I am very disappointed in your statement in todays Eagle column...
"Council member Paul Gray said that biking isn't a major form of transportation in the city, and that no one on the City Council rides a bike to work."
Perhaps you SHOULD ride a bike to work. Five people is an accurate representation of the population of nearly half a million (metro area)? I personally ride a bike quite often.
Even if you don't believe that biking is a major form of transportation in Wichita, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't encourage people to use other forms of transportation than vehicles that use fossil fuels.
I would also point out the MANY comments on the Eagle's website that are from people that drive cars, that think that bicyclists are a problem for THEM, being on the street. In Wichita, it is illegal for bicycles to be on the sidewalk, except in certain areas... but if a cyclist rides in the street, they risk their lives with the crazy drivers in Wichita, who don't seem to want to share the road with cyclists.
Most major cities in the U.S. have bicycle lanes. I know that Wichita is the "World's Largest Small Town" but it is ridiculous for us not to encourage people to be more "green."
We continue to encourage more pedestrian-friendly places, such as Old Town, Downtown and Delano, but part of "pedestrian-friendly" also applies to people who use bikes as transportation (whether it is their MAIN transportation or not).
I would encourage you to become more informed on this issue by reviewing this blog: http://www.delanowichita.com/category/blogs/delanonians/cycling/
I hope that we can change the attitudes in Wichita to encourage more people to use alternative methods of transportation. However, this will involve some leadership from our City's leaders.
