Recreational cycling generates $1.5 billion in economic activity a year in Wisconsin, according to a first-of-its-kind study.
The figures, which include dollars produced by the state’s bicycle manufacturing, sales and services industry, suggest cycling has as much impact on the state’s economy as deer hunting.
"I don’t think folks in Wisconsin appreciate just how important (biking) is in the state’s economy," said state Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, who commissioned the study. "We make a lot more bikes here than we do cars."
…
The report on cycling found:
• 49 percent of Wisconsin residents enjoy bicycling for recreation, making it among the most popular outdoor activities in the state, according a 2006 Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources study.
• Bicycle recreation currently supports more than $924 million in tourism and resident spending each year, of which nearly $533 million is direct impact occurring annually, such as travel, equipment sales and restaurant expenditures.
• Bicyclists from other states spend more than $535 million a year.
• Increasing nonresident bicycling by 20 percent has the potential to increase economic activity by more than $107 million dollars and create 1,528 full-time-equivalent jobs, mostly in retail, lodging and food service.
Continue reading “Report shows $1.5 billion annual impact of bicycling in Wisconsin”
It Was Just One Of Those Things
By : Rick Bernardi
“I didn’t see him.”
It’s the most common excuse negligent drivers make after colliding with a cyclist. And it makes no difference whether the cyclist is wearing bright colors or "lit up like a Christmas tree"—negligent drivers will still utter these four words after hitting the cyclist. Except, of course, in the Netherlands, where the presumption of liability encourages drivers to be more careful about seeing cyclists.
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A One of a Kind Walking, Biking School Opens in Canada
With the dawn of the new year, a newly opened elementary school in Ontario is heralded as the nation’s first school that requires nearly all of its students to get to and from school using their own two feet.
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White House Goes After Oil And Gas Subsidies–Again
[Another nail in the coffin of "Car’s pay for roads."]
"On energy matters, the big eye-catcher is the fact that White House wants to scrap some $36.5 billion in tax breaks for fossil-fuel producers over the next decade:"
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LaHood Talks Budget: Cyclist will have to continue to supplement car centric roads to the tune $11 billion
Well OK it’s not just cyclists but everyone who contributes to the general fund which cyclists are a part. But the point is cars are not paying their own way as often asserted.
>>"One topic of particular interest was the White House’s continued assumption of transfers from the general Treasury to the highway trust fund (HTF) pending enactment of a new long-term federal transportation bill. As the federal gas tax, last raised in 1993, remains static and lawmakers decline to discuss an alternative funding source, the presidential budget document projects that the HTF would need more than $11 billion to make it through the current fiscal year."
Continue reading “LaHood Talks Budget: Cyclist will have to continue to supplement car centric roads to the tune $11 billion”
Ride the District
by David Alpert • February 1, 2010 1:42 pm
Ride the City has officially launched in DC. Their tool plots bicycle routes, combining map directions and knowledge of bike lanes and trails to recommend safe routes.
It’s all based on open map data. Portions of a route that use bicycle lanes appear in green, while portions on-street appear in purple.
The “Enhancer” – Say thank you to people who obey the law
[Baltimore Spokes: This sounds like something out of “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” with annoying overly friendly automated messages. If the sole responsibility of making crossing a road safer lies with the pedestrian then we should consider other options, my personal favorite in the “If this is the best we can do then lets get crazy with the idea” category is have a supply of red capes for pedestrians on the corner and as the pedestrian attempts to cross they attempt to misdirect the car into charging the cape with shouts of “El Toro.” Cyclist could act as as picadores by using colorful suction cup plunger like devices to attache to cars to help increase the entertainment value. If the pedestrian successfully crosses he would get an automated score card that would allow them to compete at local, state or national championships that would be televised as pedestrians attempted to get the best scores as they cross some of the busiest car centric roads. If crossing a road requires great skill to avoid death then people should get some glory from their death defying talents.]
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Today on the Streetsblog Network, we’ve got a post from M-Bike.org weighing in on a new crosswalk treatment in a Michigan town:
Can this crosswalk penetrate a driver’s consciousness? (Photo: R.D. Jones)
crosswalk signs
(the “Enhancer”), with lights, flashing beacons, and a pleasant spoken
instructions have recently been installed in Lyon Township where the
Huron Valley Trail crosses both a newly constructed road as well as
Grand River.They’re expensive, obnoxious, and as far as we can tell, somewhat ineffective.
