The Alliance for Biking & Walking has released a comprehensive report summarizing the state of bicycling and walking in the US, with some familiar conclusions.... The Alliance for Biking & Walking has released a comprehensive report summarizing the state of bicycling and walking in the US, with some familiar conclusions and some that might be surprising:

In these times of high gas prices, a warming climate, increasing traffic congestion, and expanding waistlines, increasing bicycling and walking are goals that are clearly in the public interest. As this report shows, where bicycling and walking levels are higher, obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes levels are lower. Higher levels of bicycling and walking also coincide with increased bicycle and pedestrian safety and higher levels of physical activity. Increasing bicycling and walking can help solve many of the largest problems facing our nation. As this report indicates, many states and cities are making progress toward promoting safe access for bicyclists and pedestrians, but much more remains to be done.

The report also points out that bicycling and walking, the most responsible as well as most efficient forms of urban transit, receive federal money at levels far below even their present low levels of mode share, which may be a good reason why the cycling-walking mode share has not increased as rapidly as the lavishly-subsidized auto portion.

Read a summary of the report, with links to the full version at the Alliance for Biking and Walking website