until July 2, and we welcome submissions from the public, private, non-profit, and academic sectors. We’re looking to hear from communities large and small, rural and urban, and everywhere in between! The work, stories, and experiences of advocates, engineers, and community leaders around the state will help us envision and create a state that is resilient, sustainable, and equitable.

Check out the panel conversations from last year, and share your proposals today!
Please send us your completed proposals by Friday, July 2, and stay tuned for more updates and information about the 2021 Washington Bike, Walk, Roll Summit.

$10 million increase to Safe Routes to Schools and bike and pedestrian grants.

The 2021 Washington state legislative session was held in a mostly virtual manner due to COVID-19 pandemic. In January, legislative leaders began the session promising to deliver progress on: the COVID-19 response, economic recovery, racial equity, and climate change. Investments and reforms that passed included a low-carbon fuel standard, early learning and childcare program expansions, a host of police accountability and reform measures, and critical expenditures to address the impacts of the pandemic.

While federal stimulus dollars and revenues from healthy segments of the economy bolstered the operating budget, the transportation budget was hit hard by the pandemic. Gas taxes, toll revenues, ferry fares, and other fees and revenue sources that fund transportation infrastructure were depressed due to less driving and traveling.

These budget constraints and revenue declines added urgency to the need for a transportation investment package that Washington Bikes supported. It came down to the last days of session and in the end the two chambers did not reach agreement on a final transportation investments package. We worked throughout the 105-day session to lobby legislators on behalf of greater investment in safe streets, accessible routes for people of all ages and abilities, and multimodal investments that strengthen communities.

Even though a final package didn’t pass during the 2021 legislative session, our voices were heard. Many Washington Bikes supporters spoke up throughout the session in support of active transportation programs. Many of our funding priorities made it into the House version of the transportation investment package. Over the 105 days we saw Senate transportation leaders move in the direction we’d been asking, and in the final committee hearing on the transportation investments package they expressed a desire to increase spending for active transportation priorities in a final version of the package. We are in a good position to achieve progress when this conversation resumes.

Meantime, the two-year transportation budget contained a big win for bikes: a $10 million increase in the active transportation grants programs. The Safe Routes to School and the pedestrian and bike grant programs are consistently over-subscribed. These grants pay for projects such as sidewalks, bike lanes or safe routes, street crossing improvements, and ADA accessibility improvements. Washington Bikes was able to help secure this increase despite a final 2021-2023 transportation budget that was defined by its austerity.

Washington Bikes will continue to advocate for increased investments in active transportation as new revenue becomes available. Meantime, we are grateful that the legislative leaders acknowledged the need to increase bike and pedestrian infrastructure funding.

There is a big demand for Washington’s active transportation funds. The last grant cycle marked the highest number of requests ever for these dollars. The pandemic has changed how people move through their communities and the state. More people are biking and walking. At the same time, crash data indicates safety is declining for people who walk, bike, and roll. While we held our ground and had some small victories during the 2021 session, much work remains.
Check back for updates on a transportation investments proposal. There is a possibility that the Legislature might convene for a special session to pass a transportation investments package. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more.

2021 Policy Priorities at a Glance:

HB 1330: We wrote about our support for this electric bike sales tax exemption (read our blog post) that would make e-bikes more affordable to more people. The bill was approved by the House, but didn’t make it out of the Senate.
SB 5472: Electric bikes are banned on some state lands. This bill directs the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Department of Natural Resources, to study and collect information about e-bike use on lands they manage, with the goal of determining where e-bike use may occur and which classes of e-bikes are acceptable. Delivered to the governor for signature.
HB 1301: Signed by the governor, this bill seeks to decriminalize transit fare enforcement. It allows a regional transit authority (RTA) to establish an alternative fare enforcement system, allowing for the issuance of a notice of violation rather than a criminal penalty that can disproportionately harm individuals unable to afford a fare. This law goes into effect on July 25, 2021.
HB 1099: Improving the state’s climate response through updates to the state’s comprehensive planning framework. This bill passed the House, but didn’t make it out of the Senate.

Cascade Bicycle Club and Washington Bikes stand in solidarity with Washington’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community and are heartbroken by the racism and violence that led to eight people dying in Atlanta. 

