down first? Here’s one way to order it.
(Image: Seattle Bike Blog)
Here are the bike-related links from around the world that caught our eyes this week:
Sidewalk priority: A new rule in Seattle would make sidewalk removal during construction projects a last resort.
Guerrilla parking spaces: Police in Brooklyn painted parking space numbers right on top of a bike lane.
Streetcar track fatality: A man riding a bike on San Francisco’s Market Street was killed by a bus, apparently after catching a wheel in the track while biking in a streetcar lane and falling sideways.
Thought experiment: “Imagine describing car ownership to someone who had only lived in a dense, walkable, transit-rich city.”
Helmet laws: The lackluster first year of Seattle bike share is the latest sign that helmet mandates seem to reduce biking, reports the WSJ.
Drunk driving: A 23-year-old Florida woman streamed a video of herself driving drunk live on the Internet, including a statement that she was drunk. People watching the video online spotted local landmarks in the background and helped police track her down and arrest her.
“Reckless conduct”: A man who knocked on the door of a lane-drifting SUV while biking in Chicago wound up in handcuffs; the SUV’s driver was an off-duty cop.
E-bike share: Birmingham, Ala., has the country’s first bike share system with electric pedal assist.
Church vs. bike lane: A D.C. church says removing parking on its street for a protected bike lane would violate its members’ constitutional right to religious freedom.
Boring biking: Dan Savage visited Europe and concluded that if we actually built protected bike lanes in the States, most of today’s riders would actually hate it.
All-bike building: An 86-unit apartment building and motel in Malmo, Sweden, will be built with only car-free biking tenants in mind.
Theft guides: Strava-style routefinding apps may be contributing to bike theft, police in the UK fear.
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Trains and bikes: Even as Amtrak improves its roll-on bike transport, the train that links France and England through the Chunnel is about to start forcing people to dismantle their bikes.
Street fees: Vancouver’s recommended answer to its “desperate” lack of road-fixing money is $7 million a year from “vehicle tab fees, a business license surcharge hiike, a utility tax increase, new state gas tax revenue and funds from retired debt service.”
Seattle levy: Ballots are out in Seattle’s transportation property tax request. The average city home would pay $279 a year, with at least 41 percent going to maintenance.
Bike wedding: Our compatriot Tom Fucoloro of Seattle Bike Blog got married by a bike trip and has a lovely account of it.
Racial profiling: A study of eight U.S. counties found that red-light cameras didn’t differ from police in the share of people they charged for red-light running who were black.
Bike lift: North Vancouver, B.C., is considering a bike lift to tow people uphill, just like the one in Trondheim, Norway.
Commuting nightmare: It might be cheaper to commute by plane from Las Vegas than to live and work in San Francisco.
Self-driving cars: Tesla’s newly active Autopilot feature lets all its cars steer, change lanes, brake and parallel park on command.
— If you come across a noteworthy story, send it in via email, Tweet @bikeportland, or whatever else and we’ll consider adding it to next Monday’s roundup.