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SF Urban Riders has jumped in with both feet behind a proposal to build an urban mountain bike skills park in McLaren park, accessible from downtown San Francisco and site of a successful BMX track in the late 1970’s heyday. From kids just getting used to riding on two wheels to older kids and adults looking for jumps and a pump track the park hopes to cater to a wide variety of riders and inevitably function as a social meeting place beyond simply a bike track. Read all about the plan at the dedicated McLaren Bike Park site where you can also read various letters of support from the community and around the country, and add your own if you’re so inclined.
Archive for the 'Advocacy' Category
All of Bike Pittsburgh’s staff is in Washington DC right now for the National Bike Summit - a few days where we get to trade strategies with over 700 other advocates from around the country, then storm the capitol building to talk with our Representatives and Senators about bicycling issues. One of the big news items (so far) at this year’s summit was Google’s announcement of a “bike there” option on their online maps.
“What isn’t counted, doesn’t count.”
These are the opening words of the Bicycling and Walking in the United States 2010 Benchmark Report published late January by the Alliance for Biking and Walking (www.peoplepoweredmovement.org). This 196-page tome is perhaps the most comprehensive report on all measurements related to bicycling and walking ever published in this country in one place. The report is truly amazing, and tracks an incredible amount of information and trends related to bicycling and walking in all 50 states and the 51 largest cities. This is the second Benchmarking Report released by the Alliance. Plans to publish updates every two years (the next being 2012) are in the works.
So here’s the deal… If you click this link and vote for Transportation Alternatives, you’ll help them in competing for $250K to produce an application that will help new riders find veteran riders to show them the ropes. While many local organizations have tried similar programs, it’s often a matter of not having enough funding to reach a larger audience that kills the initiative. You can help the most by voting daily, or at least go and vote once.
Above is a clip from a recent interview with Nicole Freedman, Boston’s Bike Czar. For the full interview and more information, visit www.inhabitat.com.
Since people seemed to respond to our post about Enci Box’s article earlier in the week, we thought it would be good to post another one of her articles. This one is about bike lanes in Los Angeles:
Bike Lanes are a deterrent for me to ride in and I oftentimes cringe when I hear people blindly supporting them without asking for enhanced safety standards and regulations.
So when the LA Draft Bike Plan proposes Bike Lanes and Paths all over the city without taking into consideration what the people want, it upsets me for many reasons, not withstanding the fact that all of our bike lanes in Los Angeles place the cyclists into the door zone with the exception of the short stretch on McClintock Ave by USC. That is the only bike lane in the city that I know of that has the bike lane outside of the door zone.
L.A. cycling activist Enci Box recently published an article on L.A.Streetsblog.org:
As someone who was born in Hungary, grew up in Germany, and has traveled extensively in Europe, Australia and North America, I’m familiar with the many variations of “Bike Paths” that can be found around the world and it’s from this point of view that I find myself taking the lonely position that “Here in Los Angeles, Bike Paths are not a ’safe and effective cycling’ solution and in many cases, they are a problem.”
The argument mostly centers around the lack of security on secluded bike paths, and stories of cyclists being assaulted and/or injured on the paths. Generally, the response from authorities has been the somewhat impractical suggestion, “Don’t ride alone.”
In 1982 the Idaho legislature passed a law that allows bicyclists to in some cases treat stop signs as though they were yield signs. Under this law, permitting that there were no vehicles at the intersection, cyclists would perform a rolling stop. In addition, bicyclists are permitted to treat a red light at an intersection with no other traffic as a stop sign—first coming to a complete stop and then proceeding forward. Now known as the “Idaho Stop Law” or the “Stop as Yield” to many people, both legislators and advocates alike are beginning to explore the possibility of passing a similar law in their state. Unsurprisingly, this law generates considerable controversy—even among some bicycle advocates.
You probably remember the prototype Redline Urbis we posted a while back. Redline sent us a new spy shot of the pre-production model. The fork has been lowered and they’ve decided to go with with the deep dish rims. The bike will come fixed with a flip-flop hub so the customer can put a freewheel on it if desired. A rear brake will be included, but not installed.
Stay tuned for news of the official release.
