Month: April 2009

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Mikulski Fiddles with Car Tax Credits While Transit Burns

image Photo by Voxefx via Flickr
Maryland state lawmakers re-added a $10 million tax break for car purchases at the final stage of their budget negotiations. Legislators had previously decided to remove the credit to help shore up Maryland’s finances until Senator Barbara Mikulski pushed to reinstate it. Mikulski inserted a similar provision into the federal stimulus bill earlier this year.

What could Maryland do with $10 million besides further incentivize people to buy new cars that most of them don’t need? With just half that money, they could restore transit cuts in the DC region. Those cuts threaten to cut off vital service to many residents who don’t have alternatives, or will drive many Marylanders to commute by car instead of transit, increasing traffic, pollution and parking problems. DC and most Virginia jurisdictions came up with extra money to stave off most of their proposed cuts to Metro service, but Maryland remains $4.8 million behind. The other half of the $10 million could restore previous cuts or improve service in Baltimore.
Continue reading “Mikulski Fiddles with Car Tax Credits While Transit Burns”

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"Invitation to Transition": From oil dependency to local resilience

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BGF presents an Introduction to Transition facilitated by Larry Chang of EcolocityDC that will address the challenges of peak oil, climate change and economic collapse.

Larry Chang will then present an outline of the Transition Movement, discuss how you can replicate the model, and give examples of what is being done locally. Participants will be invited to collaborate in formulating plans to reduce oil dependency and build local resilience.

Residents of Baltimore and surrounding communities are welcome.

Where: MD Presbyterian Church, 1105 Providence Road, Towson, 21286. Directions
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BRAC Bricks Bikes

BRAC = Base Realignment and Closure, adding 28,000 new households to Maryland.
Bricks = To wall up with brick, to create a barrier.
Bikes = To travel under ones own power, the lest expensive to accommodate and most efficient mode of travel, also promotes health and clean air (on the later 16 Maryland Counties are in non-compliance with clean air standards.)

By Angela Atwood-Moore –
As Barry, Huck and Jack have hinted, we (NIH and
Naval Medical) are in a very interesting
situation here, since we are in some ways almost
uniquely positioned to appeal to cyclists (our
demographics include many young, healthy
professionals, some of
us must meet ongoing
health and fitness requirements, and we also
employ foreign visitors from countries where
cycling is the preferred method of cheap,
healthy, efficient transportation). Oh yeah, and
some of us are the very researchers whose work
has shown the effectiveness of daily physical
activities (like riding a bike) at staving off an
early death.

Literally thousands of cyclists daily utilize the
major intersections that serve NIH and Naval
Medical, the same intersections that are up for
BRAC specific re-design. Yet the first proposed
designs show absolutely ZERO accommodations for
cyclists. Keep in mind, these are intersections
on roads that are masterplanned for multiple
important bicycle amenities from shared-use paths
to bike lanes.

Even if you don’t choose to join our NIH/NAVAL
BRAC list-serve, stay tuned for continued info
from LAB, WABA, MoBike and
others. Cyclists
everywhere should be OUTRAGED that employees at
the National Institutes of Health and Bethesda
Naval Medical Center not to mention local
citizens who also should have a choice of whether
to drive or bicycle are so far being ignored,
squeezed off the roads and bull-dozed. There will
certainly be requests for letters to support the
need for safe and adequate cycling accommodations
in intersections that are already among the most
congested with the lowest possible level of
service in the state of Maryland!
Continue reading “BRAC Bricks Bikes”

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2009 Chesapeake Bay Air Ride

June 5 – 7, 2009
Salisbury University
Salisbury, MD
               
Enjoy a weekend ride through sun-kissed fields, historic towns and sandy beaches and make a difference in the life of someone with lung disease.
 
When you can’t breathe, nothing else matters!
 
