Seattle Bike Blog

With the problem on the rise, UW Police host a Bike Theft Symposium

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

December 1, 2015

UWPD Chief John Vinson outlines the bike theft problem.

Bike theft is up, at least on UW campus.

“It’s our number one property crime on campus,” said UW Police Deputy Chief Csaba Maczala. “That’s a good thing, since violent crime is down. So I’m glad we most have to deal with property crime.”

So the UW Police reached out to community partners and hosted a Bike Theft Symposium Tuesday to come up with some ideas for how to decrease thefts and increase the chances victims will get their bikes back.

Officer Keith Jackson presented a very achievable goal of reducing theft reports 15 percent by the last quarter of 2016.

The annual cost of bike theft on campus? $118,354, and that’s not even counting parts stolen off bikes or bikes that are stolen but not reported to police. We know this because part of their effort to focus on battling bike theft so far has been to gather and analyze data to see if they can find patterns to target. (more…)

tags: bike index, bike theft symposium, bike thefts, cindi west, crime, csaba maczala, keith jackson, kendra borzio, project 529, q13, spd, uwpd

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Hacking Seattle’s Bike Share, Part 1: Hills and rain

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

December 1, 2015

This is part one of a series looking at the first year of usage data from Pronto Cycle Share. Pronto organized a “data challenge,” and the submissions they received go deeper than you might expect.

Did you know there are hills in Seattle? And did you also know it rains here kinda often?

It’s true, and there are bike naysayers who say investing in biking is pointless because people won’t bike up hills or in the rain. And sure, these are certainly factors in whether people choose to make a trip by bike, but there are still a whole lot of people who are not deterred.

Jake Vanderplas, a West Seattle safe streets advocate and very smart person, entered a lengthy analysis of Pronto trip data that earned him the “Most Insightful” award in the organization’s recent Data Challenge. And he found that both hills and weather affected bike share trips just about how you would expect.

But first, we have to separate two kinds of users: Annual members use bike share like a typical transportation system, so you see more traditional commute patterns with peaks during the morning and evening rush hours. If it’s a weekday, the vast majority of riders are members using the bikes for “regular” transportation.

On the other hand, short term pass holders are more likely to be making a non-commute trip, and many of them are probably visitors or locals giving the system a try. On a weekend, the majority of trips are made by short-term users.

(more…)

tags: bailey harper, chris jambor, hacking seattle’s bike share, jake vanderplas, pronto emerald city cycle share

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Thursday: #Party4OurStreets with Seattle Neighborhood Greenways

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 30, 2015

People working to make our streets safer and our bike routes more connected have a lot to celebrate. True, we have a lot of work ahead to make sure projects happen right.

But first, let’s party.

Join Seattle Neighborhood Greenways Thursday for their annual #Party4OurStreets, held this year at the Impact HUB coworking space in Pioneer Square from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. It’s family-friendly, complete with kids craft area.

So come have a drink, have fun, vote for your top picks for safe streets champions (an honor I VERY HUMBLY received last year) and conspire with other engaged neighbors for how to keep the momentum going and growing.

Get more details and register (for FREE!) on the event page: (more…)

tags: #party4ourstreets 2015, seattle neighborhood greenways

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Ride to celebrate the life of Max Snyder Sunday

By

Marley Blonsky

| Posted

November 25, 2015

EDITOR’S NOTE: Thanks, Marley, for letting us know about Max and the ride to celebrate his life. We send our condolences to his loved ones.

The Seattle bike community is invited to join together to joyfully remember a beloved friend, fellow bike rider, and awesome friend who we lost too soon. Max Snyder was a well-loved, passionate member of the Seattle bicycling community who passed away October 2.

Please join us 10 a.m. Sunday, November 29 at the Seattle University Bell turnaround for a celebratory memorial bike ride in his honor. You’re encouraged to come in costume, sweater vests and ties, or just be your best version of yourself. Max wouldn’t want it any other way.

