It’s the Bike News Roundup! Here’s a look at some of the stuff floating around the Internet these days.
First up, why are these rude behaviors OK on our streets, but not in a grocery store?
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Pacific Northwest News
- Task force agrees: Make NE Multnomah protected bike lanes permanent – BikePortland.org
- Pedal-Petal: Bicycle commuting with a baby bump
- Last gap on Centennial Trail is open for bicycle traffic » Biking Bis
- Delivered by Bicycle: Choose It – FREEWHEEL Carbon Free Cargo – Seattle bike cargo company now includes store shelf signs so people know what has been delivered by bike.
- Video: Denny IMS Marching Band leads Roxhill Elementary walkers for safety celebration with Feet First – An all-school walk! That’s way cooler than an assembly.
- Guest article: Envisioning a ‘commercial greenway’ along 28th Avenue – BikePortland.org – What do you think of the “commercial greenway” concept?
- Westlake Cycle Track Open House | The Urbanist – In case you missed it Wednesday, here’s a recap.
- How can Portland get to 25 percent biking? New web game lets you try – BikePortland.org
- Census: Seattle is the fastest-growing big city in the U.S. | FYI Guy | Seattle Times – And yet total driving in Seattle is down. That means a lot more people walking, biking and taking transit. The city better start directing more of its transportation dollars toward these non-car modes, because the people are coming whether we invest or not.
- Mountain biking on Tiger Mountain — Mountains to Sound Greenway – New MTB trails.
- Man arrested 16 times for DUI gets lesser sentence than judge wants | www.kirotv.com
- Bus lane backlash on Aurora – seattlepi.com – A good case study in how to report poorly about transportation. See if you can count all the moments where the reporter assumes a car-driver’s perspective at the expense of other modes. Here’s another example of faulty framing in a news story about transportation. Come on, Seattle TV news. Get it together.
- 2nd person dies from SUV crash at Lake Sammamish house | The Today File | Seattle Times – This story is so devastating. This is the stuff of nightmares. A reminder that cars are inherently dangerous things that amplify people’s mistakes (especially big mistakes like DUI). Just an awful, terrible thing to happen to a family.
- Driver hits pedestrian trying to cross highway, then is hit himself | HeraldNet.com – Everyone is a pedestrian sometimes, even those who hit pedestrians with their cars. Traffic violence is not acceptable. If people are getting hit this often and easily, what’s Lynnwood’s excuse for not making the street safer?
- Summer Streets on Alki, report #2: Before the rain, the parade!
- Seattle’s Bike to Work Day – in tandem | KING5.com Seattle
- Pedestrian Chronicles: Foot Traffic Spikes Citywide | Seattle Met
- Bus driver in fatal Kirkland crash could face charges | KING5.com Seattle
- Lawsuit filed against city for streetcar tracks deemed ‘unsafe for bicyclists’ – BikePortland.org
- Editorial: Protect rail, trail options for Eastside rail corridor | Editorials | The Seattle Times
- Road-rage survey: Seattle drivers are polite — but look out | FYI Guy | Seattle Times
- Toward Zero Deaths | Cascade Bicycle Club
- Sound Transit Releases Lynnwood-Everett Analysis | Seattle Transit Blog
- Sunday Video: 25th and Union Parklet | The Urbanist – Adorable video! Parklets can be community-building efforts.
Halftime show! It’s Madi from FamilyRide at Hub & Bespoke!
National & Global News
- Dallas has a new bicycle coordinator who’s very eager to roll out the bike plan (from 2011) | Dallas Morning News
- The Mathematics of Murder: Should a Robot Sacrifice Your Life to Save Two? | Popular Science – On the artificial intelligence ethics of a self-driving car.
- Does the world need a technological marvel bike u-lock? Maybe. | Voices – Includes interesting info on what kind of lock was used when Chicago bikes were stolen
- Headed to Seattle? Pack your pedal pushers – Travel – The Boston Globe – Seattle hotels lending bikes to visitors are awesome.
- Macon vigilante on wheels arrested after bike theft | Local & State | Macon.com – There only one thing worse than someone who steals a bike: Someone who hits a person on a bike with their car on purpose.
- Paris to Set Default Citywide Speed Limit Below 20 MPH | Streetsblog.net – Seattle should study this idea. I would love to see a report that looks at things like: Changes in travel times, increases in safety, likelihood of compliance, etc. Would be a great way to kickstart a conversation about it.
- Stop forcing people to wear bike helmets – Vox
- Actibump – YouTube – A speed bump that only turned into a bump if you are going too fast (for use before crosswalks, stop signs, etc)
- Solar-Powered Bike Lock Aims To Be The Airbnb Of Bike-Sharing | KPLU
- Barbara Boxer’s Transportation Bill: Same As It Ever Was | Streetsblog USA
- How buggies shape babies’ brains | Suzanne Zeedyk – Similar concept apply to family bikes?
