(Image via Cameron Booth)
This week’s Monday Roundup is brought to you by Lancaster Engineering, a Portland-based firm that is hosting a “Parking Pow-Wow” event tomorrow (2/23).
Here are the bike-related links from around the world that caught our eyes this week:
Terrible maps: The world’s worst transit maps are pretty funny.
Bike migration: 7,000 abandoned bicycles near the Mexican border put journalist Kimball Taylor on the trail of a man who made millions smuggling humans northward.
One-way streets: Less human-friendly than two-way streets, right? Not so fast, argues the blog Urban Residue. Part of its evidence: Portland.
Hmmmm…: Ford is spending millions to brainstorm some sort of device or system that can get three people carrying shopping bags eight miles through a dense city in 45 minutes for less than $10.
Missouri madness: The same state representative who wants to require every bicycle to carry a 15-foot-high flag also wants to legalize ATVs on a major rail-trail.
“Bike superhighway”: Texas is building a 64-mile path from Fort Worth to Dallas.
Biking miners: They were a big part of the 1898 Alaska Gold Rush, in part because you “never had to go outside at 40 below to feed a bicycle.” Some even made the trek in toeclips.
Bus alarms: Clark County’s C-Tran is testing camera-activated alarms to warn of possible collisions.
Construction zone fatality: Wherever the fault lay, it seems likely that better standards for construction zone design might have saved Margaret Rugg’s life.
Disruptive activism: The rapid rise of the new Sustainable Trails Coalition has prompted the long-established International Mountain Bicycling Association to take a “more aggressive” tack.
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Illegitimate opinion: An NYC neighborhood association official says two people who voted to approve a protected bike lane should have abstained because their support for a pro-biking group constitutes a conflict of interest. (Another biking advocate thinks this is a great idea.)
Tailpipe casualties: 5.5 million people per year die from air pollution.
Perverse process: Santa Barbara residents claim that California’s environmental protection law forbids removing auto parking to add bike lanes.
“Missing middle”: Commissioner Steve Novick is the latest Portlander to call for re-legalizing mid-size housing such as four-plexes and garden apartments.
NASCAR bikers: A squad of race-car drivers biked 60 miles to the Daytona Speedway to raise awareness of road safety.
Risk factors: People are far more likely to be distracted by their phones while driving than while walking across the street.
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.
— Michael Andersen, (503) 333-7824 – michael@bikeportland.org
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