Traveling Beyond Detroit: The Bicycle

We are all familiar with the argument; save gas, ride a bike. While many have decided to take the challenge and go by bike, the fact remains that we as a society are deeply attached to the personal automobile. This begs the question, "Why?"

As an avid rider myself, I find it hard to believe that such a large majority doesn't enjoy biking for the sake of biking. Rather, I think the determining factor is convenience. I realize that bikes often are less convenient than cars, but this is a convenience that is becoming ever more difficult to pay for. Also, the convenience of biking does not have to remain static. Imagine how much the convenience of driving a car everyday to work would diminish if the roads were constructed of nothing more than speed-impairing gravel, parking was sensible parking was nearly impossible to come by, and our traffic laws were designed with something other than cars in mind. The difference would be incredible. If much of convenience depends on external structures, than it is entirely possible to improve the convenience of something like biking as a form of transportation.

Since I'm living in Germany right now, I'll share some practices here that makes bike transportation more convenient.

Bike Lanes

In every German city that I have ever visited, the bike lane system is extensive. Each system stems from the heart of the city and branches out radially to connect different neighborhoods. Depending on the size of the city, the branched bike paths are connected in whichever manner makes the most sense. The bike paths are designed for mixed use, and are clearly divided between a pedestrian friendly half and a bicycle friendly half. If a biker is approaching a group of pedestrians, the biker just rings a bell, or squeaks the brakes to let the pedestrians know to move on their side on the path.

At the very heart of the city, it isn't uncommon for certain streets to be pedestrian only zones. These are usually the streets with outdoor markets. On any road without a bike path, the road is shared, and the those on bike ride without fear of cars (but they also follow rules).

Bike Storage

Just as cars need parking lots or garages, bikes need bike racks or lockers in order to increase the convenience. Plus, it's just good for organization and security. Cities won't have to worry about an entire workforce worth of bikes being locked to flagpoles, fences, rails, and trees. Riders won't have to fret about locking their bikes in a safe area.

Depending on the city design, a centralized bike locker can make sense. A centralized locker requires that a large number of jobs be concentrated in a relatively small area, so downtown business districts are usually a safe bet. In cities with less concentrated employment, centralized lockers can still make sense providing that public transportation or pedestrian traffic is accommodated to connect the dots. In some cases, smaller decentralized lockers will just make more sense, especially if there isn't already established convenient public transportation.

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Bike Storage Case Study: Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

While I was in Freiburg earlier this summer for the TREE seminar, I took a renewable energy tour of the city. The tour covered solar and biogas, but we also spent time on transportation. The tour started at the RE-tour agency's office, located in a mixed use bike locker facility. It was part bike locker, part café, part bike shop, and part city of Frieburg renewable energy tour agency office space. On a side note, those are solar panels on the sattelite dish looking thing. On the front of the building hung a meter which showed how much energy was being generated and consumed by the building. This building was definitely a centralized bike locker, and the location definitelz impacted this. One needed only to step off the Straßenbahn (Tram) at the main stop, and walk 20 meters. Plus, the main stop was conveniently located on a bridge spanning Frieburg's Hauptbahnhof (main train station). This transportation trifecta allowed those living in neighborhoods outside the city to commute by bike (which, if only a few miles away is faster than the tram, because of the fluidity of the bike path and Tram stops), park their bikes at the locker, and then catch a quick Tram ride to their office building or a Train for a daytrip/weekend getaway. Prepare yourself for pictures.

The effect is that of a parking garage. This is the basement/ground floor, and these are all citzen bikes that get dropped off in the morning and picked up at the end of the workday.

This is looking inward toward the center of the building.


This picture makes it look like you just remember your number come pick-up.

The fun doesn't end here though, because as we made our way back upstairs an onward on the tour, our guide drew our attention once more to the exterior of the building. In this case, we were directed to study the café balcony. Go ahead, study...

Nothing yet? That's okay. The next picture is my attempt to get a closer shot.

Answer: The balcony railings are actually water pipes that take advantage of the sun's heat to warm the water before running through the boiler line to heat the café or hot water line in the kitchen and bathrooms. Be impressed, it's okay.