We have been listening to local community leaders, and know the violence and racism targeting those who were killed in Atlanta is happening here in the Pacific Northwest, too. Local businesses have been targeted; elders and community members fear for their lives. More must be done by elected leaders to hold those who target AAPI community members accountable. 

But this scourge of anti-AAPI hatred goes beyond the acts of violence and aggression that increased after the introduction of COVID-19 into our communities; it is baked into our history as a country and as a region. From the Page Act of 1875 — our country’s first federal immigration law, which specifically banned Asian women — to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 to the Japanese Internment Camps during WWII to the American occupation of the Philippines, this history goes deep. It is important to learn our history so we do not repeat it. 

Today, inadequate safety infrastructure for people biking disproportionately impacts the AAPI community and other communities of color, while white communities face less policing and have more protected bike routes. Negative discourse around Chinese bike manufacturing can emerge while bikes and manufacturing parts from other countries are presumed OK. While 10 percent of Cascade’s major rides participants identify as AAPI, we don’t have specific outreach strategies for those communities. We can — and should — do better. 

Beyond sharing the resources we have added below, Cascade and WA Bikes are committing to three ongoing systems of improvement that we believe will make our community safer for all who join our rides and programs:

1. A Riders Code of Ethics. This will help establish group norms and a code of expected conduct for all who participate in our activities and events.
2. A complaint submission form. This will enable riders who participate in events to report micro or macro aggressions and any racist or exclusionary behavior.
3. Anti-racism trainings for Cascade and WA Bikes Board, Staff, and high-level volunteers.
4. Goals to translate materials and advertise with local community newspapers

Resources:

• Support locally-owned Asian businesses
• Check out this comprehensive list of local organizations to donate to and get involved with: https://www.seattlerep.org/about-us/inside-seattle-rep/aapi-racial-justice-resources/ 
• Report a hate incident if you see one: https://stopaapihate.org/reportincident/ 
• Read more about solutions to anti-AAPI hate crimes and solutions
• Visit and support the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American experience
• Learn more about all the different ethnicities within the AAPI community in the PNW
• Read more about dispelling the “model minority” myth and why it hurts AAPI Americans.
• Learn how to say the names of those who died in the Atlanta shooting, and bookmark this resource on how to pronounce names in general.
• Get involved with APACEvotes to elect more AAPI people to office.

• Electric bikes are a practical and healthy solution for addressing the climate crisis and transforming Washington’s transportation sector–the state’s largest source of carbon emissions.
• Submit testimony in support of the e-bike bill before its next hearing on March 23.

Washington Bikes is encouraging its members to support a bill that would reduce the cost of electric bikes, with the goal of boosting e-bike sales and enabling more people to pedal rather than drive.

HB 1330 would exempt e-bikes, which can cost several thousand dollars, from Washington’s 6.5 percent sales tax, making them affordable to more people. The bill has passed the House and will be deliberated next Tuesday, March 23, by the Senate Ways and Means Committee, which would have to approve the legislation before it could be sent to the full Senate for a vote.

“The more we make this emerging technology affordable, the less we have to worry about traffic, parking, greenhouse gas emissions, and steep car payments,” says the bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Sharon Shewmake of Bellingham. Shewmake, elected in 2018, is an avid e-bike rider and a Washington Bikes champion in the state Legislature.

Members and supporters of Washington Bikes are encouraged to contact their state senator to voice support for the measure. Individuals can also give their thumbs up to the Ways and Means Committee by going to this link, clicking “pro” on the Position menu, then filling in their name and information.

“It’s a win for our wallets, the environment, our health, and people who just want to get around town easily,” Rep. Shewmake says.

Why E-Bikes?

Hugely popular in bike-friendly European nations, e-bikes are less common in the United States, where their sales are growing. E-bikes must be pedaled like regular bikes, but they provide a boost that amplifies a rider’s power, making them a practical solution for replacing cars for commuting and running errands, especially in the hilly Pacific Northwest.

If passed, the exemption would take effect Aug. 1, 2021 and expire in 2027, or when $500,000 in sales tax exemptions have been granted.

Bike manufacturers and e-bike shops are speaking up in favor of the legislation. “These tax incentives will help lower the cost of acquiring an e-bike, making a purchase accessible to many more riders in the state,” says Larry Pizzi, chief commercial officer for Alta Cycling, the Kent-based parent company of bike brands including Diamondback and IZIP. “E-bike trips will replace car trips, easing congestion on our highways, benefiting the environment and improving riders’ health.”

