Urban Cycling Developments

[M II A II R II K]

Women, Uneasy, Still Lag as Cyclists in New York City


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/ny...cern.html?_r=2

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“Women want to feel safe,” said Ms. Hirschfeld, who has expanded her Reade Street boutique, Adeline Adeline, to also cater to male cyclists. She said that if the perception of danger dissipates, “women then will ride, and ride more than men.”

Despite the city’s efforts to become more bike friendly, male cyclists in New York continue to outnumber female cyclists three to one, just as they have steadily over the past two decades. Data tracked by the city and private groups shows the gap between male and female cyclists is even wider in areas where vehicular traffic is more concentrated. These figures lag not only far behind those in most major global capitals like Copenhagen and Amsterdam, where women make up the majority of cyclists, but also behind American cities like Portland, Ore., that have narrowed the gender gap.

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[M II A II R II K]

Black women take their place in D.C.’s bike lanes


http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifest...m7H_story.html

Veronica Davis bikes almost everywhere, except to church on Sundays. She’s a member and frequent user of Capital Bikeshare and has testified before the D.C. Council in favor of more bike lanes in Southeast Washington, where she lives and owns a small business.

- Yet some people pause and look again when they see her gliding along on two wheels. “Mommy, look at the black lady on the bike!” a little girl squealed one day as Davis rode past the Potomac Gardens housing project. It’s that kind of reaction, Davis says, that makes Black Women Bike DC the perfect name for the group that she and two other women launched after chatting on Twitter about their participation in Bike to Work Day last spring. “It’s a tongue-in-cheek comment: ‘No, see, we do bike,’ ” Davis said.

- The District is at the vanguard of the cycling boom, with the percentage of workers who commute by bike nearly tripling over the last 20 years, rising from 0.8 percent in 1990 to 2.2 percent in 2009. That rate puts Washington among the top 10 U.S. cities. But the racial gap for cycling is huge, both locally and nationally. Cycling advocates and enthusiasts say groups like Black Women Bike DC, which launched on Facebook six weeks ago with three women and now has more than 60 members, could encourage more African Americans to consider biking for transportation and recreation.

- Black Women Bike has attracted women with varied interests and skill levels — from triathletes, to women who are returning after years away from cycling, to women who don’t even own bikes yet. About 20 of the women recently got together for a happy hour at the Liaison Lounge on Capitol Hill. “We talked about equipment, we talked about fears of riding in the road. And we talked about hair,” said Washington, 33, a federal government analyst. “There always seems to be an attack on black women — we’re not attractive or we don’t exercise. We are dispelling myths about black women. We are carving out our own niche. Who said riding a bike had to be a white thing?”

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[M II A II R II K]

Exhaust-ing ride for cyclists: Air pollutants trigger heart risk


July 6, 2011

By Brett Israel



Read More: http://www.environmentalhealthnews.o...e-for-cyclists

Additional: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BAGG1K737V.DTL

In big cities around the world, cyclists breathe an array of pollutants from exhaust-spewing cars. A new study has now found a link between cycling on high traffic roads and heart risks. Even healthy cyclists had harmful changes in their heart rates. Experts say cyclists should stick to their two-wheels, however, pointing to simple solutions to reduce exposure.

- Even by NYC's standards, the Garment District is an imposing place to ride a bike. A never-ending parade of delivery trucks rumbles along 8th Avenue between 34th and 42nd streets, leaving a wake of gritty exhaust for cyclists to feel, smell and breathe. After riding in the Garment District, Robert "Rocket" Ruiz, a 13-year veteran of the bike messenger business, would often look into the bathroom mirror and see his face covered in grime.

- Pedaling behind pollutant-spewing cars and trucks may not seem as scary as being hit by one, but scientists say it can pose invisible dangers. Now, for the first time, cycling in heavy traffic has been linked to a heart health risk, Canadian researchers reported last month. A new study found cyclists in Ottawa, Ontario, had heart irregularities in the hours after their exposure to a variety of air pollutants on busy roads.

