It’s time for the Bike News Roundup! Here’s a look at some of the transportation news floating around the web recently.
First up, Cascade put together this video of people who support city plans for a bikeway on Westlake:
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Support for the Westlake protected bike lane from Cascade Bicycle on Vimeo.
Pacific Northwest News
- Darrington completes key school project | PSRC
- SDOT Blog » SDOT Partners in IWALK Challenge; Raises Awareness of School Traffic Safety – Featuring the Mariner Moose.
- Railroad curbs access to Everett waterfront trail | HeraldNet.com
- Man struck by car, critically hurt while running across Hwy. 99 | KOMO News
- Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct: King of the Highway Boondoggles | Streetsblog USA – Boy, that project is just so awful.
- Soapbox: Why we need to decriminalize bike helmets – Vancouver Courier
- In Praise Of The Upright Bike | Brent Toderian
- Seattle: Ever the Bridesmaid, Never the Bride — bikabout
- King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn pleads guilty to DUI | The Seattle Times
- Seattle’s new transportation chief driven to keep city moving | The Seattle Times
- Friends, family remember man who was killed in Kirkland crosswalk – Kirkland Reporter
- Washington’s outdoor recreation goal: No child left inside!!! – Seattle PI
- New parklet opens at 25th and Union this Sunday | The Urbanist
- A bicycle (building) built for 171: New complex near Burke-Gilman trail caters to cyclists – Puget Sound Business Journal
- Policing cars, and bikes, on Seattle’s Second Avenue bike lane | Seattle Times
- Bike quote: Why bicycle tourists are the best tourists for small towns » Biking Bis
- Job Information: Station Technician Supervisor – Pronto Cycle Share Job
- Light-rail tunnel partnership sued by black laborers | Seattle Times
- Seattle Wants to Change the Whole Conversation on Streetcars – CityLab – A streetcar that is actually useful for transportation? What a crazy fucking idea!
- I Am Leaving The Stranger, Everybody! | Slog – Dominic Holden is no longer at The Stranger.
- What to do if you’re hit by a car while riding your bike | Grist
- Death on a Bike – NYTimes.com – Timothy Egan I guess is saying we should just give up trying to make streets safer for urban cycling because they aren’t safe yet? Or maybe he was just trying to say that biking is dangerous and, well … um … that’s all. I don’t get why he even bothered to write this piece, and neither does Brooklyn Spoke.
- Census shows big leaps for biking in a few cities, but Portland inches backward – BikePortland.org
- PBOT’s first ‘advisory bike lanes’ coming to SE Caruthers – BikePortland.org
Halftime show! The mayor of Pittsburgh is not just playing catchup on bike stuff. He’s playing leapfrog.
Pittsburgh’s Mayor Peduto Wants to “Leapfrog” Your City in Bicycling & Livability from STREETFILMS on Vimeo.
National & Global News
- The opposition to London’s segregated cycle lanes is living in the past | theguardian.com
- Indiana Toll Road Seeks Bankruptcy as Traffic Declines – Bloomberg – Investing in growing traffic is a terrible business model.
- Why You Can’t Trust TV News to Report on Bike Lanes | Streetsblog New York City
- #MinimumGrid: Toronto Advocates Move Politicians Beyond Bike Platitudes | Streetsblog USA
- Do Drivers Cover the Cost of Roads? Not By a Long Shot | Streetsblog.net
- This Musical Bike Rack Is Designed To Add Some Joy To Boring Infrastructure | Co.Exist
- Bike St. Louis to add 100 miles of new or upgraded routes : News
- Norwegian Town Pays Cyclists and Pedestrians “Reverse Toll” Money | Streetsblog.net
- Sidewalks closed along U.S. 19 where pedestrian was killed | WTSP
- Will Florida DOT Pull Off a “Culture Change” and Make Streets Safer? | Streetsblog.net
- U.S. DOT to Publish Its Own Manual on Protected Bike Lanes | Streetsblog USA
- Moneyball for Bike Advocacy | League of American Bicyclists
- A Death in Central Park Raises Real Questions About Bicyclist Behavior – CityLab
This is an open thread. Discuss anything marginally bike-related in the comments below.
