Category: Bicycle Advocacy
This must be an exciting time to be a transportation designer. People walk the talk (and bike the talk) when it comes to choosing how to make a trip.
More people are taking up bicycling and walking and using public transportation to commute and make errands. At the same time President-elect Obama and others are calling for reinvestment in roads and bridges as an economic stimulus.
This is the atmosphere in which the Congress for a New Urbanism met in Charlotte last week for its annual Transportation Summit. Instead of focusing on getting folks from Point A to Point B by cars, this group considers “moving people comfortably where they want to go, whether the best choice is walking, biking, riding transit or driving ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/11/09/the-challenge-of-designing-cities-for-bicycling-walking-busing-and-driving/
The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is optimistic about improvements that bicyclists and walkers might see in the next four years.
Dissecting Barack Obama's statements and actions in recent months, the group found that the president-elect understands the role of active transportation in making metropolitan areas better places to live.
The Washington, DC-based advocacy group is promoting more federal money for bicycle and pedestrian projects in upcoming transportation funding bills. It says active transportation “has the potential to play an important role in this new administration ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/11/06/obama-presidency-could-be-good-for-bicyclists/
There's nothing that says something as useful as a bicycle rack has to be ugly.
Ever since New York City's transportation commissioner called them “handcuffs chained to the street,” that city has been encouraging artists to create more visually appealing bike racks. One of the first was David Byrne.
But way ahead of the Big Apple is Louisville, Kentucky. If you passed this sculpture at the corner of Fourth and Mohammad Ali in Louisville, would “bike rack” be the first thing to come to mind? …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/11/03/is-it-a-bike-rack-or-is-it-art/
A nationwide poll for the US Department of Transportation finds that nearly half of all Americans have access to bicycles.
And the more they ride those bikes, the more likely they are to prefer bike lane improvements over bike paths and trails.
The information in the National Survey of Bicyclist and Pedestrian Attitudes and Behavior could be useful to bicycle policy makers who are trying to justify expenditures for bicycle facility improvements in their communities.
Its usefulness is limited, however, by the fact that this information is six years old. The Gallup organization performed the survey in August 2002 for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, but the report didn't see the light of day until August 2008. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/10/28/gallup-polls-bicyclists-behaviors-and-attitudes/
With my son considering colleges for next year, we were excited to learn that some colleges and universities provide free bicycles for use by students
The offers run the gamut from free bicycles doled out to incoming freshmen who agree to leave their cars at home, to “yellow bike” programs, to cheap bike rental systems.
The colleges make the bikes available to reduce traffic congestion on their campuses and in the towns where they make their home. It also lessens the need to build large parking lots as it cuts the institution's carbon footprint.
There's also the side benefit of a more fit and healthy student population …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/10/26/70-colleges-that-offer-free-or-low-cost-bicycles/
Dozens of cities and counties in the US are considering how they would each spend $50 million in federal funding for bicycle and pedestrian facilities, if the money ever comes their way.
The exercise is part of the 2010 Campaign for Active Transportation that was launched over the summer by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. The group wants to extend the funding to the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program that was ratified by Congress in 2005.
When Rails-to-Trails issued the “Active Transportation for America” report earlier this week, I stumbled across this campaign information on their website. It lists more than 40 communities that have prepared case studies to tell how they would encourage people to bike or walk instead of using their cars ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/10/24/how-40-communities-would-spend-50-million-each-on-bicycling-and-walking/
A Wenatchee, Washington, doctor and father of pro cyclist Tyler Farrar is suffering from a severe spinal injury after being struck head-on by a car Wednesday morning.
Ed Farrar, 57, is an orthopedic surgeon in central Washington; his son Tyler is a member of the Garmin-Chipotle pro cycling team and grew up in the Wenatchee area.
Farrar was riding Wednesday morning when a 56-year-old security guard driving a 2001 Ford Crown Victoria took his eyes off the road, drifted into his lane and struck him…
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/10/23/tyler-farrars-father-injured-in-bike-car-crash-in-wenatchee/
Only if you live in Washington state, do you have to worry about how to vote on a ballot initiative to change the hours for HOV lanes, whether to support a tax levy for parks and a long-term plan for mass transit in the Puget Sound.
Before you mark your ballot, you might want to check the endorsements from the Cascade Bicycle Club on these issues if you're not sure how to vote. The club also endorses some legislative races in the Puget Sound.
A “No” vote on Initiative 985 is being recommended by Cascade …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/10/21/bicycle-club-endorses-ballot-initiatives-candidates-in-puget-sound/
Citing a “build it and they will come” strategy, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy issued a report promoting more federal funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects.
The report — “Active Transportation for America: The Case for Increased Federal Investment in Bicycling and Walking” — makes the case that spending more on bicycling and pedestrian facilities would provide benefits to Americans far beyond the amount that was invested.
The Conservancy is seeking $2 billion in alternative transportation funding for 40 communities.
Encouraging people out of their cars would reduce the need to spend billions on highway improvements to deal with traffic congestion. It will also cut oil dependency as well as curtail greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the nationwide obesity problem …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/10/21/making-the-case-for-bicycling-and-walking/
The overriding question most bicycle commuters had when they heard about passage of the Bicycle Commuter Act on Friday was — “Where do I sign up?”
The League of American Bicyclists has been researching the bill and how it might be implemented and came up with a Bicycle Commuter Act FAQ at the LAB website.
The bike act is a work in progress. As a Washington DC-based advocacy group for bicyclists, the League has the contacts to make sure the act's provisions are implemented by Jan. 1, 2009 ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/10/07/questions-about-bicycle-commuter-act-answered/
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