Mayoral hopefuls Tuesday earned the same grade they served the city for bicycle friendliness: F+.
During a Green Transportation Conversation Tuesday, Sept. 1, hosted by the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, PEDS and Citizens for Progressive Transit, three of four leading hopefuls dismissed bicycles in a few short words as exercise or sport, then flunked the city for failure to recognize bicycles as transportation.
“I don’t,” quipped candidate Mary Norwood when asked before the event whether she rides a bike. “I don’t do exercise.”
The would-be mayors – Lisa Borders; Norwood; Kasim Reed; and Jesse Spikes – stumbled through a series of questions moderated by Atlanta Business Chronicle reporter Maria Saporta. Full answers to those follow this entry. Each also was asked to grade Atlanta on a scale of 10 for pedestrian and bicycle friendliness, and transit development.
Bicycle friendliness earned a whopping six of 40 points, Borders and Reed assigning ones, Spikes and Norwood generous with twos. Pedestrian and transit grades were little better (respectively, Borders: 3, 4; Norwood: 5, 3; Spikes: 2, 3; Reed: 3, 3, “…followed by awful”).
Candidates’ responses to a series of get-to-know-you questions – including MARTA and vehicle use, favorite non-ATL city and the presence of sidewalks in their neighborhoods – illustrated an ignorance of bicycles as transportation. Only one, Spikes, puts the fun between his legs.
Spikes studied two years at Oxford, London, England, where his bicycle was his main mode of transportation. He still owns and maintains that bike; however, he said the only intown cycling he does is with a friend in Grant Park, otherwise trekking out to the Silver Comet Trail. Spikes further said his initial campaign plans called for a bicycle tour of the city, something he still hopes to do.
Norwood built on her previous answer, adding during the event, “I do love it, though,” blaming her reluctance to ride on a lack of coordination and dislike of traffic. To Norwood’s credit, though, she accepted an invitation from ABC members for a bicycle tour of the city.
Reed said he is a runner and a swimmer, not a cyclist. Borders stated, “I am a walker. I walk.” She cited a collegiate knee injury as reason for passing bicycles by.
Each hosting organization had opportunity for three questions, spanning zoning changes for pedestrian-friendly development, comprehensive bicycle infrastructure and planning, even opinions on building highways under neighborhoods. Or, per gubernatorial wannabe John Oxendine’s solid gold plan, plowing East Atlanta under for another arc of interstate. This drew laughter.
Rebecca Serna, ABC executive director, asked whether Atlanta might model itself after cities like Boston, which added a bike czar four years ago to oversee projects, or Houston and Chicago, which have added hundreds of miles of bike lanes, yielding better quality of life and traffic reduction. Serna cited, too, Atlanta’s lack of even an advisory council regarding bicycle infrastructure, a point the candidates failed to answer or chose to ignore.
Borders latched on to the notion of staffing a city Bicycle Czar (“…or Czarina,” a joke she hammered several times, each to diminished returns on the initial giggles). She quickly reshaped this idea as staffing an alternative transportation czar(-ina) to oversee all efforts.
“Bikes are one, and they are a good one,” she said, “but it is only one.”
Norwood chased this angle, pledging to “follow Boston’s model: it’s all about connectivity,” a buzz word she repeatedly tossed the crowd, with all the gloss and value of Mardi Gras beads.
“We need some kind of bad weather contingency, though, in case you find yourself in a sudden downpour – oh, it says ‘stop,’ so I’ll stop,” Norwood stammered, saved by the red octagon in her timed response. Most cyclists’ foul weather plans include checking the forecast, donning rain gear, using MARTA or waiting it out.
Posed with bicycle-related questions, the candidates always put them second to issued like city finances, which they claimed must be set straight before any infrastructure improvements may be made.
Road diets (reassigning excess road with or lanes for bicycle use) and adding to Atlanta’s paltry 30 miles of bike lanes may not break the bank, Serna noted: bike lanes are cheap.
When it comes to opposing a simple thing like burrowing sub-city traffic bypass tunnels, mayoral candidates are on board. Faced with the technologically advanced and socially complex object like the bicycle, though, the train goes off the tracks: outlandish.
Lisa Borders
Favorite non-ATL city: New York City, for its diversity and transit
Make and number of cars owned: Two – Honda Civic and a Lexus
Neighborhood: Two – Southwest Atlanta development and an intown town house
Sidewalks on street: At town house, yes; in development, no
Riding MARTA: Uses the para-transit service to aid her father to get to his medical appointments
Riding bicycles: Lisa Borders is a walker; she walks
Walking grade: 3
Bicycle grade: 1
Transit grade: 4
Mary Norwood
Favorite non-ATL city: London, England, because one never needs to drive a car; she is a big Tube fan
Make and number of cars owned: A 10-year-old, “utterly uncarjackable” Buick Century
Neighborhood: Habersham Road, north of Paces Ferry
Sidewalks on street: Yes; she likes to walk up to the commercial areas
Riding MARTA: To the airport; otherwise, MARTA lacks accessibility
Riding bicycles: Mary Norwood doesn’t do exercise
Walking grade: 5
Bicycle grade: 2
Transit grade: 3
Kasim Reed
Favorite non-ATL city: Washington, D.C., which features great diversity, home of alma mater Howard University
Make and number of cars owned: A Ford Taurus, in tribute to the now-defunct Hapeville Ford plant in his district
Neighborhood: Southwest Atlanta development
Sidewalks on street: Nope
Riding MARTA: Rides to Peachtree Center to visit his mom
Riding bicycles: Nope
Walking grade: 3
Bicycle grade: 1
Transit grade: 3, “…followed by awful”
Jesse Spikes
Favorite non-ATL city: Cape Town, South Africa, because it is beautiful and feels like Europe
Make and number of cars owned: Chevy Yukon XL, with which he hauls barbecue equipment around the city
Neighborhood: Southwest Atlanta development
Sidewalks on street: Nope
Riding MARTA: Rides the train primarily to Falcons and/or Hawks games
Riding bicycles: Yes, occasionally, and spent two years riding for transportation in London
ATL walking grade: 2
ATL bicycle grade: 2
ATL transit grade: 3
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