- "Our findings suggest that short-term exposure to traffic may have a significant impact on cardiac autonomic function in healthy adults," the scientists from Health Canada, Environment Canada and the University of Ottawa wrote in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. The study does not suggest that bikers would be better off driving, experts say. Rather, the findings intensify the scrutiny on cyclists' pollution exposure, and point to simple solutions for a cleaner ride, such as avoiding busy roads like 8th Avenue whenever possible.

- Short-term exposure to heavy traffic significantly decreased heart rate variability in the cyclists for up to three hours after they finished cycling. Experts say reduced heart rate variability is associated with a higher risk of heart attacks. "A very healthy person is like a Ferrari," said Arden Pope, an expert in the health effects of air pollution and professor at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. "Step on the gas and it really goes fast. Step on the brakes and it really slows down. The human heart, you want it to be like that too." But with lower heart rate variability, the heart is behaving more like a minivan than a Ferrari, Pope said, meaning that it is less able to respond to stress.

- Around the world, researchers have found that whenever fine particles increase in the air, deaths and hospitalizations from asthma, heart attacks and other cardiopulmonary problems increase, too. Hours to weeks of exposure to particles that are smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, which peak during rush hours, can trigger cardiovascular effects, according to the American Heart Association.

- Near the tailpipe, these particles are small enough to lodge deep in the lungs, triggering heart attacks and hospitalizations from lung diseases such as asthma. Tiny particles can also cross the blood-brain barrier, potentially harming the nervous system. Farther away from the tailpipe, these particles clump together, growing too large to lodge deeply, Ryan said. That's why even a small separation from cars, created by physical barriers to traffic – something that's missing for most of 8th Avenue – is important for cyclists. Two white stripes of paint, with a few feet of cycling space between them, is all that is reserved for bikers on this crowded street. Trucks commonly idle on the bike lane. Heavy traffic creates a wind tunnel that traps pollution on the road, according to a study by the California Air Resources Board.

- "When possible it may be prudent to select cycling routes that reduce exposure to traffic and/or to avoid cycling outdoors or exercise indoors on days with elevated air pollution levels," the research team wrote. Others agree. "Our recommendations to cyclists would be to avoid busy as streets as much as possible," said Dimitri Stanich, a spokesman for California's Air Resources Board. Of course, cyclists might want to avoid busy streets for a number of reasons – fewer distracted drivers being one. But the busiest streets also have the dirtiest air, with ultrafine particle and soot exposure highest on busy roads, according to a recent study.

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[M II A II R II K]

Like Butterflies to the Garden: The case for urban biking


Read More: http://newurbannetwork.com/news-opin...e-urban-biking

Download: Bicycling SmartCode Module

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For transportation or exercise or pleasure. When it’s all three at once, you know you’re on a complete street. You also know when it gets auto-centric, when otherwise law-abiding cyclists take to the sidewalks. More than anything, both the garden and cycling have brought a sense of relaxation and the perception of time slowing down, just a little bit.

- The best streets to cycle down are illegal to build in the majority of North America’s suburbs, because they’re too narrow, too pedestrian-oriented, too enclosed. Even the ones that are very pedestrian-oriented often restrict cyclists to bike lanes when they’d be safer mixing with cars.

- Yet cities everywhere are moving quickly to enable both local ag and cycling, creating the infrastructure and environment to attract gardeners and cyclists. It almost reminds me of trying to attract butterflies to a garden, and the care that goes into getting the conditions right.

- Wide Curb Lanes unnecessarily expand roadway width, thereby encouraging automobile speeding, while not meaningfully attracting bicycle use – probably for that very reason.” Butterflies and bikes – attract them. Which takes us back to Casey Neistat’s point that the bike lanes really don’t work in most non-rural places.

- And why are governments going to such legal extremes to get the conditions right? Many cities are investing hundreds of millions in bike infrastructure. It’s Planet, People, Profit, as usual. Although until recently, the order was wrong. Profit led decisions because governments get big bucks from gas tax, and the more we drive the more they make. So it was a client-provider relationship.

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[M II A II R II K]

Speeding Cyclist Blows Red Light and Nearly Kills Granny


http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/...ht_injures.php

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According to police, the victim, a 60-year-old woman, remains in the hospital with a life-threatening head injury. So often cyclists and pedestrians lament San Francisco drivers' carelessness behind the wheel. However, it's not uncommon to see cyclists using bad etiquette, or even breaking the law, like blowing through a stop sign. So it begs the question: How often do police cite cyclists for running a red light or blowing a stop sign?