- How come there are no pot holes in the Netherlands? | BICYCLE DUTCH
- City of Dallas considers scrapping bicycle helmet law – CultureMap Dallas
- Protesters in Vietnam torch Taiwanese-owned cycle factory | Bicycle Business | BikeBiz
- More Cyclists Can Now Call AAA For Help | KPLU
- Ask Strong Towns, Question #6 – Strong Towns Blog – Strong Towns
- Cyclists Should Be Able to Roll Through Stop Signs | Slog – Says Dan Savage
- De Blasio Looks Toward Sweden for Road Safety – NYTimes.com
This is an open thread.
Comments
10 responses to “Bike News Roundup: If you drove a shopping cart like a car”
Yet another stupid “I feel better not wearing a helmet” article. With a terrible tag line, “don’t wear a helmet unless you are really into bicycling.” You know it’s the newbies who should really be wearing helmets. They aren’t in tune with traffic, they ride on bike paths (where most accidents occur) they ride in the door zone, they believe sharrows etc etc.
Yes a helmet is not designed to prevent an accident. That’s what things like mirrors and lights and reflective clothing do… prevent the accident in the first place. A helmet is designed to give you one last chance at not becoming a human organ donor. If you are fine with it being the default state… no helmet, no special signup for organ donation required. I’m fine with that.
You know while I don’t condone violence by motor vehicle, running a bike thief off the road and then smacking him around and the fact that it really was the thief doesn’t “sound” all that bad. HOWEVER, it could easily have been the wrong person. The thief could have been mentally ill, etc, etc. and in general the eye for an eye justice doesn’t work in the long run at all.
+1
A “commercial greenway” sounds like a more formal version of the sort of local main street common outside the US, and in some US towns where such streets somehow weren’t swept away into roads where through traffic trumps everything.
Some of the goals here are similar to Seattle’s with Bell Street, though I think we really missed a lot of opportunities there (if you could bike up the hill as well as down, Bell could become a clear cycling corridor in a part of town that lacks one, and then all those bike racks that were just installed might actually get used). And spent a bunch of money missing them. The Ave works like this already; so does Ballard Ave.
There are tons of places around here something similar might fit, from the lower-traffic streets of SLU and Pioneer Square to Queen Anne Ave up on top of the hill to The Landing (Renton) and Mill Creek Town Center (whatever their flaws and limitations, they aren’t going anywhere, they’re trying to put housing next to businesses, and they have some measure of local streets). But there’s one place it fits better than any other: NE 65th between 20th and 25th.
The fact that they are sticking to the 10 mph speed limit design is just dumb. People will still use Westlake/Parking Lot/Sidewalk, where you can go much faster (yes, even the sidewalk). This will then be pointed to by anti-cycle facility people as a failure and reason why we shouldn’t spend money on cycle facilities anymore.
At this point, I would honestly take my chances with Option A, than deal with the joke that the low speed Option B has become.
It is absolutely a joke.
The law says that I’m allowed to ride my bike on Westlake, but driver behavior makes it clear I’m not welcome there unless I can ride faster than 30 MPH (I don’t know anyone that can ride faster than 30 MPH). Now Seattle wants to build a cycletrack next to it where you’re not welcome unless you’re riding slower than 10 MPH.
The vast majority of cycling performed by people older than 10 years old has a cruising speed between 10 and 30 MPH. This is Cedar River Trail-level nonsense.
I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but… any update on the construction of the Ballard missing link “band aid” that was announced 18 months ago but remains in a perpetual half-finished, confusing state? The last update was that the project was to have been finished by the end of April, but nothing has happened. What’s so frustrating is that this was such a small project, involving little more than paint, pavement patching, and new signage. Meanwhile, we’ve seen the quick installation of a new, largely superfluous two-block cycletrack in the U District while this ongoing project remains in a state that’s arguably more confusing than it was before the project started.
I still haven’t been able to get an answer on whether there will be an all-way stop at the intersection of NW 45th/46th/Shilshole. I’ve sent several emails to SDOT about this but haven’t heard anything back. Anyone know?
Agreed. So frustrating. There is no excuse.
“◾2nd person dies from SUV crash at Lake Sammamish house | The Today File | Seattle Times – This story is so devastating. This is the stuff of nightmares. A reminder that cars are inherently dangerous things that amplify people’s mistakes (especially big mistakes like DUI). Just an awful, terrible thing to happen to a family.”
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From the linked story-
“The driver, whose vehicle plowed through the house and caught on a deck before going entirely into Lake Sammamish, was arrested Friday and booked into King County Jail for investigation of vehicular homicide and assault. She left the jail Saturday on conditional release.”
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She killed two people with a car while drunk AND IS OUT FREE RIGHT NOW. What the F**K.
“Eh, another drunk driver killing people, whatever.”