Karly Coleman, “Edmonton’s only bike traffic reporter” along with Peter Chapman, host of “Full English Breakfast” on Edmonton, Alberta’s CJSR radio recently interviewed Urban Velo’s advocacy columnist David Hoffman for the “Bike Bits” segment of the show on a variety of topics, including Share the Road, Complete Streets, favorite moments in advocacy, Vehicular Cycling, changes in attitudes towards cyclists, and more. The interview lasts a little more than 30 minutes, and can be found online here.
Full English Breakfast airs every Thursday morning at 8am Mountain on CJSR radio. More information on Full English Breakfast can be found here. The “Bike Bits” feature is part of the show every last Thursday of the month. Hosts Peter and Karly are a delight to listen to – click through and give them a listen.
About two weeks ago we reported on a few council proposals in Philadelphia to require bicycle licensing and increase the fines for various cycling offenses, brought about at least in part by two recent pedestrian deaths as a result of cyclists colliding with them. The Bicycle Coalition of Philadelphia has issued a statement in response, and is surely working behind the scenes to counter licensing through the courtroom if need be. Acknowledging that as with some motorists, some cyclists too bend and outright ignore the rules to suit their needs, the statement goes on to say:
Philadelphia’s streets need to be made safer for everyone. The first step toward safer streets is equitable and consistent enforcement of traffic laws as they apply to all road users.
…
With regards to laws requiring registration and licensing of bicycles, the Bicycle Coalition does not support a mandatory program. Among other issues, we are concerned about the potential for a registration program to discourage riders, impose financial disincentives, and expose the City to numerous legal issues. Peer cities and states have passed and then repealed registration and licensing programs. We recommend a thorough investigation of registration and licensing programs in other cities to determine whether such programs would help or hinder efforts to achieve peace on Philadelphia’s streets.
The Sunday media coverage has shone light on the cyclist’s side of the debate, with the Metro reporting on the Philadelphia Bicycle Messenger Association (PBMA) rallying behind a hit and run victim of their own, while the Philadelphia Weekly featured an editorial about the one-sided and misinformed mainstream coverage of the council proposals.
Members of the PBMA are meeting Monday November 30th at 5pm at the corner of 16th and JFK Boulevard today to distribute an official statement about recent events.
According to Bicycle Colorado, to Colorado Department of Transportation has adopted a new statewide policy on bicycle and pedestrian access. Hard work by parties across the spectrum of politics and bicycle advocacy have made this possible, hopefully working as a model for other state policies on roadway construction and multimodal access. The important part of the policy states:
It is the policy of the Colorado Transportation Commission to provide transportation infrastructure that accommodates bicycle and pedestrian use of the highways in a manner that is safe and reliable for all highway users. The needs of bicyclists and pedestrians shall be included in the planning, design, and operation of transportation facilities, as a matter of routine. A decision to not accommodate them shall be documented based on the exemption criteria in the procedural directive.
Thanks to BikeDenver.org for the heads up on this one.
Politics. Love it or hate it—if you’re going to get better bicycle facilities built where you live, you’ve got to play.
For some, the ability to be political just comes naturally, making connections and glad-handing endlessly. For others, they find the whole process repulsive, preferring to stay as far away as possible. Wherever you are on the spectrum of loving or hating your time at City Hall, we hope that you’ll be able to take some tips and apply them towards making your community better for bicycling.
The city of Grand Rapids, Michigan recently received a bronze designation from the League of American Bicyclists as a bicycle friendly community on the rise.
From mlive.com:
League officials said they were impressed by the 255 miles of shared-use bicycle paths found in Kent and eastern Ottawa counties during a visit earlier this year. They also liked the 207 miles of Kent County roads with four-foot paved shoulders to accommodate bicyclists.
“Grand Rapids is a standout community in Michigan for its initiative and progress to become more bicycle friendly,” said League President Andy Clarke.
In a post on the Google Earth and Maps team blog, the ubiquitous company revealed plans to add the long awaited “Bike There” option to their maps.
They say that by integrating this [new] information, and working with specialized data sources like the USDA Forest Service’s Forest Boundaries and the US Geological Survey’s National Hydrography Dataset, we’ve been able to expand and improve features in our maps like parks and water bodies.
Read more at www.Bike-PGH.org.
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