Alexandra Gutierrez asks if snobby cyclists are their own worst enemies in the quest for bike-friendly cities:
Celebrity is an odd thing in Washington. Typically, it’s defined by an honorific, a motorcade, or maybe a bungled appearance at a state dinner. So it was a rare moment when New York City’s transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, remarked at a Brookings Institution-sponsored event on urban cycling in December, “We do have a rock-star panel,” and meant it literally.
To her left sat David Byrne, the Grammy-winning former front man of Talking Heads. Skinny trousers, blood-red shirt, mad-scientist hair: This was the look that the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) sought to give its newest initiative, a program called Cities for Cycling, designed to highlight good transit policies and eventually take them federal. Byrne had agreed to speak alongside Sadik-Khan and Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, who hails from the bike mecca of Portland and frequently sports a bicycle-shaped lapel pin. It was a dream come true for any urbanism wonk with a well-tended record collection.