As for the obnoxiousness, here are the instructions. “Hello. You’ve activated the crosswalk signal. Wait for traffic to stop before you cross. To show traffic you want to cross, place one foot near the curb line. And remember to thank the driver as you are crossing the roadway.”
Why are pedestrians and cyclists instructed to thank
motorists just for following state and local crosswalk laws? Shouldn’t
that be a basic expectation?…[W]hile testing them on Grand River, a van never slowed
when the sign was activated and we were trying to cross. It appeared
they were texting.Maybe we should thank those drivers that aren’t driving while distracted, too.
…
Continue reading “The “Enhancer” – Say thank you to people who obey the law”
MPD officer tells cyclist to get into non-existent bike lane
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Reader Patrick relays a story from this morning,
I wanted to relay a scene I experienced this morning involving some DC
metro police. It took place on 16th street, going south on the hill
coming down from Euclid to U street, along Meridian Hill Park. As you
know, this hill is pretty steep and during rush hour traffic al
three lanes are clogged. Basically the whole street is filled with cars
all the way to the curb, leaving little to no space for bikes. To get
around this, I, and almost every other biker I’ve seen on that road over
the past two years, usually ride between the lanes until after W St., at
which point more room opens up on the right side of the road. The only
issue I’ve ever encountered with this strategy is the occasional car
changing lanes without signaling.This morning as I rode this stretch, everything was going fine
until I had to stop short due to an MPD car abruptly cutting me off
by turning toward the adjacent lane. This was a potentially dangerous
move and I grudgingly chalked it up to the cops simply not seeing me. However, as I tried to
weave around their car, they gave a short burst of their siren and told
me to pull over to the side of the road. I reluctantly obliged, moving
around two lanes of traffic to the corner of 16th and W, and watched as
the cops tried to do the same. After a minute, they realized that they
probably wouldn’t be able to traverse the same two lanes of clogged
traffic and instead got on their loudspeaker. They blasted the
following statement at me: “You are required to bike in the bike lane!”There is no bike
lane on 16th Street. This cop was ordering me to bike in a non-existent
bike lane. Thankfully, by this point, a few other bikers had gathered on
the corner so I had some backup as we all pointed out that there was no
bike lane in which we could bike. Their response was that if there
wasn’t a marked bike lane, we should consider the right-hand side of
the road to be a bike lane. We then pointed out that the right-hand
side of that stretch of 16th was very dangerous since cars drove so
close to the curb. Their response: “It doesn’t matter, follow the law!”
And they drove off.
Cyclists aren’t required to ride right when they’re moving faster than traffic.
Continue reading “MPD officer tells cyclist to get into non-existent bike lane”
Long Beach Combines Sharrows with Green Stripe
Or as US Today puts it: “City puts bicycles directly in the path of motorists”
Like roads have always been only for cars and sharing the road is a new novel concept.
So what do you think, a good idea or not?
Continue reading “Long Beach Combines Sharrows with Green Stripe”
Bicyclists May Fight Back
[Add this to my wish list.]
Picture the perfect walk, run, or ride on a gorgeous Missouri morning spoiled by a frighteningly close encounter with a motorist who is angry just to see a bicyclist on the road. In the past, many of us were frustrated by our inability to take self-protective action or to incite others to protect us unless we were severely damaged by the encounter.
The Missouri Bicycle Federation offers its members an option that can be very satisfying…Report that safety threat! In an effort to make our state a safer place to walk, run, and bicycle, the Missouri Bicycle Federation (MoBikeFed) has established a program in which the details of the incident are reported to us and a letter will be sent to the offending motorist.
Details of the incident should include: motorist license tag number and description of the incident (time, place, description of vehicle & driver, what happened).
The letter sent to the motorist is accompanied by a summary of the Missouri state statutes and Missouri Driver Guide sections related to bicycling. The summary was compiled by the Missouri Bicycle Federation and may be freely reproduced without copyright restriction. The summary is available for viewing/download in MSWord format and PDF format.
In addition, the offender’s name and address will be keep on file in case the unsafe action is repeated and legal action becomes necessary. The names of both the offending motorist and the reporting bicyclist are kept confidential.
This program is open to all MoBikeFed members, including members of affiliated clubs.
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