Forget Uber: Some People are Biking to Airports

by Alex Temblador
Last updated: 2:45 PM ET, Tue November 27, 2018

Travelers are always looking for creative and money-saving ways to get to their airport and it looks like bikes are slowly becoming a popular alternative to Uber or taxis.

Sharon Feigon, executive director of the Shared-Use Mobility Center, a national public interest organization in Chicago dedicated to affordable transportation, told The New York Times, "Regional and state transportation planners are rethinking airport access and who travels to the airport, and how and why."

"Airports can facilitate bicycle travel for employees and some travelers," she added.

The Safe Transportation Research and Education Center at the University of California, Berkely, looked at seven airports - including LAX and Boston Logan - and found that airport operators were using bicycle travel as a means to reduce employee parking spaces.

"One aspect that has changed is the penetration of cargo bikes that can now easily accommodate bags for short airplane trips," said Offer Grembek, a co-director of the center who was not involved in the study. "Another aspect is electrification of bikes that increase the range and reduce the level of effort needed."

In addition to electric and cargo bikes, many see the rise of bikeshare services as playing an important role in why more travelers are using bikes to get to and from airports.

The New York Times spoke to Conor Semler, a transportation planner who rides his bike to Boston Logan International Airport when he travels for work about twice a month.

His seven-mile trip to the airport is 45 minutes long but the trip and parking is free

"I prefer not to be in a car," he said. "The first time I rode my bike to Logan, it was mostly for the novelty. But after trying it I realized it was not just possible but kind of easy."

When Semler's travels take him to Washington, he walks 10 minutes from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to a Capital Bikeshare station and rides 30 minutes to his company's office.

"With biking, I have a more reliable trip. With Metro, I could be stuck in a tunnel for 15 minutes," he said.

While some airports are difficult to access by bike, Baltimore-Washington, San Diego, and Portland are bicycle accessible. San Diego International Airport and Portland International offer bicyclists directions to the airports on their websites. Portland even provides a bicycle assembly area, repair station, free bike parking, and a bike path for travelers who fly with their bikes.

Sreenath Narayan, a medical resident in radiology in San Diego, rides his bicycle to the airport, too.

"The bicycle trip is more predictable," he said.

After using the free bike racks for a year, Narayan sent a $25 deposit to the San Diego Association of Governments to gain access to a sheltered bicycle locker at the airport.

While bicycle travel to airports might be gaining more awareness and interest, it can still be confusing in terms of directions, impossible as some airports are not accessible by bike, or scary as the roads to the airport may not offer bike lanes or guarantee safety.

Yet, with the increase in bike sharing programs and the cost efficiency of this method of travel, it may not be long before bike travel to airports becomes a popular method for travelers, like Uber and Lyft were compared to taxis not too long ago.

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