Category: Biking in Maryland

[B’ Spokes: I have spoken with John Kuo and he impresses me as a very nice guy and he did get us this: https://www.mva.maryland.gov/Driver-Safety/Bicycle/default.htm
Still there is going to be a learning curve for him as he takes on being the safety representative of a state with the 4th highest pedestrian fatality rate. ]
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from Getting There by Michael Dresser
John T. Kuo, chief of the Motor Vehicle Administration, will serve as Gov. Martin O"Malley’s highway safety representative, Transportation Secretary Beverley Swaim-Staley announced Monday.
Kuo, the state’s MVA administrator since 2006, succeeds former State Highway Administrator Neil J. Pedersen, who retired over the summer. Swaim-Staley said the state’s Highway Safety Office, now a part of the SHA, will become a part of the MVA after a transition period.
As safety representative, Kuo will serve as Maryland’s liaison to such agencies as the National Highway Traffic safety Administration and to private safety advocacy groups. At the MVA, Kuo has played a major role in developing the state’s graduated licensing program for new drivers.
Continue reading “MVA chief named safety representative”

Before I give the impression I’m never impressed, please take a look at the test the Annapolis Department of Transportation (ADOT) did.

The on-line test has vastly improved since my last review but when compared to what ADOT did I still think there is room for improvement.

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The good

This is really nice how the picture works in one of our major crash types into a general question.

This is a nice start but it really needs to emphasize just how deadly over 35mph is and I’m not sure drivers will get this as pedestrian safety question. After all as a driver of a car you are safe at speeds up to 90mph at 120mph things start to git a bit unsafe. I may be exaggerating but the point is this question does nothing to dispel that type of thinking.

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The I’m not that keen about

If you had one question to put forth to the drivers of Maryland, would this be it? I don’t think so but at least I can’t be critical of this question as I have been in the past.

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The bad

The big question is just where is the area pedestrians may cross in this typical Maryland intersection? Too many may be thinking “not shown here.” We really need more emphasis on “stopping for pedestrians” then things that can be construed as “pedestrians may not cross here.”

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Summary

Before we only got one question for bike/ped for the whole test and here I pulled four questions from one test. Major kudos for that but still as far as covering major safety issues well like ADOT or being clear what is expected of a driver, this drivers test still remains a disappointment.

I still think there is too much of a slant in Maryland that if you get all the bike/ped safety issues then these are good questions. But what if a driver doesn’t get all the bike/ped safety issues? Do these questions address those (potential) drivers? I don’t think so.

Continue reading “Maryland Online Driver Test – bike/ped safety review”

Street Films has an excellent video about Minneapolis’s bike paths (https://www.streetfilms.org/minneapolis-midtown-greenway-good-for-biz-good-for-bikes/ ) And I challenge anyone to come away from that and not wanting more bike paths.
No doubt what they have is marvelous and no doubt the trails in Montgomery County better serve the Washington Metro Area better then the trails we have in Baltimore County that serve the Baltimore Metro Area, so wouldn’t be nice if we had what they had?
Sure.
But show me the long range plans of 100 miles of trails that crisscross all of Baltimore City like what Minneapolis has.
What? No such plans, no such crisscrossing, no such network.
Shouldn’t funding priorities reflect plans? Or should they reflect pipe dreams?
I’ve ridden in cities with far more bike lanes then greenways and paths and you know what? They have a lot more cyclists then what we have, doesn’t that say something to anyone?
See our poll in the right column (results: https://www.baltimorespokes.org/polls/index.php?pid=2010010614524956&aid=-1 ) by far we want ALL types of bicycle facilities and not just one kind. This is NOT anti-trail but a pro bike stance, we need to see more of the budget, more of the long range plans devoted to accommodating cyclists. There is nothing wrong with promoting to be more like NYC or Tempe. AZ with lots of bike lanes and some nice greenways.
Does it really make sense to promote the ideals of Minneapolis with funding but not in the plans? If we could get those kind of plans, then ya we should support that but that’s my point, we have bike master plans but they have no support, not in funding and not in the long range plans.
Please add your voice in correcting this, see our Alert: Demand more for bike/ped https://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20110921214018820

As Maryland’s new Drivers
Manual points out, “often the safest place for a cyclist to ride is in the center of the
lane.” Unfortunately most drivers do not understand this,
and they assume that a cyclist in the lane is being selfish (or
worse). Since 2009, the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
has had a sign that would go a long way toward educating drivers. The
sign says “Bicycles May Use Full Lane.” (R4-11) But two years later,
Maryland still has not approved the use of that sign.

