Category: Biking Elsewhere

All our sympathies go to the SWDCBlogger’s roommate who was intentionally struck by a driver while riding late Friday night on 14th Street SW near Constitution Avenue. Witnesses to the incident picked up the driver’s tags, so the hope is that justice will catch up with that automomaniac. Anyone else who was hanging around the Mall after 1 a.m. and saw the incident should get in contact with the [the original post].
This writer, too, has had several recent run-ins with motor drivers compelled to violence by nothing more than the inconvenience of sharing a lane with a bicyclist. It’s enough to drive a person to a Matt Borlikian attitude toward anyone with car keys. Last month, for example, while I was biking on Florida Ave NW, a driver who had crowded me and honked his horn repeatedly from behind me — despite the fact that no one was using the other east-bound lane — finally passed me so aggressively and ostentatiously that he clipped my front tire, sending me off the road. And just last night, a driver on 14th Street near the Columbia Heights Metro station swerved toward me, nearly clipping my toes, when I stepped out on foot into the lane but then stepped back toward the car. So, I punched her trunk as she passed, prompting her male passenger, who was behaving in a manner consistent with being high on drugs, to hop out and, after some debate about etiquette, follow me into that terrible pollo burrito place there by the Gentrification Giant and punch me in the face. (The worst part of the exchange came later: regrettably, I ate the burrito I ordered.)
Granted, each of these respective drivers earned a flurry of middle fingers from your correspondent at various points in our conversations, but hey, that’s driving. Incivility is certainly not a license to use a 5,000-lb. vehicle in order to enforce a norm of the road. Drivers: You may not assault, batter, or kill bicyclists with your vehicle, no matter how slow they seem to be going, how much lane they seem to unfairly occupy relative to their size, or how many rude digits they point in your direction.
Drivers absolutely may not strike bikers, but … is there ever a case when it might be appropriate for bikers to hit back at drivers? No one should read this as a call for asymmetric violence by bicyclists against drivers who put them in danger, but given the "etiquette" conversation I had last night before getting punched, I’m curious: do you all think responding to vehicular assault by banging your fist down on a trunk is so wrong? And what about a well-placed U-lock to a tail light? Where do you draw the line?
Continue reading “Bikes vs. Cars: The Rules of Engagement”

According to an Oct. 13th Tribune article, "Despite increased fuel prices, gridlock is still a problem, but more people may be working at home or traveling at non-peak times, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning researcher says. Motorists in the Chicago area are making fewer trips to gas stations, but highways are still severely congested despite a decline of almost 5 percent in miles driven this year.
"Congestion in the region is actually worse now than a year ago. Drivers hoping to reach their destinations on schedule need to budget almost double the amount of travel time that the trips should take…"
[Just to note that parents driving their kids to school has been shown to be as high as 21% of rush hour traffic. I’ll assert the impact of this behavior could explain this problem.]
Continue reading “CHICAGO (IL) DRIVERS DRIVE LESS, ROADS STILL CONGESTED”

According to a Sept. 23rd Independent article, "After a close friend was killed by a motorist, Fair Haven Alderwoman Erin Sturgis-Pascale vowed to change street culture so these ‘accidents’ wouldn’t happen again. Monday, in the culmination of what has become a surging, citywide safe streets movement, she found widespread support for her quest. A Complete Streets proposal, introduced by Sturgis-Pascale and East Rock Alderman Roland Lemar, met unanimous approval from the aldermanic Legislation Committee at City Hall Monday night.
"The proposal would create a Complete Streets Steering Committee to guide the development of a policy to ensure equal, safe access for all motorists, cyclists and pedestrians; a design manual to implement it; a process to include community members in the planning; an educational campaign; and traffic enforcement. Pascale said she’d like to see the city’s streets evaluated not by the number of lanes or traffic lights, but by other measures. [***->] "Are our streets being used for people to socialize? Are our children playing in the streets safely? Are they able to ride their bicycles? Are we welcoming people with disabilities? Are we protecting our seniors on our streets?…" [<-***]
Continue reading “NEW HAVEN (CT) PANEL OK’S SAFE STREETS LAW”

