By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS, New York Times
…
The same dynamic has been shown to apply to cycling, where wind drag can result in much greater energy demands during 25 miles of outdoor cycling than the same distance on a stationary bike. That means if you have limited time and want to burn as many calories as possible, you should hit the road instead of the gym.
But there seem to be other, more ineffable advantages to getting outside to work out. In a number of recent studies, volunteers have been asked to go for two walks for the same time or distance — one inside, usually on a treadmill or around a track, the other outdoors. In virtually all of the studies, the volunteers reported enjoying the outside activity more and, on subsequent psychological tests, scored significantly higher on measures of vitality, enthusiasm, pleasure and self-esteem and lower on tension, depression and fatigue after they walked outside.
Of course, those studies were small-scale, short-term — only two walks — and squishy in their scientific parameters, relying heavily on subjective responses. But a study last year of older adults found, objectively, that those who exercised outside exercised longer and more often than those working out indoors.
…
https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/21/the-benefits-of-exercising-outdoors/?smid=fb-share
How Not to Fix Climate Change
By JOE NOCERA, New York Times
…
Can you see how backward this logic is? As Adam Brandt, an energy expert at Stanford University, pointed out to me recently, so long as the demand is there, energy producers are going to search for new supplies of fossil fuel — many of them using unconventional means like tar sands extraction. “With growing global demand, the economic pressure to develop unconventional resources is enormous and not going away,” he said. “Can environmental groups expect to win a series of fights for decades to come, when the economic forces are aligned very strongly against them in each round?” The answer is obvious: no. The emphasis should be on demand, not supply. If the U.S. stopped consuming so much of the world’s oil, the economic need for the tar sands would evaporate.
…
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/19/opinion/nocera-how-not-to-fix-climate-change.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0#h[Cysscs,1]
People spend more on bikes than they do on flying!
Sierra Club’s Bicycle Statement
[B’ Spokes: We live in a society where we tell drivers one thing and something opposite to pedestrians and cyclists and this needs to be corrected. Too many times I’ve heard “Cyclists/pedestrians have to yield to cars.” (A practical (but wrong) interpretation of “Don”t be dead right.”) I will strongly assert that it is the parents (auto drivers) that teach their kids how to “safely” bike or walk which includes perpetuating the myth that wrong way riding is safer and other fallacies. This needs to be correct, so with that I’ll highlight how the Sierra Club put it:]
- Make a complete network
- Be context-appropriate
- Provide comfort
- Safety
- Engage the public
- Education
6. Education
All road users, whether they are cyclists, pedestrians or drivers, should understand their rights and responsibilities and the rights and responsibilities of others. In addition, the general public must see walking and biking as legitimate forms of transportation. This can be accomplished with an educational campaign focused on the rights of all road users, on safe travel habits and on the benefits of biking and walking.
- Teach bicycle and pedestrian safety in the driver’s education curriculum, ensuring that young people know how to safely interact with all road users as drivers and
can be more responsible bicyclists and pedestrians. - Candidates for a driver’s license should be required to answer and pass questions about bicycle and pedestrian safety.
- Incorporate bicycle and pedestrian safety into Montgomery County Public Schools’ curriculum as well, potentially in physical education classes or in the health classes currently taught in 5th, 8th and 10th grades.
https://maryland.sierraclub.org/montgomery/support_bicycles.html
Maryland Mandatory Bike-Helmet Law Would Make Streets Less Safe
Paul Mackie, Mobility Lab chimes in as well:
https://mobilitylab.org/2013/02/14/maryland-mandatory-bike-helmet-law-would-make-streets-less-safe/
LAB’s Action Alert: Not Enough Cyclists Killed to Count?
Tell DOT That Cyclist Fatalities Matter.
Transportation agencies across the country are about to miss an important opportunity to improve non-motorized traffic safety and encourage healthy and active transportation options.
The US Department of Transportation is required by the new transportation law to establish national safety goals and performance measures to guide the states. Right now, they are NOT proposing any separate national goals or performance measures to improve the safety of bicyclists and/or pedestrians. We cannot let this happen – these measures will be used to guide traffic safety policy and funding at the national and state level for years to come
If this is allowed to happen, there will be no national target to improve the safety of cycling or walking; there will be no measures established to track or monitor pedestrian and bicyclist safety or collect data related to these areas; and there will be no incentive, guidance or leadership given to state and local agencies to tackle this important piece of overall traffic safety policy. Without a specific performance measure to focus on nonmotorized safety, bicyclists and pedestrians will remain firmly in the blindspot of traffic safety.
Funding for overall highway safety programs was almost doubled in MAP-21. Even though bicyclists and pedestrians now account for almost 16% of all traffic fatalities in the US, states are spending less than 0.5% of their safety funds to solve this problem. This is exactly the time to establish meaningful national goals and performance measures to tackle bicyclist and pedestrian safety as part of an overall, comprehensive and multi-modal traffic safety program.
That’s why we have written this letter to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood asking him to include specific national goals and performance measures for bicyclist and pedestrian safety. We urge you to add your voice to our request.
Take action: https://www.capwiz.com/lab/issues/alert/?alertid=62423866&type=AN
Transit in the parks preserves a democratic idea; moves America forward
Via Fast Lane
…
As Administrator Rogoff said:
“By taking cars off the road and reducing harmful emissions and pollutants in our nation’s most natural and pristine settings, we’re helping Americans and visitors from around the world enjoy these public lands as they were meant to be enjoyed. From new pedestrian walkways and bicycle trails to energy-efficient shuttle buses, these investments help to keep our parks sustainable for years to come.”
