loading . . . Bike Commuter Survey Do you get around by bike? Have any thoughts to share on the topic? If so, I’d love to hear from you! I am writing a new book on bicycle transportation, to more fully document this everyday but easily overlooked experience—who’s riding; why we do so; how things tend to go. The few recent books on this topic tend to be academic, or first-person narratives; I hope to write one that better reflects broader numbers of bike commuters’ actual experiences. Beyond expanding the popular understanding, I want to capture a moment in time—for posterity, if we’re lucky, but foremost for the benefit of those around us who may be commute-curious. This book will invite any and all to join us in our daily journeys. It’s never been difficult to find advice on bike commuting: surprising numbers of people are happy to share their opinions. The mileage varies greatly, of course; from earnest suggestions or expressions of concern to the far simpler ‘get off the road.’ Yet moving beyond generalities—for or against—is harder. This project will canvas the participants themselves: to see what people are actually doing, and what we might learn. The approach I’m taking here mimics what I did with my last book, Riding More with Less: A Future for Bike Repair, which enlisted a survey of community bike shops to document resourceful approaches to maintenance. That effort yielded a wealth of key insights, which together really brought the topic to life; this new book will apply a similar lens to bicycle transportation. I wouldn’t be able to know all those who might wish to contribute to a project such as this one, so to start I’m sending this out to as many cycling-related NGOs as I’m able to identify online; to include those I’d contacted about the previous book. Towards that end, I humbly ask that you complete and return the survey below. (It is also available as a Google form, or via Survey Planet, for the Google-averse—whichever works best for you.) I hope to hear from as many bike commuters as may have the time, and also from as many perspectives as possible. And as you’ll see, the survey includes space to add suggestions outside its scope—put another way, I anticipate that the responses I receive will very much inform the scope and direction of this book. Boilerplate bike commuting advice is easy to find nowadays, fortunately enough, but with this book I also hope to expose the unspoken adaptations, shortcuts and local knowledge that experienced riders might usefully share with those just getting started. Not every suggestion will make the cut—this project obviously won’t approach any kind of representative sampling, with a billion bikes in use worldwide—but I do hope to discover and explore those trends, tendencies and approaches that could be of current interest to larger numbers of cyclists. And we’ll bring in current and historical references on the topic as well, to help provide additional context. What’s in it for you? All surveys received will help shape the content and conclusions of the book. And if your own words or images are included in its pages, we’ll send you a free copy! But the real reason is to help tell our story, in all its glorious candor and detail, to a world that rarely understands or even expects us. By returning this survey, you agree to allow your words and images to be used for purposes of this book. Please note any queries you may have for me under question 20 below, as well as any additional themes that may bear examination. That would also be the place, if you wish to contribute anything outside the scope of this survey. Thanks so much for your time! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSegwv5tTEE5b6r-CTieB9P99I_nVGbeFcZpW-hZFwKDzJc39Q/viewform
