Red, Bike and Green

Sweden Is Getting the Next Bike Superhighway

2012-01-16T09:30:00.000-08:00

If you want to find an unassuming place where bicycling is a way of life and nobody makes a big deal about it, head south. The south of Sweden, that is, where the small university town of Lund has a big bicycle habit. They just don't advertise it.

In Lund, 60% of the populace bikes or takes public transport to go about their daily tasks. And then there's Malmö, Sweden's third largest city - only 20 miles southwest of Lund. Malmö also doesn't have a reputation for fantastic biking. But some say it is the country's best biking city - ahead of both Stockholm, the capital; Gothenburg, the second largest Swedish metropolitan area, and a host of smaller bike-friendly burgs.

Just across the Øresund sound from Copenhagen, Malmö has always lived a bit in the shadow of the Danish capital. But in the last few years it has done a lot to take a place among the great biking cities of Northern Europe, mostly by its investment in infrastructure and pure commitment to get people on their bikes. That has paid off - cycling has increased 30% each year for the last four years, while car trips under five kilometers have dropped.

Now Malmö is upping the stakes by putting up 30 million Swedish crowns (about US$4.1 million) toward the building of a four-lane super cycling highway between it and its bike-happy northern neighbor city Lund.

The Swedish Traffic Authority (Trafikverket) has already studied the feasibility of building the bicycle superhighway between the two cities. What remains is for the central government (and Lund and the smaller towns between the two areas) to put their money down. Trafikverket has planned a route for the superhighway running roughly parallel to railway tracks, which makes it easier and less expensive to build, as right of ways are already in place.

The proposed bicycle superhighway would, in addition to four lanes (2 in each direction) have exits but no intersections, two types of wind protection (low bushes as well as solid fencing) periodic bicycle service stations, and would take eight years to complete. Total cost of the superhighway is estimated to be about 50 million Swedish crowns (US$ 7.1 million).

We already know that building bicycle infrastructure is magnitudes cheaper than building new car roads, and better for our health and our air quality. So, what will the first U.S. cities be to build this type ofsystem?

Flexible Bike Rack Makes Locking Up Easy

2012-01-10T09:15:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how many times I've been frustrated trying to lock up my bike, making the lock fit through the frame, the front wheel and the rack itself, but it's a high number. The Tulip Fun Fun is a bike rack created to alleviate that problem. The work of Margus Triibmann of Estonian design firm KEHA3, it bends to fit bikes of different sizes and shapes, so you lock your bike however you want.

The rack is made from metal cable surrounded by rubber, attached to a hot galvanized metal plate that is bolted to the ground. It's simple and smart, and I'd love the see it wherever I ride.

KEHA3 has a couple of other interesting bike rack designs, notably the Grazz, with stalk-like metal cables with looped ends, and the eye-catching Typo.

Top 10 Bike Books for the New Year

2012-01-09T09:41:00.000-08:00

I just got a new Kindle for Christmas and have started a new e-reading list that I thought I would share. It's never too late to start transportation cycling, so if the depths of winter generate some legitimate excuses not to start or refine your cycling career right this minute, this is a great time to get inspired. Here are some of the stellar bike books published in 2011 (and a few from 2010), in order to start out or build up your biking bookshelves.

If Bike Snob author Eban Weiss didn't invent snark, he certainly perfected it -- first in his BikeSnob NYC blog, and later in this best-selling book. Weiss is super-snarky, dead-on observant, and sometimes very, very funny. He stereotypes the bike world to within an inch of its bike pedals, and it makes for an amusing and informative read.

Bike Snob is a great way for new cyclists to understand the politics of what goes on in the bike lane, and maybe, just maybe, have a little compassion for the different types of cyclists that pedal there. Maybe.
If you want more of the mercilessness, Weiss continues on with the BikeSnob NYC blog. Or, if your snark bones are tired, read David Byrne's Bicycle Diaries instead.

Despite being a children's book, Tillie the Terrible Swede: How One Woman, A Sewing Needle, and A Bicycle Change History will give all cyclists a wonderful taste of cycling back during Biking 1.0.

Tillie Anderson, the book's heroine, was a real-life amazing athlete who broke numerous records and won scores of bicycle races during her short career in the mid to late 1890s. Anderson was part of a group of women cyclists who flaunted Victorian social constraints and moral codes in order to race their bicycles.
Author Sue Stauffacher became entranced with Anderson's story back in 2005, and succeeds in telling a sweet tale of Tillie's rise to short-lived fame -- from Swedish immigrant seamstress, to world-class athlete, to contented housewife.

The 50 individual essays in On Bicycles: 50 Ways the New Bike Culture Can Change Your Life make sure to cover all aspects of Biking 2.0, including sex, safety, bike shops, and sharing the road. Chapters from famous bicycling advocates such as Jeff Mapes, John Pucher, and Elly Blue help enliven this 'Whole Earth Catalog' of bicycle culture.

Edited by Amy Walker, co-founder of Momentum Magazine, On Bicycles definitely has something for everyone, and yields up its bounty without being overly preachy. Especially welcome to the non-technical transportation cyclist are chapters such as "The Case for Internally Geared Bicycle Hubs" by Aaron Goss, and "Ergonomic Evolution: The Advantages of Riding Reclined" by Vincent Tourdonnet.

Sue Macy's book Wheels of Change: How Women rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way) is supposed to be a young adult title, but readers of almost any age will find lots to love in this history of how women used the bicycle to gain new-found freedom. Macy details the history of the cycling innovations that helped women throw off the cumbersome skirts of the Victorian era and get on two-wheeled "safety' cycles and out into the world.

She includes some of the historical cycling heroines, from Tillie Anderson to Louise Armaindo, and she sprinkles historical narrative with features -- cycling slang, for instance, and the rich vein of cycling songs that came out at the height of the bicycle boom in the late 1890's. Wheels of Change is fun, and the archival photos alone will keep you absorbed for hours.

David L. Herlihy is well-known as one of American cycling's historians. While researching his classic Bicycle: The History, Herlihy time and again came upon old clippings referring to Frank Lenz, a reporter and touring cyclist who disappeared in 1894 while attempting to bike around the world. Intrigued, Herlihy further delved into Lenz's fascinating story, and eventually wrote a book specifically about his journey, disappearance, and fellow cyclist William Sachtleben's quest to find him, called The Lost Cyclist.

Rich in period detail, The Lost Cyclist is an enjoyable, if sometimes slightly plodding read. It is those few slow moments when the gallery of vintage photos of Lenz during various stages of his short and semi-famous life help tide the reader over. Though Herlihy does a painstaking job of trying to clear up the mystery of Lenz's disappearance, readers might remain somewhat unsatisfied. There are plenty of clues as to who killed Lenz, but the exact reasons why are never completely established.

Evan P. Schneider's novel A Simple Machine, Like the Lever, is an ongoing stream-of-consciousness journal detailing the joys of cycling in a complex, sometimes heartbreaking world. Schneider, through his alter ego Nick, manages to find some universal cycling truths -- not just the big ones, but the ongoing day-to-day ones.

Nick is trying to come of age in a very complicated society, and though his struggle is by no means unusual, the sweet observations of why we are cyclists keep you reading. Schneider, the founding editor of Boneshaker: A Bicycling Almanac, gives a lovely portrait of the simplicity and joys of cycling.
A new sub-genre of books has sprung up with tips and techniques for the urban cyclist, and this Urban Cyclist's Survival Guide by James Rubin and Scott Rowan covers many of the basics. The approach is safety and survival oriented, and advocates defensive cycling. If you are a style-over-speed cyclist, you might grow alarmed at how many times "survival" pops up in this book, and at how the tone is one of competition, speed, and natural selection rather than cooperation and community.

Never mind, just take from this guide the tips that will help you, wherever you are in your cycling journey. For even more cycling urban cycling philosophy, follow up this book with The Art of Cycling by Robert Hurst.

Much of the interesting commentary on urban cycling is to be found not in so-called mainstream publishing but in the blogging world, so it's hardly surprising that some of the best recent titles on biking aren't mainstream books at all, but e-zines.

Our Bodies, Our Bikes is the latest in a series of 'zines by Grist blogger Elly Blue. Blue likes to write about bike policy, bike politics, and bike economics, and Our Bodies, Our Bikes mixes those together. Blue mostly plays editor on this compilation of essays, though she does a turn with Caroline Paquette on the essay "Your Vulva."

There's no bike porn in Our Bodies, however. Instead, there's a lot of practical advice mixed with a healthy dash of feminist encouragement. After all, men outnumber women in the bike lanes by at least 2 to 1.
Blue has a number of great e-zines, including a great long essay on bike economics -- all available at takingthelane.com.

Also check out both Boneshaker e-zines, the UK and the US versions.

Robert Penn's paean to bicycles, It's All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels, is another title looking for the essence of why humans love bikes. Luckily, Penn's book is easy to read, and full of the quirky bike history that the cycle-obsessed just love to know. He's also bike obsessed, and dreams of a perfect bike, then describes it in full detail. It also includes some great background on the bike business and its development, plus lots of personal anecdotes.

Mostly, the book is good because Penn is a fluid, graceful writer. That's important as sometimes the going gets technical. The book will also teach you to know your bike intricately.

Helen Pidd, a journalist for The Guardian, released Bicycle -- Love Your Bike: The Complete Guide to Everyday Cycling in 2010, and it really is a complete guide. Packed with facts and written in a sassy, smart style, Bicycle is a great guide for both new and experienced urban cyclists.

Though the layout is cheerful and the illustrations of bike parts and procedures are welcome, the book does suffer from a bit of an overstuffed, overdesigned lack of readability -- the small orange san serif text on a black background can lead to a headache. Still, Pidd does the bike world a great service in tackling many of the issues facing urban cyclists every day, as well as providing the type of basics every cyclist needs, at one point or another, to know. It deserves a solid space on the bike bookshelf.

Cycling Fines In Copenhagen Are Increased to Help Discourage Breaking Traffic Laws

2012-01-05T10:11:00.000-08:00

Some of the biggest dangers to cyclists occur when they are riding improperly or breaking traffic laws. On any given day, it is difficult to not come accross a rider that is riding against flow of traffic, jumping curbs, and running stop lights/signs. If the US would adopt some of the new fines being implemented in Copenhagen, maybe it would start to detour these dangerous actions, make the streets safer for riders, and create a better perseption of riders from motorists. Mind you that I have converted the fines to US dollars, and that these infractions would be occurring on Copenhagen's protected bike paths.

Beginning in the new year, riding no-handed, cycling through a red light, or forgetting to signal a turn will cost bicyclists dearly in Copenhagen. The traffic law changes will result in fines for a variety of bicycling infractions jumping from $85-$100, and in some cases to $175. It is the first increase in biking fines in 12 years.

Cycling on the pavement, riding without lights, and cycling through a pedestrian crossing are among the acts that will net a $100+ fine, while cycling against the traffic, running a red light and using a mobile phone will result in a $175 fine.

According to a Konservative MP, Tom Behnke, the fine increases are meant to discourage cyclists from breaking traffic laws.

“A $175 fine will hurt more, so that most people will think: ‘Oh, that sucked,'” Behnke told Politiken newspaper.

But a 100 percent jump in the cost of cycling infractions overshoots the mark, argued the cyclists’ union, Cyklistforbundet.

“Parliament is using a bazooka to shoot a butterfly in this case,” the union’s head, Jens Loft Rasmussen, said in a statement. “It cannot be right that it should cost [the equivalent of] one fourth of the cost of a bicycle to talk on a mobile phone while on a deserted bicycle path.”

Rasmussen, however, was not against the notion of fining cyclists.

“We don’t think cyclists should have free rein,” he told Politiken. “But we know that it is primarily motorists who cause the serious accidents - it’s not cyclists who kill others. Cyclists can be irritating, but I believe that smaller fines would be more appropriate.”

A Copenhagen Police spokesperson, John Sckaletz, told Politiken that while he hoped the fines would help to decrease traffic chaos, he questioned the higher fines’ preventative effect.

The traffic laws not only affect cyclists, but motorists as well. Registered traffic infractions that used to cost between $85 and $200 will after January 1 cost $335, while speeding tickets will increase by between $100-$200.

Biking fines, effective Jan 1

Cycling without lights in the dark: $115
Using a hand-held mobile phone while biking: $170
Missing or defective brakes or reflectors: $115
Cycling through a red light: $170
Cycling against traffic: $170
Cycling across a pedestrian crossing: $115
Cycling on the cycle path on the left side of the street: $115
Not respecting traffic signs or arrows: $115
Violating the right of way: $170
Failure to signal a turn or stop:$115
Cycling no-handed: $115
Cycling on the pavement: $115
Holding onto a vehicle: $115
Having two or more people on a regular bicycle: $115 per person
Wrong position while/before turning: $115
Non-functioning bell: Warning

Milk Crate Basket/Bike Seat

2012-01-04T13:34:00.000-08:00

I love bikes and I love when designers reuse materials to make bikes more functional and efficient. So what's not to like about "Two Go" by Israeli designer Yael Livneh?

Using a reclaimed milk crate, the piece acts as an additional bike seat for carrying a passenger or it can be converted back into a crate for carting your groceries home. Very neat, very low tech, and a great way to add capacity and adaptability to that greenest of machines—the bicycle.

Head over to designboom for more pictures and a detailed description of the Two Go concept.

NYC Bike Counts Up 298% In Last 10 Years

2012-01-03T10:11:00.000-08:00

New York City has become much more bike-friendly over the past decade, and despite some bumps in the road, momentum seems to have increased over 2011. StreetFilms point out in the video montage above, the bike count in NYC is up almost 3X since 2001, and it has doubled since 2007. Public opinion surveys show that support by New Yorkers for more bike lanes is increasing, and the data shows that pedestrians are safer where there are bike lanes. All of this is worth celebrating! Let's keep going and make even more progress in 2012!

Top 10 Bike Sharing Programs

2011-12-29T07:47:00.000-08:00

With bike share programs popping up all over the world, it's easier than ever to skip the rental car and see a new city on two wheels -- or cut your carbon footprint by riding around town instead of driving. And as each city puts its program together, the focus is on one very important aesthetic: The bikes themselves.

From the all-American red of Capital Bike Share to the sophisticated muted tones of Italy's BikeMi, here's some of my favorite bike share bikes around the world. The patriotic red of Washington, D.C's Capital Bikeshare bikes is just part of what turned this 2008 upstart into the biggest bike-sharing program in the country: Though it already boasts more than 1,000 cycles at 114 stations around town, the group announced plans to add nearly 300 more bikes in the fall of 2011.

Paris launched its bike share program, Velib, in July 2007 with more than 10,000 bicycles placed around the City of Lights; by its fourth birthday in 2011, the program was offering more than 17,000 bikes at 1,202 rental stations. But who wouldn't want to pick up one of the sleek gray bikes -- complete with a front basket -- to avoid the traffic while picking up a baguette from your favorite boulangerie?

Istanbul isn't a city that's known for its friendliness to bicyclists -- one rider quoted in a piece on EurasiaNet said, "Other drivers on the motorway act as if they don't see you. You are a ghost." -- but if you're willing to brave the steep terrain and the vehicles, you can grab one of these royal blue bikes from Ispark.

Melbourne also chose a vibrant blue for its shared bike program, which launched in 2010 but didn't get rolling quite as quickly as organizers had hoped. A year after the program's beginning, Australia's The Age reported that riders were still making about 2,000 fewer trips each month than needed to subsidize the cost of the program, but that plans for additional bike parking locations could improve the ridership.

Hubway, the bike share program for Boston, Massachusetts, debuted in the city in July, 2011, with more than 600 cycles installed at 61 stations from Seaport Boulevard to Harvard Stadium. The city has also installed or has plans for a total of 12 more miles of bike paths to make it easier for residents to get from Point A to Point B on these metallic gray cycles with Green Monster-inspired detailing.

There's no missing these bright green, red, and yellow bikes from the Taipei bike sharing program Youbike which began in March 2009 with a pilot program of 500 cycles that were used by 20,000 customers in the first six weeks.

Following the success of the Parisian Velib program, Montreal also jumped into the world of bike sharing.
They started what the New York Times called "the continent's most ambitious" program, Bixi, in May 2009, with 3,000 cycles.

Not sure you want to brave a rental car -- complete with driving on the wrong side of the road -- in London? Use the Barclay's Cycle Hire instead, where you can rent an appropriately sedate navy blue bike (and still feel like you're traveling like a local thanks to the Underground-inspired logo on the side).

Nice Ride, the Minneapolis, Minnesota bike sharing program, has been offering up these flashy fluorescent bikes since 2010 -- with more than 100,000 riders hitting the streets in the first season alone. But don't expect to get a bike if you're visiting in the winter: The snowy season means the bikes are only out from April to November.

BikeMi, the bike sharing service that provides residents and guests of Milan, Italy, with their own two wheels, plans to fill the city with about 5,000 cycles -- making it easy to go from art museums and coffee shops to the Duomo and the flea markets sans car.

Look at the Asshole in the Bike Lane

2011-12-19T09:33:00.000-08:00

The Speakeasy Tattoo establishment is on one of Toronto's busiest bike lanes, right next door to the Sam James Coffee Bar, said to be the best in town. People dash in for a coffee, but they take their time pulling a latte. The Sam James people try to encourage good behaviour among their customers with a sign outside their door,

And the Tattoo parlour put up their own sign:

But that didn't work either; people still parked their Hummers in the bike lane, as in this photo. So they set up a camera in their shop and started a website, logically called Look at the Asshole in the Bike Lane. It is quite festive, as they shoot their photos through the Christmas decorations.

Some retailers and stores hate bike lanes, and complain constantly that they reduce their business. Here's a shoutout for two businesses that do the opposite, they recognize that there are a whole lot of people who rely on bike lanes every day.

Bike Storage Getting Smaller and Better

2011-12-16T11:47:00.000-08:00

More and more of us are riding bikes, and more and more of us are living in small spaces. This creates a problem of where you put the bikes, and what kind of bike you ride. In London, Quarterre Studios have developed a line of bicycle accessories.

Quarterre is looking to bridge the divide between furniture and interior design and the reality of everyday life on two wheels. They have used their backgrounds in the automotive industry to create design solutions that are functional, efficient and stylish.

The Shadow is a bent piece of steel with a bit of leather, not much to it at all.

