Seattle Bike Blog

Move Seattle: One plan to rule them all

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

March 2, 2015

Mayor Ed Murray announced Move Seattle Monday in Ballard.

Mayor Ed Murray’s Move Seattle plan is a “holistic transportation approach” that “includes a 10-year project list and maintenance and operations priorities.”

If you were engaged in shaping the recent update to the Bicycle Master Plan — which took two years and included lots of multimodal analysis — I know what you’re thinking: Another transportation plan in Seattle? How many of these do we need?

“This is a plan about how we integrate all those plans into a single plan,” said Mayor Ed Murray during a press conference Monday. In other works, Move Seattle doesn’t trash or replace the Bike Master Plan (whew).

Rather, it’s more like a list based on the city’s modal plans (walking, transit, bike and — soon — freight) that represent the mayor’s priorities and set the stage for the city’s next transportation ballot measure to replace the expiring Bridging the Gap levy. Details about the new measure will be released in the next week or so, and voters will take it up in November.

The Move Seattle plan also creates a framework for measuring success on its safety and mobility goals. It also creates a prioritization framework for selecting which projects rise to the top of the list.

So what’s in it? All kinds of stuff. Unspecified improvements to the Ballard Bridge, fixing the Ballard Missing Link, complete streets on Rainier, Lake City Way, Aurora, Delridge, E Marginal Way, Eastlake, Fremont/Phinney, Pike/Pine and more (see below). (more…)

tags: ed murray, move seattle

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Following strong Seattle sales, Public Bikes will open store on Capitol Hill

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

March 2, 2015

Photo: Audrey Rotermund/Public Bikes

Public Bikes will open its first ever retail location outside the Bay Area in Seattle this spring. With stylish, often solid-colored city bikes priced in the low-to-mid range, Public Bikes will be moving into the bike shop vacuum Velo left when it moved to 6th and Blanchard in 2013.

“In the five years of data on our shipped sales outside of the Bay Area, Seattle has always been one of the top performing cities,” said Dan Nguyan-Tan, head of sales and marketing at Public Bikes. Nguyan-Tan also said longtime Seattle Bike Blog advertiser Ride Bicycles at 64th and Roosevelt is one of their strongest dealers, showing demand here.

“Those combinations made Seattle a great opportunity.”

They plan to open in the space at Pine and Summit formerly home to Black Coffee Co-op, Capitol Hill Seattle reports. Public follows in the footsteps of another bike-inspired San Francisco company, Timbuk2, which opened its first store outside the Bay Area at 7th and Pine in 2013.

As advertised on Seattle Bike Blog, Public is now hiring store managers, bike mechanics and sales associates. (more…)

tags: capitol hill, dan nguyen-tan, pike/pine, public bikes

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Rainier is the city’s most dangerous neighborhood street. But it could be the best.

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

February 27, 2015

People are getting killed and seriously injured along the entire length of Rainier Ave. Image from the SDOT presentation. Data for past ten years.

Rainier Avenue will be safer by the end of the year.

Every option the city presented (PDF) at a public meeting Thursday evening in Columbia City included a significant redesign of the notoriously dangerous street. And the city is not going to wait long to take action.

Some signals and signage changes will roll out this spring, followed by some more significant safety upgrades starting in the summer and going into 2016.

Before we get into the solutions, let’s follow the city’s lead and outline the problem.

Jim Curtin and Dongho Chang of SDOT did a very good job explaining, step by step, why the street is so dangerous and how — though genuine community input and thoughtful design changes — the city will move quickly to dramatically increase safety on the busy commercial and neighborhood street.

The big crowd at the meeting seemed very receptive to the ideas the city presented and strongly in favor of safety changes. Cheers rang out when Curtin announced plans to lower the speed limit to 25 mph through the Columbia City and Hillman City business districts. People also cheered when Curtin said they will lengthen the crosswalk signal times. As we reported previously, a study found that traffic signals in Rainier Valley give people less time to cross the street than Ballard.

When Curtin showed the slide below, the crowd gasped. Rainier is way more dangerous than it should be, and it has been this way for a long time.

(more…)

tags: dongho chang, jim curtin, rainier ave, sdot

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Seattle’s 2015 bike map gets a makeover + How it could be even better

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

February 27, 2015

Seattle significantly redesigned its city bike map for the 2015 edition. In addition to updating the map to include new bike facilities, the map icons and color scheme are easier to read.

And, of course, it notes the current locations of Pronto Cycle Share stations. Because Seattle has bike share, everyone! How cool is that?

You can download the PDF version of the print bike map from SDOT’s website. You can also have a totally free copy of the map mailed to your house by completing this online form (thanks WA Bikes!).

Other than some basic legibility changes, the overall theory behind the map’s routes are the same as previous years. This creates a good-looking map that can be useful for people trying to find a doable bike route, but it can also be a bit misleading about how comfortable people can expect their bike route to be.

As with previous iterations of this map, my biggest complaint is how the map displays busy streets with sharrows painted on them. In the new map, these streets are marked as skinny green lines. Here’s the legend: (more…)

tags: bike map, sdot

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Under new leadership, the Seattle Bike Show is this weekend in Pioneer Square

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

February 26, 2015

The Seattle Bike Expo is no more. But as we reported previously, the folks at Cascadia Events have come to the rescue. They have taken over the lead, changed the name to the Seattle Bike Show and moved it to CenturyLink Field Event Center in Pioneer Square.

The two-day show features bike performances, talks and, of course, exhibitors showing off their latest products and services.

It costs $10 to get in (free under 18). Entry also includes access to the Travel Trips & Adventures Expo, which is sharing the space. Apparently, they have a giant indoor zip line, which sounds pretty cool.

You can see the complete lineup at the Seattle Bike Show website. Here are some highlights from the press release: (more…)

tags: cascadia events, pioneer square, seattle bike expo, Seattle Bike Show, Seattle Bike Show 2015

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Pronto launches first ever Women’s Bike Month + Women on Wheels 2015 is tonight

By

Tom Fucoloro

| Posted

February 26, 2015

36 percent of Pronto Cycle Share members identify as women, but so far only 19 percent of Pronto trips were completed by women.

Part of that gap is likely due to the gender gap within Pronto’s service area. For example, the 2010 Census counted 32 percent more men than women living in South Lake Union, and Amazon’s workforce is heavily-male. South Lake Union is among Pronto’s busiest areas.

But there is much more to the issue than simple demographics. Thousands of women bike in Seattle every day, but surveys and commute data consistently find that men bike at a higher rate. Bike share systems around the nation have found similar gender gaps.

But Pronto plans to do something to change this. So they are launching Seattle’s first ever Women’s Bike Month in March, packing the calendar with women-focused and women-led bike rides and events.

The March 5 #WomenWhoBike group ride will be a major highlight of the month. Women leaders from city government, bicycle non-profits and all around Seattle’s bike culture invite all women to ride with them from the Pronto HQ in South Lake Union to City Hall.

In cities around the world with flourishing bike cultures, women bike as often — or more often — than men. Of all the big cities in the US, Seattle may be most ready to address this urban cycling gender gap, since nearly every major bike advocacy leadership position is held by a woman.

More details on Women’s Bike Month, the #WomenWhoBike ride and how to get involved: (more…)

tags: gregg’s cycle, pronto emerald city cycle share, women on wheels, women’s bike month, womenwhobike

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