Max passed away during a trip to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. While on a walk with his girlfriend, they were approached by men with knives and unknown motives. Max was stabbed four times. His girlfriend survived the assault, but Max suffered internal bleeding and did not. He was 23.

Max had an unmatched zeal for life and passion for bike riding, and did everything he could to share that love with others. He founded and led the Seattle University Cycling Team in 2011, and served as President of the Seattle University Bike Club. Max also shared his talents with other bike organizations, including World Bicycle Relief, which shared this beautiful tribute. (more…)

tags: max snyder

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Commute Seattle will install bike counter display on 2nd Ave

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 24, 2015

Mock-up of the display sign

Downtown Seattle will get its first live-updated bike counter display soon thanks to Commute Seattle.

Located on 2nd Ave between Madison and Marion Streets, the counter will tick away daily and annual totals as people bike by. As we’ve seen with existing counter displays on the Fremont and Spokane St Bridges, it’s a fun way to show off how many people are biking and give a little boost of encouragement to people by saying, quite literally, “You count.”

The other major benefit of the counters is data, but that’s less of an issue in this case because the city already has tubes at this location ticking away quietly. In fact, the counter has measured more than 237,000 bike trips January through October of this year: 157,000 southbound and 81,000 northbound.

Location and shape of the counter, from the Transpo Committee presentation

According to a presentation to the City Council Transportation Committee Tuesday (PDF), Commute Seattle will gift the counter to the city and hopes to have it installed in early 2016. It will utilize the same counting technology as the Fremont and West Seattle counters, but the display itself will be more sleek and simple. Basically, it will look more like a standard street sign and less like the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. (more…)

tags: 2nd ave, bike counter, commute seattle

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Cranksgiving 2015 shatters records, 160 people hauled 1,560 lbs of food

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

November 24, 2015

Seattle’s sixth annual Cranksgiving food drive bike ride was Saturday, and it was one for the record books. 160 people bought an astounding 1,560 pounds of food from local food vendors all around town and hauled it by bike to Rainier Valley Food Bank.

As our city grows and generates so much wealth, that wealth is not getting to everyone. Rainier Valley Food Bank is serving more people now than it ever has. The organization helps thousands of people put food on the table every week, and the holiday season is its busiest time.

So big thanks to everyone who came out Saturday for a day of fun, but also a day of lending a hand. Cranksgiving is now one of the biggest one-time food drives for the food bank annually, and it happens one food purchase, one pedal stroke and one bike pannier at a time. But families struggle year-round in our city, so please consider volunteering or donating more often if you can. You can even start now by helping their online holiday fund drive.

Cranksgiving is an alleycat-style scavenger hunt by bike where riders get a list of items to buy and food sellers to buy from all around town. The concept started on the east coast and spread to cities all over the country. Seattle Bike Blog has had the privilege of starting and hosting Seattle’s Cranksgiving for the past six years.

It’s technically a race, though most people don’t actually race. The more items you check off the list and places you visit, the more points you get. Prizes were donated by Mountaineers Books, The Royal Room, Flying Lion Brewing, Detours bags, Urban Cycling by Madi Carlson, Free Range Cycles, Rebecca Roush and Kelli Refer. We also owe a big thank you to Dan Dilulio, who volunteered to help work the finish line at the Royal Room.

Being in November, Seattle’s rainiest month, Cranksgiving is also a winter biking event. But the weather did not cooperate Saturday, beaming sunshine the whole time.

It’s also a celebration of all the wonderful and unique food sellers around Seattle, from farmers markets to the Pike Place Market to co-ops to international markets to community-loved discount stores. Because grocery shopping is a blast when you go by bike. (more…)

tags: cranksgiving, cranksgiving 2015, dan dilulio, detours bags, flying lion brewing, free range cycles, kelli refer, madeleine carlson, mountaineers books, rainier valley food bank, reb roush, royal room

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