Study: Only 4 Scenic Routes Left In Country
from the Onion
WASHINGTON—The Department of Transportation released the findings of a new study Thursday indicating that in the entire continental United States, only four scenic routes suitable for nice, meandering drives and aesthetically pleasing roadside views still exist. "A recent expansion of Cracker Barrel restaurants cost us three scenic routes last year, with two others falling to people chucking used diapers out their car windows," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, pointing to a map depicting the four stretches of road that remain unblemished by development. "If you want to get away from it all and clear your head with a drive through the countryside, you’d better do it at these locations, preferably in next three months." In the course of the press conference, one remaining scenic route located in Wisconsin was rezoned to facilitate the construction of a methane-emissions plant.
Continue reading “Study: Only 4 Scenic Routes Left In Country”
Study: Health benefits outweigh costs of ciclovia events
Something of interest for those promoting Baltimore’s Sunday Streets:
HOW CHILDREN GET TO SCHOOL: SCHOOL TRAVEL PATTERNS FROM 1969 TO 2009
– Personal vehicles taking K-12th grade students to school accounted for five to seven percent of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and 10 to 14 percent of all personal vehicle trips made during the morning peak period in 2009
– In 1969, 48 percent of K-8th grade students usually walked or bicycled to school. By 2009, only 13 percent of K-8th grade students usually walked or bicycled to school.
– In 1969, 89 percent of K-8th grade students who lived within one mile of school usually walked or bicycled to school. By 2009, only 35 percent of K-8th grade students who lived within a mile of school usually walked or bicycled to school even once a week
Continue reading “HOW CHILDREN GET TO SCHOOL: SCHOOL TRAVEL PATTERNS FROM 1969 TO 2009”
Everybody runs [stops], sometimes
TheWashCycle has some good coverage of runny stops by motorist and cyclists alike.
https://www.thewashcycle.com/2011/12/friday-afternoon-commute-everybody-runs-sometimes.html
LAB is looking for a few good men (the fewer good ones the better)
- Do you have a vested interest in seeing Maryland in the top ten rankings irregardless of the facts?
- Are you willing to exaggerate, state falsehoods and vehemently oppose all those who disagree with this lofty goal?
- Do you agree that Maryland’s mandatory bike lane law is equivalent to states that have no mandatory use laws? (To be fair, LAB “might” change that this year.)
- Do you believe that telling truck drivers to “tap” the horn at bicyclists is telling them their responsibilities towards bicyclists? (I could go on but you get the idea.)
- Do you like getting zero feedback on any questions or concerns you might have?
If so the League of American Bicyclists is looking for you to become a reviewer for their Bicycle Friendly America Program!
-= Or =-
Join me in respectfully having Maryland withdraw from this program till such time LAB responds to our feedback from last year and provides objective goals that will actually help make Maryland a better place to bike. I have been three years patient and still no response from LAB (sans just one issue) this total lack of communication has to end!
How this has workout out (just one example) is that LAB was of zero help in getting our new Drivers’ Manual because our old one was good enough by this program. Maryland’s ranking will not improve because of this and Maryland will be not be given kudos from LAB for working with the cycling advocates and getting this done.
So I have to ask, “Then what’s the point of LAB’s Bicycle Friendly America Program if this is the kind of result we get?”
-= The Ask =-
Write Nicole@bikeleague.org and ask to kindly respond to our issues or remove Maryland from the rankings.
Write president@baltobikeclub.org and respectfully ask that the Baltimore Bicycling Club stop giving extra money to LAB while they are blatantly refusing to work with Maryland’s advocates.
If you are a LAB member I encourage to support The Alliance for Biking and Walking (The Donate button is on the left) rather then LAB and tell Nicole you intend to remove your financial support for LAB.
Open Streets Project
For those of you working on Sunday Streets or Cyclovia check this out: https://openstreetsproject.org/
Construction zone man
Construction zone man: he will save us from needless traffic delays by building more and more highway expansion projects at a cost of a “mere” several trillion dollars.
Photo from https://fastlane.dot.gov/2011/12/delaware-interchange.html There is a video at the end showing “how marvelous” this project will be in accommodating all the Dale Earnhardt Jr. wannabes without a pedestrian or cyclists in sight.
Turning rubbish heaps into car sewers
This original (and hilarious, sad) report from 1961 on David Troy’s website as a PDF — warning, it’s 238MB, so it may take a few minutes to load. MUST READ. https://davetroy.com/docs/jfp-gbc1961.pdf
”Time is running out. Truly this is a time of decision. Shall the Jones Falls Valley continue to be a rubbish heap — an object of catch-as-catch-can speculation and abuse? Will we travel on the Jones Falls Expressway, past derelict factories with bricked-up windows, through a treeless landscape with billboards glaring at us from every conceivable angle?
Or will the Valley become, by one master stroke, a great Valley Parkway, making travel on it — by expressway, by scenic road, by commuter train, on foot — a pleasure and relief for the daily traveler?
To delay our decision will mean that the opportunity will be lost forever. Jones Falls Valley must be saved!” – Greater Baltimore Committee, 1961
[B’ Spokes: It is absolutely amazing how this vision has failed. The car has sold us so many false visions of the future.]
