Category: Biking in Baltimore

Why This Is Important

We demand that Baltimore City follow the Council Bill 09-0433, Complete Streets, in their design of the Midtown Streetscape project. Specifically, bicycle lanes and bicycle infrastructure, which are not currently included in the design, must be included unless the “Director of Transportation issues a documented exception concluding that application of Complete Streets principles would be contrary to public safety.”

Maryland Institute College of Art and University of Baltimore leadership have had the unique opportunity to represent their interests in Baltimore’s complete streets program.

Let MICA and UB administration officals know that safety improvements for bicyclists are an integral part of a complete streets program – one that protects cyclists and encourages bicycling as a means of transportation.

When you sign, please include in the comments if you are a local business owner, or are associated with MICA or UB.

https://www.change.org/petitions/baltimore-city-council-include-bike-lanes-in-the-mount-royal-streetscape-redesign

[B’ Spokes: This would have been perfect if somehow connected to the aquarium.]

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For more pictures: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2091553/Going-grid-The-artist-creates-pictures-street-maps–help-GPS-bike.html

[B’ Spokes: I’ll note that I am not in favor of this, two lane roundabouts are not that bike/ped friendly and all this does is make traffic on Key Highway and Light Street near continuous creating a car sewer barrier between Federal Hill and the Inner Harbor. Two major bicycle and pedestrian areas. If we can’t dial up road designs to be pedestrian friendly here, where can we? Baltimore needs to get that it is the pedestrian traffic that makes this area great and it is not the 8,000 vehicles wishing to bypass this area. I know it sounds like they are accommodating bike/peds in the linked article but NOT at the desired crossing points and not by best practices, this concerns me a great deal.

Also note all the bike/ped friendliness of roundabouts studies that I know about reference ONE lane roundabouts and it is my assertion that those features do NOT carry to a two lane roundabout, though this has not been studied yet as far as I am aware.]

https://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-12-26/news/bs-md-key-highway-roundabout-20111222_1_traffic-lights-pedestrians-slow-traffic

Via Facebook:
To all students at MICA and UB: Your administration has approved improvements to their area in what’s known as the Midtown Streetscape Project, but they and the city have rejected the addition of bicycle infrastructure, such as bike lanes. You, the students, can make your voices known. Call, write, email, and approach the administration about this. The city can make cycling more convenient, but you have to speak up.

Baltimore City accounts for 32% of the state’s pedestrian crashes* and 23% of the state’s bicycling crashes.** Seriously motorists need to drive more carefully and stop winning about a $40 fine for going 12mph over the speed limit.

The story: https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2012/01/13/baltimore-city-dot-vandal-sets-two-mobile-speed-cameras-on-fire/
Continue reading “Tisk, tisk: 2 Mobile Speed Cameras In Baltimore Set On Fire; Police Looking For Suspect”

By John Stechschulte, Baltimore – Baltimore Sun

I have a confession to make: In a recent story about perpetually increasing gas prices, The Sun quoted Susan Sutter as saying "someone is lining their pockets, and it sure isn’t me" ("Gas-pocalypse?" Jan. 7). I must admit — it’s me.

Am I among the 1 percent? An oil company executive? A Saudi prince?

Nope. I’m just a normal Baltimore resident. Well, mostly normal. I am a little unusual in that I don’t have a car (in fact, a third of Baltimore households don’t). Instead, I go everywhere by bicycle and transit. I’ve been car-free for three years now, and in that time, I have saved more than $15,000.

What am I doing with all that pocket lining? Mostly, I’ve been saving and investing it. I’ve even bought stock in oil companies. I’m hoping for and working toward a world in which drilling for oil is not nearly as profitable as it is now. But in the meantime, someone’s going to make a buck off of it, and it might as well be me.

So when gas prices head skyward you might see a smile creep across my face. Those high prices will add a few more bicyclists to Baltimore’s streets, and a bit more lining to my pockets.

Of course, when I’m on my bike I’m usually smiling anyway.

John Stechschulte, Baltimore
Continue reading “Who’s benefiting from high gas prices? Me.”

