The Monday Roundup
Posted by Elly Blue (Columnist) on November 1st, 2010 at 9:12 am
(Photo: Ryan Hashagen/AROW)
- Bike sharing is coming to the Bay Area, and it's coming up fast, with a pilot project in the works for SF and several nearby cities.
- In Guadalajara, Mexico, the government didn't jump at a bike sharing system, so one was implemented with creative, grassroots funding sources.
- The Illinois transportation department has won a $90 million federal transportation grant and plans to invest $49 million dollars of it in bicycling in the next year, mostly in the Chicago area.
- In Bellingham, Washington, a nurse practitioner, instead of working out of a clinic, reaches patients via her electric bicycle and "mobile medicine" trailer.
- What's wrong with cycling while pregnant? Nothing, finds a British woman who rode as much as she could up until delivery and found she had better health and energy and a less painful delivery than her peers who stayed inactive.
- In Long Beach, California, a 96 year old man rides his bike 12 miles every day and enjoys perfect health.
- We've all heard by now of the four year old who is being sued for hitting an elderly woman while bicycling on the sidewalk.
- A Florida woman has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for a DUII crash that killed two people on bikes. Meanwhile, some are concerned about the slow pace of the investigation of a man who "didn't see" 15 people on bikes until he drove into the group, injuring several and leaving one in a coma. And in Wisconsin, the glare excuse strikes again.
- Just because a nice bike trail exists near your house doesn't mean you'll know about it, find a team of researchers. They recommend public outreach efforts when paths are constructed.
- Amtrak has announced record ridership and ticket revenue for the fourth year in a row.
- In NYC last week, a police officer parked his patrol car in a bike lane and proceeded to write tickets for everyone who biked past. We must assume this is part of the city's recently announced enforcement mission aimed at improving bicycle safety. Some suspect it's payback.
- An advocate speaks compellingly about why good public transportation is a civil rights issue. And, conveniently, an economist provides an in-depth analysis of why cars are so disproportionately costly to taxpayers.
- A Tea Party candidate in Philadelphia does his campaigning half by public transit and half by bicycle, using the bike as an metaphor for how he wants to simplify government.
- Two Swedish urban planning students are taking on the mega task of drawing up a bicycle plan for Mumbai, India.
- A Dutch expat says bicycling in Amsterdam is great, but prefers to ride in Seattle.
- The NY Times sure does cover bikes a lot lately. One blog suggests they go ahead and replace their auto section with a bicycle section.
- The latest in fashion for your bike? Wrap it in wool.
- Video of the week: How to dress—fashionably—for winter cycling. No high tech fabric was harmed in the making of this one...
Email This Post
Possibly related posts 
Hey, Ray Thomas is on Think Out Loud on NPR(91.5 fm)right now,9:25 AM about pedestrian/bicycle rights and safety.
Recommendedhttp://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/elections/city/article_77c44d14-e25d-11df-b069-001cc4c03286.html
Speaking of campaigning by bike, this candidate for mayor in Corvallis has been campaigning by pedicab, and wants to implement several neighborhood greenways in his town.
RecommendedVideo of the Week - no link? I need inspiration for my Winter '10 fashion statements...;-)
RecommendedHow about this other one from Long Beach:
RecommendedCritical mass participants stopped and bike confiscated:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_16479969
Not sure who is less informed, the writer or the police.
$7 Million for a bike sharing program? Really?!
No wonder things are a mess.
RecommendedIt is not the govt.s job to go out and buy bicycles. This is not why we have govt.
RecommendedThe video link isn't a link!
RecommendedSorry for a lack of a link in the "how to dress for winter riding" video. I've added it to the story.
Here it is on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i7vcboSje0
Recommendedjim:
But you're ok with the gov't building roads, right? Including roads that exclude many citizens from using them, such as interstate highways? So, devil's advocate, just asking what's the difference.
Recommended"- In NYC last week, a police officer parked his patrol car in a bike lane and proceeded to write tickets for everyone who biked past." e blue/monday roundup/bikeportland
Here's the actual link to that story:
Cop Blocks Bike Lane To Ticket Cyclists For Not Using Lane/John Del Signore/Gothanist
Quite and extraordinary example of cop absentmindedness...or something. Here's an excerpt from the story:
"... This morning I received a ticket on the corner of 14th and 1st for not riding in a bike lane. The lane was being blocked by a cop car and as I pulled around it a cop pulled me over and informed me of my infraction. About 5 or 6 other cyclists got the same treatment. The cop later moved his car so that it wasn't in the bike lane (but was now parked squarely in the turning lane).
A couple of other cyclists got pulled over, but argued with the cop that they had to leave the lane because he was parked there—those people were allowed to ride on. After pulling a bunch of us he must of realized how stupid his logic was and decided to cross to the other side of the road (where the bus lane is) and pulled a cyclist from there. ..."
RecommendedJust a correction Tasha Borland is from OK, not FL, and AFAIK has always been from OK. That doesn't excuse her from being a sh*t, just establishes her location. And I heard back-channel that her comments to the Tulsa World about cyclists was one of the things that got her to plead guilty and also that got the 24 year sentence. You can't post that you hate cyclists and you are going to hit them and run them off the roads and then kill 2 and expect anybody to believe you when you claim the wreck was an "accident".
Under OK law we have a minimum of 20.4 years before she can even be considered for parole, and after her parole she has to do an additional 6 years of probation under the sentence she got, so she will be almost 70 before she can even take the test to get behind the wheel again, and if caught driving before that she will face unlawful possession of a weapon charges. So, the state of Oklahoma will be a tiny bit safer for the next 30 years...
RecommendedJ.R. (#4): here's the latest, from the news source:
Recommendedhttp://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_16487931
Well . . . we have the cool tram.
As a mental health matter, we may need a moratorium on BP.org stories on large-scale bike infrastructure projects elsewhere . . . Got Leadership?
RecommendedPeejay-
RecommendedThere is no law restricting anyone from the Interstate, just get a license, insurance, borrow your wifes car and your good to go. I'm sure if your wife borrows your bike she would not be prohibited from using the bikepaths
memo to long beach CMers: don't hold your breath waiting for LAB to back you up.
RecommendedPeejay @8 & Jim @14:
You both seem only partially informed. Riding a bicycle on the Interstate highway system is legal in many states, subject to restrictions imposed by local governments.
Fer instance, riding on Interstates within Portland or Gladstone city limits is prohibited (there may be other cities close by where it's prohibited also), but AFAIK, use of the shoulder is legal throughout the rest of the state (metro PDX shoulders are practically nonexistent).
Up in Vantucky, the RCW allows use of I-205 for its entire length in Clark County above the Glenn Jackson Bridge interchange - bike usage restrictions are clearly signed at onramps and where limited - Interstate 5 is closed to bikes at the Columbia northward for quite a ways but is accessible in north county and further along up the state.
The question remains whether one can stand the noise and wind dynamics of freeway riding, but generally, the Interstate system in open country usually maintains excellent, wide shoulders, reasonable gradients, intersection lighting, and good lines-of-sight, according to Federal standards. Probably safer than riding on Hawthorne or Burnside. There are just much quieter, prettier routes.
Recommendedshouldn't they try a smaller scale pilot for the bike share first to see what kind of problems they will run into? remember the yellow bike program here, the bikes dissapeared pretty fast, probably by the truckload to california swapmeets
Recommended