The Monday Roundup
Posted by Elly Blue (Columnist) on July 12th, 2010 at 6:44 am
(Photo: Tony Kyriacou/Rex Features)
Here's the news that caught our eye this week:
- A 21-year old student from the U.K. is making waves on the web for his foldable bike with a unique theft-deterrent -- it can bend around a pole and lock to itself.
- JetBlue knows how to please it's bike-loving customers. To celebrate the Tour de France, they've decided to let bikes fly free (fee is usually $50) and they're beaming coverage of the race from Versus via their seatback televisions.
- A new study using data from the Netherlands to show that, statistically speaking, the health benefits of riding a bike far outweigh the risks.
- "What could possibly go wrong" with Seattle's plan to bore a freeway tunnel along their waterfront? One local paper is keeping a tally.
- A new restaurant slated to be opened along a bike path in Madison, Wisconsin, will be inaccessible by car.
- A leaked memo provides insight into the powerful-yet-ineffective lobby against regulating cell phone use and texting while driving. "Auto, tech, and insurance industries, among others, have become collateral damage in this transportation battle."
- The latest round of federal transit grants was released last week, going to fund new streetcar systems and rapid bus services in cities from Cincinnati to Fort Worth.
- The U.S.'s two new bike sharing systems have been in place for a few weeks now and reviews are starting to roll in. Requests for expansion are already coming in for the Nice Ride bikes in Minneapolis (where I am now). News of B-Cycle in Denver has been overshadowed by manufactured "bikes vs cars" memes but appears to be going strong.
- Shoppers choose to walk and take transit to a new mall in Manhattan, leaving its giant, above-ground parking garage mostly unused.
- Living in the suburbs costs an average of 18% more than living in the city.
-- Send links for consideration in the Roundup to Elly Blue at eleanor[dot]blue[at]gmail[dot]com.
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Bending bike. Hilarious. The article says you don't need a lock or chain but describes how to secure the bike with a regular bike lock. Totally. Lame. Idea.
RecommendedAs far as the bendable bike idea goes, what works for one may not work for others. But if it gets one percent more of the public riding, or using one for traveling in distant cities why not?
RecommendedI'm reading (it's lengthy and detailed) The Stranger's story on the tunnel to be built to replace the ugly viaduct that courses the waterfront. That certainly looks like it's going to be a fun project. By comparison, it makes the CRC project seem simple and easy.
RecommendedKind of surprised to see that Tulsa and Oklahoma City both didn't get any federal money at all despite both pleading for money to modernize their streets (which are frequently bicycle hostile and pedestrian inaccessable) and transit systems (Tulsa Transit serves an area as large as TriMet with only about a dozen bus routes). In fact, no federal money went to Oklahoma; the closest it got to Oklahoma was the soverign Choctaw Nation.
RecommendedAlso, the article about the restaurant that won't be accessible by car, did anybody else notice the pedestrian in the picture was going down the centerline, instead of the left shoulder?
RecommendedAnother great Monday Roundup!
Anyone with the slightest qualms about the megabridge CRC should read the article about the Seattle tunnel for a good breakdown (and takedown) of the way big projects can just plow ahead, risks and objections be damned.
And I love the idea of the car-inaccessible restaurant. Reminds me of the warming hut on the slopes of the Mt. Hood night-skiing area. It's a WPA-era log cabin, in the middle of ski slope, with a small restaurant and fireplace inside. It was a strange and wonderful experience to walk into a remote restaurant (more of a snack bar really, but with hot food and beer) with no parking lot surrounding it; there was only snow and trees. Made me feel like I was wandering into some little tavern in the wilds of the Shire :)
RecommendedWhile the bendy-bike is probably impractical, I hugely admire the outside-the-box thinking of the guy who came up with it.
RecommendedAre Jet and Elly related?
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