…
Dangers of older drivers
Our view: Maryland’s aging driving population poses a serious safety risk that lawmakers in Annapolis appear reluctant to recognize
Via the Baltimore Sun
If there is some good to arise from the tragic death of Nathan Krasnopoler — the 20-year-old Johns Hopkins University student killed while riding his bicycle on University Parkway by an 83-year-old driver who didn’t notice him in the bike lane — it may be to call greater attention to the dangers of Maryland’s aging driver population.
Today, Mr. Krasnopoler’s parents were in Annapolis to brief the House Environmental Matters Committee on the latest data provided by the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration documenting the threat. The number of Maryland drivers over age 70 is expected to double in just seven years and triple in 15 as baby boomers reach their geriatric years.
Turning 70 doesn’t necessarily make a person a bad driver, but as a group, older drivers are more prone to cause car crashes — even as they drive less. Declining skills and vision, slower reaction time and potentially reduced mental acuity are all factors.
One of the MVA statistics that leaps out is that while younger drivers are involved in more crashes — peaking at age 25-34 — the proportion of drivers who are at fault in crashes turns sharply upward after age 55. Indeed, licensed drivers age 80 or over are as likely as teens to be at fault in accidents.
…
Showing up at the MVA to renew a driver’s license every two years may sound like a hassle, but it can also be a lifesaver. Just ask Susan Cohen and Mitchell Krasnopoler, who lost their son two years ago this month. Some "accidents" are potentially avoidable.
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-older-drivers-20130219,0,2705502.story
October 2012 Subcommittee Reports Highlights
[B’ Spokes: In keeping with my endeavors to add more transparency to MBPAC here are the subcommittee reports for the October 2012 MBPAC meeting (link at the end for the whole thing.) The Open Meeting Act requires meeting minutes as well as public notice of when and where these meetings take place. I guess these reports could satisfy the minutes requirement and we (the public) are still waiting to have some advance notice of these meetings but till then here is a glance of what they are up to.
I’ll note that while these reports were originally emailed so the text could be scanned and searchable, they were converted to a picture PDF so I had to painstakingly retype what you see bellow. I don’t have anything positive to say about this processes of obfuscating information other then something is better then nothing I guess.]
…
Over the last three months, Prince Georges has seen many news articles complaining about the lack of "crosswalks" on state highways. Elected officials from Edmonston and Seat Pleasant have both stated that there are few crosswalks on the state highways going through their towns and called on SHA to do something. In reality, these towns have unmarked crosswalks, and police forces that could enforce the law; but rather then do what is within their power, they ask SHA to paint white lines. Perhaps some crosswalk education is needed. Are crosswalk violations the "broken windows" of traffic enforcement?
…
[B’ Spokes: Nice comment, too bad I get the impression that it dead ends there. It would be nice if someone somewhere would do something about Maryland’s high pedestrian fatality rate.]
Law Enforcement Training
* A meeting regarding the draft Law Enforcement Bicycle Safety Training Video will take place October 11, just before the October MBPAC meeting the following day. I’ll be able to provide an update there.
…
[B’ Spokes: Good news that this is still being worked on. Though I can’t help but think wouldn’t it be nice if a notice went out saying the public is invited to attend the Educational and Awareness subcommittee meeting discussing the topic of the draft Law Enforcement Bicycle Safety Training Video. Instead all we get is the topic was discussed.]
5. Letter to MDOT Secretary regarding MDOT/MBPAC legislative coordinating procedures
It is recommended that a motion to reconsider be introduced by an appropriate MBPAC member based on comments from Martin Harris and Michael Jackson. The main reason expressed by Martian and Michael against the motion is related to how MDOT operates legislatively. Currently MDOT is open to discussing legislative issues with MBPAC prior to the legislative session. At any time during the legislative session communication between MDOT and MBPAC may be positively or negatively impact proposed legislation due to any number of reasons some of which may not be under Michael’s control. For example recently MDOT’s position on the 3 foot bill may have surprised the bicycle community even though MBPAC indicated positive support to MDOT for this proposed law and had expected MDOT to concur. Under the proposed resolution MBPAC would likely get the same response from MDOT’s Secretary on a given piece of legislation but the process for obtaining the Secretary’s response would involve many more staff persons then Michael and Martin thus not being the best use of staff time and resources.
…
[B’ Spokes: Does anyone remember MDOT’s opposing our bicycle has the right-of-way in a bike lane bill because of the problem of flying unicorns? My bad, that should be because of the problem of striping a bike lane through an uncontrolled intersection but both are mythical so it really makes no difference. My point is better communication/debate is needed especially when the debate comes down to old assumptions that started in the 60’s vs new and improved ways of looking at complete streets and how to accommodate people, not just cars, that have proven studies that show that they work. Or the whole point of the committee is to challenge car centric ideas.]
7 Attorney General Letter Regarding Passing in Double Yellow Centerline Item was deferred to another date due to lack of time.
…
[B’ Spokes: I wounder what that was about? Sounds interesting as I support allowing motorist to pass cyclists over the double yellow (when safe to do so) instead of MDOT saying (in effect) you can legally pass a cyclist as close as you want if there is a double yellow.]
By coincidence Michael received a phone call from Delegate Miller the morning following the subcommittee meeting on another matter. During the conversation he mentioned discussion of her planned sidewalk legislation and she was surprised to hear of opposition. Michael suggested she might want to hear directly from the persons voicing their opposition. Delegate Miller in the future regarding this topic. Michael suggested a subsequent L&GA subcommittee meeting be set up for this purpose.
…
[B’ Spokes: That’s good the pros and cons of sidewalk riding are being discussed. Though I would be interested in the points that were raised.]
Continue reading “October 2012 Subcommittee Reports Highlights”
A Public Service Announcement.
For more information, see the CyclingSavvy FAQ: Why Do You Ride Like That?
https://cyclingsavvy.org/hows-my-driving/
Continue reading “A Public Service Announcement.”