[B’ Spokes: Help make Baltimore a better place.]

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By Fern Shen – Baltimore Brew

We hit $15,000, but it ain’t over, folks. A donor has promised to match whatever money we raise above $15,000!

In other words, if we reach $18,000, this person will kick in an additional $3,000. If we come up with an extra $5,000 and hit the $20,000 mark, our patron will contribute an additional $5,000, putting us at $25,000. (Boy, that sounds good.)

So between now and Sunday Jan. 22 at 10 a.m. , when the Baltimore Brew Kickstarter campaign ends, your Brew support counts double:  every dollar you pledge to us turns into two. (Don’t wait until the last minute folks because Mr./Ms Benefactor will be making his/her donation via Kickstarter on Sunday morning and the match will happen then.)

Can you help us, Brew readers? If you haven’t contributed yet, you can look like a really smart guy by doing it now when the moolah will be matched.

Thanks. And to our incredibly generous benefactor who wishes to remain nameless, we really appreciate your support and vote of confidence in our work. By the way, I asked Benefactor X if he has an upper limit. Yup, he’ll go up to $10,000. Wow.

Continue reading “Brew donor offering matching funds”

by Lisa Hymas – Urbanite

Amidst all the hand-wringing over distracted driving, a critical point is getting lost. The problem isn’t the texting — it’s the driving.

Clive Thompson made this argument in Wired last year:

"When we worry about driving and texting, we assume that the most important thing the person is doing is piloting the car. But what if the most important thing they’re doing is texting? How do we free them up so they can text without needing to worry about driving?

The answer, of course, is public transit.
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But even though the U.S. lags way behind other developed countries on public transit, American teenagers are increasingly losing interest in driving too. Long gone are the days when a car symbolized ultimate freedom and cruising Main St. was a preferred teen pastime.

In 2008, just 31 percent of American 16-year-olds had their driver’s licenses, down from 46 percent in 1983, according to a new study in the journal Traffic Injury Prevention. The numbers were down for 18-year-olds too, from 80 percent in 1983 to 65 percent in 2008, and the percentage of twenty- and thirty-somethings with driver’s licenses fell as well. And even those with driver’s licenses are trying to drive less; a new survey by car-sharing company Zipcar found that more than half of drivers under the age of 44 are making efforts to reduce the time they spend packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes.
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Continue reading “Dude, Where’s Your Car?”

Join Nathan’s family and friends on the one-year anniversary of Nathan’s bicycle accident. We will meet at the scene of the accident in front of the Broadview Apartment Building. We will walk to Johns Hopkins Campus for a brief remembrance of Nathan. Candles will be provided.

Date: Sun. Feb. 26, 2012
Tentative time: 6:30 PM

BY GREG HANSCOM – Grist

This year, as we have in years past, my wife and I packed up the kids and flew across the country to spend the holidays with her family in suburban Baltimore. Christmas at the Thomas house is always a festive affair: crab soup, wine by the bottleful, quality time with grandma and grandpa and sundry cousins. And for my benefit, they keep the Barry Manilow Christmas tunes to a minimum. (Sincere thanks for that, guys.)

There’s just one problem: Put me in the ‘burbs for more than about 48 hours and I go completely batshit. I’m not sure what it is that sets me off. I completely understand the appeal of the place, having lived in Baltimore proper. It’s peaceful here. And safe. No need to lock your doors. But in suburbia, I feel trapped.

I need wheels. But here’s the other problem: Put me in a car in traffic for more than about 48 seconds and, you guessed it, I go completely batshit. Instant road rage. I swear. I’m just not a well-adjusted 20th/21st century human. My parents did their best, really (here’s looking at you, mom and dad), but they brought me into the world about a hundred years late.

This year, though, I was determined to spare my family the experience of dealing with yours truly in the midst of a stoplight- or split-level-induced freak-out. I went looking for a bike. I needed something that could get me around the neighborhood and to the town-bound train. Bonus points if I could take it on the train and use it to get around the city.
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Continue reading “Merry Bikesmas: A 1970s Schwinn livens up a family holiday 5”