Eugene cranked out four spots in the nation’s top 25 most bikeable neighborhoods as researched by Walk Score.
Based on a 100-point system — determined by bike lanes, hills, destinations and road connectivity and bike commuting share — Walk Score’s Bike Score places neighborhoods and cities into four categories, Biker’s Paradise (90-10), Very Bikeable (70-89), Bikeable (50-69) and Somewhat Bikeable (0-49). It provides a way to evaluate bikeability at specific locations.
The data covered more than 7,000 neighborhoods. The South Eugene High School area was one of six neighborhoods to receive a perfect score. West University followed right after, ranking seventh; Jefferson Westside and the University of Oregon campus were ranked 16 and 17, respectively.
Seeing publications praising Eugene’s bike friendly neighborhoods wasn’t anything new for UO Bike Program Coordinator Briana Orr.
“In a lot of ways,” she said, “I’m not surprised because I think we do have some the best bike friendly neighborhoods and infrastructures that I’ve seen.”
Before she graduated, she applied on behalf of UO for the League of American Bicyclist’s Bike Friendly University Award — the campus was awarded the silver title in 2011. The league also ranked Oregon third in the U.S. for most bike-friendly states, and Eugene currently has the gold title for the most bike friendly community.
“We were one of the first universities awarded a bike-friendly university award from The League of American Bicyclists,” she said.
The awards establish a benchmark for colleges and has helped the UO Bike Program focus on where things could improve.
One of the results is the bike program’s do-it-yourself maintenance shop where students have access to tools and the mechanical knowledge of staff’s mechanics.
“Barnhart and the University’s law school saw this infrastructure’s piece and got so excited they bought their own,” UO Bike Program Operation Coordinator Aaron Rourke said.
The program was started for students in need of a bicycle for transportation, refurbishing bicycles donated from Lane Transit District, Eugene Police Department and Eugene Parks and Recreation; they offer the bikes to students to borrow for one to three terms, charging $20 per term. Rourke hopes the program will increase the number of students riding bikes.
Blue Heron Bicycles employee Alexander Hongo is happy with the UO’s efforts to increase the number of bicycle riders. A couple of years ago, he started a once-a-month community ride titled The Moonlight Mash. Riders bike around Eugene under a full moon and listen to music from his modified Bakfiet CargoBike. When the monthly ride started out, only a handful of people would show up, but he said the last couple of rides the number has met or exceeded 100 riders.
“I feel like in the past, to be an American on a bicycle,” he said, “the only two identities that you could adopt were that of ‘the roadie,’ ‘the cyclist’ or that of ‘can-collector man.’ You don’t have to be a hobo or a racer — you can just be a person on a bicycle.”