The freestanding, cantilevered form needs no mounting and can accommodate most wheel sizes. Crafted in steel, it is finished with leather trim for hanging a helmet and a high friction base to aid bike stability.

The Hood is a wall-mounted hanger.

The architecturally inspired form is made from folded sheet steel that will support a bike securely by its top tube and can be mounted easily to any solid wall. It is trimmed in high quality leather to protect the bikes frame.

It's unusual in that it can hold two bikes, and just leans against the wall. It is all FSC sourced woods with leather trim.

Sculpted with wood and metal, its adjustable arms can be tailored to fit each bike frame’s geometry. The stand can be leant against any wall or inverted to clear floor area in smaller spaces.

None of these are cheap, but if you are living in small spaces it helps to have stuff that is nice to look at. It's also nice to see that designers are giving serious thought to how to deal with the problem.
More at Quarterre Products, via Book of Joe

Infographics Comparing CO2 and Transportation Modes

2011-12-14T05:43:00.000-08:00

A new study by the European Cyclists Federation (ECF) looked at the CO2 impact of biking, driving cars, taking the bus, and found - not too surprisingly, but it's good to have the hard data to back up any claims - that if the countries of the EU-27 reached a level of biking similar to Denmark's, that reductions of CO2 emissions of between 63 and 142 million tons per year could be possible by 2050. This would be 12 to 26% of the target reduction set for the transport sector by the European 2050 targets.

This isn't some pipe dream. 2050 is far enough in the future that there's time to make infrastructure investments to bring up the level of "bike-friendliness" in cities where it is lagging, and it's long enough for smart incentives to work their magic and discourage car usage (especially in cities and for commuting).
As you can see in the picture above, bike LCA came to 21g of CO2 per kilometer, electric-assist bikes were 22g, buses scored 101g of CO2/km, and passenger cars got an average of 271g CO2/km (and that's just for short trips that could be replaced by bikes, which is what the study focused on).
Another thing to keep in mind when looking at the pictures in this post and in reading the numbers in the study (PDF) is that the ECF has been extremely conservative in its estimates, trying to avoid any accusations of being biased in favor of bikes. They went as far as not including infrastructure for cars, or things like parking and maintenance, in their calculations. This means that with a more realistic set of assumptions, bikes would come even more ahead.

Another thing of note in the study is the part where they discuss the life-cycle impact of cars (page 12 of the study). They found that 77% of the impact came from what they call 'tank to wheels', or the burning of the fuel. This means that fuel efficiency makes a big difference; while it isn't nearly as green as biking, if you have to drive a car, make sure it is the most fuel-efficient model that fits your needs and drive it sanely to keep MPG as high as possible.

Via ECF (pdf), BikePortland

Proof of If You Build it, They will Ride

2011-12-12T10:38:00.000-08:00

Felix Salmon at Reuters notes that since Janette Sadik-Khan was appointed and started installing bike lanes, the number of cyclists on the road has more than doubled. This is good news for cyclists, but also for drivers; if they are on bikes, they are not in cars or trains. Salmon writes:

The lesson of this chart, then, is that if you build bike lanes, cyclists will appear to fill them. That’s fantastic news, since cities with lots of cyclists are always the most pleasant cities to live and work in — even for people who don’t bike themselves.

Cool New Bike Rack with a Message

2011-12-10T10:11:00.000-08:00

This hot pink bicycle stand occupies a space the size of one parking bay and holds 10 bicycles. Originally commissioned by the London Festival of Architecture, the Car Bike Rack is designed by Cyclehoop and popping up all over east London as a way to determine where the demand for bicycle parking exists and promote cycling.

The stand is an ironic take with a serious message. Cars cause pollution and congestion, and their parking spaces could be dedicated to bikes, not cars. The "car" bike rack is made out of steel and anchored into the ground with bolts so it is good and sturdy. At the same time, it is a flat pack design, so that it is simple to transport and set up at events. It can also include a bike pump and be used for branding.

The bike rack has been spotted in many places, and for fun the creators have inserted a QR tag so that users can scan it and find out more about the project, and leave their comments. This is cool, providing practical bike infrastructure, and a message and urban art, all at the same time.

Cyclehoop is a young, award-winning company launched by a designer who had his bike stolen, and started to think about how he could make a more secure lock. From those roots, the company grew to include designers and architects who specialise in producing innovative and original indoor and outdoor bicycle parking products.
Another of their ideas is the communal Bike Hangar, where local residents can safely store their bicycles. The local council has now placed four of them in housing projects in the area.
They can be parked on the street--it takes up half a parking space--or outside a building. The lockers hold five bicycles and each resident pays an annual fee and gets a key to secure the bicycle in the spot. The lockers are easily transportable and secure.

The Bicycle: It's That Simple

2011-12-07T05:19:00.000-08:00

This is a beautiful video that makes you want to get on 2 wheels and ride around the city for an afternoon.

Chicago's First Protected Bike Lane Opened

2011-12-05T12:01:00.000-08:00

Chicago's mayor, Rahm Emanuel, has said that he wants to make his city more bike-friendly, and to help with that he has pledge that 100 miles of protected bike lanes would be built during his first term. The first of those is now open to the public, and as far as I can tell, it has been a great success so far! StreetFilms has shot the video below about it. It's great and should be shown to the mayor and urban planners of all cities around North-America.

Ever Wonder What Road Fatalities Look Like On A Map

2011-12-01T17:21:00.000-08:00

A group of transportation specialists from the UK, ITO World, has taken US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and overlaid it on OpenStreetMap interactive maps to create a stark reminder of the importance of road safety. It also doesn't require a huge leap of the imagination to think that if our transportation system was greener - more mass transit, more separated bike lanes, more walkable neighborhoods - that a lot of those deaths wouldn't have occurred.
The data shows fatalities for drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, etc, between 2001 and 2009.

For each incident you can see the person's age, sex and the year in which the crash took place. Where information is not available fields are left blank. (that's what the little colored squares show) Follow this link to check out the ITO map of road fatalities. There's also a similar map for the UK, and they want to create one for Canada.

Cycling Explained

2011-12-01T09:26:00.000-08:00

This is awesome and so true!

UK Report Studies Infrastructure and Cycling Safety

2011-11-30T09:12:00.000-08:00

Britain's Transportation Department just released a report which brings together all the existing data on cycliing infrastructure in the UK. It also says that it will take decades of sustained investment to achieve a functional urban cycle network across the country and a willingness to prioritise cycle traffic. The report also warns that piecemeal implementation of cycling infrastructure "is unlikely to be satisfactory".

Slowing down traffic, particularly at intersections, is identified as having the biggest likely impact on reducing cycling casualties with vehicle collisions, and also points out that this would also reduce casualties for all road users. Suggested methods of achieving this include physical traffic calming, redesigning urban streets in both their appearance and the way they are designed to be used by pedestrians and the wider use of 20mph speed limits.

However it is what the report has to say about other aspects of Britain's cycling infrastructure that will give food for thought to all sides in the debate on how best to provide the right environment for cycling in Britain and around the world. According to the report's authors there is little evidence for the safety benefits of cycle lanes, or advanced stop lines; and while segregated cycle lanes can offer greater safety to cyclists the points at which they connect with the road network can be so dangerous that they negate the safety benefit of segregation.

ASL - limited data, but limited evidence of benefit particularly associated with junctions. Notwithstanding this lack of evidence, ASLs may provide a priority for cyclists and might be applicable where there are heavy flows of right-turning cyclists.
Cycle lanes - There is little evidence in the UK that marked cycle lanes provide a safety benefit, although they may achieve other objectives. This lack of evident benefit may, however, represent a lack of quality and continuity in implementation. There is also extremely limited experimentation with, and no reported studies of, kerbed cycle lanes in the UK.
Segregated Cycle lanes – Providing segregated networks may reduce risk to cyclists in general, although evidence suggests that the points at which segregated networks intersect with highways can be relatively high-risk, sometimes of sufficient magnitude to offset any safety benefits of removing cyclists from the carriageway. However may be applicable particularly in rural settings.

Measures suggested as effective for improving safety at junctions include cycle pre-signals, continuing cycling lanes across junctions, raised cycle lanes at intersections, installing traffic signals at major roundabouts, and changing the design of roundabouts to slow traffic and to change the turning geometry to a sharper angle as on European roundabouts (thus eliminating the driver's blindspot). All of these measures have says the report had a measureable effect on improving safety for cyclists in other European countries most notably the Netherlands.

Interestingly while the report can seemingly find evidence for the safety benefits for cycle lanes in other European countries it finds little evidence for their effectiveness in Britain - as the report notes "a lack of quality" may be a factor in that. Perhaps Britain's best know network of urban cycle lanes London's Barclays Cycle Superhighways is currently the focus of much criticism with poor implementation and the failure to heed safety advice.

The report also has interesting things to say about the design and implementation of both traffic calming measures and cycling infrastructure. While the authors say that traffic calming in general is beneficial to cyclists, they also advise road designers to be aware that features such as road narrowing and speed bumps have the potential for creating additional conflict between cyclists and other road users. Those designing infrastructure for cyclists also need to ensure that it meets cyclists needs otherwise warns the report it risks making a problem worse not better.

The report can be downloaded from here on the Department for Transport website.

Very Cool "Spoke Art"

2011-11-29T13:15:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for an awesome way to add a little flair to your bicycle, you might want to consider this.

Katy Beveridge has tricked the eyes of thousands with her YouTube video, The Bicycle Animation, which depicts some of her most creative creations: bicycle wheel zoetropes. These spinning flip-book-like effects seem to produce moving images as the bikes gain speed.

A zoetrope is a series of still images that, when viewed in rapid succession, create the illusion of motion.

While this type of illusion isn't brand new (the graphic designer and animator credits predecessors David Wilson and Tim Wheatley in the video's description), the project itself is pretty unique in its application. The video took a few weeks to get right, and a few test shoots were uploaded to Katy's YouTube channel some weeks before the short production.

Activists Use Trash to Make Bike Lanes in Toronto

2011-11-28T09:10:00.000-08:00

I have been keeping up with the tragic death of Jenna Morrison,a 38 year old pregnant mom squished under the wheels of a truck turning right in Toronto a few weeks ago. Her death has led many to question why there are not separated bike lanes; the usual response from the politicians and the engineers is that there isn't enough room, that you cannot give bikes their own lanes without taking something away from cars, and they don't do that in Toronto.

Two bike activists, James Schwartz of the Urban Country and Dave Meslin of the Toronto Bike Union, set out to demonstrate that this wasn't true. They went to the intersection where Jenna was crushed and built their own bike lane with recycled twigs, cups and general trash (the painted bikes were installed by other guerrilla activists earlier).

Here is a truck turning before the bike lane was installed; note that the painted bikes are pretty meaningless in their supposed message of sharing the road. The truck is going right over them.

And when there is a lane, just a little bit of garbage on the road in this case? The trucks all go around it, no trouble at all. Dave Meslin writes:

Would cars and trucks respect the lines? Is there enough room for a large truck to make a wide turn without impeding on the bike lane? Can all vehicles – bikes, cars and trucks – share this intersection safely with proper markings? Sadly, the answer is yes – on all counts. Too late for Jenna. But not too late for this to be a wake-up call. Bike lanes save lives. They create a safe space, they keep motor vehicles away from bikes, and most importantly, they raise awareness of all road users – that they are sharing space with others.

Even UPS drivers, who believe that bike lanes exist for their convenience, (at least for parking) drove the few extra feet to avoid the bike lane. All evidence that it is time that the traffic engineers got on a bike and started thinking about what they can do to reduce the carnage on the roads.

More at The Urban Country and the Mez Dispenser

B-Cycle is Coming to Baltimore

2011-11-21T09:12:00.000-08:00

Baltimore is a significant step closer to introducing bike sharing, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has announced. The Board of Estimates approved a negotiating agreement between the City and B-Cycle, the company with bike shares in Denver, Chicago and eight other cities. Mayor Rawlings-Blake presents bike sharing as the latest in a series of efforts to promote alternate forms of transportation in Baltimore.

The plan is to install 250 bikes in 30 stations around the city next summer or fall. The system will work like most major bike shares- the first half hour is free, after that the user pays an increased fare for every hour or half hour. B-Cycle will raise the estimated $1.2m to build the infrastructure, so the City will pay next to nothing.

Mayor Rawlings-Blake has also introduced the Charm City Circulator, a fleet of hybrid-electric, free shuttle buses, welcomed ZipCar to Baltimore, installed electric car charging stations and increased the number of bike lanes.

Amsterdam's Cycling Culture

2011-11-21T06:23:00.000-08:00

When you think of Amsterdam, one of the first images to spring to mind is the bicycle. The Dutch capital is a city where everybody seems to owns one, and the sight and sound of scores of cyclists whizzing up and down streets is something many take with them when they leave.

The video below explores the culture of bike riding in what's considered by many to be the cycling capital of the world. Paying a visit to the world's largest cycle parking lot, Kona's Mitchell Scott speaks to a few of the people who leave their bikes in the 10,000-capacity, multi-storey building. On the agenda is what makes riding in the city so special and how bikes are passed down through the generations.

Occupy Movement-Portlandia Style With Bike Swarm

2011-11-17T07:34:00.000-08:00

Alexis Madrigal writes in the Atlantic, that the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York is best seen as an API (application programming interface) for a global movement, Portland has added a typically Portlandia twist to its Occupy activities. As police began to move in to evict Portland's encampment early Sunday morning, November 13, a swarm of bicycles continually encircled the two park areas, to serve, one organizer said:

"as another thing the police have to focus on, and a huge booster for the crowd."

Now, with actions such as occupying the New York Stock Exchange and the Brooklyn Bridge planned for November 17 in New York, Portland plans to occupy corporate banks in the city. And another bike swarm will be along for the ride.

A bike swarm, or large collection of bikes rolling along together in civil disobedience activities, is not an original Portland concept. In fact, says co-organizer Katherine Ball, she learned about bike swarms when at the Copenhagen COP-15 climate meetings in December of 2009.

At an event called the Bike Bloc, a group of activists lead by The Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination put together a couple of bike-related strategies for civil disobedience. The first, the swarm, was simply a group of cyclists who, cycling together, attempted to circle around an area of protest in an organized fashion in order to provide diversion.

Another tactic was to create tall, easily erected platforms for a few people to rise above a crowd and relay information about what was happening ahead and behind to the middle of a group. At the Occupy Portland November 13 eviction, the bike swarm consisted of between 50 and 100 cyclists, circling around the two downtown parks where the encampments were being dismantled by police. Swarm co-organizer, Dan Kaufman of CrankMyChain, noted that bikes were just another means of demonstration.

As an individual swarmer commented at the BikePortland.org web site coverage of the event:

"When there is a massive show of intimidating armed force against unarmed citizens who are doing nothing worse than congregating in a large number, you have to be on the side of the unarmed people. You just do." - Daniel R. Miller

At some point during the eviction, police stopped the swarm from advancing, but no major clash between the swarm and police was reported.

In tomorrow's Swarm the Bank event, Katherine Ball said she hopes to have a swarm at least as big as the one that supported the eviction proceedings.

"Portland is the U.S. biking city, so it just makes sense that bikes are a part of Occupy here."

The Battle Over Bike Lanes Hits the Press

2011-11-16T16:51:00.000-08:00

Something happens when you put architecture and urban design critics on bikes; the tone of the articles change, they become almost poetic. Below are articles excerpts from New York and Toronto, which are in the middle of the battle of the bike lanes. The war on the car in New York and the war on the bike in Toronto, and architecture critic Michael Kimmelman writes a lovely piece about the Pleasures of life in the slow lane. He describes the aesthetic possibilities:

I don’t mean they’re great to look at. I mean that for users they offer a different way of taking in the city, its streets and architecture, the fine-grained fabric of its neighborhoods. Decades ago the architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown wrote about how we see cities differently at different speeds. Las Vegas was their example, and they wrote about driving versus walking (skipping over the bicycle). But the point stands. On a bike time bends. Space expands and contracts.

He concludes his ride, and his story, in Central Park:

Aesthetics aside, the bike lanes are about urban livability and about encouraging the sort of street culture that, as Jacobs reminded us, a healthy and democratic city depends on. The Central Park Lake was an echo of the Hudson at the start of the day, bringing the trip full cycle. This was the only way to travel.

It would be nice if this elegy brought out the best in readers, but alas, it just brought out the usual comments:

Too many cyclists are nuts and indifferent to the rules of road that they are supposed to follow. I hope that when King Bloomberg finally leaves office, he'll take Khan and her bike lanes with him.

another wrote:

Bloomberg has become an object of derision for many, if not most, New Yorkers, for having forced his will down our throats for far too long. If the opinion polls are accurate, the majority apparently can't wait to see him go, and, as one poster said, take Kahn with him.

Which is exactly what happened in Toronto; The suburban hordes rose up and elected Rob Ford, who famously has said about cyclists who get killed: "In the end of the day, it's their own fault." He has been pulling up bike lanes all over town. Elected on a platform of cutting spending, he is in fact spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to put things back the way they were before the bike riding pinkos messed it up. A lot of people have buyers' remorse these days, as this bull in a china shop is breaking everything that people love in Toronto, from libraries to museums. Former urban issues reporter and now book reviewer John Barber writes about the the war on the bike with its nastiness and vitriol, in the Globe and Mail.

The more bicycling becomes the “right thing to do,” it seems, the more that doing it becomes a dangerous provocation. Everybody is angry. Half the people who say “Good for you” at the sight of a bike helmet actually mean, “Bully for you, you planet-saving prig.” And once behind the wheel, they get their revenge.
That's one reason I rarely wear a helmet any more, which is bound to be the second thing newscasters will mention in the event that my legs are crushed under the wheels of a 12-tonne truck. When the Toronto Sun begins referring to cyclists as “helmet heads,” de-personalizing individuals to make them easier to hate, the uniform becomes uncomfortable.

He concludes:

Are there more idiots than ever riding bicycles in Toronto? It's undeniable. But God does not distribute His idiots disproportionately, according to their choice of transportation. And idiots on bicycles are largely harmless. The truly dangerous idiots – the ones Toronto is unaccountably willing to tolerate, given its disgraceful traffic safety record – are the ones driving.
As annoying as the proliferation of idiots on bicycles may be – both to motorists and to other cyclists who get lumped together with them – it should be seen for what it is: a simple function of more bicycles. A good thing.
Or not, if you prefer. Because in the end, morality doesn't matter. Bicycles will continue to swarm the city in ever-greater numbers. They are inevitable because they are useful.

