The Monday Roundup: Stop-sign messages, a cryptocurrency for walking and more

That article on Chicago speed cameras appears to be behind a paywall; but it’s analogous to what Portland did with sharrows.

Re: cheap gas; in 2008 it seemed like the price per gallon went up the closer we got to the election. I smelled an implied threat in that from the oil racketeers, that if we elected the wrong person President they would get mad at us. Be interesting to see what happens next year if there is a chance of either Hilary Clinton or Bernie Sanders becoming #45.

Bad link on the Indian Wells, CA story about the drunk driver killing a cyclist and costing the city $5.8 Million. Here’s one that works: http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/crime_courts/2015/11/17/indian-wells-ordered-pay-6m-cyclists-death/75932988/

Street empathy: The hardest thing to do while getting around the city by bike, car or foot might be to see things from another modal point of view.

A classic example of media false equivalence.

One transportation mode kills over a million people a year directly, many tens of millions indirectly, and is a major contributor to the ongoing 6th mass extinction. Drivers have run roughshod over people and our shared environment for generations. I’m completely disinterested in seeing things from this point of view.

I loved the article about bike delivery systems in Gothenburg. There is a food warehouse down in Eugene called Hummingbird Wholesale that makes its local deliveries with a couple of recumbent cargo trikes with electric-assist cargo trailers, all covered, of course. (It’s an interesting company that has been helping grass seed farmers change over to growing food by guaranteeing to purchase their production at a price that is profitable. They also give a 5% discount at their retail shop for people who come by bicycle.)

I’ve also enjoyed seeing UPS get into the spirit by using bicycles for their high-volume December delivery season. They use their delivery vans to bring packages to storage lockers in neighborhoods or right to the bikes and then the bikes take it from there.

With all these cities built around railroad tracks, I wonder if we will eventually have freight travelling by rail to its destination city and then being off-loaded to travel the last few miles on e-cargo bikes. I can dream, can’t I?

My favorite stop sign reconfiguration is: “Stop the Tickle Monster.” Don’t remember where it was though.

I would expect US health insurance companies to jump on board with the BitWalking thing. With the huge number of preventable, expensive deaths involving sedentary lifestyle disease, it seems like a no-brainer to reduce their costs by encouraging their clients to move a bit.

Generally speaking, scofflaw motorists (I know, redundant) discourage people from cycling. I love the efforts of Massarosa to use the revenue from traffic fines to pay people to ride their bikes. It’s sort of a counterweight to the effects of bad driving.

5.8 Million to cyclist: Love this piece of quoted misinformation that was obviously not checked by the reporter: But if the roadway had been built with the 15- or 16-foot lanes that it was supposed to have under the law, then he would have never been in the car’s path, and

First off, there is no “law” that “requires” a 15-16 foot lane. Possibly a 14 lane would be the “standard”…maybe. They do have quite wide roads in California presumably for farm equipment.

Anyhow…that whole article is terrible. The real reason why that cyclist was killed was due to the bike lane going missing. The city should have cut a lane out (gasp!) and put in a big bike lane/shoulder. But they didn’t..and now they have to pay. Too bad someone had to pay with their life.

I have no sympathy with the city.