According to RoadBikeRider.com this commercial features a Lance lookalike but none the less it captures something wonderful about bicycling.
Continue reading “Lance Armstrong Nike Commercial”

On September 30th the SLO City Council came to terms with a $4.8 million shortfall in the wake of decreased city revenues and the result of a binding arbitration ruling for police officers. At the council meeting, Bicycle Coalition Executive Director Adam *censored*ushima reminded the Council that ‘in these tough economic times, now is not the time to take away transportation options that promote tourism, decrease dependence on oil, and improve health.’ The City Council made cuts in almost every department but left all bike projects — including the Railroad Bicycle Trail–untouched. In 2007 the City rated bicycle improvements among its ‘high priority’ budget goals in response to Bicycle Coalition input at a community forum. We are glad the council remained true to those goals…"
[It’s sad the same can’t be said for Maryland.]
Continue reading “SAN LUIS OBISPO (CA) COUNCIL KEEPS BIKE PROJECTS IN BUDGET”

[The following quote caught my eye:]
…
In many parts of India and China, a growing middle class has an appetite for cars. Some people in these places and others (like America) have the idea that driving a car is glamorous or “respectable”—that it makes one special and shows that one is dignified and classy. They got that false image from American television and movies.
By joining in the World Carfree Day Movement, Americans can explicitly reject the notion that cars are anything but an especially toxic form of cancer. The good news is that it is a curable form of cancer, as many cities and towns throughout the world are now starting to demonstrate.
…
Continue reading “Go carfree”

Joe Krebs Enjoys Green Vacation
Joe Krebs, who anchors the morning show, has discovered a way to getaway, relax and go green.
Continue reading “NBC 4 coverage of Joe Krebs bicycle vacation”

Here’s a sampling of some of the stats we’ve recently posted on our [Bikes Belong] website:
* Participation: Less than 1% of all U.S. trips are made by bicycle, yet nearly 40% of all trips are two miles or less.
* Economic: The average annual operating cost of a bicycle is around $200, 1/70th that of an average car.
* Health: Men who cycle to work are significantly less likely to be overweight and obese (39.8%) than those who drive to work (60.8%).
* Facilities: From 1992-2005 Portland, Oregon, increased its bikeway network by 215%, and during that period bicycle commuting doubled.
* Environmental: Bicycling instead of driving 5 miles a day reduces individual CO2 emissions by 1,287 pounds annually, about 6% of the average American’s total emissions.
Continue reading “Facts & Stats”

When Bikes Belong teamed with Humana to bring 1,000 bikes to the Democratic and Republican national conventions, we had two goals:
1. To show convention delegates, media, volunteers, and residents the convenience of bicycling for short trips.
2. To highlight bicycling on a national stage and generate positive media coverage to inspire more people to ride.
On both fronts, the Freewheelin bike sharing effort was tremendously successful. During eight days of Freewheelin at the two conventions, people from all 50 states and 37 countries:
* Took 7,523 rides
* Pedaled 41,724 miles
* Burned 1,293,429 calories
* Reduced their carbon footprint by 14.6 metric tons
* Reported no accidents or injuries
Freewheelin was a mainstream media event, with stories appearing on CNN, ABC World News Tonight, and the CBS Evening News, in major newspapers such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and New York Daily News, as well as in Time and Newsweek. So far we’ve tallied:
* 2,304 clips in print, on television and radio, and online
* Nearly 180 million media impressions
* An equivalent of $10 million in advertising
These widespread and positive stories helped promote bicycling as easy, convenient, healthy, safe, and fun to a larger and wider audience than we’ve reached before.
To see some of the coverage, visit our website.
We thank Humana and all of the Bikes Belong member companies who generously supported this unprecedented project.
Continue reading “Conventions Bike-Sharing Effort Exceeds Expectations”

Umbra Fisk (Grist TV) on commuting by bike (for the first time):
Continue reading “Pedal Power to the People!”