- "I do know officers conduct traffic stops on cyclists, but in a congested city like San Francisco, you're not always going to light up your siren and chase down a cyclist over an infraction," Officer Albie Esparza tells SF Weekly. So there is your answer. If it's convenient to pull over a crazy cyclist, then cops will do it; otherwise, it's conventionally viewed as a low-risk infraction.

- "They are not exempt from the rules of the California vehicle code book -- they are considered a motor vehicle, with the human being the motor," Esparza says. "But there is that appearance that there's no risk for them blowing a red light."

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[Muji]

^^^ A sad story indeed. Still, if only the mainstream press would give the same kind of attention to the many more speeding drivers blowing red lights who actually kill people.

[M II A II R II K]

So depending on the injury cyclists can be charged the same as reckless drivers.

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

So depending on the injury cyclists can be charged the same as reckless drivers.

Good, as I mentioned, I've been struck by other cyclists who fail to stop. What's the hurry? Biking is supposed to be fun and safe. Slow down and stop for stop signs and lights.

[M II A II R II K]

Big Easy Bike Boom


June 30, 2011

By Emilie Bahr

Read More: http://www.metropolismag.com/pov/201...easy-bike-boom

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In Madison, cycling has become second nature. Madisonians pick up their U locks and helmets (yes, cyclists here actually wear helmets) the way most Americans would grab their car keys before heading out the door. But it’s easy to think of the city – a place that has had a tradition of cycling stamped into its collective consciousness for decades — as an aberration, a novel example with little chance of spreading among the general populace. Yet while habits get a reputation as tough things to crack, in spending a few days steeped in place with a serious bike habit, I got to thinking about just how malleable even seemingly intractable behavior can actually be.

- Despite its paltry representation just a few years ago, cycling is now flourishing in certain sections of New Orleans. These days, if I were in need of a bicycle commuter to talk to, I would only have to step outside my door. The bike boom is especially pronounced in the Marigny and Bywater neighborhoods, where cyclists, more than a few of them atop bikes of the head-scratching double-decker variety, can be found swarming all hours of day and night. According to one rough estimate, close to 10 percent of residents of these downriver districts get around by bike. That’s around the same bicycle mode share said to exist in downtown Madison.

- Much has been made of the success of bike lanes installed a couple years ago in the vicinity of Marigny and Bywater in stoking the trend, and it’s hard not to appreciate the difference this relatively simple striping has made both in promoting cycling and helping revive a decaying one-time commercial corridor. Tulane University researchers found bicycle ridership along St. Claude Avenue, which edges the Marigny and Bywater and ultimately runs into the Lower 9th Ward, had risen by more than 50 percent just six months after the city’s first bike lane was installed there in 2008.

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[M II A II R II K]

On Biking, Why Can’t the U.S. Learn Lessons from Europe?


14 Jul 2011

By Elisabeth Rosenthal

Read More: http://e360.yale.edu/feature/on_biki...m_europe/2425/

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I expected to find a diversity of opinion about the bike path, which was created last year by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. I did not. Almost everyone I interviewed began with the following introduction: “Don’t get me wrong I love bikes, I ride all the time...” and then segued into a barrage of objections: The path was a hazard for old people and mothers with baby strollers crossing to enter the park. Riders pedaled too fast. They should just ride inside the park. The loss of a lane made parking worse and traffic slower. It made it harder to stop to drop kids at school. It was unsightly.

- If you are a European mayor, running a good bike-sharing program seems as much a barometer of success as having a good school system. In Copenhagen, 37 percent of commuters now use bikes to get to school or work — a number that dips only slightly in the dead of winter. Sure, cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen have something of a bicycling tradition — certainly far more of one than in car-centric U.S. cities. But Europe’s bicycling enthusiasm extends to cities like Barcelona and Paris, with no cycling history.

- In comparison to these cities, major United States metropolises are bicycle deserts. When we talk about “bike friendly” cities in the United States, most are mere college towns and none boast more than 6 per cent bike commuters. According to the United States Census Bureau’s 2009 community survey, 76 percent of Americans drive to work alone in their cars each day, while only 0.6 percent arrive by bicycle.