Comments
13 responses to “Bike News Roundup: Look at all these people who support the Westlake Bikeway”
You didn’t include the dancing crosswalk signal, perhaps THE most important news of the past week/month?! :)
The Don’t Walk, Dance video is the best thing I’ve seen in ages.
Can anyone confirm whether bikes are allowed in the new “BUS ONLY” right lane on Pike St. downtown between 2nd and 7th? The signage suggests that bikes are not allowed.
I have been a good sport and stayed out of the bus lane. The result is my escape route being cut off by cars speeding past me on the right, and continuing straight (not taking the next right turn as is allowed).
Pike St. was already super scary and I am amazed that a way could be found to make it even more hazardous. But how else is one to get to Capitol Hill? I would be interested in any info or suggestions.
It’s pretty much always legal to bike in bus lanes.
This is something I’ve never gotten a straight answer to: is it legal to bicycle in the 2nd Ave bus lanes? The signs don’t have the “and bikes” that many transit lanes in the city have. It’s less of an issue now that the cycletrack is in place, but I’ve never heard a definitive yes or no on that.
“it’s pretty much always legal to bike in bus lanes” [Citation needed]
That “pretty much” is a concern, that, and the masthead of your blog.
As LWC pointed out, in some places the signs specifically “bikes ok”, other places they don’t. Now, while the weight wienies may think a couple of my cargo bikes are as heavy as a bus, they are not in fact busses.
Now, if your name was Peter Holmes, I’d feel more comfortable about your statement.
SDOT says it’s legal, although they didn’t post a link to the actual rule allowing it instead following the “everywhere except where specifically prohibited” guide.
I think the confusing mish-mash of bus only lane rules is meant to make people confused enough that only buses will use the lane.
http://sdotblog.seattle.gov/2013/06/28/its-ok-to-ride-a-bike-on-the-sidewalk-but/#sthash.hxVUIjyD.dpbs
Thanks ChefJoe and also SDOT for their blog post.
I guess “bus only” doesn’t mean “no bicycles” because bicycles are not considered to exist in the usual sense (but there is a special rule that says they can go anywhere things that exist can go, unless explicitly prohibited). Helpful to know and my travels will be safer.
I would suggest painting sharrows in the bus lane which would make it clearer.
Note that in that SDOT blog post, I asked for a specific regulation in my comment and didn’t receive one. I ride in the bus lane on NB 1st approaching Denny, which has signs that say “Bus Only.” I’m wary of my defense to a police officer that might try to ticket me (as opposed to ticketing one of the many cars that try to take the prohibited right turn onto Denny from that bus lane.)
If someone can find a regulation, I’ll happily print it out and keep in my wallet. Citing the SDOT blog doesn’t give quite the same level of comfort….
It’s not really SDOT’s call anyway. What does SPD say about bikes in bus lanes? What do the courts say if someone on a bike gets injured?
SPD has disagreed with SDOT on bike infrastructure before, e.g., the law does not allow a bicycle to go straight from a right-turn-only lane just because there’s a sharrow in the RTO lane. The law requires the “except bicycles” plaque on the “right turn only” sign. SDOT has installed some two-stage turn boxes that require bikes to go straight against RTO signs; it’s not technically legal to use those turn boxes as intended unless SDOT adds “except bicycles” to those signs.
Even if SPD doesn’t consider enforcement a priority, if an accident does happen, will the collision report note that the cyclist was operating illegally, reducing the liability of the other driver in the crash?
Excellent point. I can imagine it getting messy when someone loses a lawsuit against an insurance company, and is instead forced to sue the city.
I don’t know about y’all, but if SPD tickets me for following SDOT’s advice, they will never collect the fine from me except by force. (The same applies to several other very unlikely situations, like if I’m ticketed for practicing good lane positioning anywhere.)
The cascade video. The rubber meets the road, so to speak, on parking decisions and balancing trade offs. I think a flowery piece like that is great, but hoped for a little more depth.