by Harry Jaffe, The Examiner
WASHINGTON (Map, News) – Paris has a few things we Washingtonians might envy. The Eiffel Tower, the Left Bank, fine cuisine at every corner – and those thin, stylish, bored Parisians who smoke Gauloises and sip Bordeaux at cafes all day and night.
On a more bourgeois note, I have been in awe of the French capital city’s that allows Parisians or visitors to swipe a card, grab a bike, and ride around town to the Louvre.
Envy no more. Washington, D.C., is about to become the first major U.S. city to embark on "Velib" bike rental system, an automated bicycle rental system, much like the Zipcar program for cars.
"We hope to have it fully up and running by spring," says Jim Sebastian, who manages the District’s bike and pedestrian programs. D.C. will start with 100 bikes in four kiosks; Paris has 15,000 bikes. "We hope to expand to the Paris level."
Continue reading “Parisian cool comes to D.C. on two wheels”
TV anti-speeding ad hits below the belt
The series of TV ads shows women shaking their little finger – a gesture used to symbolise a small penis – as speeding male motorists race past.
The $A1.9m (
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Study ties time shift, pedestrian deaths
After clocks are turned back this weekend, pedestrians walking during the evening rush hour are nearly three times more likely to be struck and killed by cars than before the time change, two scientists calculate. Ending daylight saving time translates into about 37 more U.S. pedestrian deaths around 6 p.m. in November compared to October, the researchers report.
Their study of risk to pedestrians is preliminary but confirms previous findings of higher deaths after clocks are set back in fall.
It’s not the darkness itself, but the adjustment to earlier nighttime that’s the killer, said professors Paul Fischbeck and David Gerard, both of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
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Continue reading “Study ties time shift, pedestrian deaths”
PTA & Healthy Lifestyles Month
If you are active in a PTA, consider suggesting a bicycle activity for the
Heathy Lifestyles Program. See below.
November is PTA’s Healthy Lifestyles Month
Encouraging Health-Related Events and Activities
The PTA national organization developed a campaign to celebrate Healthy
Lifestyles Month during the month of November in support of their year-round Health and
Wellness programming. They are challenging each of their 25,000 units to plan a
health-related event or activity during November. The overall goal of the
proposed project is to increase grassroots participation in national program
initiatives and to further awareness of the problems facing students, parents and
educators in the arena of health and wellness today.
More than 5 million members of the PTA national organization are directly served
by their programs. The effectiveness of the project will be evaluated by the
effectiveness of the grassroots events planned during the month of November as
well as the usage of the PTA’s nationally distributed Healthy Lifestyles Leader’s
and Parent’s Guides.
Continue reading “PTA & Healthy Lifestyles Month”
Baltimore looking to trim bike funding
At least it goes to transit.
The regional transportation plan draft currently budgets $2 billion for transit and $6.2 billion for highway projects.
The group’s amendment proposes equalizing funding for transit and road projects, calling for:
$3 billion for a regional rapid transit system,
$550 million for a new passenger rail tunnel between Penn Station and West Baltimore,
$488 million for improvements to the MARC Penn Line,
and $200 million for improvements to the MARC Camden Line, all totaling $4.3 billion.
The amendment also proposes scaling back to $3.9 billion for highway projects and $61.8 million for bicycle and pedestrian projects.
Continue reading “Baltimore looking to trim bike funding”
ICC Trail Problems
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You have to have a lot of gumption to cut a bike path from a Highway project for environmental reasons. So the bike path is the problem, not the multiple lanes of roads? How about setting aside the space for the bike trail first, and then build the highway in the space that remains? [or some will argue , not build the highway at all. This project is not like the CCT extension – which is impossible without the Purple Line. The ICC trail could be built, and would be nicer, without the highway].
Continue reading “ICC Trail Problems”
City replacing parallel storm grates – OMG!
It
Bianchi one-speed stolen
From greaterbrown:
My Bianchi one-speed is no more..
Locked it up for jury duty downtown at Fayette and St. Paul and when I came out for lunch she was gone.
If you hear/see any sign of an ’07 Bianchi San Jose, please give a yell.
Some bike details: Set up as single speed freewheel with threading on the opposite side for fixed. Also may still have my beloved Nitto M-12 front rack bolted directly to the canti bosses. Pedals have clips and straps.
Continue reading “Bianchi one-speed stolen”
Honking driver video
JAM honks for 13sec while following cyclist in a NOL that turns into a wider NOL, then slows down ahead
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Bicycle Racks on MTA Buses Fact Sheet
Background
In 2003 MTA purchased and installed 200 front-end bicycle racks on buses stationed at the Northwest Division Bus Yard in Baltimore City. The racks were purchased through federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funds. The cost of these racks was roughly 200,000 dollars.
Due to a lack of proper training for MTA bus operators and maintenance personnel all of the racks have been damaged or destroyed. As of July 2007, no buses in the MTA system currently operate with bicycle racks.
During a meeting with One Less Car and the Transit Riders Action Council of Metropolitan Baltimore MTA Administrator Paul Wiedefeld said that he was committed to seeing that all buses have bike racks in the future. However, MTA has yet to commit to a timeframe or funding plan for purchasing and installing bicycle racks.
It is important to note that the bike racks currently installed on WMATA buses in the Washington DC area were paid for in part by a 600,000-dollar grant from the Maryland Department of Transportation in 2004. As on July 2007, all WMATA metrobuses were equipped with front-end bicycle racks. Although statistics are not yet available, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association states that the racks have been a success with bicyclists and transit riders. Transit ridership on the WMATA system has increased since the installation of the racks.
Most major mass transit systems in the United States, including the systems serving Philadelphia, Seattle, Chicago, Annapolis, Montgomery County, Maryland, Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Virginia Beach operate all or a significant majority of their buses with functioning bicycle racks.
Continue reading “Bicycle Racks on MTA Buses Fact Sheet”