-> According to an August 13th Times Free Press article, "Speed limits could be lowered, parking spaces added and more speed bumps installed in neighborhoods as part of Mayor Andy Berke’s plan to improve transportation in Chattanooga. But with the city’s rising reputation in the world of bicycling, the newly formed Department of Transportation is already studying where to add bike lanes…
"There are too many places where cyclists who want to bike to work or tourists trying to get around downtown have to share the road with trucks and cars. To avoid the traffic, some even bike on sidewalks, running the risk of hitting pedestrians…
"To that end, a Netherlands-based cycling group has been invited to Chattanooga to host a two-day workshop called Think Bike. The Dutch Cycling Embassy and the Royal Netherlands Embassy, which have studied how to improve cycling in Austin, Texas; Washington, D.C.; and Portland, Ore., will offer suggestions for the city’s current projects that include a bike lane running the length of Cherokee Boulevard…"
Source: https://bit.ly/1d5kC0l
from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
Our Director of Bicycle and Pedestrian Accesses spotted at 2013 NCUTCD Summer Meeting
Maryland deaths from air pollution highest in U.S.
by Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Maryland Reporter
Long-term exposure to air pollution leads a higher percentage of the population in Maryland to die prematurely than in any other state, according to a new study on the impact of air quality on health.
In a study released in late August, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that emissions from cars, trucks, industrial smokestacks, trains, boats, and commercial heating systems contribute to the death of 113 people per 100,000 population per year in Maryland—more than any other state.
Acute problem in Baltimore
The problem is particularly acute in Baltimore, which boasts the highest emissions-related mortality rate of large cities in the country, according to the study. Of every 100,000 residents in the city, the study found that 130 were likely to die prematurely each year of causes related to air pollution, more than in New York City, Los Angeles, and the entire Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
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Other Maryland cities even worse than Baltimore
Other cities in Maryland fared even worse than Baltimore, according to the study. Frederick, Reisterstown, and Montgomery Village all have rates close to Baltimore’s, while Magnolia—a small town in northeastern Maryland—leads the state with an emissions-related mortality rate of 140 deaths per 100,000 people per year.
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https://marylandreporter.com/2013/09/13/maryland-emissions-related-deaths-highest-in-u-s/
Larry’s Ride 2013 [video promotion]
To register: Larry’s Ride 2013
Get on your bike and ride (like you are getting ice cream?) [video]
Petition: Connect the MA & PA Trail
The Petition
I urge the elected officials of Harford County and Bel Air to secure the land rights to allow for the connection of the Ma and Pa trail segments between Williams St. in Bel Air and Melrose Lane in Forest Hill using the most cost effective means possible."
Sign petition https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/mapatrailconnect/
Was fatal car-bike collision on Riva Road a homicide?
by Jim Titus, Annapolis Patch
Two years ago Maryland created a new crime of vehicular negligent homicide in Maryland, which allows prosecutors to seek criminal penalties when a sober-but-aggressive driver causes an accident that kills someone. Anne Arundel County prosecutors should be seriously thinking about using this statute in the case of Patricia Cunningham, an Annapolis high school coach who was killed August 21 on Riva Road.
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Aggressive drivers who kill are rarely prosecuted unless they are drunk or leave the scene of the accident. Perhaps because many “respectable people” drive aggressively, it is hard to feel comfortable sending people off to jail when they accidentally kill someone while driving in a way that most people drive. But it is also hard to feel good about the idea that killing someone has no legal consequence. Courts and the Maryland legislature have wrestled with this paradox for decades.
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https://annapolis.patch.com/groups/use-the-full-lane/p/was-fatal-carbike-collision-on-riva-road-a-homicide_d66e038b
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[B’ Spokes: This is a very good article and goes into some detail about our laws and how they are supposed to work. I’ll add from what I have seen drivers that leave the scene of an accident are rarely prosecuted, sure if they do bring up the charge for a fatality it "helps" to get stiffer penalties. There is a local case where the hit-and-run car was IDed but not the driver so the police took no action against the owner of the car.
I’ll also note that Bike Maryland put out an action alert that looks like it has been very effective for this stage of the investigation. If you are inclined to also write to the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s office see https://bikemd.org/page.php?id=623 but my main point here is to give a thank you for Bike Maryland in helping rasing awarness of this issue, a job well done.]
Resurging cities, resurging metros, the impoverished and the Metropolitan Revolution (continued)
[B’ Spokes: This bit caught my eye:]
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By Richard Layman, Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space
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This reminds me of my brief experience working for Baltimore County Government a couple years ago. I thought Baltimore County wasn’t striving–they are mostly content comparing themselves to Baltimore City, which has been on a downward spiral for 50+ years, and thereby judging as wildly successful most any of the County’s economic initiatives.
But if local elites instead chose to reference and benchmark the County against the most successful counties in the Baltimore-Washington region and the US more generally, it would be found wanting. Going forward, to be successful on a national basis, Baltimore County and many other communities need to reset their expectations, goals, and standards for achievement.
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https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2013/06/resurging-cities-resurging-metros.html
Speak up for better transit
By Robert L. Smith, Baltimore Sun
The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) gets wide-ranging feedback from our riders each and every day, some good and some bad, but the MTA has not done a comprehensive review of its service routes and schedules in nearly a decade. Most transit agencies perform such reviews every three to five years.
That’s why I met with the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board (BRTB) last week to outline a key initiative in the Transit Modernization Program (TMP) — an all-inclusive, strategic effort the agency is taking to improve public transit, including technology upgrades, new bus shelters, an overhaul of trains and buses, greater connectivity, station enhancements and more.
The first initiative of the TMP for the Baltimore region is the Bus Network Improvement Project, which will focus specifically on the planning and operations of the MTA’s bus network, as well as on how the network intersects with and supports our Light Rail, Metro subway and MARC. To be completed in eight months, this initiative seeks to ensure the Baltimore region will have an integrated transit system that provides access for families of all socioeconomic backgrounds to important resources like hospitals, educational institutions and job centers, and that aligns service with new housing and job-growth sectors.
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[B’ Spokes: I wonder if they will finally address their main purpose of buses is to serve a poorly designed rail system so we can have even a more poorly designed bus route system as well. It takes 3 buses to go 5 miles along a major road in my neighborhood, it takes less time to walk then it takes for the bus system to get there. ]
Road Signs to Bring Awareness for Bicyclists Survey
B’ Spokes: At the risk of influencing your answer, when I returned to Baltimore I saw a lot of "Bikes Share the Road" signs, I’m not sure if I am all that happy with that message. If I had a choice of being on a nicer car friendly road (a.k.a. Bike Friendly) where this sign was not needed, I would be there, otherwise I want a sign that says something along the lines "Motorist, please stay on your designated motorway known as interstates. We paid a lot of money for those so please use them but if you must use other roads please remember when not using the interstates you are on PUBLIC roads where all members of the public have a right-of-way whether they are in a motor vehicle or not, they are not your roads exclusively, so act accordingly and yield to others."
OK that is a bit wordy and would never fit on a sign, so that’s what was nice about the "Share The Road" campaign… it fit on a sign but without a lot of public awareness efforts it does not often translate to anything close to my long version.
Survey from Bike Maryland at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GTZVBM9