  

[If you are looking to do your first century this is a good option as it’s flat out there.]
Continue reading “2009 Chesapeake Bay Air Ride”

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Becoming a nation of Baby Hueys

By Derrick Z. Jackson –
AS MUCH AS obesity is in the news, Ohio State University public health epidemiologist Sarah Anderson was still surprised how it now assaults the youngest children. Studying 8,550 children, she and Robert Whitaker of Temple University found that 18.4 percent of 4-year-olds, nearly one-in-five, were obese….
"While research has shown differences in older children and men and women, we didn’t necessarily think we’d find that large of a difference in young children," Anderson said in a telephone interview. "But the fact they have such a high BMI (body mass index) and they’re 4? This clearly shows that we have a problem early in childhood and that we really need to think about childhood obesity prevention that begins in infancy, perhaps even in pregnancy."
The study in the current Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine should set off a national alarm. We already know that fat youth inexorably blow up into fatally immobile adults. In 2003-2006 data, the Centers for Disease Control said 12.4 percent of children ages 2 to 5 were obese. Adult America is 34 percent obese.
…
Study after study shows obesity to be fueled by child exposure to ads, proximity of fast-food restaurants to schools, and the overabundance of bad food at rural and inner-city convenience stores, in lives devoid of exercise. <<<<<
…
Continue reading “Becoming a nation of Baby Hueys”

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Rapha unveil their £3,000 cycling suit

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Bike-friendly features include the front flaps of the jacket, which turn back and button under the pocket so they don’t flap when riding and, along with the underside of the collar and sleeves, are pink for visibility.

For additional reach on the bike the jacket has a stretchy ‘action back’ and the cuffs turn down, making the sleeves longer.

The fabric is a wool with a Prince of Wales check. Rapha say nanotechnology in the fabric makes it amazingly water and stain resistant, and keeps the wearer cool in summer and warm in winter.
Continue reading “Rapha unveil their £3,000 cycling suit”

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PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE CRASH PLOTTING AND COUNTS AND BEHAVIORS OBSERVATIONS

Field observations of bicyclist and pedestrian behaviors revealed the following key findings:
• 84 percent of bicyclists rode on the sidewalk and 16 percent rode in the street.
• 58 percent of bicyclists rode with traffic and 42 percent rode against traffic.
• 79 percent of pedestrians crossed midblock and 21 percent crossed at an intersection.
• 57 percent of pedestrians did not crossed in a gap and 43 percent crossed in a gap.
Continue reading “PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE CRASH PLOTTING AND COUNTS AND BEHAVIORS OBSERVATIONS”

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The Dixon Report, Spring Clean-Up

April 9, 2009

 

Dear Citizens:

 

April has sprung
forward only to bring with her another opportunity to experience the beauty
of Baltimore and her citizens. 
Recently, during one of my weekly Friday morning bike rides I was
afforded the opportunity to gaze upon the cherry blossoms that thrive
alongside Druid Hill Reservoir.  As I
returned to City Hall to continue on with the business of the day, I was
again moved by the budding flowerbeds of the historic cultural district of
Mt. Vernon.  In all, I was reminded
that the short days of winter have finally rested over the horizon and now
spring has taken nature’s stage. 

 

Spring is a reminder to
us that life can spring forward from the cold, icy and often dark days of
winter.  Just as in our own lives we
all go through our own wintry storms, spring is a reminder that a new season
will come.  Situations that once appeared hopeless and dead will again breathe life.  The seeds that were planted in the fall and
endured the winter are now beginning to blossom in the rays of a new day.

As many of us prepare for the three-day holiday weekend
and we start to see the first blossoms of spring, I encourage you to think
about our City’s quest to be a cleaner, greener, healthier, and safer
Baltimore.  Spring is a signal of
renewal and we can all contribute in small ways to the renewal of our City.

 

On Saturday, April 18, I am hosting my 10th
annual Spring Clean Up. This year’s theme, “Clean your Alley
& Plant a Tree,” recognizes the simple but sustainable projects
communities do to create a cleaner and greener neighborhood. So far more than
117 community groups and over 1900 volunteers have registered to participate
in this initiative.  Many more are expected to register.

 

I encourage each
of you to join in these efforts. To sign up, communities should call 3-1-1.
Click here https://www.baltimorecity.gov/downloads/0409/Spring%20Cleanup%20Flyer%20FINAL2009.pdf
 to learn more.  Have a restful and safe holiday weekend!

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Sheila Dixon

Mayor, Baltimore

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Obama picks Porcari for Transportation post

President Barack Obama turned to Maryland for another high-level appointment Friday as the White House announced that he intends to name Maryland Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari to the No. 2 position in the U.S. Department of Transportation.
In choosing Porcari, Obama has selected one of the few state transportation secretaries whose portfolio includes all the major modes of travel – highways, aviation, mass transit, maritime commerce and rail freight. If he clears the required background checks and is confirmed by the Senate, Porcari would serve as deputy to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a former Illinois congressman and a Republican.
Continue reading “Obama picks Porcari for Transportation post”