Category: Bicycle Advocacy

Seattle Bicycle Master Plan is online

The Seattle Bicycle Master Plan seeks to double the miles of bicycle lanes and marked bike routes in the city within the next two years and begin work on the “final mile” of the Burke-Gilman Trail in Ballard.

The document was posted online at the city's transportation department website in conjunction with Mayor Greg Nickel's press conference Wednesday morning.

The document calls for adding 136 miles of bicycle lanes and marked bike routes to the city's existing 67-mile network in the next two years. Most of this work will be accomplished as part of street upgrades funded by last fall's transportation levy.

Within the next 10 years, Seattle plans to add 452 miles of marked or separated bicycle routes criss-crossing the city. These too will be added while other street upgrades are underway. …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/04/04/seattle-bicycle-master-plan-is-online/

Should US cities follow Mexico City's lead?

If you're a top-level bureaucrat for the Mexico City government, you get to ride a bicycle to work the first Monday of every month. Actually, you must. It's an order.

Mayor Marcelo Ebrard issued the order in February to prove that bicycles are a workable option for commuting in the city and to promote the use of bike paths.

Something's got to be done to solve traffic, pollution and congestion problems in Mexico's capital city of 18 million people. Some 4 million cars use the streets everyday, making it one of the most crowded and polluted cities in the world. …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/04/03/should-us-cities-follow-mexico-citys-lead/

7 bicycling violations that will earn a ticket in Topeka (and other places, too)

When we bicyclists fight for the right to be on the road and to hold all the entitlements as a motor vehicle, we've also committed ourselves to following the rules of the road.

A blogger at the Citizen-Journal Online asked a Topeka, Kansas, police spokesman what traffic laws bicyclists most commonly break.

How many moving violations would you have committed in Topeka on your weekend ride? I'll admit to doing a slow roll through most stop signs unless there's a car in the intersection.

1. Failing to stop completely at a stop sign or red light. (A “bump and run” isn't adequate to see a car coming, police say.) …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/04/02/7-bicycling-violations-that-will-earn-a-ticket-in-topeka-and-other-places-too/

Bicycle tour raises global warming specter in Latin America

A United Nations report says that the world's richest countries, while contributing the most toward global warming, are doing little to curb its effects in the poorer nations that will be hardest hit.

That's hardly news to California bicyclist David Kroodsma, who for the past 17 months has been bicycling through Central and South America to raise awareness about global warming and its impact on the Americas.

His website, Ride for Climate: The Americas, is a primer on the science of global warming and offers first-hand observations of how rising temperatures will affect the poorer nations of Latin America. …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/04/01/bicycle-tour-raises-global-warming-specter-in-latin-america/

Burning more calories on your bike


Click to enlarge

The growing obesity rate of Americans is one of the items that struck me in Trek Bicycle boss John Burke's slideshow to other bicycle makers the other day.

Burke showed a series of slides, represented at right, showing the increase and geographical range of obesity rates among adults Americans in the past 15 years.  

If you're in the obesity range — 30 pounds overweight for a 5-foot-4 adult — or you want to hold your weight steady, you might be interested to check out a calorie calculator that estimates how many calories are burned by different activities.

For instance, I discovered that one hour of cycling at 12-14 mph burns 594 calories, while one hour of blogging (writing) burns 72 calories. …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/03/29/burning-more-calories-on-your-bike/

Bellevue (Washington) bicycling survey; fill it out


Bellevue commuter

If you bicycle or walk around Bellevue, you only have about two weeks to have your voice heard in the Walk & Roll 2007 Pedestrian-Bike Plan.

An online survey is available at the city of Bellevue website through April 10. I filled it out recently and it only takes a few minutes.

It's basically a multiple choice survey — “always,” “sometimes,” “never” — to determine what bicycle facilities you use or would use if available. It also has space for respondents to fill in their major concerns or specific needs for bicycing in the city; this can be more time-consuming but it's necessary to put the officials on notice. …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/03/29/bellevue-washington-bicycling-survey-fill-it-out/

No jail time for legally blind motorist in bicyclist's death

Family members of a bicyclist who was struck and killed by a legally blind motorist in central Pennsylvania are livid that prosecutors are only seeking home confinement for the driver.

The CentreDaily reports that the Boalsburg man had filed medical disability forms beginning in the mid 1980s stating he was legally blind. He pleaded guilty this week to homicide by vehicle.

The victim's daughter says she thinks the prosecutor is taking the easy way out….

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/03/28/no-jail-time-for-legally-blind-motorist-in-bicyclists-death/

Trek president says industry should take greater role in bicycle advocacy

“In my view, the industry's greatest opportunity is to create a bicycle friendly world.”

That was Trek president John Burke's message to industry leaders at the bicycle trade show in Taiwan last weekend.

Burke says that people are beginning to figure out that the bicycle is the simple solution to many of the world's greatest problems — air pollution, obesity, urbanization and traffic congestion.

Bike Biz editor Carlton Reid shot a video of Burke's talk before the bike industry's so-called A-team meeting in Taipei last weekend. It's 23 minutes on YouTube worth watching to boost your bike advocacy juices. …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/03/28/trek-president-says-industry-should-take-greater-role-in-bicycle-advocacy/

What happens to motorists who get probation in bike fatality cases?

Too often, motorists are sentenced to probation when they're judged guilty in bicycle fatality cases. What happens to them?

In two cases reported this week in Indiana and New York, the drivers in two hit-and-run bicyclist deaths are being dragged back into court for violating terms of their probation.

After being too lenient the first time around, maybe the judges can dole out some meaningful justice in these cases given a second chance. …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/03/24/what-happens-to-motorists-who-get-probation-in-bike-fatality-cases/

Bike tourism's impact on local economies

Bicycle touring and its economic impact showed up on congressional radar screens this week during the 2007 National Bike Summit in Washington DC.

Slightly more than one-quarter (27%) of the US population participates in bicycling, contributing $132 billion to the US economy, according to a recent study by the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA).

BikePortland blogger Jonathan Maus, who provided excellent coverage of the 2007 National Bike Summit, reported that four representatives of bicycling and outdoor groups updated two members of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit on bicycle tourism and impacts on the economy …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/03/16/bike-tourisms-impact-on-local-economies/