Houston Bicycle Revolutionaries

Do you ever wonder why so many people ride bikes in a place like the Netherlands while so few do in Texas? Both places are flat with temperate weather, and physicists call the bicycle the most efficient means for human transportation yet invented, so why do residents in one location ride bicycles at so much lower a rate? Well, the answer, it turns out, is complicated and involves political, cultural, and practical factors.

This week on Sea Change Radio, we hear from Michael Payne, a wind energy executive-turned-bicycle-advocate. He talks with host Alex Wise about the efforts his non-profit, Bike Houston, is undertaking to change policy, attitudes, and habits in the nation’s 4th largest city. While it’s unlikely this work will transform Houston into a Southwestern Amsterdam anytime soon, the lessons from the work of Payne and his colleagues may well inspire similar bicycle revolutions in other cities.