Category: Biking in Baltimore

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Baltimore Cyclists Now Have a Bill of Rights

By By Michael Byrne City Paper


Last night the Baltimore City Council passed the city’s first-ever Cyclists Bill of Rights, a collection of “tenets” validating the rights of bikers, and reaffirming that cycling is, yes, a very good thing for the city. It states:

1. Cyclists have the right to travel safely and free of fear.

2. Cyclists have the right to equal access to our public streets and to sufficient and significant road space.

3. Cyclists have the right to the full support of educated law enforcement.

4. Cyclists have the right to the full support of our judicial system and the right to expect that those who endanger, injure, or kill cyclists will be dealt with to the full extent of the law.

5. Cyclists have the right to routine accommodations in all roadway projects and improvements.

6. Cyclists have the right to urban and roadway planning, development, and design that enable and support safe cycling.

7. Cyclists have the right to traffic signals, signage and maintenance standards that enable and support safe cycling.

8. Cyclists have the right to be actively engaged as a constituent group in the planning and implementation of roadway and transit projects.

9. Cyclists have the right to full access for themselves and their bicycles on all mass transit.

10. Cyclists have the right to end-of-trip amenities that include safe and secure opportunities to park their bicycles.

11. Cyclists have the right to be secure in their persons and property and be free from unreasonable search and seizure, as guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment.

12. Cyclists have the right to peaceably assemble in the public space, as guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Well, good luck with that, Baltimore. No. 12 seems pretty doable, but every other “right” enumerated here is violated on a daily basis in the city. And will continue to be violated every day. Undereducated, unsupportive cops; one of two commuter rail systems in the country that bans bikes; oh my, the fear; insufficient road space still full of parallel drainage grates; bike lanes that just start and stop randomly or disappear altogether. We could go on. Come to think of it, a bill of rights with no actual action behind it, full of by-definition toothless tenets, could even be construed as insulting.

But it’s something, so we’ll be happy about it and rest knowing that Baltimore’s City Council is remotely aware of other cities’ progressive ideas. And that other cities’ progressive people generally think Baltimore is a shithole. Maybe this will change their minds.

Full text here.

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Baltimore City Council Supports Bicyclists Bill of Rights and Complete Streets

From Bike Maryland (One Less Car)

 

Today, Baltimore City Council passed two important pieces of legislation for cyclists:  The Cyclist’s Bill of Rights Resolution and Street and Transportation Projects – Complete Streets Resolution.  These two resolutions mark a significant change in legal attitude toward cyclists and bicycle infrastructure.  Thanks to the support of Baltimore City government, positive steps were made in establishing the legitimacy of cycling as a mode of transportation.  Please take a moment to thank your representative in City Council for supporting our right to bike!!

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Article explores bike-car-pedestrian relations

[B’ Spokes: More bike/ped/car relations from Michael Dresser. One thing I think that needs highlighting is the race to red lights. It amazes me how often road rage or aggressive driving ensues when cyclists dare to stop for red lights. It is human nature to avoid conflict so I am empathetic to cyclists that run red lights though I do encourage them to look for other ways to deal with this issue. It all boils down to education and what to expect from other road users and I am thankful to Michael for bringing more awareness on this issue.]

from Getting There by Michael Dresser

Reuters has an interesting article on the sometimes toxic relations among motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists. Felix Salmon writes from a New York bicyclist’s point of view, but he’s not at all sparing of his fellow bikers who trample all over the traffic laws. And most of his points are equally applicable in the streets of Baltimore.

The article is especially recommended  to bicyclists who think they should be exempt from the traffic laws that govern sidewalk use and one-way  streets. Salmon explains, clearly  and from a bicyclists’ point of view, why this is dangerous folly.

 

 

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Who’s doing it at the Sun

Andrea Siegel, a reporter at The Baltimore Sun, covers mostly crime and courts in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, as well as legal issues. She wishes she was more physically fit, and, as she’s more fond of chocolate than exercise, fitness is a challenge. Her partner on a one-mile-plus daily walk is the family dog, a mixed breed named Moxie, and she exercises at the gym where the D.C. snipers once worked out.

Jerry Jackson has been a photo editor at The Baltimore Sun for 14 years and an avid cyclist for more than 30 years. Inspired by the movie "Breaking Away," he started racing as a teenager in Mississippi when leather "brain baskets" were still the norm. He regularly commutes to work by bike and still enters several mountain bike races a year for fun.

Patrick Maynard, who will be writing about running and walking, has been a producer for baltimoresun.com since 2008. In 2009, he tweeted on-course for the Sun from the Baltimore Marathon, finishing in just under 4 hours and almost managing to run the whole time. He sometimes walks to the Sun offices on Calvert Street.

Leeann Adams, a multimedia editor at The Baltimore Sun, also dabbles in content for the mobile website and iPhone app and covers the Ravens via video. She did a triathlon to celebrate her 40th birthday and continues to swim, bike and run — none of them quickly, though. Her biggest fitness challenge is to balance working, working out, spending time with her husband and being a mom to a 6-year-old boy.

Anica Butler, the Sun’s crime editor, is a former high school runner and recovering vegetarian who spent more of her early-adult years on a bar stool than working out. She is currently training (though poorly) for a half marathon and is trying to live a generally healthier lifestyle. She also hates the gym.
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Getting There: Bad-behaving bicyclists are problem, too

By Michael Dresser, The Baltimore Sun

Bicyclists are accustomed to thinking of themselves as the good guys — and for the most part that’s true.

They don’t pollute the air, they don’t take up much road space and they’re getting off their backsides and exercising — something some of us slugs should do more often.

But after reading a recent column in which I defended a new law requiring motorists to give bicyclists a three-foot buffer while passing, …

That complaint rang true, and since then I’ve been noticing or recalling various incidents in which bicyclists were anything but good guys.

The incidents include:

•Bicyclists using a Canton waterfront footpath that is explicitly marked as being for pedestrians only.

•Bicyclists jumping on and off the sidewalks of Baltimore at will.

•Bikers zipping by hikers on trails with no warning of their intent to pass.

•People on bikes zipping through red lights with impunity, weaving in and out of traffic and going down one-way streets in the wrong direction.
…
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[B’ Spokes: While other modes of transportation get areas for their exclusive travel and cyclists have to share everything and are treated as trespassers even when riding lawfully. And we supposedly cause problems by traveling near motoring speeds on trails and (supposedly) traveling near pedestrian speeds on roads but still there is basic human decency we should show other human beings so please try to be more courteous. Of course this will have the same effect as AAA saying motorist should obey the speed limit and not use cell phones but there it is.]
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A new brand for One Less Car

Patrick Maynard of the Baltimore Sun asks "I knew about this group, but it’s tough for me to say how much general-public exposure they really got. Were you familiar with them? Do you think the new name will help?"

And I’ll highlight a comment by Chuck "I think the group is great. im not a biker but i have friends who tell me about how rude and disrespectful drivers are to them when they bike around the city. So thumbs up to this group. I think work needs to happen on both the city level as well as driver eduction. The city is not very bike friendly. Plus Greg Cantori is a rock star in the nonprofit world. "

If you have any thoughts follow the link after the fold.

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