Month: March 2014

by John Stevenson , Road.CC
It’s well known that being fit and active reduces your risk of heart problems and a host of other diseases of a sedentary lifestyle. A new study suggests that at least two and a half hours of vigorous exercise a week – including what the authors term ‘fast cycling’ – cuts the risk of catching flu by around 10% too.
But gentle activity has little effect; the activity has to be hard enough that it makes you sweat or breathe hard, according to experts at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
…
https://road.cc/content/news/114369-cycling-good-you-part-2869-vigorous-exercise-reduces-flu-risk-study-suggests

B’ Spokes: A sample of what I would love to see around here.
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By Darren Flusche, Policy Director, League of American Bicyclists
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Bike Delaware
In 2010, Bike Delaware surveyed all candidates running for the state’s General Assembly. The survey included questions related to the appreciation of the benefits of bicycling and ended with direct questions about the candidates’ willingness to dedicate state funds to bicycling and walking. The responses indicated widespread support for dedicated state funding for bicycling and walking.
Encouraged by this, Bike Delaware and their health partners launched the successful “Walkable, Bikeable Delaware” campaign. The governor and the General Assembly have since committed over $20 million dollars of state funds to bicycling and walking projects.
Bike Delaware published the results online:
https://www.bikede.org/2010/10/26/results-of-2010-survey-of-delaware-general-assembly-candidates/
2010 Bike Delaware Survey
On a scale of 1 to 5, rank your support of the following statements, with one being ‘strongly agree’ and five being ‘strongly disagree’:
1. I supported or agreed with the recently passed “Vulnerable Users Bill”:
https://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis145.nsf/vwLegislation/SB+269/$file/legis.html
2. I believe that increased use of ‘active’ modes of transportation (i.e. walking and bicycling) improves public health.
3. I believe that investing in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure saves people money by allowing them to spend a smaller percentage of their household budgets on transportation; and makes Delaware’s economy less vulnerable to disruption from oil price shocks.
4. I support greater state transportation spending on walking and bicycling.
5. A minimum percentage of state transportation funding should be dedicated to the development of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and facilities.
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https://www.advocacyadvance.org/site_images/content/Election_Guide_Final(web2).pdf

B’ Spokes: I laughed at this.
https://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/aa-uses-naked-cyclist-to-launch-thinkbikes-wing-mirror-campaign/016117

By CHRISTINE MCLAREN, The Globe and Mail
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He has also lived his message: Mr. Penalosa, 57, helped to transform Bogota when he served as the Colombian capital’s commissioner of parks and recreation in the late 1990s. He has since become an evangelist for livable cities that put people, not cars, at the centre of planning. As the executive director of Toronto-based non-profit 8-80 Cities, he has worked with more than 150 cities on every continent, convincing them that rapid improvements to mass transit, bike lanes and pedestrian walkways are not as impossible as they may think.
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Many politicians are also “timid,” he adds. “The minute they’re elected, they’re thinking about how to get re-elected, and the way to get re-elected is to do more of the same. Maybe a little bit better but more of the same. But unfortunately now we not only have to focus on doing things right, but also we need to focus on doing the right things.”
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“It’s not about walking or cycling or parks or sidewalks,” he says. “Those are the means. The end goal is how to create a vibrant city with healthy communities, where the citizens are going to be happier.”
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https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/the-pied-piper-for-sustainable-transportation-and-his-radical-idea-put-people-first/article17496623/

B’ Spokes: Before I share the following article I thought I would share some other absurdisms working against us.
1) Speed of travel is the ultimate priority.
Which would be like saying I know someone with a Ferrari who zips around town, I would like to zip around town too so I need a new Ferrari and my 10 year old car is no longer good enough.
So freeways and freeway like roads are like Ferraris, expensive and really not practical for everyday use.
2) We have a huge backlog of car centric projects that total billions of dollars. So if we don’t accommodate bikes and peds over a hundred years we’ll saved enough to get one year of car centric projects for free.
This is like trying to afford a Hawaiian vacation by squeezing the last drop out of your toothpaste tube. Sure you are saving money by doing that but the reality is what you can purchase from that kind of savings plan cannot be anywhere near the cost of the toothpaste or the cost of the road project. We are skimping on road projects to appear frugal while buying a Ferrari. Does that make any sense?
3) The greatest need is based on what’s the most expensive.
This would be like the government analyzing your food budget and seeing that you spent a lot on steaks saying you need to cut out fruit and vegetables so you can purchase more steaks. Now go ahead and try to refute the argument that most people like steaks so this is fair (like the argument that most people like to drive.)
This is a false argument that we are forced into, the argument is what is the best balance for what we can afford.
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By Zachary Shahan, Tree Hugger
One of the most hilarious (or, hilariously illogical) attacks on expanding bicycle infrastructure that I’ve seen repeatedly pop up over the years is the idea that "bicycle infrastructure costs too much." It only takes a few moments to reflect and put such costs into perspective.
For one, bikes are clearly much smaller and lighter than cars or trucks. So, the space needed to accommodate bicyclists is obviously much smaller, and the repairs needed from deterioration are also smaller. Furthermore, as you attract more people to bicycling, that pulls people out of their cars, reducing the deterioration and eventual repair costs of the car lanes. Naturally, the benefits improve even further when we think about bridges.
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See the article for the chart and be prepared to do a lot of scrolling to see where the cost of car projects ends.
https://www.treehugger.com/bikes/1-mile-protected-bike-lane-100x-cheaper-1-mile-roadway-chart.html

B’ Spokes: Why this is important for Maryland:

Source: FARS States | Pedestrians

And note that bike/ped fatales make up 22% of Maryland road fatalities.

Source: FARS States

And our ranking with bicycling and pedestrian fatality rates combined:

Source: Car Insurance Comparison

Even the U.S. Transportation Secretary says he won’t tolerate ‘crisis’ in bicyclist deaths

Additional info about your representatives from LAB:
In the House (Chris Van Hollen did a lot better than the others.)
In the Senate (With Ben Cardin standing out a bit better.)

From League of American Wheelmen, Inc.

Once again, bicyclists have been left out.

This morning, the federal government released a traffic safety proposal that turns a blind eye to the rising number of bicyclist and pedestrians deaths.

Last week, 700 participants at the National Bike Summit visited their members of Congress and asked them to sign on to a critical bill that would require the U.S. Department of Transportation establish a specific target to improve the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians. Months ago, we mobilized bicyclists behind this bill because we knew DOT was unlikely to do this on their own.

Today, unfortunately, we were proven right.

The DOT just issued a proposed national traffic safety goal that doesn’t include a specific target or goal for reducing the number of bicyclists and pedestrians killed on our roadways.

 

We know that without a specific target to focus the attention of state DOTs and USDOT on reducing bicyclist and pedestrian deaths within the overall number — we get lost in the shuffle. At a time when cities like New York and San Francisco are adopting bold targets like Vision Zero, we believe the federal government should be expecting the same thing of themselves and state transportation agencies. 

 

Please ask your members of Congress to sign on to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Act: HR 3494 / S 1708. If you just attended the National Bike Summit, it’s the perfect excuse to follow up your meeting with a “Thank you” and a reminder of your request. If you weren’t at the Summit, it’s a great way to make your voice heard on this important issue. 

 

Next week, we’ll ask for your help in responding directly to the DOT’s proposed safety target. Today, please join us in making sure your member of Congress supports a national goal to reduce the number of bicyclists and pedestrians injured and killed on our roads.

Sincerely,

Andy Clarke
President, League of American Bicyclists

Click the Take Action button at the bottom of this page.