Biking in Baltimore
What: B’more GREEN ride: downtown to Patapsco trails.. 50/50 road/MTB!
When: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 7:00 AM
Where: Starbucks
200 East Pratt Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
Pedal west to Patapsco Park, about 35 minutes along Wilkens Ave Hit the trails for a nice hour loop Ride back downtown, 25 minutes mostly downhill No car required!
The Baltimore City Department of Transportation Director Khalil Zaied is proud to announce that a record number of cyclists participated in Baltimore City‟s Bike to Work Day. The event was held this morning, Friday, May 20, 2011 from 7:00 a.m. until 9:00 a.m. at various commuter stations throughout the city.
This year marks the 14th annual Bike to Work Day event held in Baltimore, which originated back in 1956 by the League of American Bicyclists. Now a part of National Bike Month, Bike to Work Day is held annually across the United States and Canada to promote bicycling as a viable option for commuting to work.
“Bike to Work Day is an excellent way to motivate citizens to use alternative modes of transportation,” said Khalil Zaied, Director of Baltimore City‟s Department of Transportation. “The City of Baltimore is making great strides in becoming bicycle friendly, and we are excited that so many cyclists took part in this year‟s event.
To promote Bike to Work Day in the city this year, the Department of Transportation organized a number of „commuter stations‟ at various locations throughout Baltimore in leau of having one large event.
These „pit-stop‟ locations made it more convenient for cycling enthusiasts to participate, as they provided easier access during their morning commute, and contributed to the success of this year‟s event. The seven commuter stations included:
Over 300 biking enthusiasts registered for Baltimore City‟s event, which is the highest number of participants ever since the program began back in 1997. In addition to Baltimore City‟s Bike to Work Day event, morning rallies were also held in other local municipalities. Participating jurisdictions included Baltimore County (Towson and White Marsh), Anne Arundel County (Annapolis), Carroll County (Westminster), Harford County (Bel Air) and Howard County (Columbia).
The Department of Transportation is aggressively implementing its Bicycle Master Plan, which will connect the city through a network of bike lanes and trails. Within the past four years, 77 miles of bikeways and 35 miles of trails have been designated in the city. The Department of Transportation has also placed over 300 bike racks in neighborhoods throughout Baltimore for safer and more convenient bicycle parking.
By WILLIAM WHITE | Opelika-Auburn News
DADEVILLE — At 78 years of age, Betty Kriss is traveling hundreds of miles while seeing the sights across East Alabama and pedaling her bicycle.
“People think they can’t when they just need to give it a good try,” said Kriss, who is from Silverhill, during a lunch break Monday at the Horseshoe Bend National Military Park in Tallapoosa County.
…
She said staying healthy has been one of the benefits of riding since she started in the 1970s.
“I don’t have to take any medications,” she said. “And I feel great and sleep like a log.”
…
Continue reading “78 years of age, Betty Kriss rides a bike”
Our federal tax dollars actually go to build these streets that are designed to be perilous to children, older adults and everyone else. And yet, right now, some in Congress are considering the total elimination of funding for projects to make it safer to walk and bicycle.
The highways-only lobby insists that pedestrian safety is a “frill” and a local responsibility. But 67 percent of these fatalities over the last 10 years occurred on federal-aid roads — roads eligible to receive federal funding or with federal guidelines or oversight for their design.
That’s right: Federal programs have encouraged state departments of transportation to prioritize speeding traffic over the safety of people in our neighborhoods and shopping districts. Shouldn’t our tax dollars be used to build streets that are safe for all users, and not deadly for those on foot?
The irony is that fixing these conditions is relatively cheap: Existing funds for that purpose — now targeted for elimination — amount to less than 1.5 percent of the current federal transportation outlay. A policy of giving federal support only to “complete streets” that are designed for the safety of people on foot or bicycle as well as in cars would cost next to nothing.
Tell Congress: it’s no time to start cutting funding keeps pedestrians safe.