Brian Nordwall, owner of Seattle E-Bike, says he has potential customers for whom the sales tax exemption would make a big difference. “The social, health, and environmental benefits of this bill would far outweigh the loss of revenue to the state,” he says.

Supporters point to the subsidies Washington provides to the buyers of electric cars as a precedent for passing this bill into law. Washington provides up to $2,500 in sales tax incentives for purchasing electric cars. The state sales tax incentive is in addition to a federal tax credit of up to $7,500 for buying an electric car. “We already provide exemptions to electric vehicles in Washington state, and we should do the same for e-bikes,” Shewmake says.

Cars and the Climate Crisis

Increased use of electric bikes could help solve the climate crisis, which is being driven in large part by gasoline-powered motor vehicles.

Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Washington state, accounting for nearly 45 percent of the state’s emissions in 2018. Transportation is likewise the biggest source of carbon emission in the United States, accounting for 29 percent of the U.S. carbon footprint, with gasoline alone comprising 22 percent of the U.S. carbon emissions.

More than 45 percent of car trips in the United States are three miles or less, according to the National Household Travel Survey, while more than 20 percent are one mile or less. A large percentage of these trips could be accomplished with an electric bike by people of all ages.

A study conducted in Portland, Ore., estimated the city’s carbon emissions would drop by 12 percent if electric bikes were used to replace 15 percent of car trips. “These estimates show that e-bikes have the potential to help cities and regions achieve their climate goals,” the study’s authors wrote.

A survey of e-bike owners by the National Institute for Transportation and Communities shows that, once people have an electric bike, they use their cars less. Electric bike owners ride more often, and they feel safer riding the streets on an electric bike than a traditional bicycle. Respondents said that 76 percent of their e-bike trips would have otherwise been made by car.

“It doesn’t get treated as a serious commute mode, but it is,” says Rep. Shewmake, a professor of environmental economics at Western State University in Bellingham. “I lost 10 pounds and began riding it everywhere after I got an e-bike.”

E-Bike Subsidies Work

Washington’s e-bike bill is part of a growing national and international effort to boost the use of e-bikes as car replacing vehicles. The U.S. Congress is considering an e-bike bill. The Electric Bicycle Incentive Kickstart for the Environment (E-BIKE) Act would give a 30 percent tax credit up to the amount of $1,500 for an e-bike purchase.

E-bike subsidies are also popular in Europe. In Sweden, a government subsidy caused sales to increase by more than 50 percent. England is preparing to introduce subsidies for e-bike purchases. Oslo, Norway, has offered subsidies for residents to buy electric cargo bikes–the so-called pickup trucks or minivans of e-bikes due to their hauling capacity.

California passed a bill in 2019 that provides residents of low-income communities up to $7,500 to buy an e-bike or join a bike-share program if they trade in their car. The California Legislature is now considering the E-Bike Affordability Bill, which would create a $10 million fund to help individuals buy electric bikes.

Rep. Shewmake’s bill would also provide a sales tax exemption for up to $200 in cycling equipment including helmets, lights, and locks. She called it bipartisan legislation. “Definitely contact your senator, send them an email, and share your personal story if you have an e-bike.”

Learn More and Support the Bill!

Read Rep. Shewmake’s bill and follow its progress in the Senate.
Submit a comment on the bill.
Submit a “Pro” position to the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

• Washington Bikes and Cascade Bicycle Club encourage and support helmet use but oppose criminalizing people who don’t wear head protection.
• Please read our Q&A about why we feel helmet laws are unjust, and how they distract from the more important issues of road safety and motor vehicle speeds.

If we distilled Washington Bikes’ new position on bike helmets down to a bumper sticker, it might read: Helmets Yes. Helmet Laws No.

As Alexander Lew of the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board told the Seattle Times: “I wear a helmet every time I ride a bike, but it shouldn’t be something that is criminalized.”

A lively debate has erupted online and in the media about the pros and cons of repealing the King County bicycle helmet ordinance. In addition to the Seattle Times, media outlets including Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, the Seattle Bike Blog, and Crosscut have written about the issue.