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So, what can we learn from Freiburg? The culture is obviously different, and so is the city design. Some naysayers might end the conversation there, saying that such infrastructure just wouldn't fly in the States, certainly not small Jackson, Michigan or suburban Dayton, Ohio. And they might be right, because we don't have the same city design, equivalent public transit, or bike culture. The thing is, we don't need to be the same as Freiburg. We can meet our own needs and still be progressive and ambitious enough to open the door to better bike culture and public transit.

Please use the comments as a forum to discuss this topic. What does everyone think? How can we build upon Freiburg's ideas? What is feasible? Do we need to consider other factors?

Catch-up Part 3: Welcome to Freiburg

With the aid of a seven hour jump forward in time zones, I arrived in Frankfurt almost a full day after I had left Detroit. I caught a train ticket headed south to Freiburg, where I was to attend an introductory seminar with the nine other internship program participants. Some background: Shortly after Easter, I had received acceptance into the Transatlantic Renewable Energy Exchange (TREE), for which I had applied in winter. The program was federally funded by the German government for American and Canadian university students and recent graduates who wished to work in Germany’s booming renewable energy field. For me, the internship offered the combination of my two educational pursuits; German and what I deemed through my twenty-year aged idealism as merited engineering.


Due to my travelling complications which were mentioned in the earlier post, I had arrived in Freiburg two days before my seminar began, that is to say, two days before my room and board were to be provided. Luckily, my friend Karin, who was participating in a year of study at the University of Freiburg, had agreed to host me for the two unexpected days. Had I not been aware of Karin’s respectable credentials, expectations of such short-noticed hospitality would have been thought naїve. I am, of course, speaking of our shared alma mater and home parish, St. Mary Star of Sea.


After much difficulty and plenty of help from local Freiburgers, I was able to call Karin from a pay phone at the Freiburg Bahnhof, or train station. In no time at all, Karin and I were riding the Straßenbahn, literally street train, through downtown Freiburg on our way to her WG, Wohnen Gemeinshaft, or shared apartment. There I was introduced to Karin’s five mixed male and female Mitbewohner; three native Germans, one Pole, and one native of China. I had just tipped the WG scales in favor of the foreigners.


That night I shared dinner with Karin, her boyfriend Michael, his two older brothers, and his sister-in-law. The three brothers were all students at the University of Freiburg, with the oldest just finishing up his final few months of medical school. They also were all completely fluent in American English, as their Mother is American and always spoke English with them as children. After a delicious meal of pasta salad, curry-beef and rice, accompanied by a local, rather heavy-tasting Rothaus beer, we made our way to see the new Indiana Jones movie, which big surprise, was in English.


The next day, after an exorbidantly long sleep, Karin gave me a brief tour of the city, ending with a walk up to the Schlossberg, a tower ontop of a Hill just outside of the old city walls. The walk ended up being quite the trek, as the trails were also used by the many mountain biking enthusiasts that made Freiburg their adventure destination. When we reached the top of the Schlossberg though, it was clear why these bikers decided on Freiburg. The city was so completely surrounded by hills that you felt, as Karin put it best, hugged by them.


On Saturday morning, Karin and I met up with a friend of hers at the Münster, the present day cathedral that was first begun being built in 1120. Karin's friend, it turned out, had was our own private tour guide, which was really sweet because he seemed to know the young priest who let us behind the altar and into the private chapels and crypts. Yeah, near thousand year-old tombs...the Catholic equivalent of backstage passes.


After finishing the tour, our tour guide suggested an noontime snack, for which he generously offered to pay. Our snack options were myriad, since a bustling market sets up shop Monday through Saturday in the old city, which just happens to have the Münster as its center. There were bread stands and meat stands, fruit stands and vegetable stands. There were stands devoted entirely to asparagus, which in Germany is almost always white due to how it is grown. With all of the English that I had been hearing, I was ready for something classically German, and few things are more German than meals of bread and cheese. In the end, we all shared a half meter long baguette, bleu cheese, and bear's garlic cheese from a French stand. Close enough.


As we sat at an outdoor cafe table, our benefactor filled the conversation with his experiences of having grown up during an divided Germany. He spoke sincerely when expressing gratitude in the US's commitment to rebuilding a vibrant Germany and Europe after the WWII, and the US's further commitment to a democratic Europe during the Cold War. Here, more than my surprise at the ubiquity of English, more than my surrender to a French meal, was what I had been searching for. This was beyond the standard cultural fare. This was personal. This was German.