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Alert: How many times do we have to correct the state in it’s law summaries?

Around this time last year Baltimore Spokes put the following out for discussion on how to summarize our new 3′ law (as the State was issuing the poor summery mentioned here (and poor is a nice word for what they did):) What the 3′ law says and doesn’t say.

And we got it corrected to:

Traffic Laws for Motorists

  • The driver of a vehicle passing another vehicle, including a bicycle, must pass at a safe distance and leave plenty of space.  The driver should be able to see the passed vehicle in the rear view mirror before returning to the original lane. After passing you must make sure you are clear of the bicyclist before making any turns.
  • Drivers shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any bicycle, Electric Personal Assistive Mobility Device (EPAMD), or motor scooter being ridden by a person.
  • The driver of a vehicle must not pass any closer than three (3) feet to a bicycle or motor scooter if the bicycle is operated in a lawful manner. It is not lawful to ride against traffic.
  • The bicycle has the right of way when the motor vehicle is making a turn, and you must yield to bicycle.
  • Motorists must yield the right-of-way to bicyclists riding in bike lanes and shoulders when these vehicle operators are entering or crossing occupied bike lanes and shoulders.
  • …

MVA on: Current Bicycle Laws

Well the Maryland Bikeways Program has the following link BICYCLE LAW FACT SHEET. Which you’ll find the following:
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THIS IS WRONG!!! (The law does not say you can buzz cyclists who fail to ride far right.)
Write Michael Jackson <mjackson3@mdot.state.md.us> and kindly ask to have this file “destroyed” and remove the reference from this page https://www.mdot.maryland.gov/Planning/Bike/Cycling_Resources.html (there may be more then just this page) and replace it with https://www.mva.maryland.gov/Driver-Safety/Bicycle/default.htm. The latter is supposed to be the “master” bike law summery page on which others are based.

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Bikes Thefts A Priority for MD Transit Police

By Nick DiMarco – Patch

Maryland Transit Authority Police are cracking down on a rash of bicycle thefts—a trend that began in June, according to Northern District commander Capt. Robert Rosendale.

Nine thefts were reported between the North Avenue and Hunt Valley Light Rail stops with suspects using the light rail to escape with stolen property. Two more thefts were reported in the Lutherville area last week, although it is unclear if the suspects fled via the light rail.

MTA Police used a decoy bike at the Lutherville light rail stop to make an arrest in early September. Police are now attempting to identify (by serial number) and photograph all bikes attached to racks at light rail stops. By identifying the bicycles’ locations, police can more easily track down the time of day that the bikes were taken by using each station’s closed captioned cameras, Rosendale said.

The hope is that by narrowing the time of day and the train used to transport the stolen property, police will have a better chance to catch bike thieves.

Rosendale advised members of the Lutherville Community Association, during the group’s October meeting:

* Buy a sturdy lock (“A $5 to $10 lock can be popped off just like that.”)
* Make sure you have your bike’s serial number written down somewhere.

Federal grants are available for additional cameras at light rail stops, although the Lutherville stop isn’t slated for another installation for at least another year-and-a-half, according to Rosendale. The typical cost for an installation ranges from $500,000 to $750,000, he said.
Continue reading “Bikes Thefts A Priority for MD Transit Police”

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Win a 2011 Terry “Symmetry” Bicycle

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Prize Details
Win a 2011 Terry “Symmetry” bicycle designed by Georgena Terry specifically to meet the needs of female cyclists.

Prize Eligibility
Only persons residing in the United States who are at least 18 years of age may enter.

Sweepstakes Starts
  October 18, 2011 @ 12:01 am (EDT)
Sweepstakes Ends
  November 14, 2011 @ 11:59 pm (EDT)

https://www.terrybicycles.com/fb-bikesweepstakes?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=cycling&utm_campaign=october-bike-contest

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Self-Reliance Grows in the Utrecht Traffic Garden

I’m going to highlight this Street Film as this IS safety education…
This is not teaching just what you need as a kid pedestrian or…
just what you need to know as a car driver…
This teaches the interaction with all street users from one mode of transportation view…
then 15 minutes later switch mode of travel and learn from that point of view till all modes are practiced.
https://www.streetfilms.org/self-reliance-grows-in-the-utrecht-traffic-garden/

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What Universities Can Do to Encourage More Cycling

Guest post by Cyndi Laurenti:


A
university isn’t simply an institution of higher learning, but one that should
aim to produce well-rounded citizens. For many schools this includes a greater
emphasis on student wellness and social responsibility, which can be addressed
by encouraging the use of bicycles among undergrads and PhD
candidates alike. Universities that
successfully promote cycling will find their campuses becoming more attractive
to the student body even as the pollution produced by cars is
reduced.

Promoting the use of bicycles requires universities to make
bicycling a safe, convenient, and desirable mode of transport to students. A
university that fails in any of these three areas will find their students
reluctant to embrace bicycling. Conversely, universities with effective plans to
encourage bicycle usage will find their students very receptive to a bicycling
lifestyle.

Schools must ensure bicyclists can safely ride around campus
without endangering themselves or others. The first and most important goal is
to make sure bicycles can share the roads with cars and pedestrians. This is
normally accomplished by having bicycle-only lanes and paths. In areas where
that’s impossible, bicycle lanes should be clearly marked and all students made
fully aware of the rules of the road as they pertain to cyclists. Maps can be used to help
students find bicycle-friendly routes.