- What’s going on here? One key component that has enabled Europe’s successful bike revolution, I think, is not infrastructure, but sociology: While Americans still view bicycling as a form of exercise or recreation, a tectonic shift in attitudes has taken place in many parts of Europe, where people now regard bicycling as a serious form of urban mass transportation.

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[fflint]

^I call bullshit on the blogger who writes of 100% opposition to the PPW bike lane, and so do a lot of other New Yorkers who read this crap the other day. Shoddy writing.

[M II A II R II K]

Chicago’s New Protected Bike Lanes


http://thecityfix.com/blog/chicagos-...ed-bike-lanes/

Along with a new mayor, Chicago got its first protected bike lanes this past month. Funded by a federal grant, the Chicago Department of Transportation is installing the half-mile bike lane as a pilot program. The protected bike lanes will have a three feet buffer to parked cars and will be separated by delineated posts.

The addition of bicycle infrastructure to the city’s landscape is no surprise, Mayor Rahm Emanuel promised during his campaign for office to install 100 miles of protected bicycle lanes by the end of his term. The city’s new Transportation Commissioner, Gabe Klein, is also on board with adding bike lanes to the city’s streets. In addition to increasing bicyclists in Chicago, Klein’s foremost goal is to slow down traffic in the city.

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• Video Link

[M II A II R II K]

Cyclists protest federal transportation cuts


Read More: http://newurbannetwork.com/article/c...ion-cuts-15084

Sign The Pledge: http://www.peopleforbikes.org/pages/pledge

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is proposing an end to dedicated federal funding for transportation improvements that make communities safer and more comfortable for walking and biking.

In response, a national organization known as Peopleforbikes.org is trying to mobilize opposition to that proposal. "Our goal is to gather a million names of support, to speak with one, powerful voice—to make bicycling safer, more convenient and appealing for everyone," the organization says on its website. The website includes a blog that tells about progress being made in cities around the country on bike lanes and other other facilities.

"Bikes keep us healthy, carry us from point A to point B, save us from high gas prices, and make our air cleaner and our roads less congested," Peopleforbikes.org declares. "Bikes fill our lives with adventure and excitement, relaxing our minds and energizing our souls." As of 1 PM July 28, a total of 259,690 people had signaled their support in the signature drive. One organization that's been outspoken in support of cycling—Transportation Alternatives, in New York—is warning its members that "the future of bicycling in New York City is under siege."

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[M II A II R II K]

Hubway Bike-Sharing Program Gets Rolling


Jul 29, 2011

By Kimberly Adams

Read More: http://www.wbur.org/2011/07/29/hubway-bike-share-boston

Site: http://www.thehubway.com/

Boston now has its own bike-sharing program. The new Hubway system allows Bostonians to pick up a bike from one of 61 bike stations around the city and drop it off at a different station when they are done. At least 40 of the stations opened Thursday, and the rest are scheduled to be up and running in the next week. Hundreds of cyclists attended Thursday’s launch of the program at Government Center, where Boston Mayor Thomas Menino applauded the program as a way to reduce traffic congestion, improve health and help the environment. “The car is no longer king in Boston,” Menino said.

- John Colburne is one of those drivers who tries to watch out for cyclists. He’s a pipe fitter for G.T. Wilkinsen Company and spends most of his day out on Boston’s streets, going to and from repair jobs. He said that he adjusts his driving to the many bikers he encounters. “Turning corners, that type of thing, somebody cutting in front of you,” Colburne said. “It’s enough with the pedestrians, now we have to worry about the bicyclists, too.” Colburne said he’s used to sharing the road, but admitted to being a bit wary when he saw the hundreds of bikers at the Hubway launch downtown.

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[M II A II R II K]

NYC Biking is Up 14 Percent From 2010; Overall Support Rises


Read More: http://transportationnation.org/2011...ent-from-2010/

Biking is up in New York City by 14 percent from last spring. The NYC Department of Transportation says it recorded 18,809 cyclists per day, up from 16,463 in spring 2010. Word of the increase in cycling comes the same day a poll shows a widening number of New Yorkers support bike lanes. In an unusual move, the figures on cycling numbers were released directly by New York Mayor City Mayor Bloomberg’s city hall press office — not by the city DOT or transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. The Mayor has been under fire from a vocal and influential minority opposed to bike lanes. Word of increased cycling comes as the city is preparing to roll out an announcement of a vendor for its 10,000-bike bike share system.

