NYPIRG Clean Energy Bike Ride

It was cloudy and chilly, but not raining, today for NYPIRG’s Clean Energy Bike Ride that passed through Syracuse today on its way to NYC (I think).  There was press conference, during which our own Don Hughes talked about Syracuse’s Carbon Footprint.  Here are some photos from the event.

With Free Bikes, Challenging Car Culture on Campus – NYTimes.com

This article in the NY Times today reports on programs at universities which provide free bikes to students who leave their cars at home.  The NY Times charges for articles after they’ve been out for a couple of weeks, so if you can’t get it, you can email me for a copy.  Find my address on the Contacts tab.

With Free Bikes, Challenging Car Culture on Campus – NYTimes.com

Bike Accidents Decline As Ridership Rises | Autopia from Wired.com

This link points to a short, but important finding about the relationship between increased cyclist activity and a decreased rate of cyclist/motorist accidents.

Bike Accidents Decline As Ridership Rises | Autopia from Wired.com

Clever Bicycle Safety Ad

Here’s a clever Bicycle Safety Ad on YouTube.  Expecting more cyclists on the road will allow drivers to see them.  Check it out.

BikeCNY Members In the News

Don Hughes and fellow BikeCNY Organizing Committee member John Murray were featured in the Feb 9, 2008 Post Standard’s Progress 2008 “Lead Green” section. See the P-S article about Don’s commuting here, including a wonderful video of interview.

Also in the same issue:
The P-S Cycling Survey, an interview with John Murray, and an interview with SU professor Richard Breyer. All three of them commute to their work by bike almost every day, even in the winter!Way to go, guys!

Helmet saves man when truck runs over his head – CNN.com

Yes. Wear your helmet! Wear your helmet! Wear your helmet!

In the article Helmet saves man when truck runs over his head on CNN.com, Ryan Lipscomb, 26, says he was riding on a bike path in Madison, WI, when he came to an intersection. When he saw that a delivery truck was preparing to turn right in front of him, he jammed on his brakes, flipping his bike and throwing him in the path of the truck… which ran over his head.

The truck didn’t stop. Police initially weren’t sure whether to declare this a hit-and-run, as they weren’t sure the driver knew that someone was run over. Ummm… Can you imagine running over something as big as a head with a helmet on it and not thinking to check out what that might have been?

Anyway, the helmet obviously saved his head from damage.

Read the full article and see a picture of the guy and his helmet at the link above.

News Coverage of Bike to Work Week Proclamation

John Frantzen, who is a frequent commenter on this blog, who was also present at the yesterday’s proclamation at City Hall, brought this news release to my attention. You can read it below. But if you’d like to also see a video of the event, go to the News10Now Site.

“Bike CNY” encourages pedaling to work
5/9/2007 7:13 PM
By: Staff

A Syracuse group is offering its solution to high gas prices. Pedal to work!

It sounds obvious, but “Bike CNY” says making the shift will reduce pollution and improve the health of those pedaling to the office each day. Still, they say some additional steps are needed from the city.

A Syracuse group is offering its solution to high gas prices. Pedal to work!

“If we can establish safe routes within the city that are designated as bike routes with bike lanes where we need them, more people will bike. I mean, there are studies that indicate that there are lots of people in this area who have bikes, and they just choose not to ride them because they don’t feel it’s quite safe enough,” said John Allen, of Bike CNY.”

City Hall said it’s working on designating more bike routes to help encourage more riders.

Bike to Work Week Proclamation

Today at 11am, Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll proclaimed May 14 through 18, 2007 as Bike to Work Week.

Both John Murray and John Allen spoke during the presentation.

John Allen also spoke with two reporters representing local TV stations , as can be seen in these dramatic photos.

Yeah, but.

Since the installation of the new bike lanes, we have received a lot of comments. Most of these are positive, many have reservations, and some are quite negative.

Thumbs Up

The positive ones are obvious: Yay! It’s about time! I love it. More, More!, and so on. I, too, am quite pleased.

Thumbs Sideways

“Well, I’m glad to see them. But we’ll see whether the city maintains them, whether parking violations are given, whether the road surface gets improved, whether the lines are kept visible.” Etc.

I, too, have these very hesitations.

Thumbs Down
Here are a few concerns voiced:

• Who says that the narrowing of roads resulting from bike lane installation result in traffic calming?
• The fact that there are leaves piled in the lanes, cars parked in the lanes, and traffic driving over the lane boundary shows that there is no respect for, or perhaps even no awareness of, the bike lanes.
• The only safe bike lane is one separated from the traffic stream.
• As bike lanes proliferate, cyclists will be expected to stick to them, even if they are not the best place to ride at the time or if they don’t go where the rider wants to go.

My Comments
This has been a long time coming, and my belief is that we need to begin at the beginning.

Yes, it’s a long way from where we want to get to. But in a city that is not known for its bike-friendliness (and one that is always struggling with its budget), demanding More, Bigger, and Better at the outset is a sure path to nowhere.

At this time, there is no money to reshape the streets, and no political will to take on the more complex issues that arise when retrofitting a city (like who loses on-street parking).

First get ridership up and find ways to document what this means (economically, socially, and medically… in increased vibrancy), build a vocal and active base of support among a wide constituency, and demonstrate successful transitions in other cities around the country. When the benefits are obvious to everyone, we will see the kind of bicycle and pedestrian facilities we are dreaming of.

The question of traffic calming has been well-studied. Here are a couple (Report1, Report2)  available on the internet. Others can be found through a search. If you find something particularly interesting, let us know.
I look forward to your comments… and your participation in creating our collective future.

Toronto Coalition for Active Transport

Spacing Wire is a website for a Canadian organization advocating for better policy decisions related to utilization of public space. They posted this item about a press release for the Toronto Coalition for Active Transport.

The posting reminds me that our work — as advocates for policy change — is more powerful when we build alliances with those working not only in bike programs, but also the allied issues of pedestrian accessibility and safety, environmentalism, public space planning, and accessibility to transportation for those without financial clout.

Here’s a quote from the TCAT press release.

Active transportation (cycling and walking) is the most affordable, healthy and sustainable mode of transportation. A city where cycling and walking are safe and enjoyable is a great place to live. Toronto could be a world leader in urban living and sustainable transportation, but the City of Toronto dedicates less than 2% of its transportation budget to active transportation.

The next Toronto City Council needs to take active transportation seriously and a new coalition of community groups, businesses and environmental groups has formed to make sure that cycling and pedestrian issues don’t fall through the cracks during election 2006.

The full Spacing Wire article can be found here.