Bike-friendly city rankings are a bit silly, but there’s usually some interesting things we can learn from them. There are so many variables that make places different and might impact a person’s experience riding a bike in them that distilling an entire city’s bikeability down to a number is impossible. For example, I’m guessing someone who lives along Rainier Avenue, which has no bike lanes and no comparable alternative bike routes, might scoff at the idea that Seattle is the third best large U.S. city for biking. But that’s where People For Bikes placed our city in its 2023 Best Places to Bike list.
But before Seattle goes and gets a big head about its spot on the bike-friendly podium, the city only scored a 62 out of 100. Only cities with 80 points or more are considered places where “most common destinations are accessible by safe, comfortable bike routes,” according to People For Bikes. So there’s still a lot of work left to do. Unfortunately, the competition to be the most bike-friendly city in the U.S. just is not very fierce. There are many places where people talk about being bike-friendly, but not enough places are actually out investing in making the necessary changes.
Seattle scored a 62, which is unfortunately elite among U.S. cities. This chart includes cities of all sizes.(more…)
At the urging of Councilmember Dan Strauss and with Mayor Bruce Harrell’s support, SDOT is beginning early design work on a potential alternative for the Burke-Gilman Trail Missing Link in Ballard. Though the city has a design fully completed and ready for construction along Shilshole Ave NW, the construction permits are held up in court as opponents continue their decades-long campaign to stop the project. The latest delays spurred CM Strauss to ask SDOT to study an alternative he hopes can avoid further lawsuits and get a walking and biking connection built.
SDOT has not abandoned the Shilshole plan, but they are developing a Leary plan in addition to it. They hope to have the design up to the 30% mark by the end of 2023. They even have a very simple online feedback form you can complete that includes one open-ended prompt: “Tell us your feedback.”
Trail advocates are sort of in a position of limbo. The Shilshole plan is fully designed and was the preference of the vast majority of people during the drawn-out design and environmental review process. But Leary Way and Market both need big safety upgrades, and a protected bike route along there would be genuinely awesome. But it also feels like a different project than the trail. Then again, there’s funding to make improvements now, and we don’t know how long these court battles will last. But also, how do we know this project won’t also get sued into oblivion? If we’re basing that assumption on the word of the appellants, well, we’ve fallen for that trick before. So keeping both options open seems like a good strategy. ¿Por qué no los dos?
“We’re open to the Leary/Market study as long as it doesn’t add any delay to Shilshole,” Cascade Bicycle Club Executive Director Lee Lambert told Seattle Bike Blog.
From the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (AKA the Missing Link Mega Study).
Hamilton was driving under the influence after drinking in the park when he crossed to the wrong side of Seward Park Ave S just east of the intersection with Wilson Ave S and collided head-on with Colmant, who was biking downhill toward the park. Hamilton then fled the scene and tried to hide the damaged vehicle in Tacoma. He did not turn himself in. He was arrested a year and a half later thanks to a tip that came in after the King County Council offered a $50,000 reward for information in the case. Colmant was a King County employee who worked at Boeing Field.
Q13 News has a report that includes Hamilton’s tearful apology in the court room as well as statements from Colmant’s loved ones.
“I’m sorry for my actions that day and the delay in justice,” he said, reading a prepared statement. “I’m sorry I didn’t come forward sooner. I was afraid of the consequences. But I know this is the right thing to do.”
“There is no sentence that will give him the justice he deserves, and no sentence handed down will bring him back,” said a statement from Colmant’s step-daughter read in court.
Newly-announced Federal RAISE (“Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity”) grants will help fund several interesting walking and biking projects around the region, including planning work for an ambitious trail from the Bainbridge Island Ferry Terminal to La Push on the Pacific Coast.
The City of Port Angeles led a successful grant application for the full trail planning project, receiving their full $16,130,000 request. This means they should have the resources now to bring the entire 200-mile trail project to 100% design, making it ready for construction. The trail will span many different municipalities, tribal lands and counties in addition to Olympic National Park, but it already has major head starts working in its favor. It combines the Olympic Discovery Trail, an iconic but unfinished rails-to-trails project, with the relatively nascent Sound to Olympics Trail while also adding spurs and a loop to reach Poulsbo, Kingston and Port Townsend.
