Month: February 2010

In Vancouver, the Bermuda triangle for cyclists is the downtown peninsula.
In neighbourhoods such as Kitsilano or Commercial Drive, bike trips account for 10 per cent or more of travel.
But those numbers drop to about half of that as cyclists are asked to cross bridges and enter the downtown’s busy streets, where there is nothing more than painted lanes separating them from buses, cars and trucks.
"We have a good network downtown, but they’re narrow spaces.
"They’re daunting," said Geoff Meggs, the Vision councillor who sits on the city’s bicycle advisory committee. "We haven’t produced as much bike share as we’d like."
Vancouver engineers and cycling enthusiasts want to change all that by creating at least one route through the peninsula where cyclists are physically protected from vehicular traffic, arguing that they’re never going to attract the silent majority of potential cyclists if they don’t.
…
"Point Grey Road may be an excellent idea. But my concern is that we avoid spending money on disconnected pieces of a network. We want to start building fixes where we get the biggest bang for our dollars."
Continue reading “If riders don’t feel safe, they’ll leave bikes at home”

Recreational cycling generates $1.5 billion in economic activity a year in Wisconsin, according to a first-of-its-kind study.
The figures, which include dollars produced by the state’s bicycle manufacturing, sales and services industry, suggest cycling has as much impact on the state’s economy as deer hunting.
"I don’t think folks in Wisconsin appreciate just how important (biking) is in the state’s economy," said state Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, who commissioned the study. "We make a lot more bikes here than we do cars."
…
The report on cycling found:
• 49 percent of Wisconsin residents enjoy bicycling for recreation, making it among the most popular outdoor activities in the state, according a 2006 Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources study.
• Bicycle recreation currently supports more than $924 million in tourism and resident spending each year, of which nearly $533 million is direct impact occurring annually, such as travel, equipment sales and restaurant expenditures.
• Bicyclists from other states spend more than $535 million a year.
• Increasing nonresident bicycling by 20 percent has the potential to increase economic activity by more than $107 million dollars and create 1,528 full-time-equivalent jobs, mostly in retail, lodging and food service.
Continue reading “Report shows $1.5 billion annual impact of bicycling in Wisconsin”

By : Rick Bernardi
“I didn’t see him.”
It’s the most common excuse negligent drivers make after colliding with a cyclist. And it makes no difference whether the cyclist is wearing bright colors or "lit up like a Christmas tree"—negligent drivers will still utter these four words after hitting the cyclist. Except, of course, in the Netherlands, where the presumption of liability encourages drivers to be more careful about seeing cyclists.
Continue reading “It Was Just One Of Those Things”

With the dawn of the new year, a newly opened elementary school in Ontario is heralded as the nation’s first school that requires nearly all of its students to get to and from school using their own two feet.
Continue reading “A One of a Kind Walking, Biking School Opens in Canada”

[Another nail in the coffin of "Car’s pay for roads."]
"On energy matters, the big eye-catcher is the fact that White House wants to scrap some $36.5 billion in tax breaks for fossil-fuel producers over the next decade:"
Continue reading “White House Goes After Oil And Gas Subsidies–Again”