Seattle Bike Blog

You can now take a bus hiking on weekends, and there are spaces for bikes

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 4, 2017

Photo from King County Metro.

King County Metro and King County Parks have partnered to launch a new transit-to-trailheads service that starts tomorrow. And each shuttle will have two spaces for bicycles.

The shuttle starts at Issaquah Transit Center and makes stops at trailheads throughout the “Issaquah Alps” at Margaret’s Way, Poo Poo Point and East Sunset Way before swinging by the Issaquah Highlands Transit Center and returning to the Issaquah Transit Center.

Shuttles will run every half hour from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays tomorrow through October.

This effort could help improve access to hiking for people who don’t own cars and help ease increasing parking crunches near area trailheads.

“We’ve been seeing alternative transportation as a necessary part of the solution,” said Ben Hughey with the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust. He credited King County Parks with taking the initiative to reach out to Metro to make this happen. “Issaquah is the natural first step for showing demand for a hiking shuttle.”

More on how the shuttle came to be, from Seattle Transit Blog: (more…)

tags: issaquah, king county metro, king county parks, transit to trails

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City updates Northgate bike/walk bridge design, open house Thursday

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 3, 2017

The city is ready to unveil the latest design for the Northgate biking and walking bridge, set to open in 2020 to connect the under-construction Northgate Station to North Seattle College.

They are hosting a drop-in open house Thursday (today) from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at the Hampton Inn near the station site (map). An online open house is set to go live Thursday as well.

The project is funded through a partnership of the city, state and Sound Transit.

More details from SDOT: (more…)

tags: northgate, northgate station bridge

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The Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board is seeking new members

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 2, 2017

The agenda for the August meeting (tonight!) is a good example of what a typical meeting is like.

The Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board is a great way to get more hands on with bike projects in the city and get some government experience at the same time. It’s a volunteer gig that meets the first Wednesday of every month for two hours, though there is usually more work to do between meetings.

The Bike Board gets early looks at public projects that affect bicycling, and the board can provide often influential advice to push the city to be bold on bike safety.

You do not need to be an “expert” on biking or transportation policy. You just need to support the goal of more and safer cycling and be willing to listen and ask questions.

So apply, and be sure to tell anyone you think has a good perspective on biking in our city to apply, too.

Details and how to apply, from SDOT: (more…)

tags: seattle bicycle advisory board

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No, the state’s new ‘E-DUI’ law does not apply to people biking

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

August 1, 2017

There has been a bit of confusion in recent days about whether Washington State’s new so-called E-DUI distracted driving law applies to people biking.

It does not.

The Seattle Times published a story over the weekend saying explicitly that the law does apply to people biking. Shelly Baldwin, government liaison for the WA Traffic Safety Commission told Mike Lindblom of the Times that as noted in RCW 46.61.755, people biking are generally subject to all the rights and duties of people driving vehicles. Her conclusion was that this means people biking are subject to the new distracted driving law.

However, as Seattle Bike Blog pointed out on Twitter, the new law specifically says “motor vehicle,” which is different than “vehicle.” Bicycles are vehicles, but they are not motor vehicles.

We also consulted with Alex Alston of WA Bikes, who worked to help craft and pass the new law, and local bike lawyer John Duggan (a longtime Seattle Bike Blog advertiser).

Alston was surprised to see the interpretation that the law applied to bikes and worked to get another interpretation from her contacts at the Traffic Safety Commission. She received responses from the WA State Patrol and the Traffic Safety Commission that, in fact, the law only applies to motor vehicles and not to bikes: (more…)

tags: alex alston, distracted driving, john duggan, mike lindblom, seattle times, washington bikes

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Vote! Ballots are due Tuesday + Where candidates stand on transportation

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

July 31, 2017

King County Dropbox locations (click for interactive map)

Don’t procrastinate any longer. It’s time to make a choice and get your ballot in the mail or a (postage-free) nearby dropbox.

If you are registered to vote but have lost your ballot, you can still vote! Follow the instructions here to download a ballot that you can fill out and print.

You can find our coverage of the Growing Seattle housing and transportation forum here: Mayor and City Council Position 8.

City Council Position 9 is absolutely no question: Vote Lorena González.

And of course vote for Dow Constantine for King County Executive.

Seattle Bike Blog almost endorsed Nikkita Oliver for mayor. Oliver’s campaign is easily the most impressive of all the candidates, but we can’t slow down safe streets projects as she says she might. So we’re stuck. If you believe in her as a transformative leader and think supporters of downtown bike lanes and the Missing Link can persuade her administration to keep them on track (or better), then vote for Oliver. If you take her statements as the final word and want a candidate who is clearly already on board with safe streets projects in the pipeline (and more), vote for Cary Moon, Jessyn Farrell or Mike McGinn.

After a lot of thought, I decided not to endorse in the City Council Position 8 primary. For personal reasons (I have very close friends supporting one candidate), I’m just not sure I can provide a fair endorsement in this race. Sorry! I’ll reconsider in the general election. This is where having an election board would be very handy. Hmm…

Here’s who other transportation groups and news sources are endorsing: (more…)

tags: 2017 primary

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LimeBike gets 2,000 rides in two days + Both companies announce $30 monthly plans

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

July 28, 2017

See our Seattle Bike Share Guide for an updated list of bike share companies in Seattle, links to download their apps and a quick rundown on how it all works.

LimeBike CEO Toby Sun.

People took 2,000 rides on LimeBike in two days, the company said Friday.

In just two days, the company is already more than 60 percent of the way to matching Pronto’s ride total for its opening week, and about half way to matching Pronto’s best week ever. And it’s doing all this with competition from Spin, which also has 500 bikes in circulation.

In fact, it’s possible that at this point the companies are helping each other by educating the public about the concept of free-floating bike share services. Someone who learns about how LimeBike works from one of the company’s promo events, for example, will also know how Spin works and vice versa. And having double the bikes on the street means bike share as a transportation mode is more convenient for more people for more trips, which is good for both companies.

But, of course, they are definitely competing hard.

LimeBike has had a couple bikes floating around since the city approved their permit July 17, but was not as quick on the draw as Spin, which rolled out its 500 bikes as soon as they had a permit in their hand. LimeBike started rolling out their 500 bikes Tuesday and launched with an official unlocking ceremony Thursday.

But the 2,000 rides in two days is notably double the number that Spin reported July 19, though it is much too early to determine which company will outpace the other. This whole free-floating bike share thing is just getting started.

From LimeBike: (more…)

tags: bike share, limebike, spin

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