And of course, the letters to the editor think otherwise:

All downtown cyclists should be required to pass a licensing test, just like motorists, and wear a vest with a license number on it over their clothes, just like motorists must display licence plates on their car.

Finally, just to back up John Barber's point, Joe Peach at This Big City actually documents the environmental benefits that make cycling so inevitable. They include

Embodied Energy, The amount of energy required to produce a bicycle is tiny compared to many other forms of transport. A 7.2kg road bicycle with a carbon frame uses 11,546,658,000 Joules of energy during its production compared to 118,284,466,000 for a ‘generic car’ produced in America in 2008.

Air quality A bicycle’s environmental sustainability is about more than just low embodied energy. If enough people switch from polluting transport modes to a bicycle – a zero emission form of transport when in use – there is potential for reduced carbon emissions and improved air quality in our cities.

Noise pollution Pollution is about more than just emissions. Noise levels in cities can also be considered a pollutant, with associated long term health risks.

Add to the fact that every person on a bike is one less person in a car or on an overcrowded transit system that costs those taxpaying drivers a bundle to subsidize, it is pretty surprising that there is so much antagonism.

Rules of the Road for All Drivers

2011-11-14T19:25:00.000-08:00

Before I begin, this isn’t an anti-driving post, I'm not lambasting drivers. As much as drivers need to be more cyclist aware, follow road rules and drive safely, vica versa always applies!

Learn to share

As a car driver you may think the road belongs to you, but nobody owns the road. Everyone has a right to pass and re-pass on public highways. By law, a bicycle is a vehicle, so treat it like one.

Appreciate that cyclists are helping you

Counter-intuitive to what you may believe, cyclists actually reduce congestion on the roads by not driving cars. They ‘re reducing the time you spend in traffic jams as they’re taking up so much less space. Cyclists have a phrase for this, often seen on t-shirts and posters: One Less Car.

Avoid dooring cyclists

It’s illegal! It can also be fatal, and happens more than you’d expect. Don’t open any doors without checking there aren’t any cyclists behind you. You could easily sweep them clean off their bikes and it won’t be pretty. Think about the breadth of your door, it’s easily 3' wide.

Realize cyclists are vulnerable

You’re driving a vehicle hugely heavier and more powerful than theirs. In any impact, they will be the losers. Perhaps it’s best we take after most European countries which operate ‘strict liability’. These regulations result in the motorist’s insurance usually being deemed to be responsible in any crash involving a cyclist. In the same way that a cyclist would be at fault in a smash with a pedestrian. With the driver always at fault in any accident, drivers become evidently more cautious around cyclists.

Helmets don’t equal guaranteed safety

Of course they’re definitely worth wearing, it’s just that drivers often think a cyclist with a helmet is 100% safe. Well, they’re not.

A helmet is designed to withstand head-on impacts of no more than 13mph! Some cyclists choose not wear to wear helmets and studies showed they are given more caution by drivers. A cyclist with a helmet, however, is by no means invincible.

Exercise some caution and be patient

90% of cyclist casualties in recent years were caused by careless inattention, firstly by drivers, secondly by cyclists. It’s your responsibility to avoid hitting the cyclist, not the responsibility of the cyclist to avoid getting hit by you.

Pay attention and be on the lookout for cyclists at all times, especially when reversing. Use your mirrors as cyclists may overtake slow-moving traffic on either side. They may sometimes need to change direction suddenly, so just be aware of this and observe any indicationsthey give such as looking over their shoulder. Don’t tempt them into taking risks or endanger them.

Allow plenty of space

When overtaking a cyclist you’re required to give them as much room as you would a car. They may need to swerve to avoid hazards. Always anticipate that there may be a pothole, oily, wet or icy patch or some other obstruction. Cyclists endanger themselves by cycling in straight lines!

Don’t drive too close behind a cyclist as you may not be able to stop in time if they come off their bike or do something abruptly. Unless youhave an entire clear, empty lane in which to pass, slow down and wait until there is room to pass. Pass them slowly!

Drive slowly on low-vis roads

On rural roads or those with limited visibility remember that a cyclistcould be around the next corner. It could also be an elderly person, a child or an animal. Reducing your speed reduces the risk of something happening.

You can’t see ahead of hills and curves, slow down as you don’t know what’s on the other side. Make sure you can stop the car at all times. At night the need to do so is more exaggerated. You need time for the headlights to shine on the road ahead and recognise that there’s something there.

Cyclists have a right to claim the lane

That’s correct. They have as much right as you do to take up the entirelane. You may think they’re being utterly selfish by doing so, but in fact they are preventing having an accident. They really aren’t trying toslow you down, it’s just the safest way for them to cycle particularly if there’s a blind bend, a narrowing of the road, a high risk junction, pinch point or traffic lights ahead. Additionally if there’s a narrowingof the road, they’re stopping you squeezing through far too closely beside them.

Cyclists should never cycle in the gutter as it gives no room for avoiding obstacles and leaves them no room to fall if an accident occurs, meaning they could go straight under your wheels. Not nice.

Beware a right turn

Turning right is how most accidents occur. A cyclist may sneak up, perfectly legally, beside you while you’re waiting impatiently at a red light. It’s not at all illegal for cyclists to filter on the left or right of lanes but it is often difficult to spot them, especially when hidden by your blind spot. You’ll hit the cyclist as they carry straighton and you’ve made a right, into them. Also be vigilant when pulling out of a side street, or parking space/lot.

Get on a bike!

Not until you experience what it’s like to be a cyclist on a busy road will you truly be able to empathize with them and realize how careless drivers can be at times. Cyclists can too be careless, but it usually ends in them getting hurt, not you!

Guerlla Bike Lanes in Mexico City

2011-11-14T11:51:00.000-08:00

The citizens of Mexico City have been demanding bike lanes for years now, and despite promises made in legislation passed nearly four years ago, they've barely seen any. So, since the government has failed to provide the city's cyclists with safe lanes to ride, those cyclists banded together to make a powerful public statement -- they painted their own bike lanes on the streets right out front of the Congress building in Mexico City.

Jimena Veloz, one of the activists engaged in the project, explained the motivation for the project on This Big City: "Mexico City’s government pledged in 2007 that it would build 300 km of bike lanes around the city by 2012. However, the city still only has 22.2 km because most money is allocated to car infrastructure, leaving aside non-motorized mobility."

Be sure to read Veloz's account of how the cyclists took matters into their own hands, soliciting funds for the project on a crowd-funding site and taking to the streets with paint and rollers. They completed 5 km of bike lane -- which they called Wikicarril, or 'Wikilane' -- in a single day. Veloz writes, "We worked for 8 hours. We painted 5 kms. We spent less than 1000 dollars. How much would it cost to actually build the bicycle infrastructure the city needs?"

Kudos to Veloz and co. -- this was a powerful, peaceful, and visually appealing way to rally support to an overlooked cause. And Mexico City, with its perpetually choked roadways and streets thick with smog, could use the push towards more sustainable transportation options more than almost anywhere.

The True Cost of Commuting

2011-11-04T11:53:00.000-07:00

Even forgetting the huge environmental damage caused by car-commuting for now, the monetary costs are high -- usually higher than most people expect.

Financial blogger Mr. Money Mustache crunched the numbers and a company called Streamline Refinance created the infographics above to make things clearer (and probably to convince you to move closer to work).

The 10-year costs are particularly impressive, and they show how just a few miles more add up over the years to a huge amount of extra money spent and fossil fuels burned. There's a pretty strong correlation between money spent on car-commuting and CO2 emitted, since the biggest operational cost of a car is the fuel, so the money figures in the infographics would also map pretty closely to CO2 numbers (proportionally speaking).

Not only that, but it's also costing commuters so many hours of their lives. At least if you take mass transit, you can read, and if you bike or walk, you are keeping yourself healthy.

Top 20 Bicycle Friendly Cities 2011

2011-11-04T07:56:00.000-07:00

Mikael Colville-Andersen, who many of you know as the man behind the Copenhagenize and Copenhagen Cycle Chic blogs, also runs Copenhagenize Consulting. They've just released a very cool index of the most bicycle-friendly cities around the world, ranking the top 20 based on a pretty exhaustive list of criteria. Despite having the word "Copenhagen" in its name, the overall winner for 2011 is Amsterdam with 54 out of 64 possible points (one of its bike parkings is pictured above).

To see the whole index, check out the official website: The Copenhagenize Index 2011. Each name in the list is clickable and has a short writeup.

If you're curious about the criteria that were used to rank the cities, that information is available here. Some of those are inherently subjective (perception of safety, social acceptance), but a well-defined point system made it as close to objective as possible. For example, social acceptance was on this scale:

0 points: Bicycle users have no social acceptance in the city and are regarded as complete outsiders. Very few people use their bicycles apart from on weekends for a bike ride.
1 point: There is some social acceptance but it is mainly focused on recreational cycling. Bicycles are still not accepted as feasible transport in cities. Still a lot of antagonism towards cyclists and the simplest of bike lanes or tracks generate public outcry.
2 points: Cyclists are not an uncommon sight on the streets. Motorists generally watch out for bicycles but the public doesn't always back infrastructure or traffic calming.
3 points: The onus is on drivers to watch out for cyclists and they are largely respectful of them. Bicycle infrastructure and facilities such as traffic lights for bicycles are accepted. There is limited public outcry when new lanes or tracks – or traffic calming
4 points: Drivers are accepting of cyclists in all situations, and most are cyclists themselves.

In general, having such an index (and updating it every year using comparable data) can only lead to good things. It's similar to how many NGOs rank corruption or ease of doing business. Nobody wants to be at the bottom of the list, and those that do well end up incorporating that into their self-image and don't want to fall behind. It's a great motivator -- a carrot and a stick at the same time!

Bike/Ped Projects Under Attack Again by KY Senator

2011-10-29T07:45:00.000-07:00

When I first started blogging, I thought "How in the world can biking and walking be controversial?", but I soon found that there are adversaries everywhere. They are good exercise, fun to do and -- as an alternative to driving everywhere -- helps us save money and the environment. And even though both biking and walking are increasingly popular for transportation and recreation today (thanks in large part to a recent flowering of federally-funded trails, bikeways and pathways that make getting around on two wheels and two feet safer and more convenient) they are still under attack.

In these antagonistic political times, bikers and walkers are now being targeted by some members of Congress. In September Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn proposed stripping all designated federal funding for bike and pedestrian projects from the pending Transportation Bill. After an outpouring of opposition from citizens coast-to-coast, Coburn withdrew his amendment.

Now bicyclists and pedestrians are under attack again, this time in an amendment from my old home state, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. He wants to redirect every last penny of money dedicated to bicycling and walking to bridge repair instead. It is scheduled for a vote next Tuesday. (Here's how to contact your U.S. Senators and Representatives to save federal bike and pedestrian programs.)

Now we all agree that safe bridges are important. Look at the tragic bridge collapse four years ago in Minneapolis that took 17 lives. But safety for the millions of kids and adults that bike and walk every day is important, too. Since 2007, 2800 cyclists and 20,000 pedestrians have died on America's roads--many due to the lack of sidewalks, bike lanes and other safety measures that federal funds provide.

We shouldn't have to choose between safe bridges and safe streets. Here's why:
*First of all, Senator Paul's amendment will not even come close to fixing America's bridges. Biking, walking and the other so-called "transportation enhancements" that Paul wants to kill account for less than two percent of the total Transportation Bill. It would take 80 years using money saved from scrapping these programs to finance the backlog of current bridge repairs--not to mention future needs.

*States are not spending the money already allocated for bridge repairs. Last year, they returned $530 million to the federal government. That represents a big chunk of total bike and pedestrian projects.

*Federal money to make biking and walking safer and more convenient is a great investment in America's future that pays off in safer streets, reduced environmental damage, greater energy security, improved public health and more resilient, neighborly, pleasurable communities.

To get a picture of the importance of federal bike and pedestrian funding to local communities, take a look at Minneapolis, which last year was named the #1 Bike City in America by Bicycling magazine. Federal funds through a special federal pilot program to promote walking and biking for transportation is a major reason for this honor, which was met with shock by many around the country who could not believe that a place in the heartland, famous for its ferocious winters, could outperform cities on the coasts.

But that skepticism fades with a close look at the facts. Close to four percent of Minneapolis residents bike to work according to census data. That's an increase of almost 33 percent since 2007 when the federal Non-Motorized Transportation Program began, and 500 percent since 1980. At least one-third of those commuters ride at least some days during the winter, according to federally funded research conducted by Bike Walk Twin Cities (the local organization coordinating the $25 million Non-Motorized Transportation grant). Even on the coldest days about one-fifth are out on their bikes.

Minneapolis also launched the first large-scale bikesharing sytem in U.S.--called Nice Ride--and boasts arguably the nation's finest network of off-street bicycle trails. It's largest source of start-up capital came from the federal grant. "Biking has become a huge part of what we are," Mayor RT Rybak declared to a delegation of transportation leaders from Pittsburgh and Columbus, Ohio, on a Minneapolis tour sponsored by the Bikes Belong Foundation this summer. "It's an economical way to get around town, and many times it's the fastest. I frequently take a bike from city hall across downtown to meetings."

This year the city is adding 57 new miles of bikeways to the 127 miles already built, again with a substantial share of the funding coming from Non-Motorized Transportation programs. An additional 183 miles are planned over the next twenty years. All of this in a city where bicyclists of all ages and backgrounds already ride recreational trails the goal is to encourage people to hop on their bikes for commuting or short trips.

This is not a far-fetched dream, since nationally half of all automobile trips are three miles or less--a distance easily covered on bike in twenty minutes.Mayor Rybak, who gained national prominence with his leadership during the 2007 bridge collapse and rapid rebuilding project, stressed that in these lean economic times, cities across the country need to be creative about how they spend transportation dollars. Big-ticket road engineering projects to move ever more cars must give way to more efficient projects that move people by a variety of means--including foot, bike, transit. "We need to get more use from all the streets we already have," Rybak said.

Changing Perceptions by Just Riding a Bike

2011-10-28T10:34:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year Jack Lakey of the Toronto Star, AKA "The Fixer", went on a rant: Are cyclists alienating drivers by being selfish and rude?. He was complaining in particular about how cyclists "chronically break the law" , blow through stop signs and ride on sidewalks. James Schwartz responded with a video on his blog, the Urban Country.

After an exchange of emails with James, the two of them went for a bike ride together, so that "the Fixer", whose gig at the Star involves solving reader's problems, could learn about the problems cyclists face. The result was a surprise to both of them. Lakey writes:

The idea was to provide us with examples of the perils encountered while riding, and to show us the need for and advantages of infrastructure that makes cycling safer and more viable. But an unintended consequence of our journey was soon apparent: Cycling is an immensely enjoyable way to get around, especially on a fall day when moderate exertion results in minimal sweat.

The Fixer concludes:

By the time we were done, we'd seen so many examples of crumbled asphalt and sunken sewer grates near the curb that we had a new appreciation for cyclists' complaints about having to mix with traffic to get around them. It was a revealing experience for a guy who had thought of bikes as more of a toy than a real vehicle, one that should be tried by any driver guilty of making the same mistake.

Most cyclists also drive, and understand the frustrations that face drivers; that is probably why they got a bike in the first place. When I am in a car I know to check my right mirror before I turn, to look before I open my car door, to never, ever park in a bike lane. Perhaps if more drivers occasionally got on a bike, we would all get along a little better and would have fewer squished cyclists.
More in The Star and The Urban Country

"Mo" Bike Sharing Cobines Zipcar and Bike Share

2011-10-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

Introducing mo from LUNAR Europe on Vimeo.
What do you get when you cross a Zipcar model of car sharing with a bike sharing system and a public transport pass on steroids? You get Mo. Mo better. Mo convenient. Mo mobility.

Developed by Munich-based design firm Lunar Europe, Green City e.V. and the University of Wuppertal, Mo is supposed to fulfill people's actual mobility needs.

Mo's creators studied Munich's inhabitants - noting that more than 50% of all trips are still taken by personal car (although 80% of citizens own a bike). Once they had the stats, Mo's makers tried to create more attractive mobility options than those cars. According to its designers:

"Mo provides alternatives: the appropriate means of transport is available for any occasion and in any situation, even spontaneously."

mo - mobility for tomorrow from LUNAR Europe on Vimeo.
Mo's smartphone app is the brains of the system, keeping an accounting of each member's use of public transport and of rentals or 'shares' - of a bicycle or cargo bikes, e-bikes, and cars. All of these options can be accessed through a single car, or also through a member's smart phone. The app also features train and bus timetables.

Mo tries to encourage users to take the most sustainable option by offering positive incentives. Depending on the transport option chosen, the Mo user might accrue miles for later use. Even if a user is using her own bicycle (fitted with a special RFID tag) he or she can earn award miles. Those miles can later be used, for example, to get car sharing, or to charge an e-bike. Accruing larger Mo mile balances reduce a user's membership and usage costs.

Mo's creators, who tested and piloted the concept in Munich, are hoping Mo will also function as a kind of social network by letting users stay connected via the software and announce rides and events. While Mo is definitely a step forward in car and bike sharing, it seems like a really effective system would also involve pedestrian activity in some way.

How the Dutch Got Their Cycle Paths

2011-10-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

How did the Dutch get their cycling infrastructure? This question keeps coming back because it is of course relevant to people who want what the Dutch have.

Road building traditions go back a long way and they are influenced by many factors. But the way Dutch streets and roads are built today is largely the result of deliberate political decisions in the 1970s to turn away from the car centric policies of the prosperous post war era. Changed ideas about mobility, safer and more livable cities and about the environment led to a new type of streets in the Netherlands.

The recent video to introduce the Dutch Cycling Embassy explains this very briefly, but there is a lot more that can be said about it.

The Netherlands’ problems were and are not unique, their solutions shouldn’t be that either.

I think the Dutch could and should be copied. If you look at the key factors for the change in Dutch thinking, you see these are just as valid today. The world is still too dependent on fossil fuels and many cities in the world have congested streets. Streets and roads which are also very dangerous, especially for vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists. And that is even more so when these road users are elderly or children.

