PSU seminar to highlight first Platinum city

UC Davis professor Susan Handy
will discuss bicycle policy.
Photo: Active Living by Design

As part of their ongoing Transportation Seminar Series, PSU’s Center for Transportation Studies will host a seminar titled, Bicycling in Davis, California; A Critical Look at Policy and Behavior in the First Platinum Bicycle City in the U.S.

The presentation will be given by Susan Handy, an environmental planning professor at UC Davis.

Davis achieved Platinum status from the League of American Bicyclists back in September of 2005, but the city is experiencing some growing pains.

It will be interesting to see if Handy brings up the considerable challenges Davis is facing in light of a growing population and changing demographic that threatens the bike-friendly values they are so well known for.

Once an idyllic, farm-filled, college town, Davis’s biketopia is becoming more and more difficult to preserve as the city bursts at the seams with new residents who don’t yet share the love of two-wheeled transport.

Cities must re-apply for their Bicycle Friendly Community designations every year.

The seminar is free and open to the public and is scheduled for 12 noon on May 4. For more details on this an other seminars, check out the full schedule.

Also part of this seminar series is a presentation by PDOT’s Dan Bower who will present the results of the Northeast Hub Project, an individualized marketing program that encourages people to walk, bike and take transit.