Citation

Langeland A. World Transp. Policy Pract. 2007; 13(2): 8-22.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Eco-Logica)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

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Abstract

The City of Davis is the US Bike City (Bicycle Magazine 2003) and some have even called it The Bike City of the World (Lofland 2004). Thinking that there was no place for environmentally friendly modes in the US, Davis with an abundance of bikes (but also huge SUVs and trucks) with local well-functioning bus services and quite a few trains daily, forced me ask questions. Was it a result of deliberate policies and actions, or did it just happen? When so many cities struggle to get people to use soft modes like walking, cycling and public transport (PT) how did Davis manage to become a biking city and what role did land use and transport planning play?

Research question and method:
This study of sustainable transportation in Davis focuses on several key questions:
• How was the land use and transport connection in Davis? What effect had planning and policy on the choice of transport mode? Was the development caused by a deliberate policy and was it sustainable?
• How could the observed land use and transport development be explained? What were the factors facilitating cycling and what were the factors inhibiting more sustainable transport development?
• What if any, are the lessons from Davis for medium sized cities in Europe?
The paper outlines firstly the theoretical context and the method used in the case study. In the next section a description of Davis follows and change in mode choice over time is shown. In the third section Davis is analysed, focusing on sustainable transport. I have chosen to evaluate the historical development in Davis to find the reasons why Davis has managed to develop the bike city.

Lastly, I return to the three questions posed and draw some conclusions and lessons for European cities.