Bike-friendly cities are also tech business-friendly cities

A recent article in the Houston Business Journal, Sprawling Houston sees increase in commuter cyclists, discussed the 7.1 percent increase in bicycle commuting in Houston from 1990 to 2012, and the city’s $100 million investment in bicycle infrastructure.  Brian Stallings of Bike Texas theorized about the motivation for this investment:

“Companies like Samsung and Google are looking at the bicycle facility infrastructure before they decide what city they’re going to locate in,” Stallings told NPR. “So this is really being driven by economics in Texas. It’s not all about people seeing themselves on a bicycle, but seeing what it does for the quality of life in a city.”

Bike Houston and Mayor Annise Parker recently announced the  Zero Fatalities Bike Safety Campaign, including $50,000 for a bicycle master plan to guide bicycle-related investment decisions in Houston.

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TransportationCamp New England 2014

Open spots are still available for the 1st Annual TransportationCamp New England to be held on Saturday, April 5, 2014.

Following on the success of previous Transportation Camps, TransportationCamp New England ’14 will continue to examine ways to build connections between disparate innovators in public administration, transportation planning, transportation operations, information design, and software engineering.

You can register here. Share your session ideas on the collaborative ideas site. Follow on Twitter for the latest updates, @TranspoCampNE.

Hosted by MIT and the MIT Transportation Club at the Stata Center, Main Floor, 32 Vassar St, Cambridge, MA 02139.

More information at Transportation Camp New England 2014.