In addition, safe bicycling
requires the creation and enforcement of driving regulations, and immediate
action against those who don’t abide by them. An unsafe bicyclist, pedestrian,
or driver can contribute to long-term reluctance among many students to bicycle.
However, if they can see the administration takes safety violations seriously,
students will become more confident about riding on campus.

Making
bicycling convenient generally requires the placement of bicycle racks close to
classes, dormitories, and dining halls. In addition, schools can provide
heavy-duty locks to prevent theft or insure that all bike racks are observed by
campus police, either in person or via CCTV cameras. Tufts University provides
a bicycle registry service to make theft less likely.

Some universities make
bikes available to students on a rental or even free basis. Edinboro
University’s “Green Bike” program allows students to make use of bikes while on campus for
free. This allows students with limited
finances to switch to bicycling while on campus, and encourages them to consider
purchasing a bike for off-campus use.

Finally, schools should attempt to
make bicycle use an attractive lifestyle. Stressing cycling’s contribution to
the environment, students’ social lives, and physical well-being can encourage
students to make use of bicycles. These efforts can help make student biking a
self-sustaining culture, as new students chose to adopt the practices of their
bicycling classmates.

Events like Indiana University’s “Little 500” can call attention to the benefits of bicycling. Schools can
also stress the financial benefits of bike ownership, especially given the
generally high cost of parking permits for cars. In these ways, students come to
see bike use and ownership as a natural and beneficial choice.

By
encouraging bicycle use, universities can reduce campus congestion and pollution
while encouraging healthy lifestyles among the student body. Doing so requires
schools to focus on improvements in both the physical structure of their
campuses and the adoption of policies to encourage bike riding. Both schools and
students will find themselves reaping handsome rewards from adopting such
bicycling-friendly policies.

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Good news (I hope.) Maryland Bikeways Program coming next year.

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The Maryland Bikeways Program is a Cycle Maryland initiative to support planning, design and construction of projects that create and improve bicycle connections in Maryland. The objective of this program is to facilitate travel by bicycle in Maryland, by better connecting communities with key destinations, like work, school and shopping.

The Maryland Bikeways Program supports the Governor’s Cycle Maryland initiative to promote biking as a fun, healthy transportation alternative that is great for our environment.  The Bikeways Program provides technical assistance and grant support for a wide range of bicycle network development activities.

https://www.mdot.maryland.gov/Planning/Bike/Bikeways.html

The good news:
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Wait, what? Not just trails? Well that is good news. (I hope, but there may be the possibility of on-road cycling facilities ONLY to connect trails like what we have had in the past.)


Application materials for the Maryland Bikeways Program will be posted in
March 2012. Completed applications will be due May 2012

OK that’s a bit of a wait but at least the wheels are turning.


How much money is available?
$10 million is available over the next three years.

Wow! O’Malley outside his first year has never spent $10 million in a year for all of Transportation Enchantments (TE) Programs (even though we get $12 million a year from the feds.) To put this number in perspective, here is Maryland’s TE spending history (Red is bike/ped projects):
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Quotes from: https://www.mdot.maryland.gov/Planning/Bike/Bikeways_About.html

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Making your bike glow down the road…

By K’Tesh via Bike Forums

I’m known locally for my bike’s reflective properties… I take a bike that looks like this:


2011 Trek Montare (near stock condition)

and make it look like this:


2011 Trek Montare (Using Avery blue, white, and black reflective films)

If anybody’s looking to do it themselves, here’s a quick little primer on how to do it…

First locate your reflective material. For the large areas, I’ve been using Avery and 3M Scotchlight self-adhesive reflective films for years now, but my supplier is shifting to another product from Oracal. It’s as good as the Avery product they say, and it’s cheaper (15″ wide $14USD/yd, 24″ wide $24USD/yd(ish)). It comes in a number of colors, and has a 1yd/color minimum purchase (3 colors = 3 yards = lots of coverage).

Continue reading “Making your bike glow down the road…”

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Charles County bike plans

Trails, trails and more trails but not a peep about bike lanes.
See our poll (https://www.baltimorespokes.org/polls/index.php?pid=2010010614524956&aid=-1 ) Only 12% want trails only.
This point is interesting:
"One mile of trail costs about $195,360 per mile at a cost of $37 per foot. One mile of road costs $1.58 milion or $300 per foot."
Should I point out that a bike lane runs about $75,000 per mile or $14 per foot and that’s at the high end? (per Safe Routes to School estimates.)
Seriously, bike lanes should be excluded from consideration? I guess so since MDOT will not allow federal funds for bike lanes to be spent on bike lanes in MD. 🙁
Think about it, 50% match of $37 per foot (trail) is $18 per foot or the locality can foot the whole bill for a bike lane at $14 per foot. So for $4 more per foot the locality gets $18 more in "value." in making the public happy. This is the problem with only funding one type of bicycle accommodation, rather then looking at best kind of accommodations where needed (near the same cost per mile no matter what solution is chosen) they are looking where they can fit in trails since that is encouraged and bike lanes are not.
You can read the article here: https://www.gazette.net/article/20111109/NEWS/711099637&template=gazette