Tuesday, October 11 · 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Location Washington Monument
Meet other cyclists at 7pm by the Washington Monument. We will ride the streets and finish at Occupy Baltimore.
Continue reading “Bike Ride to Support Occupy Baltimore”
The Idaho stop law – should Maryland adopt?
B’ Spoke: It amazes me how much slack is afforded to motorists and when there is a crack down on “safety” it seems that it is just the cyclists and pedestrians that are targeted. Motorists going 10 mph above the speed limit is perfectly fine, motorists coming to a complete stop in the crosswalk way past the stop bar, well that’s OK too but cyclists who do not put their foot down when stopping now that’s dangerous and should be get the full vengeance of the law.
It is time to get back to the spirit of the law and stop trying to get cyclists to do things that only really only make sense for 350 hp 2 ton killing machines then ones driven by human power at human speeds.
Please participate in our poll and let us know what you think about Maryland adopting the Idaho stop law.
Except from The Washcycle
- In 2009, the police in Jackson Hole, WY basically made the Idaho stop the law.
“After one summer of police stings on bikes running stop signs, and a lot of talk, we have reached a reasonable peace treaty on this issue.
Local law enforcement here in Jackson Hole will ticket a bike that blatantly rolls a stop at speed with no care. Quick $100 fine, and no sympathy from bike advocates like me.
Legally, bikes are required to stop at Stop signs in Wyoming. However – Jackson Police and Teton County Sheriff have publicly said they will not ticket a bicyclist that:
– slows cautiously as approaching a stop sign,
– rider carefully looks left and right, fully in control and able to stop,
– rider signals properly if making a turn,
– rider does not fully stop but continues after determining it is safe to do so.
Our Sheriff and police have determined this is equal to a STOP and they will not harass cyclists. We agree.”
AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety asks drivers to stay focused
Excerpt from Welcome to the Fast Lane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation by Ray LaHood
Continue reading “AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety asks drivers to stay focused”
How Delaware made statewide bike funding history with CMAQ
Again filed under "News you will not see in Maryland." Like DE used to be, Baltimore Metro has not spent a dime of CMAQ on bike projects. Maryland gets about $49 million of CMAQ a year or two years of CMAQ could pay for what we plan to spend over 6 years with no local match required.
Info on TE and CMAQ: https://www.bikeleague.org/resources/reports/pdfs/rescissions_analsyis_te+cmaq_8.13.10.pdf
Our 6 year CTP: https://www.mdot.maryland.gov/Planning/CTP/CTP_Documents/Draft_CTP/8_BikePed.pdf
Read and understand this, no one else here does: https://www.rwjf.org/files/research/20091112mccannexecutivesummary.pdf
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from Bikeleague.org Blog by Darren
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By tapping into Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) improvement funds for bicycling projects – the first time ever in Delaware – Bike Delaware and its allies have opened the door for the future funding of bicycling projects that give people options to substitute their cars trips with enjoyable, healthy, non-polluting, non-traffic-clogging bike trips.
Every year Delaware spends about $12 million in federal CMAQ dollars. “But in the 20 year history of the CMAQ program, not one dime has ever been used for bicycling, greenways or trails in Delaware,” wrote Bike Delaware Executive Director James Wilson, “Until now. We have broken a 20 year drought and also set an immensely hopeful precedent for the future.”
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Continue reading “How Delaware made statewide bike funding history with CMAQ”
Walk to School [Every] Day:
October 5 was national walk to school day so I though I would mention the 629 (on average) school kids (up to age 15) that are hit by motorists every year just in Maryland. There may be a logical reason why some are walking instead of driving. Maybe we should lower the driving age to 10? .. OR maybe we should make the roads safer for everyone.
Continue reading “Walk to School [Every] Day:”
You are traffic
Streetcar tracks deleted from 11th Street Bridge (for now)
[B’ Spokes: Is it too easy to build car centric roads and harder to build anything else?]
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from Greater Greater Washington
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Already, federal regulations impose greater burdens on transit projects. To get funding, transit projects have to meet complex cost-effectiveness criteria while highway projects do not. The FTA acts at times like it’s the Federal Make Transit More Difficult Administration. That’s not because they’re anti-transit, per se, but simply that they are regulating transit, FHWA is regulating roads, and FTA is the stricter parent.
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Continue reading “Streetcar tracks deleted from 11th Street Bridge (for now)”
Rick Perry’s Frontier Justice Doesn’t Apply to Those Who Kill Cyclists
from Streetsblog Capitol Hill by Angie Schmitt
What’s the penalty for killing a cyclist on a Texas roadway? Effectively nothing. You can thank Governor Rick Perry for that.
Gregory and Alexandra Bruehler were killed while riding a tandem cycle four months after Rick Perry vetoed a law that would have established some basic protections for them. No charges were filed. Photo: Biking in Dallas
In 2009, cycling advocates in the Lone Star State put together a package of legal protections for cyclists, pedestrians and other vulnerable road users. The legislation sailed through the House and Senate and seemed to be as good as law, according to Christopher Curnutt at Network blog Biking in Dallas.
All that was needed was Rick Perry’s signature. It was a done deal, everyone thought. After all, Perry not only prides himself as a dispenser of justice, he’s also known as a cyclist and runner.
But to the surprise and dismay of cyclists across the state and legislators from both sides of the aisle, Perry vetoed the bill, citing esoteric language concerns. Now justice for vulnerable users killed on Texas roadways remains elusive, says Curnutt:
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Continue reading “Rick Perry’s Frontier Justice Doesn’t Apply to Those Who Kill Cyclists”
Getting more kids on bikes more often
By Beth Richards
I can still remember flying down the big hill on the way to my elementary school in Des Moines, Iowa in the 1970s. My bike was super-girl purple with a sparkly white banana seat and completely oversized basket with big flowers that I eventually pulled off, as the tom-boy in me emerged. I loved my bike and I loved the freedom of that ride to and from school.
These childhood memories used to be the norm, but not anymore. In 1969, 48% of children walked or biked to school. Today, that number is down to just 13% Kids who are being driven to school aren’t just missing out on great experiences that turn into cherished memories, they’re missing out on much needed physical activity.
New Urbanists: No Economic Recovery Without Smart Growth
This post highlighting Streets Blog article relates to our featured article asking for more bicycle infrastructure. https://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20111004135137190
Highlights:
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“What were seeing right now is an inability to look at how we live and how it relates to our problems, and financial problems,” said Kunstler Tuesday during a speaking engagement with the Congress for the New Urbanism. “Production homebuilders, mortgage lenders, real estate agents, they are all sitting back now waiting for the, quote, bottom of the housing market to come with the expectation that things will go back to the way they were in 2005.”
But despite massive government expenditures to restart the old economic engine driven by suburban homebuilding, recovery is elusive, Kunstler said. The author of “The Geography of Nowhere” and “The Long Emergency” argues that suburbanization has been a multi-decade American experiment, and a failed one.
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In its new booklet Curbside Chat, Strong Towns asserts that since the 1970s, the suburban growth that powered America’s economy operated much like a Ponzi scheme. In towns across the country, politicians traded the short-term payoffs of sprawling development — namely increased taxes — for long-term maintenance obligations that are just now coming due. And they’re coming up short.
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“Our problem was not, and is not, a lack of growth; Our problem is sixty years of unproductive growth,” said Marohn. “The American pattern of development does not create real wealth; it creates the illusion of wealth. Today we are in the process of seeing that illusion destroyed and with it the prosperity we have come to take for granted.”
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“We now have to do things differently.”
Continue reading “New Urbanists: No Economic Recovery Without Smart Growth”