Category: Bicycle Advocacy
Remember back in April when Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard ordered all his city's bureaucrats to set a good example by riding their bicycles to work the first Monday of every month?
Apparently that plan has paid off, to a point, according to published reports. No, the city's 9 million residents aren't choking the streets with bicycle traffic. But, his order has sparked a nationwide discussion on bike commuting in the capital city, and thousands ride their bikes around town on Sunday when the city streets have been closed to vehicular traffic.
Just as importantly, the World Bank is giving Mexico City a $100,000 grant to design a bicycle master plan, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The city wants to create 186 miles of bike lanes and install bike racks at train and bus stations. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/07/02/mexico-citys-bike-plan-getting-results/
Why don't more people ride bicycles?
According to a survey conducted in Washington state, it's because they never learned to ride in the first place or they don't know how to ride in traffic.
Those results from a telephone survey surprised the state Department of Transportation official who sought the input as part of the state's effort to update its 12-year-old bicycling and pedestrian plan. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/06/25/top-reasons-why-people-dont-ride-a-bicycle/
The other day, I finally topped the climb near my house. I paused to let the motorist in the oncoming lane make a right turn from the 3-way stop, as I prepared to make a left.
He made his turn. I started into the intersection, but the guy following him slid along behind him and we were on a collision course.
“Yo yo yo yo yo!” I distinctly remember yelling “Yo” five times. (In times of crisis I seem to revert to Rocky Balboa speak, as in “Yo, Paulie”.) He stopped, and I pedaled on through. About a half block away, I hear the car approaching and it is slowing down…
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/06/23/apology-nearly-knocks-me-off-my-bike/
Friends of an Albany, New York, boutique owner and fashion designer are raising funds for statewide bicycle training programs in her memory.
Diva de Loayza died on June 6 from injuries she received when she was struck by a minivan as she pedaled through a red light. She was knocked over the hood and crashed to the ground on her head; she was not wearing a helmet.
She also carried no identification, and it was two days before her identity was known. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/06/21/coming-to-terms-with-boutique-owners-bicycling-death-in-albany/
We already know that Paris is gearing up for a “free” bike rental program that begins July 15. I was surprised to learn that Washington DC is considering launching its own, smaller scale, automated bike rental program that could get off the ground by the end of the summer.
The District Department of Transportation, working with bus shelter supplier Clear Channel Adshel, plans to install 10 kiosks in the greater downtown area where up to 120 bicycles can be rented. It would be the first such program in the US. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/06/14/paris-prepares-for-10k-rental-bikes-can-dc-be-far-behind/
It's not unusual for cyclists to keep an eye on the weather during bicycle tours, but Bill Bradlee and David Kroodsma are more interested in long-term climate changes.
That's because the two are talking about those inconvenient truths on their around-the-US bicycle tour to raise awareness about energy efficiency, renewable energy and other solutions to global warming.
The Ride for Climate USA left Boston in late April and is currently making its way across windswept Wisconsin. Along the way, Bradlee and Kroodsma have talked about climate change to school children, climate activist groups, media, and people who they meet along they way. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/06/12/ride-for-climate-usa-bike-tour/
A bicyclist tells an incredible story of police brutality after being stopped for riding his folding bicycle away from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport after a flight in September.
Stephan Orsak, writing at his Greencycle website, said he was “rudely accosted, assaulted with battery,” and tasered. He says he was complying with all the laws of the airport and Minnesota rules of the road at the time of the incident.
After he was hospitalized for observation, the 135-pound violinist was thrown in jail for 8 hours and eventually charged with six counts of obstructing officers, failure to comply, etc.; the usual charges you'll see in cases like this. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/06/08/dont-ride-your-bike-at-minneapolis-airport-you-could-be-tasered/
Google imageMercer Island is warning that police officers will issue tickets to bicyclists who don't stop at stop signs on the island.
It's part of a crackdown that is also to involve ticketing motorists who unsafely pass cyclists, particularly on the twisting Mercer Way loop around the island.
The island has been the stage for conflicts between bicyclists and motorists for years. Situated in Lake Washington between Bellevue and Seattle, the island is a thoroughfare for bike commuters passing through on the I-90 bike lanes. A narrow road that encircles the island is a popular loop for cyclists out for a spin. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/05/31/mercer-island-blow-those-stop-signs-and-get-a-ticket/
If you enjoyed commuting to work by bicycle last week, you might to interested to know that there are some companies that support their bike commuters monetarily year-round.
Some bicycle-friendly firms pay a stipend, others reduce health-care charges, while others help pay for, or even give away, a commuting bike.
Here's a list of six companies recently listed in Business Week (“Who's Pushing Pedal-Pushing) and some I've written about in the past. ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/05/24/more-companies-that-really-promote-bicycle-commuting/
Sunny skies, crisp temperatures. What's not to like about a bicycle ride on a day like Friday in the Puget Sound, even if you are commuting to work?
Thousands of cyclists took to the streets in the Puget Sound this morning to participate in the 2007 Bike to Work Day.
The Cascade Bicycle Club was looking for 10,000 people to ride to work. Cities across the nation were looking at similar numbers on a day when gasoline prices set a record for the fourth straight day. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/05/18/seattle-area-bike-commuters-hit-the-road-for-bike-to-work-day/
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