Green Phase Bike Traffic Signal

2011-10-24T17:18:00.000-07:00

No Longer Stuck in the Middle, Waiting for Left Turns
I've said it again and again: To increase cycling as a main form of transportation, our roads need to be modified to make it safer and more convenient for people on bikes to get where they're going. This means physically separated bike lanes, safe bike storage/parking, and more bike-friendly traffic signalling. A good example of the latter is the 'green phase' signal used in Groningen, in the Netherlands (see the video below).

Groningen: Green Phase for Cyclists from Streetfilms on Vimeo.
When the 'green phase' signal is on, cyclist from all junctions of the intersection can cross, in any direction, including diagonally. Of course, you probably don't need to put this on every intersection. But all along a main bike lane/bike boulevard, it can make a big difference in safety and reduce an important bottleneck in the flow of cyclists.

Tack Strip In Portland Bike Lane

2011-10-23T15:02:00.000-07:00

If this was done on purpose, I hope they catch whoever did this...
Jeremy Dunn, a Portland cyclist, found something strange on his path while he as riding westbound on the bike lane on NE Marine Drive. A piece of tar paper with thumb-tacks pushed through it so they are perpendicular to the ground, just about the width of the bike lane. He took the photos shown above and below and contacted BikePortland to report the incident.

While it's impossible to be 100% sure that this was done on purpose - it could be a piece of construction debris of just the right size that just happened to be set there - it appears very unlikely, especially since it's not the first time that this happens around that area. One commenter going by the name of "Lunchrider" wrote: "I got hit last week. At exactly that spot I didn't even notice the tar paper. Let me tell you double flats are no fun. I didn't even think of a hostile attack just put it up to bad luck, and had a friend from work pick me up, it was after all my luchrider. I ride this area 5 days a week and have NEVER had any problem's with any driver." So if people pick up the strips when they notice it, chances are that the one found this week wasn't the same one as last week, which means that someone is adding new ones...

Fortunately, Dunn and his riding mate didn't flat. "We had our heads up and avoided it because it looked like refuse," he said, "but we came across another rider about a mile down the road who had mysteriously double flatted."Marine Drive is a very popular bike route and it's also a high-speed arterial road with only one standard vehicle lane in each direction. It's not hard to imagine that some people simply don't like the presence of bikes out there. It's worth noting that this incident comes just about one month after well over 20 people flatted on tacks thrown on bike lanes in North Portland.

If you are in Portland and have seen anything like this, please let me know in the comment below. And if you've seen who did this, even better, let the local authorities know.

Antelope Takes Out Mountain Biker

2011-10-17T11:20:00.000-07:00

This video is going viral, and is one of the craziest things I have ever seen. Watch the video below.

According to the video description on YouTube, the rider is Evan van der Spuy of Team Jeep South Africa and this happened at "the Time Freight Express MTB race at Albert Falls Dam." Via: UrbanVelo.

Be careful out there. Wear your helmet and respect the locals!

Giant Responds to GM Add

2011-10-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

Giant Bicycles has responded to GM’s anti-cycling advertisement by coming up with an ad of their own. It reads:

“Reality DOES Suck. Luckily bicycles don’t… In fact it’s the best thing you can do to save hundreds… even thousands of dollars a year. It doesn’t matter if you’re in college, young, or old. The only thing you have to lose is some weight.. and the burden of fuel prices”.

The ad compares the price of a Giant bike ($420) to a $27,300 Chevy truck as well as highlighting the annual fuel cost for the truck ($3,600).

The ad doesn’t even need to mention the insurance costs, parking costs, depreciation, repairs, registration, or maintenance. Or the fact that Americans work 2.9 hours each day just to pay for their cars.

“Stop driving.. start pedaling.”

Bike Lock That Looks Like a Water Bottle

2011-10-12T18:33:00.000-07:00

I've seen a lot of clever bike lock designs, but the Küat Racks Bottle Lock is definitely unique. This is a great gadget for cyclists -- a bike lock that stores as the same size and shape as a bottle of water so it fits right in your water bottle rack.

Bike theft is a real problem, but that doesn't mean ugly bike locks have to be an unfortunate side effect of bicycling around town. Most locks look rather ugly when they aren't in use. Usually they just sort of hang from your seat, haphazardly wrapped up and waiting to be looped around a lamp post.

The Küat Racks Bottle Lock has a 5-foot long cable of 7.5mm braided steel that rolls up to store in the bottle-shaped case. It includes two keys and a lock, which can also be stored inside the "bottle", and weighs just 14 ounces. It would have an expected sale price of $34, if it makes it onto store shelves. That's really not so bad for a stylishly-hidden lock for your bike.

The only problem, of course, is where does your water go?

Apartment Bike Storage Solutions

2011-10-11T18:23:00.000-07:00

Sure, bicycling is a fun and earth-friendly way to get around. But if you have to store your bike inside your apartment for one reason or another, they can begin to take over your place if your home is challenged in the size department. Below are some great products and solutions that will help organize all your rides.

Bike shelf systems can easily be found on Etsy.com. They can range from sleek to crafty to rustic. All play on the idea of the shelf and are a great solution if you have ample horizontal wall space.

If your space is a bit smaller, a vertical solution might be a better bet. The Cycloc lets you hang your bike along any wall, and gives you a small storage space for riding accessories.

A bigger challenge comes when you're sharing a space with another biker or are a bike enthusiast with more than one bike. If you've got multiple bikes, try this system.

Taken from IkeaHacker, you can construct this bike rack using just a few simple pieces of hardware from Ikea: a Stolmen post, a couple of brackets, and four hooks.

Building the rack works as follows:
1. Cut two pieces of the square pipe; choose the length depending on the design of your bike frame.
2. Drill 3 holes into the pieces of square pipes.
3. Screw a hook on each end of the pipe; screw the pipe to the bracket.
4. Now you can mount the stolmen post and adjust the two brackets on it.
5. Finally glue some of the rubber foam to the hooks to not scratch the bike frame.
Total cost? Just over $40, and should just take ½ an hour to construct.

You could store it on the ceiling. It looks great; the challenge will be getting it down. This might be a better idea for longer term storage.

Portland Bike Commuters Ride Over 1 Million Miles Last Month

2011-10-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

Roll On, Oregon from Bicycle Transportation Alliance on Vimeo.
Twelve thousands cyclists in Portland - two thousand of them new cycling commuters - logged 1.3 million commuting miles in September's cycling commute challenge sponsored by local advocacy organization the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. That's a corresponding savings of 1.3 million pounds of carbon dioxide from being emitted by the cars those commuters otherwise might have driven. But what motivates Portland cyclists to brave the city's famous endless drizzle in order to get to work in an eco-friendly fashion?

Perhaps it's the caloric savings. Portlanders are famous for loving their craft beers, and this year's commuters burned 67 million calories in their bike-based commutes. As Bike Portland noted, that's the caloric equivalent of more than 95,000 Big Macs.

Or, it might be the sheer competition. This year, Oregon Health & Science University had the biggest number of new bike commuters to sign up to do the commuting challenge (and simultaneously received the League of American Bicyclists "Gold" designation as a bike-friendly business). Local Reed College had the highest percentage of participants for an organization of more than 500 people (10% participation rate), while tiny Cast Iron Coding, and Grapheon Design both with under 25 employees, had 100% participation.

But more likely than not, the reason for Portland's strong percentage of new and ongoing bicycle commuters is probably due to simple, basic and important bicycle infrastructure. Portland isn't even in the same league as European cities such as Groningen, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, etc. And in terms of raw numbers, 12,000 cyclists is a puny statistic - New York City probably beats that by a magnitude of 10 every weekday morning. In most of the U.S., however, Portland's bike culture and its bike infrastructure still reign supreme.

And while you can't say they are zealous revolutionaries, Portland's transportation officials aren't resting on their laurels, either. Recently, the Portland Bureau of Transportation received permission to regulate speeds on residential roads, which allows the Bureau to drop speed limits on "neighborhood greenways" to 20 miles per hour and hope painted sharrows encourage motorists and bicyclists to peacefully coexist. In addition, another project called the "50s bikeway" - 4.3 miles of north to south "safety" corridor that will encourage cyclists and try to better protect pedestrians, too, received approval from the City Council and will likely be implemented within a year.

University of Virginia Bike Repair Station

2011-10-04T09:13:00.000-07:00

I stumbled on this image randomly, so I don't have too much information about it except for what I can see. Based on the stickers, it's a bike maintenance/repair station at the University of Virginia, and the station was put there by the sustainability program of the university (any reader going to the UV can confirm?). It's an elegant design: Everything you need is easily accessible, including an air pump and all kinds of tools, and the anti-theft metal wires probably make it more trouble than its worth for vandals to try to steal a few tools. Not only does it help cyclists keep their bikes in good working order, but it also advertises cycling to all students who see it. Great idea, I'd love to see more of those everywhere. Check out Sustainability UVA.

50 No Hand Bike Moves

2011-10-04T05:56:00.000-07:00

There are lots of great reasons to ride a bike- it's good for your health and for the environment, and it's economical. But if you're not having fun on your bike, what's the point? To help you out, here's a video from director Ninian Doff called "A Professional Display of No Handed Bike Moves," which is just what it sounds like.

Performed to "Golden Tree" by Martin Brooks, the tricks include the "approaching squid," the "Def Leopard drummer" and the "sobriety test."

And for those of you thinking of something derogatory to say about this post, why not get on your bike and practice the "nasty internet commenter?"

Red, Bike and Green

2011-10-03T17:05:00.001-07:00

Red, Bike and Green

Minneapolis Midtown Greenway Video

2011-10-01T11:38:00.000-07:00

Minneapolis' Midtown Greenway: Good for Biz, Good for Bikes. from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Minneapolis is a strong contender for 'top city for cyclists in the USA'. Part of what makes it so great is the 5.7 mile long Midtown Greenway, which is the highlight in a network of 100 miles of bike paths. It goes from east to west and provides the best way to go through the city at rush hour. It was built over an abandoned railway corridor, showing other cities how their old industrial infrastructure can be up-cycled. Check it out in the great video above from Streetfilms.

Capital Bike Share Is Expanding to Alexandria

2011-10-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

The shiny red bikes that are now so common on the streets of the District of Columbia could be coming to Alexandria as soon as 2013. Alexandria City Council members this week discussed a plan to join the growing Capital Bikeshare system.

The popular bike sharing program just celebrated its one-year anniversary, and its one-millionth ride. There are now 1,100 bikes, and over 110 bike stations, spread around the District of Columbia and Arlington, with that number set to grow with an expansion planned in those jurisdictions and for parts of Montgomery County. The program is beloved by bike enthusiasts; not always so beloved by drivers and budget-cutting Republicans.

Alexandria's proposal pilot program would provide for a handful of bike sharing stations in highly-trafficked parts of the city like Old Town, Del Ray and Carlyle. The one-year pilot would be paid for in its first year with federal money. Alexandria's city council may formally consider the bike sharing plan in October.
It's good timing. Bike rentals could become even more appealing to Alexandrians quite soon. VéloCity Bicycle Cooperative, a nonprofit that teaches and provides space for do-it-yourself bike repair, has to move out of its Old Town space by the end of January, and may have to leave Alexandria.

What is the 'ultimate utility bike'?

2011-09-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

On the heels of the Oregon Manifest Construction Design Challenge 2011, Oregon Manifest aims to find out what bikes we like. They attracted a big batch of entries - 31 altogether - yet the judges' winning pick also set off a web storm of criticism. This year's group of entrants included a trio of special collaborations. IDEO and Rock Lobster, Fuseproject and Sycip, and Ziba and Signal teamed together to show what would happen when bike builders conspired with renown industrial and product designers. Now the show's organizers want to know what we all think. Take a look at the three collaborations' resulting bicycles here and register your vote over here.

The Fuseproject Local trike shown above, designed by Jeremy Sycip and Yves Behar, puts cargo carrying up front, is just 40 pounds total weight and has an ingenious built-in front u-lock to make it less awkward to park a three-wheeler. In a perhaps shameless bit of product placement, it has Fuseproject's own wireless Jawbone Jambox speaker on-board.

The IDEO/Rock Lobster Faraday takes electric-assist to a whole new level of pretty. The leather-trimmed Faraday has the e-bike battery fitted into the top frame tube, and wiring and electronics run in the down tube. Because the run time is short (30 - 40 minutes), the Faraday can be quickly re-charged in just 10 minutes. And the cargo isn't neglected here - the front rack is integrated into the frame for smooth hauling. Very strong and practical integrated LED lighting front and back, too.

Ziba/Signal's Fremont bike lets you carry your cargo carrier with you - the sidecar, with a smart integrated canvas bag (it has a locking mechanism to keep it attached) can be literally folded on top of the back rack when not in use. The roomy bag can also fold flat to allow for other bulky parcels in the sidecar. The lower-slung mixte frame on the Fremont is meant to make it appeal to both men and women, as step-though is easier than on a diamond frame. Last but not least, the Fremont has a handy, integrated braided cable lock and extra pin mechanism that locks the steering.

So, which bike could you see as a cargo-hauling car replacement? Vote here.

E-Bike Design Wins Bike Design Challenge

2011-09-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

The Oregon Manifest 2011 Constructor's Design Challenge was meant to get custom bike builders to come up with some innovative and snazzy new utility bikes, in the hopes that their best and brightest ideas will trickle in to the cycling mainstream. This year's top winner ($3K in prize money) was Tony Pereira's entry, a pretty hot pink bike with a carbon fiber front-rack lockbox with slots for stereo and phone, an integrated u-lock, and a zippy electric assist engine. Pereira's addition of electric assist seemed to open the judges' minds to the possibilities of e-bikes. Pereira managed to make his e-bike look fairly streamlined - its battery is housed in a black box under the top frame tube, fairly reminiscent of the '50s gas-tank bikes made to resemble motorcycles.

"2011 is almost over, but 2012 will definitely be the year of the e-bike." - Tony Pereira

Pereira, who also won the top prize in the 2009 Oregon Manifest challenge, is well-known in craft bike-building circles for his beautifully sleek steel frames. In that year's competition, part of his bike's winning credentials was the integrated u-lock in the frame.
This year, integrated locking systems abounded in the bike entries, as security was one of the competition's criteria. None of the other entries seemed to match Pereira's bike's elegance and impressive feature set.

Though Pereira's bike doesn't move us beyond our conception of what a bicycle should look like (as the University of Oregon's entry does), it manages to take existing technologies - usually a plus for reliability and interoperability - and combine them in a truly pleasing and ready-to-ride way.

The bike used a BionX electric-assist hub-based regenerative motor. The system has four separate levels of assist, and at the lowest level of assistance has a maximum range of 60-65 miles. That's quite a bit better than current e-bikes such as the Sanyo Eneloop, which has a 17 kilometer range.

Pereira said he built the bike with his own cargo-hauling needs in mind - the cargo being his young son. On the 51-mile race that tested the mettle of the Manifest bikes, Pereira was pleased that intermittently deploying the assist for the first 30-miles had used less than 50% of battery capacity.

The electric assist added 15 pounds to the bike's weight, which came in at approximately 60 pounds. Pereira's bike seems to signal that utility and cargo bikes will gain their widest acceptance if they have, or can be retrofitted with some type of assist. Here's Oregon Manifest judge Bill Strickland of Bicycling Magazine on Pereira's winning design:

"When Tony came in for his presentation, he told us, 'This is a replacement for a car.' It's got an engine, a locking trunk and a radio."

Dutch Cycling Embassy Opens

2011-09-27T18:38:00.000-07:00

Cycling For Everyone from Dutch Cycling Embassy on Vimeo.

The Dutch Cycling Embassy officially opened earlier this week and posted this cool video about cycling in the Netherlands. The Embassy facilitates cycling worldwide as the most modern, efficient and sustainable means of transportation by sharing our expertise and technology as the world’s number one cycling country.

The Dutch Cycling Embassy is unique because it is a comprehensive network of:

private companies: traffic and infrastructure consultants
and manufacturers
NGOs, universities and research institutions
national and local governments

The Dutch Cycling Embassy can put you in touch with its extensive Dutch network. Whether your goals involve research, planning, policy-making, product development, manufacturing, construction or building, they can help you find the best possible partners.

Ford Is Making e-Bikes

2011-09-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

Joining Daimler's smart car, BMW, Audi, and Land Rover, Ford Motor has joined the E-Bike world with a two-wheeled concept vehicle the automaker debuted at the current Frankfort Auto Show. Recognizing the growing electric bicycle market (30 million sold worldwide last year), Ford is on board the "bike wagon" along with making electric 4-wheeled vehicles.

Ford's E-Bike idea is the latest news. The trapezoidal frame is targeted for both men and women and the lightweight lithium-ion battery of aluminum and carbon fiber weighs just 5.5 lbs and is concealed within the frame. With a range of 53 miles per charge, the design will offer effortless Economy, Comfort and Sport rides with data displayed at your fingertips noting speed (up to 15 mph), distance covered, etc.

Ford's E-Bike doesn't go into production any time soon, but shows what the US automaker is thinking about the future of transportation. I'd heard Bill Ford at TED Talks earlier this year discussing the solutions in the works for "smart cars" that talk with each other as a way to address global gridlock and then saw it in action at the company's Forward with Ford conference, which explored what's ahead from Fusion and Focus, as well as lightweight plastics, natural fibers and recycled materials already used in the interiors.

This E-Bike design also integrates "magneorestrictive" sensors, borrowed from Formula One cars, that activate and deactivate the motor within a fraction of a second, which Ford claims is the first time this technology will be implemented with a bike.

Source: AFP's RelaxNews via The Independent UK

Protected Bike Lanes Mean Safer Streets in Chicago

2011-09-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

All Chicagoans should feel safer on their city's streets—whether driving, walking or riding a bike. No matter if you're an 8-year-old child or 80-year-old grandmother, they should be able to ride a bike in the city without fearing for their safety.

Protected bike lanes are designed with all kinds of people in mind. I believe they make biking a safe and easy option for everyone. Protected bike lanes use physical barriers or buffers between people riding bikes and motorized traffic to help cyclists feel more comfortable on the street. By providing a physically separated space on the roadway for bicylists, protected lanes help reduce conflicts by encouraging predictable and responsible behavior by all street users. As a result, the street become a safer place for everyone.

