Here’s the news that caught our eye last week:
– In response to constituents’ complaints, a Manhattan official has conducted an unscientific study of the city’s bike lanes, and found that they are being equally disrespected by all mode users.
– During a period of heavy construction leading up to the UK Olympics, a plumber has successfully avoided traffic delays by getting to his gigs via xtracycle.
– With the embargo gone, San Francisco continues to install new bike infrastructure. The city’s been embedding permanent bicycle counters into the pavement under some of its new bike lanes.
– Parking guru Donald Shoup gets an excellent write-up in the LA Times, plus a portrait with his bicycle.
– An intrepid group of bicycle activists in Missoula were given citations after police found them painting bicycle symbols on a busy road.
– DC big ups are responding to a recent spate of traffic fatalities of people walking and bicycling with the less than awe inspiring message that “everyone needs to slow down.”
– In Ann Arbor, Michigan, a gubernatorial candidate promises to create walkable, livable communities, yet is against raising the gas tax and cites a bicycle and pedestrian bridge in town as an example of wasteful spending.
– Some people who bicycle along a beachfront path in Kent, UK are offended by the city’s decision to paint a yellow stripe warning them not to fall off the edge.
– Several U.S. cities have been converting their unused coin-op parking meters to bike racks, but apparently the design needs a little more work before it’s entirely theft proof, as a Philadelphian has demonstrated.
– A California town is testing microwave rays for detecting bicycles at intersections for the purpose of giving them longer green lights.
– The story of how one couple traded their cars for bicycles as a strategy to pay off their debt, and never looked back.
– From one of our nation’s most influential news sources, some timely, in-depth reporting gets to the heart of an important issue for bicycling in this era.
– Video of the week: An eleven mile bike commute across New York City that wouldn’t have been possible just a few years ago, captured to prove the importance of the city’s new bike infrastructure. Watch it below…
Thanks for reading.
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The Onion story gets a little NSFW at the end but funny none the less.
What was it Kurt Cobain said about Weird Al; something to effect of “I didn’t know I had made it big until Weird Al parodied my song”.
The Onion lends some small piece of legitimacy, no matter how ridiculous it is.
interesting this borough president’s report did not ask the degree to which bicyclists themselves might be “disrespecting” the striped lane, choosing instead to take the traffic lanes.
also, i think the message “everyone just slow down” is elegant, if not “awe-inspiring.” the times they are a-changing, people. there’s a lot more than twice as many people around here than when i was growing up.
I used to drive through that intersection in Pleasanton from San Ramon all the time when I worked in that mall…1997? I would have never considered biking around there. I did bike to my job in Danville on the awesome Iron Horse trail. Huh, very happy to see Pleasanton getting bike perks! My dad is a Pleasanton road cyclist.
Cool! I’ll be too radiated to have kids but I’ll be able to trigger the light with my carbon bike and ride alongside of the bay area’s worst drivers! 😉
Gotta get me a pair of those socks, too.
As someone who lived/biked/drove/walked in DC for over three years I can tell you “Everyone slow down” is not a viable option. Maybe they should start with something simpler, like “Please try not to run down any pedestrians.”
are…I think asking people to slow down on roads that are designed to encourage speed is like shouting into the wind. Everyone already thinks they’re an above-average driver.
Jesse (#6) – I’d be happy if they could get folks in DC just to obey stop signs. (not cyclists, EVERYONE) In DC, it feels like the Idaho stop is practiced by every vehicle, if they even bother to slow for it. A plethora of folks in NW with diplomatic immunity doesn’t help.
The prospect of contributing to an accurate bicycle count might be an enticement to stay in the bike lane.
At the very least the count data could be used to shut up naysayers.