(Rendering of Bell Street in Seattle, a model
for Chicago’s project, by SvR Design Company)
Here are the great bike-related links from around the world that caught our eyes this week:
Shared street: Early next year, four blocks of Chicago’s Argyle Street will be rebuilt in a “radical experiment” with no sidewalks, crosswalks, curbs, lane markings, or signals and almost no signs.
The birth of ‘cross: Could this French biking newsletter from 1901 have the report of the very first cyclocross race?
Detection indicators: “Perhaps because so much infrastructure is so indifferent to bicycles, discovering a piece that responds to your presence feels a bit like having the bronze statue in a memorial open its eyes and greet you by name,” writes Carl Alviani about the little blue lights, now at nine local intersections, that are Portland’s latest contribution to biking.
Visible victims: A national review of 90 New Zealand biking fatalities concluded that in more cases than not, at-fault drivers could have seen the bikes. They just weren’t looking for them.
Crowdfunded cycle track: Downtown Denver’s business association is setting out to crowdfund $35,000 for a protected bike lane. A major oil company is among seven corporations that have already pledged to chip in.
Against death: After a New Yorker writer makes the case for driving through his city at lethal speeds, Brooklyn Spoke offers a definitive rebuttal.
Small-town density: The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis explores whether population density is as good for the economies of small towns as it is for those of cities.
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Ebola panic cure: If the state of Maine is ordering you to stay in your house for what you are certain is no reason, a fall bike ride with your boyfriend seems like a pretty good way to relax.
The king of bikes: If you are the former king of Bhutan, who refocused your country’s economy on maximizing happiness and then voluntarily ended your country’s absolute monarchy, biking can also be rewarding. The country has followed his example, leading to a high-altitude bike movement.
Tech support: “We look forward to using the protected routes to help us attract and retain the people we need to continue to thrive,” writes Microsoft UK in its letter of support for London’s proposed “Cycle Superhighways.”
Nice rides: Trips on Minneapolis’s five-year-old bike sharing system rose 33 percent in 2014. It now has a fleet of 1,500 bikes.
Citi Bike growth: The sale of Alta Bicycle Share supposedly heralds not only a 50 percent price hike but a massive expansion into a four-borough, 12,000-bike service by 2017.
Bike sharing equity: Matt Yglesias speculates that few poor Americans use bike sharing systems (true) because most poor people who can bike to work already do (um…).
Car ads move on: The New York Times is killing its dedicated autos section, saying the advertising demand has gone.
Pictures of success: You know, that fellow Banksy knows a good image (by Andy Singer) when he sees one:
successful pic.twitter.com/D3aW0VgQpK
— banksy (@thereaIbanksy) October 30, 2014
Glowing bike lanes: As phosphorescent bike lanes are being installed in the Netherlands, the company that created them is going global.
And finally, I definitely saw some people I know, spreading the gospel of bike moves to Italy, in the first segment of your video of the week:
If you come across a noteworthy bicycle story, send it in via email, Tweet @bikeportland, or whatever else and we’ll consider adding it to next Monday’s roundup.