There has also been progress: the King County Board of Health, which enacted the law in 1993, is now reviewing the helmet ordinance, with the possibility of repealing or changing it.

Unfortunately, there has been confusion about the law, its harmful impacts and unintended consequences, and why Washington Bikes and Cascade support the effort to review and repeal. To clarify our intent and rationale, we’ve created a Q&A:

Is Washington Bikes anti-helmet?

No! We encourage everyone who can afford a bike helmet to wear one. And we continue to require them to participate in our events. In addition, Cascade will continue providing them to youths involved with its Major Taylor Project and Let’s Go programs, as well as providing helmets free of charge to Learn to Ride participants.

If you encourage helmet use, why are you supporting the effort to repeal the King County law?

We believe the helmet law was enacted with good intentions in 1993, but we have learned a lot in the nearly three decades since. Nationally and locally, we have seen other cities repeal or alter their helmet laws due to evidence of racial bias in enforcement, with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color often ticketed and stopped at higher rates. Last year, Tacoma, Wash., repealed its bicycle helmet law.

In light of these developments, our board of directors approved a policy position calling for the repeal of the King County law, which led to our staff joining the King County Helmet Law Working Group and local coalitions working to examine the King County law and its enforcement in Seattle. This effort is guided by our  Commitment to Anti-Racism.

A researcher with the King County Helmet Law Working Group, Ethan Campbell, recently released the results of his lengthy and exhaustive study of helmet ordinance infractions issued by Seattle police. Campbell’s data shows that Black people have been ticketed at a rate nearly four times greater than white people, despite the fact that Black people make fewer bike trips in Seattle. The law has also been used to target homeless populations.

Due to this data showing racial bias in enforcement and the targeting of vulnerable populations, Cascade and Washington Bikes decided to publicly support the effort to repeal the King County law, and to speak out on behalf of efforts to decriminalize bike riding in Seattle and King County.

In addition to racial bias, socioeconomic factors are also important to consider. Bike helmets are expensive. Should a person coping with homelessness be criminalized for riding a bike to their job without a helmet?

But don’t helmet laws make bicycling safer?

No. We found no conclusive data to support the claim that places with bike helmet laws are safer. In fact, helmet laws may make bike riding more dangerous by discouraging some people from riding and thus reducing the “safety in numbers” effect. This is why groups including Transportation Alternatives for Safe Streets for Families oppose mandatory helmet laws. Places where more people ride bikes tend to be safer, and helmet laws can have the negative consequence of shrinking the number of people who ride. This is contrary to Cascade’s mission, and to the public health goal of encouraging more people to bicycle.

OK, helmet laws don’t improve safety, but does wearing a helmet make you safer?

It sounds like an easy question, but it’s actually quite complex. First we must separate the issue of head protection from safety. Head protection is just one aspect of safety. In some types of crashes, helmets have been shown to protect people from head injuries and reduce the severity of head injuries. That is why Cascade encourages individuals to wear a helmet, and why it requires them at its events, and why it provides them for free to youths in its programs.

However, helmets are not designed to protect people riding bikes from the most frequent cause of fatalities–being hit or run over by a person driving a motor vehicle. “There are many misconceptions about helmets, unfortunately,” a spokesperson for helmet maker Giro told CyclingIndustry.news. “We do not design helmets specifically to reduce chances or severity of injury when impacts involve a car.”

Unfortunately, deaths from vehicles hitting people walking and biking have risen nationally in recent years. Researchers point to several trends: distracted driving, more SUVs and larger vehicles on the road that have more blind spots and which inflict greater harm when striking individuals, and an increase in the number of miles being driven by Americans. In short, the behaviors of people behind the wheel and trends in American vehicle use pose the greatest danger to people on bikes.

A Dutch study showed that people wearing helmets are actually more likely to be injured when wearing a helmet. That’s because Dutch people rarely wear a helmet when bicycling to town, but they do wear helmets when mountain biking or riding competitively. Wearing a helmet, the researchers theorize, may induce people to take more risks when bicycling. The study shows how statistics can be misleading, and it illustrates how the issue of helmet wearing defies knee-jerk reactions and dogma.

So how do we make it safer to ride bikes?