Some numbers that bear repeating

People want safer streets: A Portland, OR study found that 60 percent of the public would be interested in biking, but do not for fear of safety.
Protected lanes reduce crashes: New York City's protected lane on 9th Avenue led to a 56 percent reduction in injuries to all street users and an 84 percent reduction in sidewalk riding.
Protected lanes increase ridership: New York City's Prospect Park West protected lane saw a 190 percent increase in weekday ridership, with 32 percent of those cyclists under age 12.

Active Trans’ Neighborhood Bikeways Campaign is working for the creation of a 100-mile network of protected bikeways that will reduce crashes and increase ridership while connecting Chicago neighborhoods.
Learn more and join the campaign.

Built In Bike Lock

2011-09-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

There is the basic bike rule that the lighter the bike, the heavier the lock. Toronto designer Andrew Leinonen breaks the rule; in his new design, the bike is the lock. It's really clever; the lock is an integral part of the frame, and without it, the bike is unrideable.

Andrew tells Herb at iBikeTO:

Putting my mind to the endemic problem of urban bike theft, I realized that in a big city like Toronto or NYC, any lock (no matter how bulky or heavy) can only serve as a deterrent for a determined thief with the right tools. This challenge was the inspiration for the StayLocked bike, a design that integrates the lock directly into the frame. The bike's seatstays have been replaced with a U-lock on a pivoting joint. This is a 'scorched earth' approach; any thief that breaks the lock breaks the bike as well, rendering it unrideable and without value.

When riding the bike, the U-lock shackle is securely clamped into the rear triangle, but when the rider wants to lock up the bike, they simply unlock the shackle, swivel it into place around the post (or whatever) they are locking to, and slide on the lock body, as with a standard U-lock. Using the lock is instantly familiar, and doesn't require that riders change their behaviour or carry anything with them besides a key. It even saves weight, since you don't need to bring a heavy lock or chain with you (and a rack or bag to carry it with).

Because the U-lock replaces part of the frame, there is much less additional weight to carry around, and it eliminates the possibility of forgetting your lock. Furthermore, the bike thief doen't get anything for their work, the bike will fold up under them. Just don't ever lose your key.

Folding Electric Bicycle by Concious Commuter

2011-09-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

Conscious Commuter has come up with a bike that brings together the compactness of a folding bike, the extra oomph provided by an electric bike, and a hat-tip to the classic step-through frame.

Gabriel Wartofsky of Conscious Commuter has spent 2 years worth of nights and weekends working on come up with a design that is both functional and looks wonderful -- none of the clunkiness that so many electric bikes are burdened with, and less of the kids'-toy look that many folding bikes have.
Here's the slick video showing how the bike folds and unfolds:

From the bike's blog: "Our Prototype #001 was outfitted with a LiPo 36 volt, 10 ah battery, capable of 15-20 miles per charge. it had a 350 w motor, and a throttle assist system. We are discussing the possibility of offering an initial internal battery with the bike, with the option to outfit the bike with auxiliary external batteries for long distance hauls."

If you think this bike design is as rad as I think it is, you can check out the Kickstarter campaign through which the designer is trying to raise $25,000 to get the bike beyond prototype, taking it to the next level of design -- which will be crowdsourced!

I'm looking for crowd-sourced input on options, configurations, colors, names and styles - be part of the product design / development process! Want to be on the inside of live product design sessions? You'll have the opportunity to participate in live on-line planning meetings -- available to all $10+ backers!

The bike is not just an interesting idea, it is also a tribute to Wartofsky's mother who encouraged the family to travel by bike since the family never owned a car: "I want people to experience again the magic of the bicycle my mother lived by for most of her life. My design challenge was to design an e-bike that will enable commuters to re-acquaint themselves with the hidden magic that surrounds daily travel. An easy, fun way to get around. And I can't do it without you."

New York Times Gives Sadik-Khan a Big Thanks

2011-09-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

The graphic says it all, as Frank Bruni writes about the wonderful job New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan has been doing for cyclists, in the face of serious opposition. Bruni writes in the Times:

If a city believes that biking is part of a better future, it must sometimes muscle through a reluctant, rocky present. That's precisely what Bloomberg and Sadik-Khan have done, in a fine example of the way the mayor's frequent imperiousness and imperviousness to criticism can work to the city's long-term advantage. If anything, the two of them should move even faster and more boldly, but that's pure fantasy, given the opposition, bordering on hysteria, they've met so far.

Bruni quotes the Chicago transportation commissioner on why bikes are such a good alternative to the car:

The Chicago transportation commissioner, Gabe Klein, noted that biking pushed back against a range of modern ills. "There's the congestion problem," he said. "The pollution problem. The obesity problem. The gas problem."

On top of all that, it makes an important statement about our priorities -- about our willingness to amend the reckless, impatient, gluttonous ways that have created not only smog and clog in our cities but also a staggering federal debt.

"Bikes are definitely a symbol of what your city stands for," said Klein.

New York Tour de Fashion

2011-09-08T17:38:00.000-07:00

Fashion Week is in full gear in New York City, and stylish men and women are wanting to make way through the streets of the city to see the Spring 2012 collections in anything but a cab or underground are able to tap into something a lot more fun: decorated bikes by some of the world's top designers.

The bikes, available to Fashion Week attendees free of charge, are custom-decorated by the likes of Doo-Ri Chung, Diane Von Furstenberg, Betsey Johnson, Nanette Lepore, Isaac Mizrahi, and more.

The Tour de Fashion bicycle fleet, purchased by the Fashion Center from Bowery Lane Bicycles, are handmade in New York City and will be available free of charge at tented bike stations located on the Broadway Plazas at 40th Street.

Interested in buying one of the stylish cycles? Bids started today for post-fashion week purchase. Place your bid at Charity Buzz.

$4 Grocery Paniers for Your Bike

2011-09-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

One of the easiest trips that people can make by bike, is to the grocery store. With the use of reusable bags, people can typically get out of a simple grocery trip with 2 bags of stuff. Without store bought paniers, it can be difficult and dangerous to transport these groceries by bicycle. Below is a cheap and easy way to make homemade paniers to help on these short trips.

The materials are really simple:

2 reusable grocery bags
1/4" thick 2'x4' piece of masonite (or "hardboard" at Home Depot; same stuff used for clipboards)
1 bungee cord

You can find the reusable bags at many places now, but possible places include Publix, Target, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Meijer, Walmart, Kroger, and Ikea. They also make insulated ones which would be great for refrigerated items.

Tip: You can get a piece of the wood deeply discounted if you look for one that's damaged.

Cut some of the wood to fit into the bags:

Staple the wood inside the bags to keep them in place.

Then cut two of the handles in the middle:

Sew the bags together:

Then, throw them over your bike rack!

Use a bungee to keep them in place, and voila! You have lightweight panniers that fold down flat and that you can take into the store with you!

Sure beats paying $50+ for ones from the bike shop. You could probably make them even stronger by double-bagging, since by now all of us probably have about 12 of these give-away canvas bags piled up in our closets.

Bike Sharing Tour de World

2011-08-31T16:51:00.000-07:00

London's Boris bikes are being invited to all the best places. They went to Paris for an outing and they have been invited to Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal as well. Lucky them.

Two enthusiastic Brits took their Boris bikes to Paris for the day on the Eurostar train. Sure, it would have been cheaper and easier to just pick up a Velib when they arrived, but c'est la vie. Les Boris Bikes went everywhere: the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Musee d'Orsay and the streets and bridges of the magic city. They did receive some curious looks: a couple of Londoners on Parisian hire bikes cycled over to find out what on earth they were up to with Boris Bikes in Paris. And it was sore to cycle on the cobbled side streets.

As for a comparison between London and Parisian bicycles :

"My first thoughts are that Vélib bikes look a lot less conspicuous than the big heavy blue London bikes, and thus are less noticeable in the streets which might be a good or bad thing depending on your point of view. They also come with padlocks, which seems a bit superfluous as Vélib bike stands are as plentiful as Boris Bike stands are in London. They do however have the advantage of a larger front basket, which it would be nice to have in London, as the small "rack" on the Boris Bikes is a bit restricting."

Bixi bikes from Montreal, Melbourne, London, Washington DC / Arlington, Minneapolis and Ottawa / Gatineau are visiting Toronto for the month: bienvenue. Although there are only two of each, cyclists will get a chance to try out this international selection, if they can find them.

They are all painted different colours: London is blue, Ottawa is red and white and Montreal is grey. There are local differences as well. The Minneapolis and Washington bikes have a half-basket. The seats on the Montreal bikes don't go as high as the Toronto ones. The brakes on the London bikes had to be switched because they are on opposite handles from the North American configuration.

Biking Your Kids to School

2011-08-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

Regionally here in Orlando, 15 percent of rush hour traffic is attributable to parents driving their kids to school. In 2001, only 16 percent of kids biked or walked to school as opposed to 42 percent in 1969, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

School is starting again and with it comes the question of how to get your children back and forth to school. Walking or biking to school has numerous benefits for your child and your family and can even help cut down on school traffic. With school starting back up, it is a prime time to direct focus on making routes to schools safer for children biking and walking to school. It also is time to train children how to properly ride a bicycle and what the rules of the road are.

Why shouldn’t you just drive them?
I’m sure you’re thinking that it is just so much easier to just hop in the car but there are a lot of benefits to having your kids bike or walk to school:

It’s healthier. Your son or daughter will now have two short periods of physical activity each school day for a total of 10 separate times. Your child will be less likely to be overweight and less likely to become sick. “Over the past 30 years the percent of overweight children aged 6 to 11 years has more than doubled,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Burning energy. Burning off a little energy in the morning will allow her to better concentrate at school. Burning off a little energy in the afternoon will mean he is less likely to be bouncing off the walls when he gets home.

Saving money. Gas is insanely expensive. Additionally, the first five miles of a car trip are when a car’s engine is the least fuel efficient.

Saving time. Obviously, a car is faster than a bike, right? Most schools now have a drop off procedure that involves your car sitting in a line with the other cars and waiting to drop them off. By going by bike, I bypassed this at my son’s preschool. His friend’s father commented to me several times that he would be sitting in his car, watch me ride up, drop Christopher off and leave while he had not moved. Additionally, trying to get my son strapped into a car seat is a battle. He will more willingly hop onto the bike.

Other perks include that your kids will get a sense of direction and you’re more connected to your community. We say “good morning” to those we pass along the way to school such as the gentleman we see walking his dog most mornings, check out flowers, learn where his friends live, etc.

Okay, I’m convinced. Now what?
Planning a route will take the most time. The route you drive is not likely to be the same route you’ll ride. Use low-traffic residential streets. For children younger than 9-years-old, use sidewalks, side paths or bike paths. People are not accustomed to look for bicyclists and pedestrians on sidewalks, however, so you will have to watch out for cars backing out of drive ways without noticing you. Intersections where there are stop signs, traffic signals or crossing guards are preferred.

Once you have a route, practice it on a weekend or other day there is no school. Bring a snack. Ride there, play on the playground equipment and eat a snack and then ride home. Is the route safe? Can your child ride the whole distance? Maybe a tag-a-long hooked up to your bike will be a better option.

Don’t forget
You and your child will both need helmets and will need to make sure you are wearing the helmets correctly.
You’ll need a lock for your child’s bike. A combination lock might be best unless you have a spare key.

When the weather turns colder
If your son or daughter is pedaling, they will be generating heat and may not need as heavy of a coat. However, since riding is faster than walking, a wind resistant outer layer is best.

Some precautions
Since children are shorter, it is harder for them to see over cars, etc. and it is also harder for drivers to see them. They often cannot judge the speed of cars and may think that the driver will “look out for them” the same way a parent would. Teach them to look left, right, and then left again before crossing the street and to only cross at intersections.

Do I have to ride with them?
Until about nine- or ten-years-old, most children will still need an adult to help them cross the street. Your school may already have a “walking school bus” or “bike train” or you can work with your school to start one.

For more tips on bike safety for children, visit the League of Illinois Bicyclists’ Kids Safety Information page.

Bike Lanes Are Good For Everyone

2011-08-25T19:54:00.000-07:00

Listening to the noise from some politicians in New York and Toronto, you would think that bike lanes are the worst things that ever happened to their roads, taking up space that was theirs and theirs alone. But Planners Ken Greenberg and Trent Lethco suggest otherwise; they actually claim that if drivers want more space on the roads, they should push for more bike lanes. It's like that old Kirk cartoon where the drivers stuck in traffic are all saying "If these idiots would just take the bus, I could be home by now."- the more people who use alternative modes of transport, the more room there is on the road for drivers. They write in the Globe and Mail:

Every additional trip we take on foot, on a bicycle or by public transit frees up significant space for drivers, since the "footprints" of these other modes are so much smaller. The cyclist beside you is not the car in front of you; the bicycle locked to a ring at curbside means one less parking space is taken. Driver, cyclist and pedestrian are complementary rather than mutually exclusive categories. Most of us are all of these at different times. What's crucial is the proportion of time we use each mode, and creating communities where the car is needed for only certain types of trips. For other trips, we can make more efficient choices.

It really makes perfect sense. I used to drive and now I cycle; that's one less car on the road, one less parking space being filled.

By promoting alternatives and making safe and comfortable space for cyclists (and pedestrians) in shared rights of way, we make room for driving when it's needed. By trying to make it easier for drivers by "hogging" the right of way, we make it impossible.

TWIKE - A Pedel/Electric Hybrid

2011-08-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen or heard of a TWIKE? They were invented in 1986, but are mainly rolling around in Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. They may not be new to you, but I hadn't seen any of these until a friend sent me a link to them. This is a perfect response to people when they complain about not riding a bike because of weather conditions or being worried about their appearance when they are commuting.

The TWIKE is an electric vehicle that is designed to carry two passengers and cargo. It can be driven in electric-only mode or electric + pedal power mode (pedaling extends the range of the vehicle but does not substantially add to the vehicle's top speed). The top speed of the TWIKE is 50-60 mph, and is steered with a joystick. The TWIKE is efficient, environmentally friendly, attractive and sportive.

The TWIKE isn't too cheap. The US price tag is $20K-$30K, but you can get several bells and whistles that make the TWIKE just as comfortable and stylish as any US car. There are only 25 in the states today, but since they are licensed as a motorcycle vehicle, they should increase in numbers as gas prices rise and people look for alternative ways to travel.

New Bicycle Light Systems Have Potential To Reduce Injuries and Fatalities

2011-08-17T17:23:00.000-07:00

I saw these 2 new concepts for bike lighting and had to share them. Lighting is the biggest component of bicycle safety in low visibility or nighttime conditions. There is nothing worse than turning your lights and the batteries are dead. This fear typically makes riders pack additional batteries, reflectors, or they just take their chances and ride. These systems are on the wheels and automatically are generating power and make the bike and the roadway visible.

The first is Revolights. Revolights consist of 2 thin profile LED rings (white in front, red in back) that mount directly to each wheel rim (just below the brake calipers) using a series of rim specific clips. Power is supplied via a thin wire to the hub where a lightweight and slim, USB rechargeable polymer lithium-ion battery is held in a special bracket. A small magnet is secured to the fork to provide speed and orientation information to the rings.

They are on prototype design version 4. V4 currently demonstrates all of the critical functions: it is simple to install, does not interfere with the ride, and is fully functioning. But further design elements need to be tested to get it to a production ready status; i.e. to a place where it can be used by everyone. This involves construction of a 5th, possibly 6th, prototype version in quantities that will allow testers to assure the lights are ready for prime time.

On the road, bike lights contribute to rider safety in two ways:
1) lighting - allows riders to safely navigate at night by illuminating their forward path.
2) sighting - increases the rider's front, back, and side visibility which signals their presence (i.e. i am a bike) and location to those sharing the road.

In 2008: The two most frequent causes for the 52,000 reported bicycle accidents are collisions with motor vehicles (58%) and individual falls (30%). Of the 716 reported fatalities, 69% occurred in urban areas and 39% were between the hours of 5 p.m. and midnight. Nearly 70% of all nighttime Bicycle-Car collisions are due to inadequate side visibility.

Gizmag has additional pics and info. The Revolights inventor and two partners are trying to raise money to take the idea to market via Kickstarter. As of this writing, he has more than $26,000 pledged toward a $43,500 goal. Who wants one? $220 is the expected price.

Project Aura: Bicycle Safety Lighting System from Project AURA on Vimeo.

The second light of note is the Aura system. Again, if you're tired of regular bike lights, check out these two ideas for illuminating your bike on the road, via the rims. Not only do they look cool, they allow you to be seen from the side, instead of just the front and back with traditional bike lights. Safe and sharp at the same time.

According to Gizmag: Aura comes from two industrial design sophomores at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, using six groups of three tri-color LEDs powered by a dynamo generator. The design won an international Core77 award for helping address the issue of nightime bicycling accidents.

An increase in bicycle lighting and sighting has the potential to reduce rider injuries and fatalities. It's time to provide rider's with a single bike light solution that allows them to safely experience the joy of riding, regardless of the time of day.

Seville Shows Proof In Their Success

2011-08-16T17:01:00.000-07:00

In my daily perusing of the internet, I came across an article about the city of Seville, Spain. I didn't know anything about the city, but saw that Seville hosted the annual international cycling planning conference, Velo City, which is organized by the European Cyclists Federation, this past March.

Apparently Seville is a perfect example, if any proof is needed, that if you build a cycle infrastructure, people will get on their bikes and cycle. The city went from a very basic starting point in 2006, the city built a full cycle track system that has seen the number of cyclists rise from 6,000 to 600,000 in four years. Seville’s local metropolitan authority estimates that that 6.6% of all journeys in the city are now made by bikes.

Under The Steering Plan for Bicycles (2007-2010), Seville has constructed 120 kilometers of segregated cycle tracks, up from the no cycle tracks at all. A public bicycle hire system has also been created in that time. Called Sevici, and based on Paris’ bike hire system, there are over 2,500 bicycles available which can be collected from 250 points over the city.

The rapid transformation of Seville to a city with a now ingrained cycle culture must become the point of reference to show that if investment is made than cities can become cycle friendly. So if Seville can do it, everybody can do it.

