It’s time for the Bike News Roundup! Here’s a look at some of the links that caught our eyes in recent weeks.
First up, this kid is not very happy with some awful person who stole his bike outside his Sedro-Woolly elementary school.
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Pacific Northwest News
- Aug. 14: Executive announces structure for reduced-fare program for lower-income Metro bus riders
- Run-up to a sale: New Brooks building hits the market – Puget Sound Business Journal – Wow, this “green” trailside building sure has an shitload of parking. Good lord.
- ‘It’s just cuckoo’: Car crashes through woman’s bedroom wall | KOMO News – Just the first of many car-into-building stories in this roundup.
- Vancouver sees record number of cyclists using separated bike lanes | Vancouver Sun
- Mother pleads with drivers to pay attention after son hit by car | KOMO News
- Traffic study to reveal Dorffel Drive’s local use – Madison Park Times
- Iron Horse Trail with family bikes 2014 | Family Ride
- Maj. Margaret Witt reflects on fallen cyclist’s legal legacy | King 5
- Bellevue PD arrests driver of Porsche SUV in hit and run | King 5
- Farewell Elliott Bay Bicycles – Velocity: The Seattle Area Cycling Blog
- Take Dori’s License Away | HorsesAss.Org
- Carfree in Seattle, the living isn’t easy | The Seattle Times – Danny Westneat tries to work in South Lake Union without a car, but Metro’s 8 bus is too full. He doesn’t mention biking or any city efforts to increase transit service. Instead he buys another car. I get Danny’s point that there are still significant incentives to owning a car here, but he seemed to gloss over some big issues. Seattlish has a pretty complete takedown of his column here.
- Columbia City Developers Believe They Need the Parking | Seattle Transit Blog
- Rainier Needs a Road Diet | The Urbanist – A good history showing how long people have been asking for a road diet on Rainier.
- Man hit by car, severely injured while using Kirkland crosswalk | KOMO News
- Bike It: USBR 10 | Washington Bikes – Follow USBR volunteer organizer John Pope as he bikes the route across the state.
- Daily Rant&Rave: Bicycles only on Bicycle Sunday | Seattle Times – Yikes! What happens when someone speeds through an open streets event.
- Seattle Greenlaker | Help ID a Hit-and-Run Driver Who Killed a Dog in Green Lake Sunday
- Event: Yes for Seattle Transit Campaign Kick-Off | The Urbanist
- PeopleForBikes is seeking bike models for a Seattle photoshoot | PeopleForBikes
- Bicycles, foot traffic main features of “Open Streets” event – Goskagit.com
- Mayor Ed Murray to Expand Car Sharing | Seattle Met
- The Transit App adds real-time Pronto! data | The Urbanist
- A Bike-Tree Grows On Vashon | KUOW
- Why Won’t the City Council Back Up Bike-Safety Plans with Adequate Funding? – The Stranger
- Paving the Spruce Railroad Trail on the “back side” of Lake Crescent on Olympic Peninsula creates safer bike route » Biking Bis
- A rider’s review of Seattle’s new 2nd Avenue bike lane | Crosscut.com
- After 31 years in business Elliott Bay Bicycles set to close up shop – Puget Sound Business Journal
- Pronto Cycle Share and How the Market Reproduces and Reinforces Seattle’s Racial Map | Slog
- Tell the Washington Legislature: Focus on Safety and Complete Connections | Washington Bikes
- Car runs red light, hits 12-year-old boy in Wallingford | KOMO News
- Will a Mandatory Helmet Law Hurt Seattle’s New Bike Share Program? – The Stranger
- Seattle’s Transportation Department doing less business with women, minorities | Seattle Times
- Olympia police find stolen bikes and parts at homeless camp | KOMO News
- One person dead after hit & run in Spokane Valley – KHQ.com
- Where we walk to work: Would you believe Bellevue? | Seattle Times
- Dumpster-free zones get mixed reviews in Seattle | KOMO News
- TREVON CREASE-HOLDEN HELP FUND | Other – YouCaring.com
- No easy fix for Seattle’s most dangerous bike path | King 5
- 2 young bicyclists struck by cars in Georgetown | Seattle Times
- Bikes Count–Help Count Bikes! | Washington Bikes
- What if my bike rack covers my rear license plate? – Seattle PI
- Gigantic Bicycle Festival Rolls through Snohomish County and into Snoqualmie | Washington Bikes
- Seattle’s ‘Play Streets’ Program Turns Public Streets Into Playgrounds For Kids | KPLU
- Pete McMartin: Forget bike helmets | Vancouver Sun
- Meeting could spark formation of a “more assertive advocacy group” in Portland – BikePortland.org
- Skateboarder hit by car, left for dead: ‘He just hit me 60-70 miles an hour and never stopped’ | Q13 FOX News
- History Leads: Bike tax? | Ballard News-Tribune – Seattle has tried it several times. It doesn’t work. At all.