The European nations of the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany show the answer: protected and safe infrastructure, and policies that encourage more people–especially women–to ride bikes. In these three countries helmet use is extremely low, people ride more often than in the United States, but fatalities are much lower. In the United States, where the percentage of people who wear a helmet is far higher, the fatality rate is more than three times greater. This data shows that helmets are not the key to safe bicycling. This is why Cascade and Washington Bikes advocate for more protected bike lanes, more funding for safe bicycling infrastructure, and laws such as the Safety Stop.

Does that mean we should stop wearing helmets?

No! We will continue wearing ours, but it should be an individual choice. If safety is the goal, we should all focus our efforts on reducing the incidence of people driving motor vehicles striking people on bikes. Helmet laws have “distracted from the much more important work of designing safer streets and reducing motor vehicle speeds in cities,” says Streetsblog. This is why Cascade supports the effort underway in Seattle to reduce arterial speeds to 25 mph.

Washington Bikes encourages its members to do further research and reading. Helmets are not a panacea for safety. We acknowledge that Cascade advocated for the helmet law when it was implemented and that it will take education to undo the common assumptions about helmets and safety. The behaviors of people driving, however, appear to be highly relevant to the safety of people on bikes. This study shows that people driving are more likely to drive closer to people on bikes wearing helmets, while giving people not wearing helmets more space. Helmets, that study would indicate, cause people to drive more dangerously.

If enforcement is the problem, why not fix enforcement instead of repealing the law?

This question deserves discussion. The number of helmet citations has declined over the past decade, from a peak of 789 in 2011, down to 118 in 2019, and just 17 through June of 2020, the last date for which Campbell collected data. The reduction in tickets issued, however, does not mean police are stopping and questioning fewer people for not wearing a helmet. Just a fraction of stops result in citations, Campbell says. As long as the law is on the books, “there is nothing preventing the police department from increasing enforcement, and for those vulnerable populations it’s still an issue as long as this law is on the books,” explains Campbell.

At a time of budget cuts and national discussion about the role of law enforcement, is it the best use of limited resources to have police stopping and ticketing people for not wearing a helmet?

If King County repeals the law, could we replace it with incentives to wear helmets?

“Repeal and replace” is one of the issues being discussed by the Helmet Law Working Group. Ideas include education about the benefits of helmets, and incentives that would lower the cost of helmets. Virginia Tech runs one of the most respected helmet testing programs, and its top four rated helmets range in price from $50 to $240. Some individuals can’t afford that expense. Cars come equipped with seatbelts, making the decision to wear them easy. Bicycles do not come with helmets.

How can I get involved or learn more about the King County helmet law?

The King County Board of Health meets on the third Thursday of the month at 1 p.m., with the next meeting scheduled for March 18. People can give public comment thanking the board for adding the issue to their agenda and share their thoughts. Individuals can also email Board of Health members directly.

More Information:

Pro bicyclist Phil Gaimon articulates the “victim blaming” attitude of the media and law enforcement when cars strike people on bicycles. We urge you to watch it.

New York Times story on the rising death toll from motor vehicles hitting people walking and bicycling.

Streetsblog article: “More Evidence That Helmet Laws Don’t Work.”

• A new study shows that Black people have been disproportionately ticketed in Seattle for violating King County’s helmet ordinance.
• Washington Bikes urges its members to learn about the negative impacts of bicycle helmet laws on communities of color.
• Cascade and WA Bikes fully support helmet use, but want to decriminalize their useage. 

Seattle police have stopped and ticketed Black people for not wearing bicycle helmets at a rate about four times greater than for white people since 2003, according to data obtained by the King County Helmet Law Working Group, of which Washington Bikes is a member.

Black people represent about eight percent of Seattle’s population but they received more than 17 percent of the tickets for violating the bicycle helmet law, the group found after reviewing Seattle Municipal Court data on 1,667 helmet infractions.

The disproportionate ticketing of Black people riding bikes is even more notable in light of the group’s data that shows Black people make less than five percent of all the bike rides in Seattle. Due to this new data and a growing body of evidence showing that helmet laws disproportionately impact communities of color across the country, Cascade Bicycle Club and Washington Bikes are working with the Helmet Law Working Group to gather data and community input to create a process for decriminalizing helmet use in King County and Seattle.

