Clean Air In the News

    The Old Town gazebo looked like a bicycle convention Thursday as cyclists rode in from around town to hear Mayor Martin Chávez announce a package of initiatives to make the city more bike-friendly.
    The cornerstone of the plan is a fleet of bicycles that will be available for rental at 25 sites throughout the city. Chávez said such a program will promote cycling as an integral part of the city's public transportation.
    With the new program, residents could rent a bicycle, ride it to their destination and return it to any of the other stations. Locations of the rental kiosks have not been decided, but Chávez said they would be in spots around town that would most benefit cyclists, such as Old Town, Nob Hill and Downtown.
    The program, called Q-Bike, would be run by a private company so there would be no significant cost to the city, Chávez said.
    The city has put out a request for proposals from private bidders, and Chávez said he hopes to award the contract within the next two or three months.
    Cyclists said they were pleased to see city officials making cycling a priority.
    "We're really making strides," said Ben Savoca, vice president of bike advocacy group BikeABQ. "BikeABQ is pretty unanimously ecstatic."
    Chávez said the Bike-Q program will be modeled on similar programs that have been successful in Europe and are being launched in U.S. cities like Portland and San Francisco.
    The mayor also announced other bike-related initiatives, saying the city will rewrite sections of the traffic code that deal with cycling to make them more bike-friendly.
    Albuquerque police, starting Tuesday, will do sweeps to enforce existing laws, ticketing both drivers and cyclists.
    Bike patrol officers will also go into schools to teach cycling safety.