In fact, the State Highway
Administration (SHA) initially decided that these signs would never
be posted on Maryland Roads. Fortunately for us, SHA
employees were very open about their thinking, and sent the Glenn Dale
Citizens Association (Prince Georges County) a letter saying that they had
decided to not use the sign. In late June, one of the members of that
association (Jim Titus) also on the board
of the Washington
Area Bicyclists Association
, drafted an alert asking WABA members to write the Governor and
the Secretary of Transportation to reverse that decision; 700 people wrote letters; and MDOT reversed the decision as
the letter writers had suggested. About
a week later, an activist with Potomac Pedalers suggested to SHA’s Bob Herstein that the
words “Bicycles May Use Full Lane” should be placed on the typical big yellow
diamond warning sign; so
SHA created such a sign, and emailed
it to Jim Titus, who sent it around to all the activists who were
closely following the issue. We all told Jim that the sign would be
fine. (For the complete details of this saga see some of the
articles by Jim
Titus on the Washcycle blog.)

For some background: White rectangular signs are “regulatory signs” which means that they
can change the rules of the road, while yellow signs are
just giving you advice or a warning.
We were not especially concerned about whether the
sign is a white rectangle or a yellow diamond, because it does not matter
in Maryland, you already have the right to use the full
lane if the lane is too narrow to share side-by-side with a motor vehicle.
In some states the color of R4-11 could make a difference (to change the legal requirement on where to ride) but not in Maryland:
We need a sign that clarifies to drivers where we are legally allowed to ride… and that’s all and we would like this in as many places as possible.

A few weeks later, we heard that SHA might actually approve both signs. MDOT’s Michael
Jackson, a longtime proponent of the R4-11 sign, rejected
SHA’s proposal to approve the yellow sign instead of the official
R4-11 regulatory sign. But the staff of SHA’s Office of
Traffic and Safety had become quite enthusiastic about the yellow
sign. So SHA staff collectively decided that the best thing to do
would be to compromise with Mr. Jackson, and approve both his preferred
white sign and their preferred yellow sign.

This struck me as the best possible outcome. Up to
that point, I had always assumed that the white R4-11 sign should be placed on
major urban bike routes, while “Share the Road” signs would still be useful on
rural roads and some highways with few cyclists. But the ambiguity of
“Share the Road” is very problematic, since many drivers think that it means
that bicycles are supposed to ride the edge, and get out of the way of the
cars (See
NHTSA says “Share The Road Sign” sends mixed messages.)
A traffic control sign that means the opposite of what many people
think can be worse than no sign at all. So it would be far better to
gradually replace “Share the Road” signs with the yellow diamond “Bicycles May
Use Full Lane” signs, while using the official R4-11 sign along major bike
routes (which will some times also need sharrows).

The
head of the Montgomery
County Bicycle Advocates and the City
Engineer of Laurel have provided additional
reasons for why approving both signs would be better than just one of the
signs. The most important point they make, is that some localities will not
use the white regulatory sign on some roads but they would use the yellow
sign. They have alot of different reasons but the bottom line is that alot
of roads that need the message “Bicycles May Use Full Lane” are only going to have that message if SHA approves the yellow sign.
The City of Baltimore has already been using the white R4-11 sign,
and my hunch is that they will keep using that sign. But the counties
have alot of roads with only an occasional cyclist. I would not be surprised to
see them resist the R4-11 sign on most of their roads. The yellow sign would
give them another option.

So we have that rare case where
bureaucratic competition is giving us a better product. Mr. Jackson
and SHA staff each would have liked to give us just one sign but the other would not agree to it.
So the only way forward is approve both
signs and that is better than what either of them wanted.