The Helmet Law Working Group was formed last summer by Central Seattle Greenways, a member of the Seattle Neighborhood Greenways coalition, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and its focus on racism in policing. Members include Cascade and its sister organization Washington Bikes, Real Change, and individuals from other transportation and equity-focused groups. Cascade and Washington Bikes are participating as part of their Commitment to Anti-Racism and with support from the Board of Directors to pursue initiatives that decriminalize helmet use.

The group’s data analysis was done by Ethan Campbell, a 26-year-old University of Washington Ph.D. student who got involved with the issue last summer after joining with other bike riders to support the Black Lives Matter protests. Campbell produced a Technical Report explaining the methodology and findings. He hopes to refine the study and submit it to a peer-reviewed journal for publication.

People who would like to share their thoughts about the helmet law in King County, which Seattle enforces, are invited to fill out an anonymous survey about their experiences with police enforcement of bike infractions..

Cascade previously advocated for King County’s helmet law but is now calling for public officials to review the law with the potential for repealing it. The case for repeal is even stronger in light of recent reporting that shows nearly half of Seattle’s helmet tickets go to people experiencing homelessness.

Cascade and Washington Bikes support the voluntary use of helmets, as they can reduce head injuries, and will continue to require helmet usage in Free Group Rides and at community events and all Cascade lessons and programming. However, data shows that other public policies including safer street infrastructure, such as protected bike lanes, and reductions in vehicle speeds are more important for reducing injuries and deaths among people riding bikes. That’s why Cascade supports the effort underway in Seattle to reduce speed limits to 25 mph on most arterial streets.

“The data shows conclusively that the number one safety issue for people biking or walking is vehicle speeds,” says Alex Alston, state policy director for Washington Bikes. “Anything we can do to slow down vehicles saves lives.”

Racial disparities in the enforcement of helmet laws is not just a problem in Seattle. National reporting has shown that communities of color have been ticketed and stopped at disproportionate rates in other cities, leading some communities to repeal their helmet ordinances.

Tacoma, Wash., repealed its bicycle helmet law in the summer of 2020. In 2018, a federal court ordered the city to pay $500,000 to a teenager who was thrown to the ground and tased by an off-duty city police officer after being stopped while bike riding without a helmet. The incident can be seen in this video, but be advised the video shows violence.

There are other reasons to oppose mandatory helmet laws beyond racial profiling. These laws can discourage people from bicycling, especially people who cannot afford helmets, which is an impediment to the public policy goal of getting more people to ride bikes for both health and environmental reasons.

Campbell’s analysis shows a dramatic decline in tickets issued for bicycle infractions over the past decade, from a peak of 789 in 2011, down to 118 in 2019, and just 17 through June of 2020, the last date for which he collected data. The reduction in tickets issued does not necessarily mean there are fewer police stops, however, as just a fraction of stops result in citations, Campbell says.  

If police are issuing fewer tickets for bicycle infractions, why is it important to repeal the helmet law? “There is nothing preventing the police department from increasing enforcement, and for those vulnerable populations it’s still an issue as long as this law is on the books,” Campbell says. “But for the wider public, your chance of getting stopped while riding a bike is almost nonexistent.”

Campbell, who is Asian-American, was stunned to see how people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent were one of the least-likely groups to be ticketed by police while bicycling. “It was staggering for me to see that Asian cyclists get cited for not wearing helmets at a rate 11 times lower than expected for their share of bike trips.”

“What that tells me is that police are being totally discretionary in whom they stop. Police are able to use this law to target certain communities that, for whatever reason, they already want to stop,” Campbell says.

More Information:

Attend the King County Helmet Law Working Group’s next meeting on Feb. 10.

Read Campbell’s Technical Report with data, methodology and findings.

King County Board of Health helmet law text

The Washington Department of Transportation has compiled a list of municipalities in the state with helmet laws.

A bike bridge over the Columbia River is among approximately $10 million in projects underway on the 285-mile Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail.

Anyone who has biked the Palouse region of eastern Washington has seen the beauty of its rolling hills, dryland wheat fields, wide open spaces and big skies. Thanks to the work of Washington Bikes, the Palouse to Cascades Trail Coalition, legislators in Olympia, and Washington State Parks, the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail is about to get some major improvements that will make it more accessible to all.