- WSBC ride with Councilmember Rasmussen – West Seattle Bike Connections
- Ballard cyclist reunites with his stolen bike via Craigslist – Seattle PI
- Pedestrians in deadly collision thought it would be safer to walk | KOMO News
Halftime show! This guy’s want while driving in Montreal traffic is amazing:
National & Global News
- Tired of Cyclists Riding on the Sidewalk? Build More Bike Lanes – CityLab
- Did An NPR Story Empower Road Rage Against Bicyclists? NPR Ombudsman
- Mayor Hits On Crazy Idea Of Developing City’s Waterfront, Green Spaces | The Onion
- Biking Toward Women’s Rights in Afghanistan – CityLab
- New Delhi traffic is nuts. Here’s what happened when it briefly banned cars. – The Washington Post
- A/N Blog . Los Angeles “Dress Rehearsal” removes a lane of Broadway for pedestrians
- Bike lanes have actually sped up car traffic in New York City – Vox
- Bicycling, walking should be as safe as any other transportation | Department of Transportation
- The opposition to London’s segregated cycle lanes is living in the past | theguardian.com
- Want to Be Happier? Try Walking Even Part of the Way to Work – CityLab
- Fort Lauderdale asks Las Olas pedestrians to wave safety flags at drivers – MiamiHerald.com – Sigh. The problem is not that people walking don’t have flags, the problem is that the road is so dangerous people can’t safely walk across it.
- A new north star in bikeway design: ‘Build it for Isabella’ | PeopleForBikes – What do you think of this bikeway persona?
- PeopleForBikes seeks equity writer | PeopleForBikes
- Does Chicago Deserve to Be Ranked the Nation’s Second Best Bike City? | Streetsblog Chicago
- Fixing a Blank Wall Streetscape With Storefront Retrofits | Streetsblog USA
- Kingshighway Closure a Test for St. Louis City Commitment to Cycling – nextSTL
- Just a Random Hero: Life Lessons from Riding a Bicycle
- LA Sheriff’s Deputy Who Killed Former Napster Exec Won’t Be Charged – Gawker
- Balancing Bike-Share Stations Has Become a Serious Scientific Endeavor – CityLab
- Business leaders cheer protected bike lanes into busy downtown Pittsburgh | PeopleForBikes
- Eyes on the Street: Mad Men Writer Tom Smuts Bicycles to the Emmys | Streetsblog Los Angeles
- Divvy bike-share expansion delayed until spring – Chicago Tribune
- 7 Excellent Examples of Repurposed Bike Infrastructure – Next City
- Reclaiming Public Space for Marginalized Communities: Bikes Don’t Fix Everything, But They Can Help | Streetsblog Los Angeles
- Rise of the Five-Figure Bicycle – WSJ
- World’s Coolest School Commute? | Adventure Cycling Association
- Quebec City cops pinned dying cyclist to ground, witnesses say | Toronto Sun
This is an open thread.
Comments
4 responses to “Bike News Roundup: 8-year-old threatens to rip off bike thief’s ears”
@”Iron Horse Trail with Family Bikes” shows riders with Ebikes on the Iron Horse Trail. Motorized vehicles are specifically banned from this trail, and that would include Ebikes. I’ve been buzzed a few times on the Elliott Bay trail recently by Ebikes, where they are also banned. This morning I watched an Ebike, a big Extracycle, zooming up a sidewalk on Elliott at 20 MPH.
I was wondering what the full rules are for Ebikes, and couldn’t find any info on the SDOT bicycle page.
I did find in the Seattle Municipal Code: 11.14.345 Motor-driven cycle. “Motor-driven cycle” means every motorcycle, including every motor scooter, with a motor which produces not to exceed five (5) brake horsepower (developed by a prime mover, as measured by a brake applied to the driving shaft), and every bicycle with motor attached. (RCW 46.04.332)
So it seems that all Ebikes are now classified as motor driven cycles. I guess this would mean that they would be banned from bike lanes too. Does anyone know the real scoop on Ebike regulations?
e-bikes, including electric assist, are illegal on sidewalks, and on any trail closed to motor vehicles.
But electric-assist bikes have the same road access as regular bicycles, and are allowed in bicycle lanes.
It’s not legally clear whether something like Broadway or 2nd Ave is a bike “lane” (part of the street) or a bike “path” (bike-only facility physically separated from the lanes of the street).
http://wabikes.org/growing-bicycling/washington-bike-laws/illegal-to-use-electric-bikes-on-sidewalks/
State Patrol summary of electric bike laws in Washington:
http://www.wsp.wa.gov/traveler/docs/equipmt/elect_bicycle.pdf
That’s an interesting document for the state level, but I am wondering about the local jurisdiction of Seattle. It appears as if Seattle bans electric assisted bicycles from Bicycle Lanes. EPAMDs and electric motorized foot scooters are also banned from bicycle lanes. For Seattle, it appears as if there is not a difference between an electric assisted bicycle and a moped, a motor driven cycle. It seems pretty clear to me what is defined as a bicycle lane, and that human powered bicycles are to use them exclusively.
RCW 46.61.710: …electric-assisted bicycles and motorized foot scooters may be operated on a multipurpose trail or bicycle lane, but local jurisdictions may restrict or otherwise limit the access of electric-assisted bicycles..
SMC 11.14.055 Bicycle. “Bicycle” means every device with two (2) or more wheels, of which not more than one (1) wheel shall be less than sixteen (16) inches in diameter, having a steering device and saddle or seat or seats, and propelled solely by human power.
SMC Section 11.53.190 DRIVING IN A BICYCLE LANE. The operator of a motor vehicle shall not drive in a bicycle lane except to execute a turning maneuver, yielding to all persons riding bicycles thereon.
SMC 11.14.060 Bicycle lane. “Bicycle lane” means a portion of the roadway which has been designated by traffic-control devices for exclusive use by bicycles.