In urban areas we are undergoing a shift to on-demand, multimodal transportation.

What does that ultimately mean? Bikers, drivers, scooters, busses and even the electric skateboard all need to share the road. Millennials have been delaying car purchases, and with ride-sharing services effectively integrated into our lives, even Gen X will question the need for car ownership. For them, the experience of getting to work on a bike or scooter is far more optimal than sitting for hours in grid lock. And, when it’s 20 times cheaper to own a bike than a car, it’s a no brainer.

The benefits of biking to work are indisputable, from saving money to burning calories, improving health, decreasing congestion, fighting pollution, relieving stress and having fun. Biking just one day a week to work can save on average $455 a year, and riding your bike to work rather than driving can cut down on your household emissions by at least 6%. And, with critical mass, comes urban infrastructure change that favors biking— data suggests that if there were triple the amount of bicyclists on the road, the amount of car/truck to bicycle accidents would be cut in half. When 15-20 bicycles occupy the same space as an average car, then we need less parking spaces and can develop more open space and parks in our cities.

Biking can be dangerous in the city, the statistics from NHTSA say that with more Americans choosing to ride bikes and walk to stay healthy, pedestrian and cyclist deaths in motor-vehicle-related crashes have increased over the past 10 years. “There were 857 bicyclists killed in collisions with vehicles in 2018… a more than 6% increase from 2017, and up from 718 bicyclist deaths in 2008.” And the CDC cost data from 2010 shows fatal and non-fatal crash-related injuries to bicyclists resulted in lifetime medical costs and productivity losses of $10 billion.

Drivers MUST remember that bicyclists have the same rights as drivers, and both drivers and riders need to respect each other’s rights, and share the road. Here are some key safety tips:

Drivers, yield to bicyclists and do not underestimate their speed. In parking lots, at stop signs, or on the road, search your surroundings for bikes. Drivers turning right on red must stop completely and look left-right-left and behind before making the turn. Obey the speed limit, and give cyclists room. Do not pass too closely.

Bikers, drive with the flow, in the same direction as traffic and obey street signs, signals, and road markings—as if you were in a car. Assume drivers don’t see you; look ahead for hazards or situations to avoid that may cause you to fall, like toys, pebbles, potholes, grates, train tracks. And, no texting, listening to music or using anything that distracts you by taking your eyes and ears or your mind off the road and traffic. Here’s more info on how to avoid specific types of bicycle accidents.