Bogota's Bikeways Are Awesome

2011-08-15T10:23:00.000-07:00

Riding Bogota's Bountiful Protected Bikeways from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

This is another awesome video by Streetfilms It is not only great because it shows us a powerful example of bike infrastructure improving a city, but also because it shows how you can change the perception of riding a bike among citizens by treating bikes as an equally important way to get around and building safe lanes in both poor and rich neighborhoods.

"When we build very high quality bicycle infrastructure, besides protecting cyclists, it shows that a citizen on a $30 bicycle is equally as important to one in a $30,000 car," said former mayor Enrique Peñalosa.

Bike Sharing Makes You Fit and Helps Save the Environment

2011-08-08T16:49:00.000-07:00

It's no longer big news when a European city gets a new bike share program, unless they do it bigger, better, or with a technical innovation that hasn't been seen before. It is newsworthy, however, that data is starting to trickle in - in this case, from Barcelona - indicating how beneficial bike sharing is to city residents. Just like regular city biking, bike sharing makes urban residents fitter and drops our greenhouse gas emissions, says a study published in the British Medical Journal. Those reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improvements to cyclist health far outweigh the risks from increased exposure to traffic and traffic's polluting byproducts.

Researchers compared a car's occupants tootling around Barcelona's beautiful paseos with a cyclist traversing the bike lanes on the highly successful Bicing bike share. (Bicing has increased cycle trips in Barcelona by 30%, where the average increase is about 3%.)

The results were given statistically: bike share users did have an increased mortality rate of 0.03 from crashes and of 0.13 from increased exposure to air pollution. The increase in physical activity from biking with the Bici bikes, however, resulted in 12.46 fewer deaths when compared with the car drivers.

In addition, Bicing has resulted in a reduction in annual carbon dioxide emissions in the region by 9 million kilograms. Which is about 1% of Barcelona's annual carbon emissions from all road vehicles.

The researchers used a health impact assessment to compare how car travel impacts city residents to how Bici travel does. They took their data pool from only regular Bicing users, and assumed that 90% of those had only started regular cycle commuting after Bicing came into being. The plus of this was that the study was able to measure differences more easily than if they had studied a group of regular commuter cyclists who simply joined Bicing when it started up instead of using their own bikes. The downside is that there's no way to know if that assumption is accurate.

The researchers also used Bicing's own data as far as length of trips and reasons for using the bike share - 68% of trips used for commuting to work or school and 37% combined with another mode of travel. The mean distance traveled by Bicing on a working day is 3.29 kilometers.

The researchers say that Bicing saves around 12.46 lives per year in the Barcelona population, and that this positive result is corroborated by two different studies - a Dutch study that showed the benefits of cycling "substantially" outweigh the risks in the Netherlands, and a 2009 study published in the Lancet that showed very real public health benefits in the UK and India by reducing emissions and encouraging active transportation.

Though the study's authors concede the study is limited by the "availability of data and the necessity to make assumptions to model likely scenarios," they carried out sensitivity analysis to assess the results, and also found that in all scenarios tested there was a net benefit (i.e. increased longevity) for Bicing users.

Slow Biking: Not Everyone Is In A Race

2011-08-03T18:25:00.000-07:00

Most cyclist have heard about or know about "Copenhagenizing", Mikael Colville-Anderson's term for learning to ride bikes like they do in Copenhagen, in street clothes, at a comfortable pace, usually without a helmet. Andrew Sullivan points us to the American version, where it has become part of the Slow Movement, and is now called Slow Biking, since a slow car movement has never caught on.

Celeste LeCompte makes some suggestions for Slow Biking in the San Francisco Chronicle:

-Choose a bike that lets you keep an upright posture. Racing-style road bikes encourage the rider to lean forward, while step-throughs, cruisers and mixte frame bikes are more upright. -- Look for fashion-protecting features. Keep your ride comfy and your clothes clean with good fenders, chain guards or internal hubs, flat pedals and maybe even a kickstand.
-- Go for gears. You're not looking for a lot, but more gears gives you more options when you're tackling San Francisco's hilly terrain at a more casual speed.
-- Ride safely. Even though you're riding slowly, don't forgo the helmet, stop at traffic signals and ride predictably.
-- Share the road. When you're riding slowly, it's easier to double up in the roadways and chat with a fellow rider. Bring a friend and enjoy the time to catch up.

I would also point out that slow biking is a lot safer. I typically ride a road bike and it is harder to go slow, but my wife's commuter is a "slow ride". She rides a 3-speed Trek Belleville that is relatively slower than conventional bikes, but she finds that she can dodge pedestrians and brake for opening doors a lot more easily than she would on a conventional bike.

Felix Salmon picks up the story at Reuters, and suggests that everyone should just slow down:

As a general rule, the propensity of non-bicyclists to give biking a try is inversely proportional to the average velocity of the bikers they see on the street. If you live in a city where women in wedge heels are steering their old steel bikes around their daily errand route, there's really nothing intimidating or scary about the prospect of getting on a bike yourself. If it's all hipsters on fixies, by contrast, that just makes biking feel all the more alien and stupid.

So, next time you get on a bike, give yourself an extra five or ten minutes, and take your time. You'll be much happier for doing so. And your happiness is likely to prove contagious.

While I agree with Felix about slowing down, I don't share his criticism of hipsters on fixies; I find that generally they would fall into the slow biking movement. It is more the jerks on probably stolen mountain mountain bikes, like the one I saw riding on the sidewalk yesterday, almost taking out a walking hipster, that are the real problem.

London's Boris Bikes Turn One Year Old

2011-08-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

It has been interesting blogging about cycling progress and seeing things blossom into successful systems. The Boris Bikes, or Barclays Cycle Hire, the official name, turns 1-year old this week. It's been a year since the rental bicycle system was introduced to London, and cyclists have taken to it with a passion.With 6 million journeys to date, they have captured the public imagination. Despite fears, only 200 of the 6,000 bikes have had to be scrapped due to vandalism and there have been no serious injuries reported.

In fact it has been such a success that an extension to the network has just been announced: to parts of the east, west and south of the city. A total of 4,200 docking points and 2,000 new bikes will be introduced by 2013.

Barclays have increased their sponsorship by an additional £25 million, and extended their deal to 2018. Although many have deplored the commercialization of the scheme, even with this influx of money the rental scheme is expected to lose £10 million in its first year, and is unlikely to break even any time soon.

As for wear and tear, 100 Boris bikes need to be repaired every day. However, with 20,000 trips made a day, this isn't too bad. The operator has a team of 15 mechanics patching them up. It would seem that most damage is due to the increase in casual users who are not so cycle-wise.

It's not perfect: the docking stations are often full so cyclists have to keep driving around until they find an open one to park their bikes. Docking stations can be empty in the morning when there is a rush of commuters and at some busier stations they should be many more bicycles available. One report found that the users are mainly white men between 25 and 44 years old, many earning more than £50,000 a year.
However, anecdotal reports indicate that many people end up buying a bicycle because of their positive experiences on the Boris bike.

London Transport has issued some interesting facts and figures about the first year.

There are 128,803 members, as opposed to casual users. They use 81,060 bicycles during the week and 17,311 on weekends. They represent 84% of the rentals and 16% by casual users. The average journey time for weekday trips is 16 minutes (the first half hour is free) and on the weekend, average time is 23 minutes.

Miami Critical Mass is Getting Huge!

2011-08-01T09:32:00.000-07:00

I have experienced a few great Critical Mass rides. My personal top 3 would be Paris France, San Francisco, and New York City, but if Miami keeps it, they may be taking 3rd.

This past Friday when cities all over the world had their monthly Critical Mass ride, and Miami was sporting over 800 riders. As you can see in the videos below, the riders are full of energy and celebrating the bicycle, and they take over 6 minutes to go by! The Bike Miami Scene has done a great job of promoting Critical Mass and has listed out their purpose, rules of the ride, and have used media to get the word out. Good on you.

Minnesota's Bike Sharing Growing to 1,200 Bikes

2011-07-31T07:47:00.000-07:00

I have been really impressed with the progress up in Minnesota over the past year or so. In the land of cold winters, topography, and varying political winds, they are pushing the boundaries of cycling. Nice Ride MN, Minnesota's great bike sharing program, is growing up fast. There are already a good number of bike stations (as you can see on this map), but they are expanding: They started last year with 65 stations and 700 bikes, and this year they're planning to end up with around 115 stations and 1,200 bikes. Reception has been good so far, and only one bike has been stolen (not bad compared to other public bike sharing programs). Check out the video above for more details on how it works and how - if you ever are in the area - you can rent a bike.

Cycling Up 14% In NYC

2011-07-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has just announced that biking is up in New York City by 14% from last spring. The NYC Department of Transportation says it recorded 18,809 cyclists per day, up from 16,463 in spring 2010. The figures are being released directly by Mayor Bloomberg’s office, a gesture typically associated with claiming credit for “good news.” Word of increased cycling comes as the city is preparing to roll out an announcement of a vendor for its 10,000-bike bike share system.

And it comes on the same day that a Quinnipiac University poll shows support for bike lanes edging up from a 17 point margin to a 24 percent margin, or from 56 to 39 percent in May to 59 to 35 percent today. In March, the margin of support was 54 to 39 percent.

Most of the increase in support comes in Brooklyn, home to a controversial lawsuit to remove a two-way protected bike lane next to Prospect Park. In May, 56 percent of Brooklynites said bike lanes “were a good thing because it’s greener and healthier for people to ride their bicycle,” and 39 percent said bike lane are “a bad thing because [they] leave less room for cars which increases traffic. Now, according to Quinnipiac, that margin is 26 percent — or 60 to 34 percent.

Bike lanes are the least popular in Staten Island, the only one of New York City’s five boroughs where fewer people like bike lanes than like them, 38 to 53 percent.

Consistent with a recent US report on attitudes towards transportation, bike lanes are most popular among those 18-34, where two thirds say the lanes are a good thing, and the least popular among those over 65, where just under half like bike lanes.

New York City says cycling is up by 262 percent since 2000, while, it says, the average risk of serious injury to cyclists declined 72 percent from 2000 to 2010. But the data shows an uptick in serious injuries between 2009 and 2010, from 100 to 113. In the last decade, the city has added nearly 400 miles of bike lanes.

Other big city mayors, including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, have said they want to expand their bike networks — by 40 miles a year in L.A. and 125 miles in Chicago by the end of Emanuel’s first term in office.

New York City counts cycling differently from other cities, which tend to rely on American Community Survey, or census data. But that data only counts commuters who use say in a survey they cycle as their primary way of getting to work, not actual numbers of cyclists on the streets.

New York City began counting cyclists at six heavily biked locations in 1985, when 3,440 cyclists per day were recorded. The locations are: the Manhattan sides of the Brooklyn Bridge, Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, Manhattan Bridge and the Williamsburg Bridge; at the Whitehall Ferry Terminal and on the Hudson River Greenway at 50^th Street.

Orlando's First Bike Corral

2011-07-28T11:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a great day for Orlando and for the state of Florida. Orlando installed its first bike corral, in the Ivanhoe Village District. Compliments have to be extended to FDOT, District 3 Commissioner Robert Stuart, and Ivanhoe Village Main Street. It shows how a need, a simple solution, and organizations working together can implement great things.

The new corral was installed in front of Ethos Vegan Kitchen, and even though a new bike rack isn't usually news worthy, this type of bike parking could be a break through for the increasing bike problems (lack there of) that face cities. This bike coral takes away one parking space for a car and installs 6 bike rings that could easily hold 12 bikes.

Providing ample, convenient, comfortable and secure bicycle parking is an important part of serving those who currently use bicycles for transportation and encouraging future cyclists. Bicycle parking is an inexpensive and efficient means of increasing both public and private parking capacity for the city as a whole.

2011-07-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

Since my visit to the Be Spoke exhibit at the Museum of Art and Design in NYC last summer, I have been interested in custom bicycle design. Of course there are plenty of fancy futuristic bicycle designs, but I always like to know what the future will bring in terms of cooler features and entirely novel forms. You'll notice, that most of the future-oriented bicycle ideas sport a bit of a Jetson's feel while falling short on amenities city cyclists really need - kickstands, fenders, back racks. Oregon Manifest, a bike design challenged sponsored in part by Levi's (recently out with bicycle jeans), is aiming to find the future of utility bikes. Competing for a $3,000 prize, craftspeople and student teams are looking to innovate, show off their bike builder chops, and fashion a bike that makes people able and willing to get out of their cars. Take a look!

"The economy is forcing everyone to focus on cycling as transportation, but too often "city bikes" are just road bikes with fenders and racks slapped on. Everyone's staying in the same box as far as design and approach. But Oregon Manifest is pushing us to find a better answer." - Shane Fedon - De Novo

A lineup of 34 illustrious bike builders and many student designers from Oregon as well as other U.S. states are working with some fairly specific smart criteria for a city bike. The bikes must have built-in anti-theft devices, fenders, lighting, some load-carrying capability, and some sort of kickstand mechanism so the bike can stand while parked.

Manifest's panel of judges will be looking for entries that also push the envelope in terms of function, materials used, technologies employed, and the ability of the bike to adapt to different environments and lifestyles.

And of course, it has to look good - "a complete harmonious aesthetic and functional whole," as the criteria states, with thought to a modern cycling audience and "curb appeal."

Not only that, right before awards are given, the bicycle design entries will be put through the paces - at least 50 miles of terrains including urban scenes, dirt roads, asphalt, gravel, hills, and stairs. I'll follow the action with posts on how the future of city and utility biking is truly shaping up. Stay tuned.

2011-07-25T18:15:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I had some good friends come up from South Florida and do some road riding in the hills of Clermont Florida. We also got to enjoy the final weekend of the Tour de France and some good conversations about the progress in Miami with their bike infrastructure. Apparently lots of new sharrows have been painted throughout the City of Miami and a new bike lane has been installed in Miami Beach.

It is great to see that the City is adding infrastructure to help the new DecoBike sharing program have safe routes for its users. It is also great to see that progress is coming to the Sunshine State and that riding a bike is no longer taboo, but is being embraced by all.

NW 10th Ave, between NW 7th St and SW 8th St (Little Havana)

NW 46th St, between 17th Ave and N.Miami Ave (Liberty City / Buena Vista)

NE 14th St, between NE 1st Ct and N. Bayshore Dr (Omni)

NW 28th St, between 17th Ave and 7th Ave (Allapattah)

Indian Creek Dr, between 41st St and 27th St (Miami Beach)

New Bike Bus Concept Looks Promissing

2011-07-21T09:13:00.000-07:00

BIKE GUIDE from Kukil Han on Vimeo.

A designer named Kukil Han from Seoul has posted his well thought-out innovation for a linked vehicle system he calls Bike Guide that would allow people to travel to tourists destinations around the South Korean capital in an eco-friendly manner. Han's concept is one of the best I've seen recently, and has a great deal of potential for European and American cities as well.

The idea is that people can sign-up for a guided tour of Seoul at any of the kiosks installed around the city. At the stations, tourists can see stops along the route, check for the next pick-up time, and pre-pay for the service using a touch-screen display. A hybrid bike-bus equipped with a solar power roof, seen in the image below, takes passengers to central spots around the region, where the bikes then detach for individuals to explore on their own before returning to bus and on to the next location.

Inside the bike-corral, riders can watch a television for information about the next point of interest, and, when exploring on the bike, have access to the same information, including departure time, GPS navigation, historical facts and more, on a handlebar mounted display.

From the video Han has posted, it seem the bikes are of the regular variety, however, I'd like to suggest electric bicycles instead, which would give riders more range. Plus, since the bikes are already mounted with a display unit, a lithium-ion battery system could help power the device, and the once mounted back on the bus, be recharged through its system, or through pedal-assist technology.

Update on Chicago's Protected Bike Lanes

2011-07-19T18:02:00.000-07:00

In early June I shared the good news of Chicago's progressive plan for protected bike lanes and cycle tracks under their new mayor, Rahm Emanuel. Unlike some cities, they are keeping their promises about bike lanes and Rahm Emanuel and Gabe Klein are now planning over100 miles of protected bike lanes to Chicago.

Funded by a federal grant, the Chicago Department of Transportation is installing the half-mile bike lane as a pilot program. The protected bike lanes will have a three feet buffer to parked cars and will be separated by delineated posts.

The addition of bicycle infrastructure to the city’s landscape is no surprise, Mayor Rahm Emanuel promised during his campaign for office to install 100 miles of protected bicycle lanes by the end of his term. The city’s new Transportation Commissioner, Gabe Klein, is also on board with adding bike lanes to the city’s streets. In addition to increasing bicyclists in Chicago, Klein’s foremost goal is to slow down traffic in the city.
Previous to his Chicago position, Klein served as the director of The District Department of Transportation in Washington, DC, where during his tenure, the city launched a bike-share program and expanded bike lanes.

I'm looking forward to watching and supporting Chicago’s efforts in increasing sustainable transportation options. Watch the video below to learn more about Chicago’s bike lane expansions.

Getting Rid of Toronto Bike Lanes Makes No Sense

2011-07-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

Go to Craigslist here

It's official; Toronto is tearing up its one year old Jarvis Street bike lanes and adding back a fifth driving lane. One Councillor said it's because a constituent complained I have 4 kids and I can't get home to them for dinner." Another said "more roads make cars go faster" which is just what cyclists need on Jarvis when there are no bike lanes.

During the debate about removing two suburban bike lanes, Councillor Michelle Berardinetti said "bike lanes are not a good fit for suburbs because we are forced to use our cars here" and "I never want to see bike lanes in Scarborough ever again." The mayor's brother, also a city councilor, says 'Atta girl, Michelle.' @Richard_Florida, who is living in Toronto for now, tweets: " TO debating taking out bike lanes, while other big cities are building separated lanes. How did it come to this."

Indeed, how did it come to this.

More Data That Proves People Prefer Separated Lanes

2011-07-14T09:11:00.000-07:00

In response to the never ending question of whether infrastructure helps increase ridership, Transportation Alternatives counted cyclists at three locations in New York City: one with no bike lane, one with a painted bike lane, and one with a protected bike lane. More cyclists used the safer lanes, which also had a narrower gender gap. The count at Sixth Avenue was taken from 8 - 10 a.m. and the counts on Seventh and Second Avenues were taken from 5 - 7 p.m.