So what’s the holdup? People who attended the last meeting of
Maryland’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee say that Michael Jackson is now
trying to block the compromise. SHA’s Herstein came to the meeting ready to show
the MBPAC members both signs, but Mr. Jackson prevented Mr. Herstein from
talking about the yellow sign. I have to admit, that does sound like the
Michael Jackson I know. He is dedicated, sincere, and persistent. In
this case, his persistence brought SHA to the point where it is willing to
approve the official R4-11 sign, which is a good thing. But once he makes up his mind, he
sometimes refuses to listen and gets too involved in fighting for the details, irregardless if they are a benefit for cyclists or a hindrance… it’s like “it’s the principle of the thing that maters.” even though the premise of that principle is questionable.

At this point, I think that advocates need to ask
Michael Jackson to stand down. He won.
It’s time to stop arguing with SHA, and instead get them to start
posting these signs before they change their mind!

By Ashley Halsey III – Washington Post
Three local pedestrians have been killed by hit-and-run drivers this month, bringing to at least 17 the number of hit-and-run accidents involving people walking or riding bicycles in the region this year, according to statistics compiled by the American Automobile Association.
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The AAA said that in 13 of the 17 hit-and-run accidents, the victim died. About 11 percent of crashes nationwide involve a hit-and-run driver, according to data compiled by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration reported an increase of 20 percent between 2000 and 2005 in the number of fatal hit-and-run accidents involving pedestrians.
In the Washington region, the Street Smart campaign says pedestrians and bicyclists accounted for about a quarter of all traffic fatalities between 2006 and 2010.
“The trend is troubling because it involves drivers who often willingly or knowingly flee the scene without rendering aid to the victim, making it a crime scene,” said John B. Townsend II of AAA. “That’s cold-blooded, inhumane and unconscionable.”
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Continue reading “AAA sees ‘troubling’ trend in hit-and-run accidents”

Update: Live music by the Bar Cons
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Do you have bike gear you want to get rid of? Are you looking for a deal on bike parts? Then come buy or sell at the Frederick Bicycle Coalition Bike Swap on October 2nd, 2011. The swap will be held at Dublin Roasters Coffee, 1780 North Market Street in Frederick, MD.
The swap is free to attend. Vendor spots are $10 for an 8′ x 8′ spot. All proceeds benefit the Frederick Bicycle Coalition. If you have bikes, parts, or clothing you need to buy or sell, this is the place to be.
Here are the details:
Date: Sunday, October 2nd (rain date: Sunday, October 9th)
Time: 9-1 (sellers can begin setting up at 8AM)
Cost: Free for buyers.
Location: Dublin Roasters Coffee. 1780 North Market Street – Frederick, MD – 21701.
Continue reading “Bike Swap – October 2nd – in Frederick”

Once you stood here bold and proud
But so many cars zoomed by quite loud
Now that your existence is all but wiped out
I fear I may be next to be snuffed out
If I occupy the space you once stood.

[B’ Spokes: I’m going to take excerpts from this NPR story and intermix comments relevant to Maryland and its unique rules on how it “dispenses”* federal aid. My comments in square brackets.

*Maryland has a lower then national average for spending federal aid on bike/ped projects hence the term “dispense” is being a bit generous.]

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by BRIAN NAYLOR -NPR

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Cities are adding bike lanes with the help of a federal program that gets its money from the highway bill.
[Everywhere but Maryland allows building of bike lanes with Federal money. Well to be technically correct Maryland has some tolerance for funding bike lanes if they are part of the trail but no part of an on-road network.]

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Washington is hardly alone in marking off bike lanes in its streets; New York has done it, as have Seattle and Minneapolis and any number of cities across the country.

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Backers of the infrastructure point out that the amount of spending on bike paths and pedestrian improvements amounts to about 1.5 percent of transportation spending — a tiny fraction of what’s needed to pay for bridge repairs, and not what’s keeping those bridges from getting fixed.

David Goldberg of the advocacy group Transportation for America calls this is a “watershed moment,” as communities revert to an earlier time when roads weren’t owned by cars.

“We stripped [roads] down to be essentially sewers for cars, and for years we thought the throughput of vehicles was the be-all and end-all,” he says. “There’s been a significant change in recent years where cities, towns, large and small, are taking a very different approach, and they’re going back and reclaiming a little bit of that landscape.”

It’s not just bike lanes that are funded by the transportation enhancements program. Pedestrian improvements such as sidewalks and better-marked crosswalks are also funded. In part, Goldberg says, the money is being spent to reduce pedestrian deaths, most of which occur on roads built to earlier federal guidelines without proper crosswalks, for example, that are unsafe for pedestrians and other users.