The historic Beverly Bridge, a former railroad trestle that spans the Columbia River in central Washington, is scheduled to open for bicycling, hiking and non-motorized recreation in September, providing a key linkage in the Palouse to Cascades trail, which spans much of the state.

The Columbia River currently splits the trail, requiring people on bikes to make a long detour, or risk their safety crossing an Interstate 90 bridge that has no shoulders. Opening the Beverly Bridge, which is gated and closed due to safety concerns, will provide a big boost for bicycle tourism in Washington, according to some supporters of the project.

Washington State Parks expects to complete a $5 million construction and resurfacing project on the Beverly Bridge, built in 1909, in September, when a grand opening ceremony is planned. Nearly three-quarters of a mile long, the Beverly Bridge passes 85 feet above the river and offers spectacular views.

“This is a really cool project,” says Randy Kline, statewide trails coordinator for Washington State Parks. “In addition to being a big attraction for long-distance bicyclists, we expect that the bridge will become a destination in itself, and that people will come just to visit and walk or ride across it.”

The Beverly Bridge project is part of about $10 million worth of work underway on the Palouse to Cascades trail, which runs through the old Milwaukee Road railroad corridor from the Puget Sound region to the Idaho border. The Palouse to Cascades is the second-longest rail trail in the nation, according to the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.

“We support the effort to complete the Palouse to Cascades trail and other cross-state multi-use trails that allow people to bicycle on safe routes separated from roads,” says Alex Alston, state policy director for Washington Bikes, which lobbied for funding to rebuild the Beverly Bridge.

Washington Bikes advocates for full funding of the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program because it pays for trail projects including work on the Palouse to Cascades.

The map above from Washington State Parks shows the many projects underway along the trail.

Another important project on the Palouse to Cascades trail that is expected to be completed this year is the 680-foot-long Renslow Trestle, which crosses over Interstate 90 about 11 miles east of Ellensburg. In March, workers are expected to finish $1.2 million in improvements to the bridge, including the addition of decking and railings to make it safe for biking and walking.

“This is an exciting project because it will eliminate another big detour,” Kline says, “and people driving by on the interstate will see people on bikes passing right over their heads.”

Workers are adding decking to the Renslow Trestle that passes over Interstate 90 to make it safe for bicycles. Photo courtesy Palouse to Cascades Trail Coalition.

Renamed in 2018, the trail was previously called the John Wayne Pioneer Trail. Washington State Parks took over management of the rail corridor from the Department of Natural Resources and has in recent years installed 23 new signs along Interstate 90 to build awareness of the trail and help people find trailheads.

Another important project expected to be completed in 2021 on the Palouse to Cascades is $1.8 million of work to resurface sections of trail between the towns of Malden and Rosalia, and to repair two former railroad trestles. State Parks plans to build trailheads with bathrooms, parking spaces, and shade shelters.

This project, like all bike tourism, will hopefully boost the area’s economy–especially if Washington can implement its Scenic Bikeways Program in the near future.

Tekoa is a small community near the Idaho border. Here, the state is adding decking and railings to open a 975-foot-long bridge located in the middle of town. “This is another beautiful trestle that is iconic to the town of Tekoa,” Kline says. The $1.7 million project is expected to be completed in the fall.

In 2019, a fire burned the trestle over Crab Creek near Smyrna, necessitating a short detour. The state plans to complete design work for a new bridge this year, with construction estimated for 2023, according to Kline.

Another ongoing project includes an effort to find an off-road trail for about 30 miles of active rail line just east of the Columbia River, from Royal City Junction to Othello and Warden. Ideas include building a trail alongside the rail line, Kline says.

Big skies and wide-open spaces. Photo courtesy Palouse to Cascades Trail Coalition.

Other small gaps in the trail that must be filled include a short stretch between the towns of Ralston and Marengo where the trestle over Cow Creek is missing, as well as a few stretches of the rail corridor that pass through private property.

By the end of 2021, long-distance bike tourists who want to pedal the Palouse to Cascades trail will have a vastly improved experience.

“Washington Bikes will continue to advocate for completing this trail because we know that it will enhance bicycle tourism in Washington and bring needed economic activity to the many rural communities along the route,” Alston says.

At the Idaho border, the trail corridor ends when it hits private property. In the future, some hope a route can be identified to link the trail to the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, a 73-mile paved trail that spans the Idaho panhandle on the former Union Pacific rail corridor.