The gender gap in American cycling is a thorny and persistent issue, and New York City performs relatively poorly on the measure. The percentage of female bike commuters has wavered between 20 and 25 percent of the total over the last two decades, but with a marked rise in the most recent years.

One of the best ways to narrow that gap, many experts agree, is to create space to bike separated from motor vehicle traffic. New bike counts from Transportation Alternatives provide a bit more support for that theory in the New York City context.

T.A. tracked the number and gender of cyclists at three Manhattan locations over two-hour spans. On Seventh Avenue at Charles Street, cyclists had to ride in mixed traffic; on Sixth Avenue at 26th Street, cyclists could ride in a painted bike lane; and on Second Avenue at 9th Street, cyclists enjoyed a protected lane separated from traffic by parked cars.

As the roads offered more separation for bikes, T.A. counted dramatically more cyclists using them. The effect was particularly dramatic for women: Only 15 percent of the cyclists on Seventh were women, compared to 32 percent on Second.

Those aren’t apples-to-apples comparisons — the share of female cyclists might vary based on the neighborhood in addition to the street design. More telling, perhaps, is a comparison of T.A.’s counts on Second Avenue to older data from the Department of City Planning.

DCP tracked the gender gap of cyclists on Second Avenue two blocks further south, at 7th Street, from 2000 to 2008. During those years, Second Avenue had a buffered bike lane, but not the physically separated one implemented by NYC DOT in 2010. Over the DCP study period, there were an average of 3.74 men riding the lane for every woman. In 2008, the ratio was 3.26:1.

T.A.’s count, in contrast, showed 2.17 men riding the protected Second Avenue lane for every woman, just three years later. That’s a fast, though obviously incomplete, closure of the gender gap, and it points the way forward.

Queens Plaza Cycletrack is Open

2011-07-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

Queens Plaza Protected Cycletrack is Open For Business from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Using a bicycle in Queens just got more safe and efficient for riders that use the Queens Plaza area to access the Queensboro Bridge bike and pedestrian path.

After the Tour of Queens, the physically protected bike & pedestrian median was finally open. It appears that scores of folks are already taking advantage - many with big, hearty smiles when they saw the path was welcoming their first ride on it. The video above shows as many angles as possible during this nearly half-mile journey, another protected bike facility in New York City.

Amazingly, one of the most congested, noisy, chaotic and ugly spots in the city, now feels like an oasis of green and safety. Dare we even say, pleasant! And more importantly: it now allows cyclists to avoid multiple blocks of annoying navigation to and from Queens Boulevard. It also gets rid of dangerous wrong way riding by cyclists by finally accommodating their desire to travel east.

Bike Freindly Cities are Safer for Everyone

2011-07-12T10:38:00.000-07:00

Davis, California, is widely celebrated as the bicycling capital of the United States with over 16% of the population commuting to work on bikes. What is less well known is the fact that the traffic fatality rate in Davis is also unusually low, at about 1/10th of the California statewide rate. Although this fact is not widely disseminated, there is growing data showing that cities with very high use of bikes for routine transportation almost always have much lower than average traffic fatality rates.

The finding that most bike friendly cities are safer than average has been reinforced by the recent experience of cities such as Cambridge, MA, Portland, OR, and New York. These cities have garnered much press for their success in dramatically increasing bike use over the last several years. This increase in bike ridership has corresponded with an equally dramatic decrease in traffic fatality rates in all three cities.

Interestingly, the decrease in fatality occurred not just for people on bikes, but for all classes of road users – including people in cars and people on foot. In other words, the increase in bike use has benefited all road users by helping transform the streets into safer places.

So what is the cause of this beneficial relationship between bike use and traffic safety in so many American cities? In the early 2000s, Peter Jacobsen, one of the first researchers to report on the subject of high biking cities being safer, suggested that the cause was ‘safety in numbers’. He stated that high bike use cities were generally safer than others because the very presence of bikers conditioned drivers to behave with more care. Since then, the 'safety in numbers' hypothesis has been routinely offered as the default explanation for any improvement in safety associated with increased bike use.

While there is undoubtedly much truth to the idea of 'safety in numbers,' this explanation by itself is incomplete and leaves many questions unanswered. For one, it does not provide any guidance about how to increase bike numbers to a point that will bring about increased safety. Also, it founders on the classic chicken and egg problem. Do high numbers of bikers bring about safety or does a perception of safety bring out more bikers?

The key issue for cities trying to improve their biking environment is for them to understand the strategies that will be most effective for achieving their goal of a safer, more sustainable transportation system. Their cause would be aided by having a better understanding of the underlying factors contributing to the safety of existing bike friendly cities. For example, it would be useful to know the key differences in transportation infrastructure that set bike friendly communities apart from other cities. Also, is there evidence to suggest that these differences contribute to safety?

Recently, in the journal Environmental Practice, we published Evidence on Why Bike-Friendly Cities are Safer for All Road Users, which examined eleven years of traffic safety records for 24 medium-sized California cities with various levels of bike use. One goal of their study was to assess how differences in street and street network design might contribute to higher numbers of bike users and, concurrently, to a better traffic safety record.

Initially, they found that the 24 cities in our study could be divided into 4 distinct groups: 4 high biking cities, 4 medium biking use cities, and two groups of cities with low bike use (4 low biking cities with a low traffic fatality rate and 12 low biking cities with a high traffic fatality rate).

To best highlight the salient differences between the four groups of cities, we limit this discussion to two of the four groups: the high biking cities and the low biking/high fatality cities. They found that the high biking cities averaged 2.5 fatalities per year per 100,000 residents compared to almost 9 deaths per 100,000 for the low biking cities. Moreover, all classes of road users were at greater risk in the low biking cities. For people in vehicles, the fatality level was on average 4 times higher in the low biking cities. This is perhaps not surprising, since there were more people driving in the low biking cities.

What is surprising, and disconcerting, is that there were twice as many bike fatalities in these low biking cities compared to the cities with many, many more bike riders. In other words, for anyone brave enough to use a bike in these low biking cities, the risk of injury or death was astronomical. Conversely the traffic fatality risk from biking riding in bike friendly cities is much lower than is generally recognized.

It important to note that this disparity in fatality rates between cities was not necessarily due to fewer accidents – in fact, the high biking cities had more fender benders than did the low biking cities. Instead, the difference in fatality rates between the cities related to difference in the severity of the crashes that did occur. In other words, most crashes in the high biking cities resulted in little or no injury, while a much higher percentage of accidents resulted in a catastrophic outcome – either severe injury or death – in the low biking cities with high fatality rates.

This is a key finding, because it points to one important difference between the groups of cities. The results strongly suggest that crashes in the safer cities are occurring at lower speeds and, as such, the result of any given crash is less catastrophic. We have not yet conducted speeds measures in all 24 cities, but in the 6 cities that we have sampled, the measured speeds on major streets in the safer cities (the high and medium bike use cities) are significantly lower than in the low biking cities.

Although the 'safety in numbers' effect might account for some amount of disparity in vehicle speed, it is likely that a bigger factor is related to the design of the street and the street network in the various cities. Our data provides strong evidence for this conclusion. For example, we discovered that the street network density in the high biking cities is almost twice that in the low biking cities with high fatalities.

The cross-section of the major streets was also different. In general, the streets in the high biking cities were narrower by about 3 ft on average. This is not a huge difference, but these cities with narrower streets also do much more within their street cross-sections, since they have far more miles of on-street parking and bike lanes.

Taken together, these street and street network characteristics of our high bike use cities add up to an environment that is likely much more attractive for the causal bike rider. Cities like Cambridge, Portland, and New York – that have had recent success in increasing bike use – have often taken steps to reduce motor vehicle speeds and volumes on streets with bike facilities or bike facility crossings. They have done this by reducing space for cars and adding space for bikes. They have also employed traffic-calming strategies and focused on providing safe opportunities for people on bikes to cross the busier roads. In other words, they have made changes that make their streets more like the streets in the high biking cities in our study. So it is perhaps not surprising that these cities have also seen a reduction in the traffic fatality rate to a level comparable to that in our high biking cities.

There is also evidence to suggest that just putting down paint to create bike lanes next to fast moving traffic may not get the job done. In fact, a few of our low biking cities did have extensive bike lanes on major arterial roads. However, these cities have not been successful and never saw the biking numbers, or the safety benefits.

Ultimately 'safety in numbers' does not just happen. Instead, their research suggests that the same strategies that attract bike riders are the same ones that improve road safety for all road users. Cities should indeed strive for 'safety in numbers' but before they can get to that point, they need to create bicycle friendly streets that will make it comfortable enough for the average Jane and Joe to take up biking. It is this act of creating comfortable and complete biking networks that ultimately results in both making cities biking friendly and, at the same time, making biking friendly cities safer for all users.

Beautiful Bike Storage in Netherlands

2011-07-11T08:41:00.000-07:00

In some countries, cyclists are seen as more than rule-breaking freeloaders who slow down cars; they are seen as a viable part of the transportation system that needs its own infrastructure investment. For instance, parking can be a problem in a country like the Netherlands where so many people cycle. In Zaandam, just outside of Amsterdam, Nunc Architects have completed a 700 bike parking building that probably makes every cyclist in North America green with envy.

The Fietsenpakhuis is designed as a public space, inviting all cyclists to enter. A huge folding door that opens completely gives access to a double-height open space with a gently inclined staircase leading to the upper floor. The street facade is transparent showing off the main function of its existence, the stored bicycles. The ground floor is paved with bricks, visually connecting the outer street with the interior.

The glass panels in the street facade are stacked in overlap referring to the wooden claddings as seen on regional barns and houses since the 17th century. The transparency of the facades as well as the roof lights allows daylight to enter. On ground level a big window reveals the workshop of the mechanics. They control the free entrance of the parking, and handle the other functions; public toilets, bike repair, renting out bikes and lockers.

The Fietsenpakhuis is sustainable in many ways. Fewer people travel by car. Materials are locally found, the wood used on structure and roof is certified. The building is using passive solar heating and is naturally ventilated. Electricity is generated by using solar panels on the rooftops providing almost all energy needs, keeping the ecological footprint of the building to a minimum.

Check out the full description from the architect in Contemporist, and see more images too.

What is Wrong with Toronto's Bike Lanes? Users Say Nothing

2011-07-08T06:31:00.000-07:00

What is wrong with this Bike Lane? from Bike Union on Vimeo.

I have been following developments in Toronto very carefully in the past few months. Not only because there is a ton of development and infrastructure going in up there, but also because they are experiencing the growing pains of becoming a bike friendly city.

Today, every news show in town is leading with the story about a woman being in hospital with serious head injuries after being hit by a jerk on a bicycle who went through a red light, going the wrong way on a one way street. That is tragic and the 49 year old cyclist was given the maximum ticket. The Globe and Mail complains that it isn't enough.

Although the cyclist was given a $400 dollar ticket and remains liable for any injuries if this is pursued in civil court, if he had been driving a motor vehicle he would have received six demerit points, the second highest for a moving violation.

Meanwhile, every comment in every paper is an insane attack on cyclists everywhere.

"The majority of cyclists willfully disobey almost all traffic laws most of the time, largely because they get away with it. It is as if they assume that they are 'entitled' to ignore and inconvenient traffic laws and that they law only applies when it is opportune for them."

"Must be a first. In my world (as an observor) the cyclist reigns supreme ... no rules, no repercussions!"

"Throw the book at him! I'm sick of cyclists running reds and stop signs, going the wrong way down one way streets and THE WORST is the growing trend of people riding on sidewalks. I cycle a lot and while drivers can be idiotic and aggressive....it's FAR more dangerous as a pedestrian with all of the self-centered douche-bag cyclists on the sidewalks!"

There were a couple of voices of reason:

"Just wanted to point out that agressive cars injure cyclists so often in this city that it doesn't even make the paper. A friend of mine was killed by an agressive driver last year, and I can't even find on Google a single newspaper that picked up the story. Cyclist injures pedestrian: News Story
Dozens of Cyclist injured by cars: Statistic"

and one that makes a very good point:

"One thing I notice here is the reference to the woman's head injuries. Had this been a cyclist hit by another cyclist or by a car, or falling after swerving to avoid a middle-of-the-block crosser who darted out between two cars (or hit the crosser not having had time to swerve), and had the cyclist sustained similar head injuries, I can guarantee that people on this thread would be ALL OVER the victim for being "stupid enough not to wear a helmet".

The Mayor wants to pull up the bike lanes on Toronto's Jarvis Street, not on the basis of any studies or research, but because he had "received complaints from citizens." So in an equally unscientific exercise, the Toronto Cyclists Union got their own opinions from citizens on bikes, who happen to support the lanes.
James at the Urban Country complains about Toronto and Our Backwards Approach to Road Safety

The solution to road safety here is not to slow down motorists, or build better bike infrastructure, or better educate drivers, or implement safe passing laws, or change our laws to hold the more dangerous road users accountable, or enforce no parking in bike lanes. No, our solution is to slap helmets on vulnerable road users, tell pedestrians to wear brighter clothes, tell cyclists to always have two hands on the handlebars, enforce cyclists rolling through empty intersections, rip out bike infrastructure, and fail to hold drivers accountable for their actions.

Take Action July 7: Attack on Bike/Ped Funding in Congress

2011-07-07T04:48:00.000-07:00

This is a direct message from the Florida Bicycle Association's Executive Director, Tim Bustos:

“In addition to the message I sent about recessions threatening needed improvements in our infrastructure at the state level, we have a new threat affecting our needs at the national level. Members of congress, including Florida’s own Representative, John Mica, are seeking to gut federal requirements for important bicycle and pedestrian funding. Please see the message below from the Alliance for Biking and Walking, and spread the word far and wide through your respective networks. We will need to take action soon, and we’ll have a narrow window of opportunity, so please spread the word through all your respective networks.”

The attack is on: Leaders in the U.S. House and Senate want to cut funding for bicycling and walking.

Today, July 7, 2011, Rep. John Mica (R-FL), chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is holding a press conference to announce his vision for the next federal transportation bill. We anticipate he will include provisions that eliminate dedicated funding for biking and walking.

In order to preserve these critical dollars, we will need you to act immediately. After the press conference, we’ll work with our partners at American Bikes to craft an urgent action alert to send to your members and supporters tomorrow afternoon. Our best chance to change the bill is before the official language is released. To do that, we’ll need all hands on deck, urging their members of Congress to preserve dedicated funding for biking and walking.

The attack has started in the U.S. Senate, too. Last week, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), the lead Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, stated that one of his top three priorities for the transportation bill is to eliminate ‘frivolous’ spending for bike trails.

If we don’t act quickly, dedicated funding for biking and walking programs may be written out of our transportation system for the next two to six years. And, once those programs are cut, there’s no guarantee we’ll get them back!

Thank you in advance for your help in this urgent issue.

Find your US House Representative
Find your US Senator

NYC's Gender Gap Brought to Light-But Getting Better

2011-07-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

The Times called some attention to New York City’s cycling gender gap this weekend with a feature titled “Women, Uneasy, Still Lag as Cyclists in New York City.” Judging from Christine Haughney’s write-up, the gender imbalance among NYC cyclists is immutable and impervious to policies that seek to shake up the status quo on the streets:

Despite the city’s efforts to become more bike friendly, male cyclists in New York continue to outnumber female cyclists three to one, just as they have steadily over the past two decades.

No doubt the gender gap in NYC and in the US is real and substantial, but it seems to be getting smaller. For some reason, though, Haughney neglected to mention compelling evidence that the number of female cyclists in NYC is growing faster than the number of male cyclists.

In an online response to the Times story, NYC DOT cited a 2010 Department of City Planning study that includes detailed, year-over-year breakdowns of bike counts performed on several Manhattan routes [PDF]. From 2001 to 2008, the ratio of men to women riding in on-street bike lanes declined from a little more than six-to-one to a little less than five-to-one, with most of the change happening after 2005. Counting weekday cyclists on greenways, DCP found that the gender gap narrowed from about 1.9 men for every woman in 2002, to about 1.7 in 2008, with most of the change happening between 2006 and 2008.

Census data, presumably the basis for the Times’ three-to-one male-to-female ratio, also paint a more nuanced picture than Times readers will come away with. According to a 2010 study by Rutgers University professor John Pucher [PDF], NYC’s percentage of female bike commuters dipped from 25 percent in 1990 to 20 percent in 2000, before rebounding back up to 24 percent in 2008. So there has been some fluctuation in the past two decades, including a distinct uptick in the percent of women commuter cyclists over the last decade.

The Times does cite experts, including Pucher, who assert that safer bike networks attract a higher percentage of female cyclists. What never surfaces in the article is the widely held view that the best way to enhance perceptions of safety is to separate cyclists from traffic.

By the end of the piece, the question of how to make streets feel safe for cycling still feels shrouded in mystery. But the answers are not that elusive.

Researchers like Pucher, Harvard’s Anne Lusk, and Portland State University’s Jennifer Dill have all come to the conclusion that the share of female cyclists is higher where separation from traffic is more pronounced. Their positions are consistent with DCP’s finding that the gender gap on NYC’s greenways is substantially smaller than it is on painted bike lanes.

Providing more physical separation for cyclists is, basically, DOT’s chief innovation in the realm of bike policy under Janette Sadik-Khan. The major bikeway projects of the past three years — protected on-street lanes like those on Kent Avenue, Allen Street, and Prospect Park West — are all designed to make cycling more accessible to a wider range of people.

When DCP conducted bike counts for its study, none of the on-street lanes were protected. Since then, some of the routes have been upgraded from painted lanes to protected lanes. So here’s a prediction: Count cyclists at locations like Eighth Avenue and 26th Street, or Broadway and 28th Street, or Second Avenue and Seventh Street — all places where DCP has data on male and female cycling rates — and the gender gap won’t look as wide as it used to.

US Still has a Lot of Work to Do

2011-07-04T05:40:00.000-07:00

Just when you think things are going well and US cities are making great progress towards being more bike-friendly (which they are…), somewhere like Copenhagen comes along and reminds you just how far we have to go! I just read the incredible bi-annual Bicycle Account published by the City of Copenhagen.

The 2010 report does actually show a decline in the percentage of trips to work made by bike – down from 37% in 2008 to a paltry 35%, but this drop is attributed to two harsh winters and is made up for by a significant increase of 40,000 in the number of kilometers traveled by bike every day (up to 1.21 million) and a drop in the number of serious crashes to just 92 (3 fatal).

