German Law Requires it.

"In the city center of Munich, Germany, there are bike parking lots used by thousands of workers each day."
"Germany also offers subway and train cars, as well as discount fares, designed to encourage bicyclists. Finally, a German law requires that for every new road, a bicycle path is also created."

I'm thrilled about the prospect of biking everywhere in Germany. My cousin, Bonnie, passed on these tidbits of information and I find them fascinating. Why can't we encourage bicycling here in America also? The real question is, "Why haven't we already done this?"

It appears that we lag behind many European countries (Belgium, Switzerland, and Holland all come to mind) as well as Australia when it comes to making bike paths readily available. I'm hoping that with the downturn in the economy, many more Americans rely on cars and gas less and begin to bike more. Not only will it save money, but will offer a host of positive health benefits as well. Perhaps we should insist that Obama's recovery and infrastructure rebuilding imitate the Germans. Heck, make it a law here too! I'm quite certain that many people who struggle with the cost of transportation would welcome the discounted fares.