The trail terminus at the Idaho border. 

In western Washington, bike advocates including the Leafline Trails Coalition that Cascade helped found hope to link the Palouse to Cascades trail, which ends at Cedar Falls near Rattlesnake Lake, to the Mountains to Sound Greenway, whose construction is ongoing. In the future, Cascade hopes that ongoing trail work on the Olympic Peninsula will eventually allow people cross the state from the Pacific to the Idaho border almost entirely on trails.

The Palouse to Cascades is one of five long-distance rail trails overseen by Washington State Parks. Others include the Columbia Plateau State Park Trail, a 130-mile rail corridor between Cheney and the Tri Cities.

Another is the 37-mile Spokane River Centennial State Park Trail from Spokane to the Idaho border, and the 57-mile Willapa Hills State Park Trail in southwestern Washington that runs from Chehalis to Willapa Bay on the Pacific Coast.

Cascade and Washington Bikes will continue advocating for trails in 2021 and beyond because bikes are good for our health, climate, and economy. Please consider donating to Cascade today so that we may continue this important work: cascade.org/donate

More Information:
The Palouse to Cascades Trail Coalition offers maps and resources.

Watch this video of the Beverly Bridge to learn more about its historical significance.

See the trail from the air in this video.

Washington Bikes will push to increase investments in infrastructure for people who bike, walk, and roll during the 2021 legislative session. Join us on Thursday, Jan. 7, for a virtual meeting to learn more about our legislative priorities.

The 2021 Washington state legislative session begins next week on Jan. 11, and we’ve spent the last several months preparing for a unique and challenging session. This will be a predominantly virtual session, with tight budgets and huge community needs.

Despite these challenges, we see several exciting opportunities to advance policy and funding to make it safer for people who bike, walk or roll.

Washington Bikes 2021 Legislative Priorities:

• Grow bike and pedestrian funding in the multimodal account in the transportation budget. Washington Bikes supports new, flexible revenue sources to support active transportation. The multimodal transportation account dedicates funds for rail, ferries, transit, biking, and walking. These investments include the Safe Routes to School program and the Pedestrian and Bicycle grant program and projects. We are working to grow this dedicated funding to ensure that all Washingtonians, especially those who rely upon active transportation because of cost or ability, can get around safely and easily. Washington Bikes supports the additional $20 million investment in the Pedestrian and Bicycle grant program ($15M) and the Safe Routes to School Program ($5M) funded in the governor’s 2021-2023 transportation budget.
• Protecting and connecting trails statewide. Trails are the backbone of many biking and walking networks statewide. Washington Bikes supports the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program’s (WWRP) $140 million funding request in the capital budget. WWRP projects include improving outdoor recreation opportunities, trail development, and enhancing state parks.
• Support policies and funding to address inequities in transportation and policing. Washington Bikes will advocate for active transportation funding investment that prioritizes low-income communities, communities of color, and areas of historic under-investment. These locations regularly align with high incidents of crashes, according to traffic injury and fatality data. Additionally, as part of our commitment to racial equity, we are working in coalition to support policies such as decriminalization that emerge, leveraging the active transportation equity analysis, and ensuring funding is prioritized in racially equitable ways.
• Support measures that will incentivize or lower the barrier to electric bike ownership. E-bikes provide an efficient way to bike due to the pedal-assist that allows for longer rides, ease of traversing hills, and carrying groceries or children. 76% of trips taken by e-bike owners would’ve been car trips prior to owning an e-bike. More people e-biking means fewer people in cars, which helps meet Washington’s transportation congestion and climate goals. Washington Bikes support measures that will incentivize or lower barriers to e-bike ownership.

Washington Bikes will work over the 105-day session to help create healthier communities and thriving economies by making streets safer for active transportation, and by working to connect and grow bicycle and trail networks throughout Washington. Stay in touch by signing up for Washington Bikes’ alerts.

Join us tomorrow, Jan. 7 at noon for a deep-dive into our legislative priorities. We’ll share how we can collaborate to advocate for funding and policies that will create easily accessible, connected bike routes, bolster Washington’s local economies and tourism industry, and ensure streets are safe for all.

RSVP here and we will send the Zoom link