“Bicycling Renaissance in North America?”

All these European countries have very high standards of living, and all have experienced rising incomes, growing auto ownership, and rapid suburbanization. Yet bicycling is thriving in this environment, primarily due to long-term commitments to enhance the safety, speed, and convenience of bicycling while making driving more difficult and expensive. These policies were adopted by democratic political systems, partly to mitigate the social and environmental harm of excessive auto use in cities, but also to accommodate rising demands for mobility within the physical constraints of congested urban roads, high-density cities, and limited land supply for parking.