Between 2000 and 2009 there were 1,057 pedestrian deaths in Maryland, which cost the state $4.55 billion. Reducing pedestrian fatalities just 10% would have saved Maryland $454.51 million over 10 years. Maryland’s overall Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) is 76.4, which ranks 15th out of 50 states. — Download Maryland report/factsheet PDF
Deaths per 100,000 people, from 2000-2007
| by Race/Ethnicity | |
|---|---|
| African-Americans | 2.8 |
| Asians | 1.79 |
| Hispanics | 2.8 |
| Non-Hispanic whites | 1.4 |
| by Age | |
|---|---|
| 65 and over | 2.47 |
| 65 and over fatality rate national rank | 22th |
| Under age 65 | 1.7 |
82 children under 16 died between 2000 and 2007
| Metro area | Total pedestrian fatalities | Percent of all traffic deaths that were pedestrians | Fatality rate per 100,000 persons | 2009 population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore-Towson | 481 | 18.9% | 1.8 | 2,690,886 |
| Cumberland | 11 | 6.3% | 1.1 | 99,736 |
| Hagerstown-Martinsburg | 38 | 8.4% | 1.6 | 266,149 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington | 965 | 17.9% | 1.7 | 5,968,252 |
| Salisbury | 22 | 12.4% | 1.9 | 120,181 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria | 854 | 18.7% | 1.7 | 5,476,241 |
| County | Total pedestrian fatalities | Percent of all traffic deaths that were pedestrians | Fatality rate per 100,000 persons | 2009 population | Percent of population in poverty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allegany | 6 | 6.1% | 0.8 | 72,532 | 14.2% |
| Anne Arundel | 84 | 15.7% | 1.7 | 521,209 | 5.2% |
| Baltimore | 166 | 21.8% | 2.1 | 789,814 | 7.8% |
| Baltimore city | 148 | 33.7% | 2.3 | 637,418 | 20.1% |
| Calvert | 12 | 9.2% | 1.4 | 89,212 | 4.8% |
| Caroline | 9 | 11% | 2.8 | 33,367 | 10.7% |
| Carroll | 15 | 7.7% | 0.9 | 170,089 | 5% |
| Cecil | 18 | 8.6% | 1.9 | 100,796 | 7.9% |
| Charles | 29 | 12.3% | 2.2 | 142,226 | 5.4% |
| Dorchester | 4 | 6% | 1.3 | 32,043 | 13.3% |
| Frederick | 21 | 8% | 1 | 227,980 | 4.8% |
| Garrett | 7 | 9% | 2.4 | 29,555 | 13% |
| Harford | 30 | 10.9% | 1.3 | 242,514 | 5.4% |
| Howard | 31 | 13.3% | 1.2 | 281,884 | 4% |
| Kent | 1 | 2.7% | 0.5 | 20,247 | 12.5% |
| Montgomery | 133 | 24.2% | 1.4 | 971,600 | 5.3% |
| Prince George’s | 258 | 21.4% | 3.1 | 834,560 | 7.4% |
| Queen Anne’s | 7 | 6.3% | 1.5 | 47,958 | 5.8% |
| Somerset | 4 | 10.3% | 1.6 | 25,959 | 18.1% |
| St. Mary’s | 15 | 11.6% | 1.6 | 102,999 | 7.6% |
| Talbot | 5 | 6.6% | 1.4 | 36,262 | 6.2% |
| Washington | 12 | 5.7% | 0.9 | 145,910 | 9.7% |
| Wicomico | 18 | 12.9% | 2 | 94,222 | 12.4% |
| Worcester | 25 | 20.2% | 5.1 | 49,122 | 9.8% |
With some sadness I bring you Maryland’s 2011 ranking:
Maryland – Bronze – Cumulative Grade C
State Rank: 10 out of 50
| Category | Grade |
|---|---|
| Legislation: | B |
| Policies & Programs: | A |
| Infrastructure: | D |
| Education & Encouragement: | A |
| Evaluation & Planning: | F |
| Enforcement: | F |
B’ Spokes: The sadness comes from all we want is an accurate assessment of where Maryland is but sadly our Director of Bicycle and Pedestrian Access only had time to throw insults and would not engage in constructive dialog.
