Month: November 2013

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Support the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Act!

By the league of American Bicyclists

The United States should have a national goal to reduce the number of bicyclists and pedestrians killed on our roadways. 

Please ask your Senators and Representative to co-sponsor HR 3494/S 1708 to institute a nonmotorized safety performance measure.

It seems like a common sense request, but US DOT and the Federal Highway Administration has refused to set a performance measure to reduce bicycle and pedestrian deaths. We are now asking Congress to require such a measure.

Here’s why:

  •  MAP-21, the new federal transportation law, requires USDOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to establish safety performance measures for states to meet – but, no performance measure related to the safety of people who bike and walk is currently being considered by FHWA.
  • The number of bicyclist and pedestrian fatalities has risen for the past two years (2010 and 2011) while overall traffic deaths have gone down quite dramatically — that means the percentage of fatalities that are bike/ped has risen from 12% to nearly 16%.
  •  MAP-21 almost doubled the amount of funding available for the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP), a program run by state Departments of Transportation. Unfortunately, that program has woefully small investments in bike/ped safety projects: Only seven states have spent any of these funds on bike/ped projects, and combined they’ve spent less than 0.5% of the funds annually.


​Without a specific performance measure to focus on nonmotorized safety, bicyclists and pedestrians will remain firmly in the blindspot of traffic safety.

Please ask Congress to co-sponsor HR 3494/S 1708 to set a national goal to reduce the number of bicyclists and pedestrians injured and killed on our roads.

To take action https://cqrcengage.com/lab/app/write-a-letter

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Attaching bicycle-pedestrian structure to Blanchette Bridge considered

[B’ Spokes: This came up in my news feed and I really wish this was happening in Maryland, too many of our bridges here that are uncomfortable to bike across, challenging to bike across or flat out banning bikes from crossing. It would be nice if there were at least some discussions on this topic.]

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/attaching-bicycle-pedestrian-structure-to-blanchette-bridge-considered/article_93bfb241-66b8-5354-a7e6-38495f4c4197.html

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The Bypass of Commerce

By NATHANIEL M. HOOD, Strong Towns
We have a cultural misunderstanding about the economic benefits of mobility.
There is no better example than the State of Minnesota’s new $300 million “Corridors of Commerce” program designed to foster “economic growth with transportation investments.” This is a noble goal and it’s worked well in the past, so why not keep it up?
First, we built highways that connected places that were never before directly connected. This was an enormous benefit to rural populations and opened up to more marketplaces. Towns that were once a 5 hour journey apart turned into an easy 1 hour trip. There is no question that this created an economic benefit.
But, we’ve continued building and expanding this roadway system to much diminishing return. The Corridors of Commerce project is just another example of this misapplication of limited transportation dollars.
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https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2013/11/20/the-bypass-of-commerce.html

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Creator: ‘Charlie’ helps motorists slow down

By WBALTV

City wants ‘Charlie’ sculpture taken down, says it’s hazardous.

When traffic kept coming through one city neighborhood at break-neck speed, residents decided something had to be done.

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Fouse said since Charlie has been there, folks driving through the intersection have slowed down, which was the whole idea.

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But no matter how residents feel, the city said Charlie has to go.

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https://www.wbaltv.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/creator-charlie-helps-motorists-slow-down/-/10131532/23073708/-/alweb4z/-/index.html

B’Spokes: But meanwhile in bike friendly Tucson, AZ this stands to help make this bike route a lot safer (but BCDOT would probably call it unsafe and take it down):

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A Law Like No Other

[B’ Spokes: A very good explanation of what’s wrong with our “Ride as Far Right as Practicable” law. I’ll add something to this argument, bicycling law does makes no mention of maintaining a straight and predictable course. A Baltimore City Police stopped me once for not riding far right (translation not riding in the parking space of three cars.) I asked if he thought weaving in and out of traffic was safer?

As typical, here are some highlights:]

by Keri, Commute Orlando

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Most laws are clear and reinforce safety.

Most traffic laws have a clear purpose — to reinforce the rules of movement that make roadway users predictable to one another. These laws don’t interfere with road users’ ability to travel safely. They’re barely even noticeable to the conscientious driver, who appreciates enforcement of them because that makes the system safer for him.

When a normal traffic citation is challenged, it is challenged on the basis of whether or not the driver was breaking a clearly defined law. Did the driver make a complete stop at the stop sign? Did the driver enter the intersection before or after the light turned red. Was the driver going faster than the speed limit? Interpretation of the law itself is not the issue. The issue is whether or not the police officer accurately witnessed the infraction. In many cases, people contest traffic citations in the hope that the officer won’t show up in court (providing automatic dismissal), or they seek to have the points removed from their record. No one would ever argue that they were speeding or running a red light because it was safer.

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Bicyclists are the only vehicle drivers who must defend themselves to an officer or judge for driving defensively.

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In every scenario, the bicyclist suffers some loss, even though he was operating lawfully!

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https://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2013/11/19/a-law-like-no-other/

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The “new Nate”

I got the chance to meet the “new Nate” during my meeting over the lack of bike/ped accsses at Northern Parkway and Greenspring.

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So this is Baltimore’s new bike/ped coordinator Caitlin Doolin (in high-vis red) and the Northwest Transportation Liaison Kohl Fallin on the right.

So in a brief little chat with Caitlin she’ has a long history of being a bike commuter in the city with an impressive background in biking to her former workplace on bike unfriendly roads and attends Baltimore Bike Parties . Not to mention a little dabbling in cyclocross, not necessarily to win but to just have a little fun on the bike. So far I think she’s perfect for Baltimore. 😉

P.S. Stay tuned on what BCDOT might do to fix this intersection.

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1,287 people died in 2012 crashes in D.C., Va. and Md.

BY ASHLEY HALSEY, Washington Post
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Here are your closer-to-home numbers:
A total of 1,287 people died in crashes in Maryland, Virginia and the District last year, an increase of 11 over 2011. Of that number, 364 weren’t wearing seat belts, 476 were speeding and 375 of the deaths involved a drunk driver.
Motorcyclists accounted for 166 deaths, pedestrians for 166, and bike riders for 16.
The District had 15 fatalities, down from 27 in 2011. Virginia had 777, up for 764 the previous year. Maryland had 505 deaths, 20 more than in 2011.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr-gridlock/wp/2013/11/15/1287-people-died-in-2012-crashes-in-d-c-va-and-md/

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After cycling stop in Howard County, Marine sets sights on California

By Katie V. Jones, Baltimore Sun Media Group

On a bicycle built just for him, 28-year-old Rob Jones rode into the parking lot of Chapelgate Christian Academy in Marriottsville on Thursday to the cheers of the student body and the family and friends who came to see him.

The former Marine and double amputee, who was born in Columbia and raised in Virginia, is riding across the country to raise money for a trio of charities that help veterans like himself through their challenges — the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes, the Semper Fi Fund and Ride 2 Recovery.
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https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/bs-md-ho-marine-cross-country-1117-20131114,0,2814355.story