From the Onion News Network:
President Obama’s proposed high-speed train system will be replaced with a fleet of buses that will rocket along highways at speeds up to 165 mph.
https://www.theonion.com/video/obama-replaces-costly-highspeed-rail-plan-with-hig,18473/
[B’ Spokes: The animations are very funny and there are some parallels to accommodating bicycling on existing roads, like with shared multi-vehicle routes.]
Smile! You’re on a bike!
Water is always a good choice to rehydrate after working out, but researchers suggest beer is better
KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Forget water or Gatorade. The drink of choice to rehydrate after a workout is beer.
Researchers at Granada University in Spain found beer can help retain liquid better than water alone.
https://www.nbcactionnews.com/dpp/news/health/water-may-be-the-drink-of-choice-to-rehydrate-after-working-out,-but-one-type-of-alcohol-is-better
Silly pedestrian, mid-block crossings are only for cars.
Flickr photo by Gavin Baker.
Since the average car trip is around 16 miles, lets put exits on the freeway every 16 miles.
Sounds crazy right? So why in many places are the pedestrian crossings a mile apart with the average pedestrian trip at one mile?
The significance of signal timing that treats bicyclists and pedestrians as second class road users
from A view from the cycle path – David Hembrow
Delays at traffic light controlled crossings
Cyclists and pedestrians elsewhere often feel that their time is wasted by pedestrian and cycle crossings which are timed in such a way that they prioritize “keeping traffic moving” over people who want to cross roads. This often causes people to cross against a red light, especially if they are in a hurry.
Here in the Netherlands, timings are quite different. This video shows two crossings which are on the route to school for my youngest daughter. She never has to wait too long for a green light, so I am happy that she is never tempted to cross while the cars are still moving.
Some years ago, I did some calculations based on a pedestrian crossing which we used together on the route which we walked to school in Cambridge. Crossings in the UK almost always work as described below. Even though the highway engineers can claim that the cycle time is the same for motorists and pedestrians, the average delay for motorists works out as far shorter than that for pedestrians:
Assuming that the junction splits time 50:50 for the two different directions, and that there is a 1 minute cycle time, a motorist can expect to be delayed a maximum of 30 seconds. Half of drivers are not delayed at all as the light is already green, and the other half are delayed by an average of 15 seconds, making an overall average delay of just 7.5 seconds for a driver.
On the other hand, a pedestrian only gets to cross if they walk right up to the crossing and push the button. Typically, the green phase for a pedestrian will last as little as 3 or 4 seconds, fitted into the 1 minute cycle. What’s more, there is an initial use delay on the button intended to make pedestrians bunch up. The intention of this is to make best use of the this short time and “keep traffic flowing” on the road in the meantime.
So, you push the button. Wait, say, 10 seconds, then have an average delay of (60-4)/2 = 28s. As a result, the average delay for a pedestrian is 38s. That’s 8s longer than the maximum for a driver or 5x as long as the average for a driver even though they are subject to the same cycle time.
Now I know that some people will say “it’s just a few seconds”, but let me explain further. At one time I would walk my children to primary school, then return, walk again to collect them, and return again, using this crossing four times a day. That means that on average the pointless extra delay would consume one and a half minutes day – about as long as it would have taken to make one of the whole journeys by car. I literally worked the numbers out while waiting for a green light to show.
…
Continue reading “The significance of signal timing that treats bicyclists and pedestrians as second class road users”
Is this a cycling shoe…
found via trackosaurus rex
4th Annual May Day Roll: Labor History Bike Tour of Baltimore
Time Sunday, May 1 · 9:00am – 2:00pm
Location Baltimore Bicycle Works
Created By Baltimore Bicycle Works
More Info
Join the Baltimore Brew and Baltimore Bicycle Works for the 4th Annual May Day Roll. This bicycle tour of Baltimore will explore the City’s labor struggles both past and present. The ride will be guided by Brew reporter and historian of Baltimore industry Mark Reutter. We will leave from BBW Sunday morning and roll downtown making our way across the Harbor at a leisurely pace, stopping to explore various points of interest in Baltimore’s labor history. We will end the ride in Greektown with lunch at Ikaros.
Meet at Baltimore Bicycle Works, 1813 Falls Road, Baltimore, 21201
We will conclude the ride at Ikaros, 4805 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, 21224
Donughts and Coffee served from 8 to 8:30am
Wheels Roll at 9am
Registration is $25 per person and includes a three course lunch from Ikaros.
Pre-registration and more details at https://maydayroll.eventbrite.com/
Continue reading “4th Annual May Day Roll: Labor History Bike Tour of Baltimore”
All advocacy is local
Please register for the May 13-15, Winning Campaigns Training by this Tuesday April 19th at 8am. The training will be canceled if registration does not increase by this deadline. Baltimore is one of six U.S. cities awarded to host this training. We worked to bring this opportunity to Maryland and we hope that for $100 (depending on your membership status) you will register for this three day action-oriented workshop that gives novice and veteran advocates the tools to create and manage powerful campaigns to increase biking and walking in their communities. Please don’t let this opportunity pass.
Curriculum will be taught by longtime advocates and national experts with first-hand experience conducting — and winning — bicycle and pedestrian campaigns.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER AND LEARN MORE!
Location: Baltimore, MD; Friday, 5-9 p.m., Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Take advantage of this vital, affordable training this spring in Baltimore! Hosted by: The Alliance for Biking and Walking and Bike Maryland.
Register now please and play an important role in making Maryland the best place it can be to live, work and BIKE!
Thank you.
Is Car Safety an Oxymoron?
Main points:
* Driving is still the most dangerous activity most of us undertake each day.
* Just because the roads are safer, doesn’t mean you are.
* Futuristic auto technologies are tantalizing, but driving will never be fail-safe.
* The automakers are pushing new technologies that are at cross-purposes to safety.
* We can engineer cars and roads to be safer, but the safest way to engineer our communities is to make cars less necessary.
Continue reading “Is Car Safety an Oxymoron?”
$50 Contest: A new term for ‘road diet’ (a type of complete street)
"Wanted to add that the word ‘diet’ is about the most universally-hated word in the history of the world. I’m thinking that telling a bunch of entitled, relatively-powerful people (drivers) that we’re about to force them to go on a diet is not the smartest political move. Ironically, if people actually had the opportunity to walk and bike places, so many people both here in the US and, increasingly, around the world, wouldn’t be so tormented by the word ‘diet’."
https://googlemapsbikethere.org/2011/04/15/50-contest-a-new-term-for-road-diet/