Here’s the news that caught our eyes this past week…
– The City of Sherwood, located 17 miles southwest of Portland, has seen a 22% reduction in crashes after installing red light cameras at the intersection of Highway 99 and Tualatin-Sherwood Road. Nearly three quarters of the the citations resulting from the cameras were to people making a right-turn at a red light without stopping their motor vehicle, a significant hazard to people on bicycles.
– What started as a collection of trash has turned into a brightly colored bike lane honoring Jenna Morrison, the woman killed while riding her bike in Toronto on November 7. After being chased away by police officers, community members succeeded in painting the teal bike lane (Jenna’s favorite color) at the location of the crash that took her life. The lane was created with water-based paint and will wash away in time but is meant to encourage citizen “ownership and stewardship” of roads in the area.
– The US Department of Transportation reported fewer deaths on America’s highways in 2010 than in any year since 1949. Along with that good news, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood presented new metrics for tracking distracted driving with the hope that they will refine the DOT’s insight into the cause of crashes and fatalities on our roads.
– Chicago’s Department of Transportation has placed red flags around the city at crosswalks near schools, senior centers, and hospitals. People wanting to cross a road on foot are asked to wave the flags to catch the attention of people speeding by in automobiles. The flags are the second part of CDOT’s bleakly titled “It’s Up To You” campaign aimed at people who walk around the city. An earlier component of the campaign involved placing mannequins at the site of pedestrian fatalities.
– Traffic congestion is a big issue for Chicago and one company thinks bikes are the cure. Fifty lucky Chicago residents are now proud owners of Advil-branded bicycles. The black and yellow bikes were handed out as part of Advil’s Congestion Relief Project which the company says provides “the right relief for the real problem” faced by cities across the nation.
– Police in Burlington, North Carolina are back in the bike saddle as the Community-Oriented Police (COP) Unit starts back up after a long hiatus. The successful bike patrol program, which began in 1994 but was canceled because of staffing shortages, is using the original bicycles officers rode nearly 20 years ago. Officers in the COP Unit explain how the bicycles provide better speed, mobility, and access to the community than other options such as patrolling in a car or on foot.
– The Texas NAACP honored Bike Texas with an award for its effort to bring more diversity to bike advocacy in the state. The award marks the first time in history the NAACP has presented an award to a bicycle advocacy organization.
– An article from The Atlantic Cities discusses why certain transportation measurements will always favor automobiles over other modes of transportation, even in an active-transportation-friendly city like San Francisco.
– The folks over at Copenhagenize take a look at a study from Australia which finds the country’s mandatory helmet laws are likely suppressing the number of people who choose to ride a bike as well as depressing the number who use bike share programs in Brisbane and Melbourne.
– Two groups in Pennsylvania are teaming up to teach the art of wrenching to at-risk youth. Volunteers in the program mentor youth and teach them how to assemble, disassemble, and repair bicycles. The training teaches the kids valuable life lessons and can help them find employment later in life.
– Winter may chase many people indoors, but the cold weather is perfect for two things: riding mountain bikes and racing cyclocross.
– Balance bikes are a great way to start your toddler on the road to riding a bike, but Seattle’s Michele Costanza has found they can also help save parents a good deal of stress and back pain.
– ODOT (the Oklahoma Department of Transportation) is starting their own Safe Routes to School program with the familiar goals of reducing childhood obesity and associated illness.
– And finally, you may remember when a bicycle won a race with an airplane in Los Angeles earlier this year. Now the two-wheeled machine has proven itself to be faster than a snowboard in a downhill race on a German TV show. The race is neck and neck most of the way but the bicycle ultimately wins because of one major advantage: pedals.
Did you find something interesting that should be in next week’s Monday Roundup? Drop us a line.