But beyond the local benefits of this trail, it will also serve as the Pacific Ocean terminus for the transcontinental Great American Rail-Trail.
The good news is that the horrific increase in pedestrian deaths Washington State saw in 2021 did not continue to increase in 2022. But that’s the end of the good news in this story. Preliminary counts in a recent report from the Governors Highway Safety Association show that an estimated 130 pedestrians were killed in Washington State in 2022, a decrease compared to the state’s shocking total of 144 deaths in 2021. However, the 2022 count is still far above the 101 deaths in 2019, and the national trend showed the count continuing in climb in 2022 over 2021.
UPDATE 6/27: In response to a reader’s question, I have updated the chart above with additional data from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, which also has more updated counts compared to the GHSA report. Unfortunately, the WTSC has counted 136 pedestrian deaths in 2022, down from 146 in 2021 but still horrifically far above the 50 deaths in 2013.
Nationally, pedestrian deaths rose 77% between 2010 and 2021 while all other traffic deaths rose 25%, and the U.S. likely crossed a grim total not seen since 1980: More than 8,000 pedestrians killed in a single year.
The chart should be setting off top level emergency alarms in every transportation department and regulatory office in our nation. Something has changed dramatically since 2010, and no it isn’t iPhones. Most of the world is seeing fewer traffic deaths, and they bought iPhones, too. Dangerous vehicle designs, especially among popular SUVs and pickups, are likely among the biggest factors behind this increase. Vehicle size and weight has increased dramatically, and those increases have come at the expense of people outside of them. “Light trucks,” an official vehicle category that includes everything form minivans to pickups to SUVs including so-called “crossover” SUVs, now make up more than 75% of all cars sold in the U.S. according to Transportation Alternatives in New York City. The average weight of a passenger vehicle has increased from 3,200 pounds in 1980 to 4,200 pounds today. “Supersized vehicles,” as Transportation Alternatives calls them, are 41% more likely to kill a pedestrian that they strike compared to a sedan traveling at the same speed. But this effect is multiplied by the fact that supersized vehicles are less maneuverable and have worse driver visibility than most sedans, making their drivers 3–4 times more likely to hit a pedestrian while turning compared to sedan drivers.
“Between 2014 and 2019, 43% of children killed on New York City streets were struck by SUVs or larger vehicles,” Transportation Alternatives wrote. “Between 2019 and today, that number rose to 77% of children killed. In 2022, a record number of children were killed by traffic violence in New York City, and more than 80% were struck by SUVs or larger vehicles.”
This photo from 3:13 a.m. during the 2012 Nine to Five is a good representation of my mindset around that time. I’m assuming we needed a photo in a shopping cart for the challenge, though I can’t honestly be sure. It was a weird night.
The Nine to Five is a classic, legendary Seattle event that has been making its return in recent years. It is a wonderful counterpoint to the Fremont Solstice Parade bike ride. Rather than celebrate the long day of sun, the Nine to Five celebrates the short night.
Riders will hit the streets from sunset to sunrise, scouring the city to collect an eclectic and unpredictable list of items and to complete random challenges. Just keeping your mind functional while trying to, say, find a tutu somewhere in Seattle at 3 a.m. is probably the hardest part. But it was so fun. I’ve never been so happy to see the sun rise.
You can register online for $25 per person. Up to five people per team. It starts at Gas Works Park, and there are meetups throughout the night to get additional checklists. Check out the website for more details on what to bring.
The Nine to Five ran for years as an event by Go Means Go, which disbanded in 2014. The new Nine to Five is organized by a couple fans of the ride who decided to restart it in 2019 only to have the pandemic squash the momentum. But they say they had a decent turnout last year and are hoping to keep it going. I wish everyone involved the best of luck. Here are some words of advice from the 2012 winners: “we’re old & have basements, married hoarders (ahem, collectors), ride cargo bikes. Oh, and sobriety. If only that night.”
