October 2009
42 posts
September 2009
52 posts
What's Capacity got to do with my City? →
Just to get warmed up, chew on this — from 8:00AM to 8:59 AM on an average Fall day in 2007 the NYC Subway carried 388,802 passengers into the CBD on 370 trains over 22 tracks. In other words, a train carrying 1,050 people crossed into the CBD every 6 seconds. Breathtaking if you ask me.
Over this same period, the average number of passengers in a vehicle crossing any of the East River...
Feds Subsidizing Parking Six Times as Much as... →
Give Cyclists a Lane, Leave the walkways for the... →
If we bicyclists cede the Brooklyn Bridge walkway [if given a travel lane on the bridge], then it might be a step toward winning the public’s respect. Then, just maybe, pedestrians would call a truce and recognize that their real enemy is the car, that bikers are like pedestrians in that they are just trying to get to work without the use of a gurney.
WatchNYC Innovates with Bidirectional Median Bikeway, eliminating interaction between cars and cyclists.
How we deal with crashes - Major Differences... →
Percentage of daily commuters who walk or ride... →
About a third of commuters in Toronto Centre and Trinity-Spadina walk or cycle to work as a daily routine. In the four surrounding ridings, that number is still above 10%, but it drops off rapidly further from the downtown core.
Calming the Commute - When cyclists are part of... →
I’m appalled at some of the reactions to this action as perceived inconvenience. Chances are, if you’re activated by this, if you’re really frustrated by this action, you are exactly the intended audience.
That may not speak well for the effectiveness of this action, but certainly the BTA and the WPC are being creative here. We can advocate for more space, more bridges and such...
WatchMaking Bike Lanes Beautiful
(from Joe Biel)
Turning Lanes & Right of Way
It is illegal to use turn lanes to continue straight, but Delaware cyclists are left with little choice as shoulders disappear directly into them. Motorist’s, believing they have the right of way, often turn right as they overtake cyclists. Dr Bruce Fellows, one of Delaware’s top surgeons, was paralyzed in one such incident.
via Bike Delaware
WatchCurbs To Nowhere — Jackson, Mississippi advocates are documenting poor accessibility and improper implementation of curb cuts.
Right-hooked Bicyclist Takes Case to Civil Court... →
I wonder what the impetus of a civil suit is? Were there not criminal charges filed against the driver for this accident? It sounds like the answer is no. I recently witnessed someone get doored violently on Williams Ave. The police officer on the scene said because the driver was parked, there was no crime. She also had no insurance. So what happened? The bicyclist limped home with his...
Resource: Crash-Type Manual for Bicyclists →
Approximately one out of six highway fatalities in the United States is a bicyclist or pedestrian each year. Estimates for 1995 indicate that 61,000 bicyclists were injured and 830 were killed in traffic crashes. These crashes can be classified or “typed” by their precipitating actions, predisposing factors, and characteristic populations and/or location that can be targeted for...
WatchBoulder’s Blueprint for a Bike Friendly City.
Synopsis: It takes a long time!
The origins of PARK(ing) Day →
PARK(ing) Day began in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco art collective, converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in an area of San Francisco that is underserved by public open space.
Back then the project was named simply PARK(ing), and was devised as a creative exploration of how urban public space is allocated and used. For example, up to 70% of San...
“Just walking, ad libitum, as formerly practiced, became jaywalking, with the...”
– Deconstructing jaywalkers
Safety fears stop bikes for Africa →
WatchWhat cities can learn from the Burning Man festival. (Get rid of the cars, bring in the artists, reduce consumption and garbage..)
Oregon DOT crash report: Drivers increasingly... →
We’re still looking at the stack of numbers. Nothing too shocking yet. Speeding, failing to yield and following too closely still topped the list of driving errors responsible for crashes
Meanwhile, of the 424 drivers who committed errors in collisions with bicyclists, an astounding 72 percent failed to yield for the bike rider, ODOT said. At the same time, that was a 7 percent drop from...
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Youth street designers can teach us a lot. →
Check out these projects! I really enjoy how the bus team simply got rid of all the cars on Broadway, replacing them with two bike lanes, and two express/local bus lanes.
Now that is leadership! I wish our municipalities would take more risks like this.
Paint Some Streets! Students reclaim their school... →
Not only did these students beautify their school’s street, they also identified it to motorists as a thoroughfare frequented by school-age pedestrians in a way that mere signage and conventional markings do not. There are hundreds of school zones across the city that could benefit from the same treatment.
Cyclist Killed by Truck in Cleveland →
22-year-old Sylvia Bingham was riding in the curb lane of Prospect Avenue at East 21st Street around 9 A.M., just a few blocks from where she was to start work that morning. A large truck turning onto East 21st hit Bingham, knocking her off of her bike and running over her. The truck didn’t stop. Fox also features an interview with Sylvia’s colleague and photos of the scene, which...
New energy towards accountability for traffic... →
“After years of watching dangerous drivers who kill put back behind the wheel, we are confident the next DA is going to utilize the robust and varied resources of the office to implement comprehensive pedestrian safety initiatives,”
Controversial, Proposed New Columbia River... →
“What they’ve cooked up is this enormous thing,” Metro Council President David Bragdon said. “They’re jeopardizing the whole project by making it so enormous. I think that’s starting to sink in.”
Bicyclist Fails to Yield to Pedestrian in... →
What would otherwise be a routine police stop stands out for three reasons.
First, Mayes was riding a bike. “It’s a complete mom-mobile,” Mayes says. “People call it my van.”
Second, the pedestrians at Northwest Third Avenue and Couch Street, did not look like they were about to cross the street, Mayes says. They were talking.
WatchThe aftermath of a bike vs. car collision.
Using bikes to haul trash during in Massachusetts →
Cyclist killed in hit-and-run was a beloved... →
WatchTraffic Enforcement for Bicyclist Safety (produced by the Chicago Police Department)
Who Controls Data About Public Transportation? →
Two models appear to be emerging to answer this question. One, typified by New York City’s MTA and Washington, DC’s WMATA, sees schedule and related data as valuable intellectual property, to be zealously protected, licensed and monetized. So far, the results of this approach appear to have been bad press, irate passengers, wasted money and stymied innovation.
The other model,...
Pedestrian struck in North Portland hit-and-run →
Poorly implemented bike lanes encourage motorists... →
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22 Ghost Bikes Memorialize Alice Swanson in DC
Early this morning, 22 white bicycles (ghost bikes) were placed at the location where cyclist Alice Swanson was killed. The bikes are replacing the original ghost bike which was removed by the city under the direction of the Mayor’s office. The city has also removed the secondary memorial placed by Ms. Swanson’s aunt. The original ghost bike was placed in front of La Tomate...
“The reason it’s so crowded here is not because there’s not enough...”
– The Pedestrian Crush: It Doesn’t Have to Be Like This
“Every year at least 750 cyclists are killed by a motor vehicle. A vast majority...”
– Cyclists Against Reckless Drivers Petition
Rethinking the original bike lane. →
Bike lanes are a cause for celebration in budding bike-friendlier cities. If we look at Portland, newer designs will reinvent and redirect street space allocation in a much more innovative, hopefully safer new direction.