“This is a national issue of having created safety problems in community after community, where we need to go back and give people safe ways to get out there, to be active, to get where they need to go,” he says, “and this is not a frill, this is a very critical piece of our infrastructure.”
[Note the stress on “community” but in Maryland the local communities cannot spend federal money on “sidewalks and better-marked crosswalks” even though we have the 4th highest pedestrian fatality rate. These things are not allowed to be funded through federal money nor is planing to get these things fixed main streamed liked other transportation networks and other maintenance issues by the localities. If you think bridges are in disrepair, think about the bicycle infrastructure that has rotted away to dust so you can no longer tell that roads were built for the bicycle and other uses also benefited as well, roads were the first multi-use path if you will.

I can’t tell you how many times I look at the location of a pedestrian fatality and there on a busy state road are two faded lines that are supposed to say crosswalk
but instead say: “So many cars have zoomed by here that they have erased the crosswalks existence, you’re next if you use this space.” And then there is the issue of only one “crosswalk” and only on one side of a busy street, like that is really going to improve pedestrian safety. :/ You need to accommodate people near where they want to cross, this has been shown in studies and no you can’t expect any reasonable person to go through 3 light cycles just to cross the street, that kind of thinking is just epic fail. ]

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It’s not clear what lies ahead for the transportation enhancements program in the long term. Republicans in Congress want to give states the flexibility to opt out of it, and that worries safety advocates who say that without prodding from Washington, some states will focus only on cars to the detriment of everyone else on the road.
[Maryland with its stance of “Ya we support bikes… but never, ever on local roads.” is in my opinion outrageous. Baltimore City is lucky being the only locality to mange both state roads and local roads so rather then being limited to consider bike lanes only on state roads like Fall Rd it could consider an alternate like Roland Ave., other localities are not that fortunate the state says sorry we can’t put bike lanes on ____ road and we are not going to give you any money for an alternate bike route either, MDOT needs to profit whenever and wherever we don’t accommodate bikes so we can show off how much under budget we can go. Baltimore got $3 million from the state for phase one of our bike master plan, other localities do not have that as an option and I really have to ask why not?]
Continue reading “Bike Infrastructure Hits Congressional Speed Bumps”

[B’ Spokes: This is worth highlighting as it’s even more applicable to bike/ped planning. Imagine being denied funding because what we want as a group is too cheep? Yet it happens all the time with bike/ped and this relates to our alert: Demand more for bike/ped https://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20110921214018820 ]
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Excerpt from Greater Greater Washington:
Finally, our system of government and media has a bias toward transportation megaprojects over many smaller ones. A huge project gets headlines and attention. Leaders, from local to federal, like to be associated with big public works. Big projects make people feel that something significant is getting done.
This is unfortunate, since a larger number of smaller transportation improvements can make more of a difference for less money. As I noted in the Post, Capital Bikeshare (which was itself a big deal) could be built 18 times over for the price of the massive Gainesville interchange rebuild alone. Individual bike lanes, sidewalks, roundabouts, street reconnections, bus lanes, bus service enhancements, and more each cost little but add up to a lot of value.
The 2030 Group/Bob Chase/Rich Parsons survey of unnamed transportation experts fell (or deliberately leapt) into this trap, asking transportation engineers what their short list of 10 big projects would be to address regional mobility. Naturally, those engineers picked 10 very large projects even if 100 or 1,000 small ones would do more.
Continue reading “Bike/ped funding denied because it’s too cheep”

By Ashley Halsey III, Washington Post
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More than 51 percent of Virginians and 47 percent of Maryland residents drive to another county for work. Only New Jersey, whose workforce feeds into Philadelphia and New York, comes close.
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[B’ Spokes: If we drive more just to do daily activities like work, is the metric "crashes per miles driven" an accurate comparison of how safe it is to drive in Maryland compared to elsewhere? MDOT would like you to think it is, I think it’s a lot like saying a breakfast sandwich of one egg and one sausage is healthier then a breakfast of two eggs and two sausages so people in Maryland will typically have three breakfast sandwiches because they are healthier per unit eaten. That’s to say it’s not how you dived up the totals but what you normally do in a course of a day is the important information.]
Continue reading “Census: More Maryland and Virginia drivers commute to another county than other people in the U.S.”