Legislation: Mandatory bike lane use and no vulnerable user law is equal to a B? (I would give a C)
Policies: There is no doubt that Maryland has some great polices that we really need to start calling them on but policies to increase the number of trips by bicycle or CO2 reduction by more bicycle use are debatable.
Education & Encouragement: A ??? Seriously? At least now you know why I have been picking on the Driver’s Test of late. That’s right, this stuff is top notch, grade A, at least according to our Director of Bicycle and Pedestrian Access.
Evaluation & Planning: Grade F – Nice comment on our State’s 10 year old stagnate Bike Master Plan. Gee, I wounder who is the head bike guy in MDOT’s Office of Planning? Does he even know that this is a reflection of how well he is doing in his job?
What hope do we have in making improvements if the Director of Bicycle and Pedestrian Access would rather engage in personalized attacks rather then engage in constructive dialog?
Continue reading “Bicycle Friendly America”
Short summary of Streetsblog New York City by Catherine Lutz
Americans love their cars. (Americans may need their cars in our transit-starved and poorly planned landscape, but with mind-numbing traffic and volatile gas prices, the luster is off the chrome.)
Teens can’t wait to grab the car keys. (It’s the adults that are fed up with schlepping their kids in an auto-centric world.)
The economy depends on the auto industry. [The economy depends on people buying a diverse range of goods not sinking most of their income into one thing. ]
The America car industry can return to its former glory. [ROFLMA]
We can’t fix the car system because poor people will suffer. (Of course, no group suffers under our current car system more than the poor,)
Continue reading “Five Media Myths That Perpetuate Car Culture”
Just a short car ride…you can find a paved path along a river, lined by abundant grass and plenty of places to stop and take in the view.
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[B’ Spokes: That’s how this article in the Patch starts. Indeed all state trails have parking lots to accommodate cars but few have bike routes to connect the trail to the local communities they are supposed to serve. And the trail itself is designed to take one away from civilization, no signs where a local convince store can be found if hungry or thirsty.
The sad bit this is how the State plans trails. The hope for the future is that the State will "Start a discussion with the TEP technical committee for on road bike accommodations." That was the highlight from last Fridays meeting with State officials anyway. ]
Continue reading “A Guide to Area Trails”
Baltimore, MDPopulation: 637,418 Rank: #21 of 244 |
|||
| Percentage of bicycle commuters | 1.00% | #80 | See top 10 |
| Est. number of bicycle commuters | 2654 | #34 | See top 10 |
| Percentage of bike commuters that are female |
24% | #100 | See top 10 |
| Percentage of population in college or grad school |
9% | #85 | |
| Miles of bike lane and path | 56.65 | #56 | See top 20 |
| Miles of bike lanes (center-line) |
18.85 | #54 | |
| Bike path miles (shared-use and bike-only) |
37.8 | #44 | |
| Miles of bike lane and path, per 100K population |
8.9 | #68 | See top 20 |
Rankings out of 244 communities with populations greater than 65,000. Communities without ACS commuter estimates were removed. Bike lane and path mileage available only for 90 largest.
Continue reading “2009 AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY COMMUTER STATISTICS”
This Sunday, May 22 2011, if you bike to the Orioles game at Camden Yards you can get into the Park for free. Details in the link after the fold.
Continue reading “FREE ADMISSION!!! Bike to Camden Yards Stadium for an Orioles game”
Via TheWashCycle
Maryland wants to raise the toll on the Bay Bridge but state Rep. Andy Harris thinks it’s unfair. The toll hasn’t been raised from $2.50 since 1975. If it raised with inflation it’d be $10.45. So much for "user’s fees".
Continue reading “Another not keeping up with inflation motoring "user fee"”