- Most of the increase in support comes in Brooklyn, home to a controversial lawsuit to remove a two-way protected bike lane next to Prospect Park. In May, 56 percent of Brooklynites said bike lanes “were a good thing because it’s greener and healthier for people to ride their bicycle,” and 39 percent said bike lane are “a bad thing because [they] leave less room for cars which increases traffic. Now, according to Quinnipiac, that margin is 26 percent — or 60 to 34 percent. Bike lanes are the least popular in Staten Island, the only one of New York City’s five boroughs where fewer people like bike lanes than like them, 38 to 53 percent.

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[202_Cyclist]

The Dutch Way: Bicycles and Fresh Bread



In the Netherlands, respect for bicycles is hard-wired into the culture. (Image courtesy of the NY Times)


By RUSSELL SHORTO
July 30, 2011
NY Times

"Amsterdam: AS an American who has been living here for several years, I am struck, every time I go home, by the way American cities remain manacled to the car. While Europe is dealing with congestion and greenhouse gas buildup by turning urban centers into pedestrian zones and finding innovative ways to combine driving with public transportation, many American cities are carving out more parking spaces. It’s all the more bewildering because America’s collapsing infrastructure would seem to cry out for new solutions.

Geography partly explains the difference: America is spread out, while European cities predate the car. But Boston and Philadelphia have old centers too, while the peripheral sprawl in London and Barcelona mirrors that of American cities..."

[llamaorama]

crazy idea, but if they want to enforce bikes stopping at stop signs, why not put down speed bumps?

Come up on one of those without slowing down and it will fuck you up pretty bad. It would be a psychological thing to make car drivers stop as well.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

crazy idea, but if they want to enforce bikes stopping at stop signs, why not put down speed bumps?

Come up on one of those without slowing down and it will fuck you up pretty bad.

an adroit cyclist, at speed, can easily bunny hop over any speed bump. i do it over a dozen times a day, even on my road bike (which is not good for the wheelset, but whatever).

[Wizened Variations]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

an adroit cyclist, at speed, can easily bunny hop over any speed bump. i do it over a dozen times a day, even on my road bike (which is not good for the wheelset, but whatever).

In a well policed nation like the US, bike traffic laws would be easy to enforce. Issue a ticket on a bicyclists driver's license or ID card, with a court date if a no show. For juveniles, ticket the owner of the bike if IDd, and, confiscate the bike if not.

We are not the Dutch, the Danes, the Japanese or the Germans.

Part of the price we pay for our creative chaos is a police/judicial system with both great reach and great power. Once the severity of the issue passes certain thresholds among those with power, the media machine will push for institutional enforcement.

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

crazy idea, but if they want to enforce bikes stopping at stop signs, why not put down speed bumps?

Come up on one of those without slowing down and it will fuck you up pretty bad. It would be a psychological thing to make car drivers stop as well.

Speedbumps don't feel the same for cyclists and they do motorists since bikes are more lightweight and closer wheel spacing.

I think spot enforcement is the solution. The thing is cyclists, still run stop signs right in front of cops...bike cops even! They could easily bust them and set an example.

I'd also recommend mandatory licensing to ride a bicycle on city streets. You wouldn't actually get a card, but a small plate.

It would:
- Be capable of being scanned by law enforcement
- Be capable of photo captured on red light cameras
- Would assist in stolen bike recovery through plate tracking at intersections with surveillance
- Not be required of visitors. A valid ID would only need to be presented if the rider is seen by police violating a traffic law
- Has contingencies on sidewalk riding. In Chicago it's technically prohibited but not enforced. If riding a bicycle on sidewalks is permitted in that municipality (many do) a license may not be required.

Currently the city of Detroit has bicycle licenses (separate from registration). It's not required by law to have a bicycle license in Detroit, but is a benefit. Last time I checked, they charged $2 to get one.