Four Valley towns rank high in bicycle commuting

Jul. 15—Four municipalities in Snyder and Union counties are within the 10 highest among municipalities in Pennsylvania for rates of bicycle commuting.

The Center for Rural PA ranked Snyder County's Chapman Township and Union Township at one and three and Union County's West Buffalo Township and Lewisburg at four and five. The ranking was based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the American Community Survey Five-Year Average between 2017 and 2021.

Chapman Township had a rate of 15.9 percent, Union Township had 9.7 percent, West Buffalo Township had 8.2 percent and Lewisburg had 6.9 percent. It is estimated that 27,303 residents commute to work by bicycle in Pennsylvania, according to the Center for Rural PA.

"In Snyder County, in that area, there is a fairly large population of old order Mennonite and farms, which doesn't allow for motorized vehicles but does allow for the riding of bicycles," said David W. Martin, Public Policy Data Analyst with the Center for Rural Pennsylvania. "If you drive along in that region, you often see people riding their bicycles."

In Union County, the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail that stretches from Lewisburg to Mifflinburg is a key feature of that region and bicycle infrastructure is well maintained, said Martin, a former Selinsgrove resident.

"It's two slightly different stories for those two counties," said Martin.

The American Community Survey is based on one percent of the population, so the Center for Rural PA used five years worth of data to compile their list. When smaller population sizes are taken into account with a high number of cyclists, the ranking skews toward rural areas.

Lewisburg Neighborhoods

"Lewisburg Neighborhoods is doing a number of things to foster a culture of cycling, like the Slow Roll community bike ride every Wednesday at 6:30 (meet at intersection of Market Street and the Rail Trail) and the River Road Holiday we do twice a year on River Road north of town," said Taylor Lightman, director of Lewisburg Neighborhoods. "We are also doing small infrastructure projects to make it safer and more convenient to bicycle in the Borough of Lewisburg. We recently bought and installed a public bicycle pump and paid for 'Share The Road' Chevrons to be painted on key streets throughout the borough and East Buffalo Township. It's cool to know that we are having some success in building a bike-able community."

Sam Pearson, who works for the Pennsylvania Downtown Center, runs the WalkWorks Program in collaboration with the state Department of Health. The program promotes active transportation, including walking, biking, and using wheelchairs to get to everyday destinations and to improve personal and community health.

"It is still an interesting stat, and indicative of how inherently walkable and bikeable many of our small towns and rural areas are, or could be," said Pearson. "The elements needed are destinations to commute to, i.e. employers/work, infrastructure that feels safe enough to ride, and a population aware that there is more than one way to get around. In the case of Lewisburg, there are a number of employers, new infrastructure put in only shortly after the 2010 Census, and growing awareness and interest among residents."

Bicycling infrastructure

Shawn McLaughlin, the planning and economic development director for Union County said it is difficult to say with certainty why Union County ranked high.

"One factor is we have a nice bicycling infrastructure amenity in the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail that connects the Mifflinburg and Lewisburg areas," said McLaughlin. "Any time you provide a safe and enjoyable place for people to ride a bike and/or walk it tends to increase the number of people that utilize those modes of transportation."

Also, he said, the municipalities are rural townships and small boroughs and there are still many roads and streets that have relatively low vehicular traffic volumes making them appealing places to bike for short trips.

"Finally, our Plain Sect residents use bicycles as a primary transportation option so this likely contributes to the numbers in our county, especially in the Mifflinburg area and west which is where West Buffalo Township is located," he said. "In Lewisburg, there have been efforts by the Lewisburg Neighborhoods Corp (LNC), the borough and advocacy groups like Walk It Bike It Lewisburg to make the borough a more bicycle-friendly community."

Encouraging bicycling

Brian Auman, a landscape architect and community planner, said Lewisburg Borough is a small college town, the scale of which makes everything easily accessible by bike.

"Living in town it's easier to walk or bike to work downtown or on campus, than it is to drive," he said. "Groups like the Lewisburg Neighborhoods Corporation, the Walk-It Bike-It Lewisburg organization, and Lewisburg Downtown Partnership, have done a lot of work to create a bike-friendly community and a more bike- and pedestrian-friendly culture. The community has also made strategic infrastructure investments in Trails, Streets and Parks, to make that commute a more safe and enjoyable experience."

Rural municipalities like Snyder County's Union and Chapman townships consist mostly of rural back roads that are low speed and low traffic volume, and a countryside populated by a large number of Plain Sect farms. A typical bicycle work commute might consist of biking to work in Port Trevorton, or to off-farm jobs in the area, said Auman.

"Eagle's Mere was historically a summer get-away for visitors from Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Baltimore," he said. "The community retains this recreation focus even today. So while I think most bicycle trips in Eagle's Mere are recreational in nature, it helps create a bike-friendly environment that encourages others to bike for practical purposes, such as a commute to work."

The work to entice more bicycle use is important, said Auman. Lewisburg's per capita transportation emissions measured in metric tons of CO2 equivalent are higher at 6.07 than the national rate of 5.71, state rate of 4.66 and a comparable town of Millersville at 4.03, according to a recent study released by the borough.

"If we are to become a more resilient community in the future, we will need to get more people on bikes for basic daily activities and travel to and from work," he said.

Steve Tressler, of Herndon, often travels to the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail between Lewisburg and Mifflinburg.

"That's what I like to ride," he said. "It's the views. You're not on the road and not constantly looking over your shoulder."