[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”
Maryland Online Driver Test – bike/ped safety review
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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”
MBAC Inventory Street Hazards for Bikes
If you know of pavement issues, mark it on the map here: https://map.project.kittelson.com/baltimorecity_pavement
If you know of hazardous storm grate, mark it on the map here: https://map.project.kittelson.com/maps/baltimorecity_grates
This is only for Baltimore City.
Continue reading “MBAC Inventory Street Hazards for Bikes”
Who owns the road?
Alligator Storm Drain Count
Tuesday, October 4, 2011, 7:00 AM
The Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee wants to collect data on "alligator" storm drains in Baltimore’s streets. What’s an "alligator" storm drain? It’s a drain with the slots running in line with the road, such that if your wheel drops in the slot, it will "eat" your wheel. Please send me an email (RBruckdorfer"at"gmail.com) noting the street and location of the drain. Example: My street, west bound in the 600 block or note the address closest to the drain or between such and such streets.
https://www.meetup.com/Biking-in-Bmore/events/35990672/?a=ea1.2_lnm&rv=ea1.2
Critical Mass September Baltimore [video]
The unrealized dream of bike paths
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
People Who Should Know Better
The linked article from Commute by Bike reminds me of the conversation with my Mom about getting a replacement fan after mine broke “You can’t carry a fan on your bike.” she exclaimed. Well here is my bike carring a 16″ fan:
Seriously, rethink what you can do with a bike. It’s also kind of funny as that’s her bike with a basket on it with paper to go to the local recycling, she sort of gets it.
A bit from the article:
My friend Michael related a conversation about transportation costs that he had recently with “Cheryl,” a social services professional who works with low income families. Michael assumed Cheryl had a good deal of insight into the challenges faced by people who struggle to make ends meet on minimum wage. He commented to her that given the employment and economic uncertainty that nearly everyone is facing, more transportation funding/planning/consideration should be devoted to public transit and bicycle infrastructure. To his surprise, Cheryl exclaimed, “bicycle what!?”
…Cheryl didn’t understand. “Well, how are bicycles supposed to help with that?”
“People can bike to work or use them to go grocery shopping…if you don’t have to worry about car repair, you can buy food, pay the rent.” Did I mention that Michael is from a rather well-to-do family and has never faced nor will he ever likely face this situation himself? And he’s explaining this stuff to a social worker…
“Who would use a bicycle to go grocery shopping? You can’t go grocery shopping on a bicycle. Nobody does that!”
Michael was becoming exasperated. “People do it all the time. A lot of people do. Look around- people bike all over Flagstaff.” Michael is relating this story to me as we sit in a bar on South San Francisco Street. Cyclists whiz by, one after the other. My husband is among them and within minutes, he has joined us in the bar, bike helmet in hand.
Of course, Cheryl has never seen anyone bike anywhere in Flagstaff or apparently anywhere else. Ever! “Nobody would do that.”
“Well, I do. I bike in to work almost every morning and my wife and I bike to the grocery store all the time. We put our groceries on a bike trailer and in panniers,” said Michael.
…
Twenty20 Cycling Co. Group Rides tomorrow
Set your alarm and drag yourself out of bed in time to make our coffee shop ride tomorrow! [10/2] Meet us at the Common Ground on the Avenue just a few doors up from Twenty20 at 9:30. We will roll out about 10 before 10. Casual pace, 45 minutes around Druid Hill and Johns Hopkins. All are welcome, this is a no-drop ride. It will be in the low 50’s so dress appropriatey!
Road hogs: Minneapolis cyclists don’t need to share
OK Cyclists these are the rules: you can only ride single file, no talking, no smiling and no joy riding. This is a bike path, oops, I mean a multi-use path not a playground for your personal amusement.
This seems to be the attitude on too many of our trails but no one seems to question the validity of building trails ONLY with minimum widths and no pavement markings. We can only imagine what it would be like to have room for cyclists to ride two abreast and be able to comfortable and consistently talk with their riding partner while walkers walk hand in hand on the same trail and here comes an oncoming cyclist and no one flinches. Elly Blue in Grist writes about such a trail:
"I’ve never been the biggest fan of riding on bike paths, especially ones shared with people walking, but Minneapolis is doing better than most with designing these trails: Most of the paths we rode were marked with lanes for bike travel in two directions, with a separate path for walking."
Imagine that, accommodating all users rather then cracking down on those fun loving "reckless" cyclists trying to navigate a trail that is as narrow as they can make it. Seriously, whenever you hear of police enforcing speed limits on a trail we should be saying "You know what, that trail needs to be wider with more lanes."
Continue reading “Road hogs: Minneapolis cyclists don’t need to share”