The numbers and the overall Copenhagen story continue to be truly inspirational:

93% of residents think Copenhagen is very good, good or satisfactory to cycle in
68% of residents cycle at least once a week
67% of cyclists feel safe (up from 51%)

And the biggest problems? The cycle tracks aren’t wide enough and there aren’t enough of them…only 346 kms of them. Cyclist and motorist behavior are also major factors in what could be done to make cycling even safer.

During the long holiday weekend, I have been catching up on articles and events in the cycling world. I looked at the Ontario Bike Summit that was earlier this week and learned more about Velo Quebec’s latest round up of all things bicycling in Quebec – another impressive set of statistics.

Between 1987 and 2010, the total number of bicycles in Quebec more than doubled and the number of regular cyclists increased by 50%. During the same period, cycling-related fatalities decreased by 58%, serious injuries by 72% and minor injuries by 52%.
The number of adult cyclists has increased by 500,000 since 2005;
More than half (54%) of Quebec citizens cycled in 2010, a return to 1995 levels (53%) after decreases in 2000 (49%) and 2005 (47%);
The number of people who cycle at least once a week has increased steadily since the year 2000 (from 1.6 million in 2000 to 1.8 million in 2005 and 2 million in 2010);
84% of children and teens cycle, a 9-point drop in 5 years;
The proportion of utility cycling has doubled: 37% of cyclists were using their bike as a means of transport occasionally or daily, compared with 20% in 2000;

La Route Verte, the 2,600 mile cycling network in Quebec is now returning $134 million annually (not including the cost of bikes…that’s just food, lodging and transport) on a total investment to create the network of $180m over 15 years.

Finally, the small principality of Wales is reportedly the first country in the world to require local authorities to provide cycling infrastructure. It is pretty cool to learn that Wales will soon become a cycling paradise – the place certainly has the scenery to make it happen.

Study Finds Streets with Bike Facilaties Create Jobs

2011-06-30T05:28:00.000-07:00

A new report by the University of Massachusetts' Political Economy Research Institute confirms that on-street bike facilities are not just good for our health and for the environment, but they are also very good for the health of the economy. Some of the ways it brings benefits are: Tourism, more traffic to local businesses, increased property values, healthier citizens, etc.

The reports says:

Overall we find that bicycling infrastructure creates the most jobs for a given level of spending: For each $1 million, the cycling projects in this study create a total of 11.4 jobs within the state where the project is located. Pedestrian-only projects create an average of about 10 jobs per $1 million and multi-use trails create nearly as many, at 9.6 jobs per $1 million. Infrastructure that combines road construction with pedestrian and bicycle facilities creates slightly fewer jobs for the same amount of spending, and road-only projects create the least, with a total of 7.8 jobs per $1 million. [...]

Economic benefits include tourism and recreation-related spending (which is a boon to businesses and increases local tax revenues), and a rise in real estate values. Other benefits include higher quality of life, environmental benefits such as buffer zones to protect water sources from pollution run-off, and mitigation of flood damage. A 2008 user survey of a multi-use trail in Pennsylvania showed that over 80 percent of users purchased "hard goods" such as bikes and cycling equipment in relation to their use of the trail, and some also pur- chase "soft goods" such as drinks and snacks at nearby establishments.

None of this is surprising, and bike lanes would still be worth building even if they didn't provide a direct economic benefit - the health and environmental benefits are enough - so this is just an added bonus.

Minneapolis Gets Self-Service Repair Kiosks for Cyclists

2011-06-27T16:50:00.000-07:00

After Minneapolis started being noticed as one of the nation's top cycling cities, I started taking notice of the innovations coming from there. Making cities more cycling-friendly is not just making biking desirable, it's also about making biking safe and feasible. And that means Bike Fixtation, a company offering self-service kiosks that cater to cyclists in need, which just opened its first location, in Minneapolis.

Last year, Minneapolis was named the most bike-friendly city in the United States, and for good reason. The City has a year-old bike share program and a great network of bike trails, the star of which is the Greenway, a 5.5 mile long former railroad corridor that is now highway for cyclists and pedestrians. And the location of Bike Fixtation # 1 is perfect: in a transit shelter, directly above the uber-green artery.

The kiosk includes a vending machine that sells all the basics: inner tubes, patch kits, lights, plus snacks and drinks. It's also got an electric tire pump and a work stand with the tools to make repairs or adjustments to a bicycle. Open from 6am to midnight, 365 days a year, the Bike Fixtation provides a necessary service to cyclists, and removes one more obstacle on the road to becoming a a more bike-friendly world.

Highway System for Cyclists Being Revived

2011-06-26T10:15:00.000-07:00

Back in the early 1980s, America started building a highway system for cyclists—a grand national grid of bike paths. The first two stretches of the U.S. Bicycle Route System were going to run from Maine to Florida and from Virginia to Oregon. But only small parts of those routes were ever made official and the idea lost steam. Why build infrastructure for a prehistoric mode of transportation like the bicycle? Who's going to need that in the 21st century?

Well, as it turns out, biking is on the rise. Americans made 4 billion biking trips in 2009, compared with just 3.3 billion in 2001. With this new interest in cycling, the idea of a national network of bike routes is back. As U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood recently noted on his blog, the Association of American State Highway and Transportation Officials has approved the first new routes in the national bike system in more than 30 years. The six new routes are in Maine, New Hampshire, Michigan, and Alaska. The AASHTO has also released a map showing "prioritized corridors," to be developed as other states get on board. The idea is to eventually have a comprehensive network of routes crisscrossing America.

There might be a great Los Angeles-to-New York bike path you can use for that cross-country trip pretty soon. Now you just have to find three free months for it.

Instead of Driving I...

2011-06-22T21:07:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, Osprey Packs Blog challenged Facebook fans to convey what they do for their daily commute “Instead of Driving…” This video portrays some of best responses we received. Set in beautiful Portland, Oregon this will inspire you to leave your car at home and find a more aesthetic mode of travel. Enjoy!

Bike Sharing Rapidly Expanding Across U.S.

2011-06-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

Bike Sharing Rapidly Expanding Across U.S.

Bike sharing is on the rise, particularly in Washington D.C. and New York City, the AP reports.
Officials warn that cities eager to jump on the bandwagon should makes sure they have good infrastructure, like bike lanes, before launching a sharing program.

Boston and San Francisco have bike share plans in their future and D.C.'s program is almost too popular, with bike's only available to early risers.

Portland's Naked Bike Ride Raises Awareness of Clean Transportation

2011-06-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

My friend Brad just moved to Portland a few weeks ago, and although he has seen and done many things in his new place, nothing had prepared him for last night. On Saturday night he joined thousands of bikers in biking naked together to celebrate their World Naked Bike Ride.

According to The Portlander, the night was to be focused on raising awareness of “society’s gas guzzling ways.” 2010 saw an estimated 13,000 riders, which according to The Portlander, made it the largest Naked Bike Ride in the world to date.

FOX12 reports that nudity is legal in Oregon as long as a sexual act or attempted arousal is not involved. Additional police planned to station themselves along the route. Although nudity is legal, the police did ask that riders wear a helmet and shoes for safety.

Other biking events are taking place in Portland, Oregon for over two weeks during Pedalpalooza.

A Naked Bike Ride near Echo Park Lake in Los Angeles recently broke out in fighting between bike riders and the occupants of a car. Naked Bike Rides took place in New York and Chicago earlier this month.

Reports show that if the average American substituted one day’s worth of driving with riding per week, he’d cut auto emissions by 1,248 pounds of CO2, save over $800 on gas and maintenance, and burn enough calories to lose 19 pounds in one year. Nudity not required.

BikeShare Bikes May Be Safer Than Regular Bikes

2011-06-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

Noah Kazis had a great article this week over at StreetsBlog. They are finding that riding on a bike through a bike share program is safer than riding a regular bicycle. His findings make total sense when you see the cities that they are occurring in and the amount of effort they have put into making cycling safer.

New data shows that people riding shared public bicycles appear to be involved in fewer traffic crashes and receive fewer injuries than people riding their personal bicycles. In cities from Paris and London to Washington, D.C. and Mexico City, something about riding a shared bicycle appears to make cycling safer.

Paris’s Vélib’ is perhaps the most iconic bike-sharing system in the world. Launched in 2007 with 20,000 bikes, its widespread popularity not only transformed how Parisians traveled across their city but set off an explosion of new bike-sharing systems worldwide. With a few years of practice at this point, the Parisian experience is particularly telling.

“The accident rate is lower on a Vélib’ than on ‘normal’ bikes,” a spokesperson for the office of Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë told Streetsblog. In 2009, the most recent year for which data is available, Vélib’ riders were responsible for one-third of all bike trips in Paris but were involved in only one-fourth of all traffic crashes involving a bicycle.

The numbers are if anything more striking in London, where the Barclays Cycle Hire system — or “Boris Bikes,” to borrow the phrase locals have adopted in honor of their mayor, Boris Johnson — opened at the end of last July. Though the London government didn’t track the relevant safety stats of bike-share users compared to other cyclists, they provided us with the data to do some back-of-the-envelope calculations.

So far, after 4.5 million trips, no bike-sharing user in London has been seriously injured or killed in a traffic crash, according to Transport for London. Only 10 bike-sharing users were injured at all in the first 1.6 million trips on the system, a statistic that was compiled earlier. A spokesperson also told Streetsblog that they estimate that half a million bike trips take place across London each day, 20,000 of which are on Boris Bikes. Finally, during 2010, 10 people were killed, 457 seriously injured and 3,540 non-seriously injured while cycling in London.

Crunching those numbers, no people were seriously injured or killed on the first 4.5 million trips on Boris Bikes, while about 12 people are injured for every 4.5 million trips on personal bikes. And over 1.6 million trips, ten bike-sharing users received non-serious injuries, compared to an average of 35 such injuries for the same number of trips on personal bikes.

Here in America, transportation officials are seeing the same effect. Chris Holben, the project manager for Washington D.C.’s Capital Bikeshare system, told the Boston Globe in May that bike-sharing users had a much safer rate of crashes than bike owners. He told Streetsblog that his observation was merely anecdotal, but it turns out that his instincts are likely correct.

In its first seven months of operation, Capital Bikeshare users made 330,000 trips. In that time, seven crashes of any kind were reported, and none involved serious injuries. In comparison, there were 338 cyclist injuries and fatalities overall in 2010, according to the District Department of Transportation, with an estimated 28,400 trips per weekday, 5,000 of which take place on a Capital Bikeshare bikes.

So while only seven bike-sharing riders were injured in 330,000 trips, on average, 13 people riding personal bikes are injured over the same number of trips. And bike-sharing riders suffered no serious injuries, while riders using their own bikes suffered injuries that were sometimes serious or even fatal.
In other systems, apples-to-apples comparisons with personal bike riders are impossible, but extremely low injury rates among bike-sharing riders still stand out.

In Mexico City, for example, only three ECOBICI riders have required a trip to the hospital after a traffic crash in the 1.6 million trips taken so far. That’s an impressive safety record in a city known for its dangerous traffic. Mexico City does not, however, compile the necessary data to accurately compare the ECOBICI safety rate with that of other cyclists, said a representative of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, which provided technical assistance on the city’s bike-sharing program.

Similarly, Minneapolis’s NiceRide system reported “no significant accidents or major injuries” in its first year of operation. In that time, Minnesotans took 37,000 NiceRide trips.

This is encouraging news for cities like New York that are eying bike-sharing systems of their own. Some have worried that bike-sharing would bring a flood of inexperienced new cyclists onto roads that are too dangerous, but if New York’s experience is anything like that of its peers, cycling will be safer overall once shared bikes are added to the mix.

For now, we can only speculate as to the reasons for this phenomenon. Streetsblog spoke with two experts on road safety, Professors Norman Garrick of the University of Connecticut and Ian Walker of the University of Bath. Each offered a number of possible explanations for the discrepancy in safety numbers.

“It’s shorter trips, maybe,” proposed Garrick. If bike-sharing users are generally taking trips of less than thirty minutes so as to avoid additional fees, each trip might be fewer miles, leading to a lower crash rate per trip.
Walker hypothesized that bike-sharing users might be less experienced riders than those who own their own bike. “They therefore avoid mixing with traffic as much as regular riders, and ride slower, and so have fewer serious collisions,” he theorized. That might be easier to achieve if bike-sharing stations are sited near bike lanes, added Garrick.

Garrick said that even apart from experience in cycling, people who have avoided cycling until bike-sharing presents them with the option might be, by their nature, less tolerant of risk and stick to safer cycling behavior. “It could be that they’re more cautious people.”

Or the other case may be true, said Walker — bike-share users could be more dedicated cyclists with an above-average skill level. “Most people don’t hire bikes from such a scheme, suggesting that the people who do hire from them might be those with a greater than average interest in cycling.” That could be especially true of the tourists taking them out, who might not have brought their own bike along with them.
The physical qualities of the shared bikes themselves might be responsible for their increased safety. “They are slower and they are very visible,” said Garrick.

That visibility might help motorists not only notice the bike-sharing user, but respect her as well, said Walker. “I suspect they are also, in most people’s minds, a sign of a novice or occasional cyclist. As such, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if drivers took more care around people using them than they do around ‘professional’ looking cyclists.” Walker’s own research has shown that drivers passed cyclists more closely if they were wearing helmets or appeared to be male.

Significantly more research will be needed to determine which combination of these factors actually explains the better safety record of bike-sharing users. But in the meantime, cities with bike-sharing systems on the horizon should be pleased to hear that the program will likely be a boon for street safety.

Bike Thieves Cut Down Tree to Steal Bike

2011-06-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

Reddit user TenThousandSuns posted the video above, which shows a group of men in Kensington at 2 a.m. Wednesday morning chopping down a ginkgo tree with an axe, seemingly in order to steal a bike. The initial post was titled, "How far will NY thieves go to steal a $50 department store bike locked with a $10 cable lock? This far." Here's a photo of the poor tree... Let this serve as a reminder not to lock your bike to a tree, and a plea to city planners to deploy more bike racks so people aren't tempted to do this.

Below are 2 of my favorite bike thief videos. It is just as shocking to me to see the lengths that people are willing to go to steal bikes, as it is for the bystanders that just sit there and watch it happen without lifting a finger.

Intentionally Bumped by Car

2011-06-15T10:20:00.000-07:00

About a year ago, the driver of a BMW pulled up behind me, intentionally bumped my bike and drove away. I was unable to get the plate number, so Mr. Wonderful got away.

Something similar happened to Kate in Washington DC last February. She stopped at a red light while biking home from work. The driver behind her stopped. Maybe this driver is a fan of Tony Kornheiser — the ESPN announcer who told his listeners to “run them [cyclists] over” — because the driver pulled up and nudged Kate, pushing her forward into the intersection. The car occupants started laughing and bumped Kate again. Then things got interesting for the driver.

Kate pulled over, whipped out her police badge and ordered the driver to stop where he was. The driver tried to run, but this is DC traffic, and Kate catches him a couple of blocks away. That’s when the driver tries to run Kate down. Kate by this time has radioed for help, and half of the DC Metro police force show up to apprehend the idiot driver.

I bring this up because Kate has an update: she talks having to overcome Grand Jury bias against cyclists and police officers to even bring this assault to trial, and then her assailant eventually pled to other charges. In exchange for the plea, the vehicular assault charges were dropped, but Kate asks cyclists to show up en masse at the sentencing hearing to let the judge know that harassment of cyclists is important to us.
Read Kate’s full story at her Girl And Her Bike blog: Victory (Sort Of).

72% of Toronto Citizens Demand Separated Bike Lanes

2011-06-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

Sitting next to a Canadian at work has many perks, and one of them is that he keeps me in the loop on cycling happenings with our neighbor to the north.

Forum Research, Canada’s largest survey firm, conducted an automated telephone survey that found strong support for Mayor Rob Ford’s physically separated bike lanes on downtown streets. Out of 1,050 survey participants, 72 percent said that they want the bike lanes, the Toronto Star reports.

This month, Ford’s bike plan is to be unveiled, proposing separated lanes on Sherbourne, Wellesley, Harbord, Beverly, John and Richmond streets (see plan). The parallel routes running in all directions will help Toronto have a grid of options for their cyclists.

Cities across North America, including New York and Montreal, are building more separated bike lanes, the amenity non-cyclists say would allay their safety concerns about biking in the city.

Cyclist Protests Bike Ticket with Funny Civil Disobedience

2011-06-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

Casey Neistat was ticketed for not riding in the bike lane in New York City and had to pay a $50 fine. It brings up an important issue about how cities need to keep bike lanes safe if they're to require cyclists to ride only within the narrow white lines. I think this cyclist makes a strong, and admittedly funny point when he illustrates why cyclists sometimes don't, or rather can't, ride in the bike lane. Somehow, running into the obstacles rather than just pointing them out makes the problem a lot more apparent. And the last scene of the video...well that just brings it all full circle.

There is some ambiguity about what exactly is legal when riding a bike. In a summary of New York City's bicycle laws, rules and regulations, the New York City Department of Transportation says that "Bicycle riders must use bike path/lane, if provided, except for access, safety, turns, etc." But it also says that there is "No parking, standing or stopping vehicles within or otherwise obstructing bike lanes."

Regardless whether or not the police officer was justified in giving Neistat his ticket, he certainly accomplished his goal of making a hilarious video about the perils of New York City's bike lanes.

World's Largest Bike Demonstration

2011-06-07T18:27:00.000-07:00

The event that was organized under the slogan 'Free rides for free bikes' coincided with the World Environment Day. This is the 35th time the event is organized in Berlin. This year, however, saw some 150,000 participants, making it the largest so far.

19 different bicycle routes -- in a star shaped pattern which covers an overall length of more than 1,000 kilometers -- led into the city center all the way to the Brandenburg Gate, where thousands gathered for a festival on World Environment Day. The aim of the event was to raise awareness to improve urban cycling conditions, as according to the Federal Statistics Office, the number of bike-related accidents has increased.

Julian Fischer, one of the participants and a member of the German Cycling Club said as there is an increase in people riding bikes “we need a better infrastructure for bicycles.”

“The interesting situation is, the more people go by bike, the more safe it becomes for going by bike,” Juergen Trittin, chairman of Greens-Fraction said.

Further, with the hike in fuel prices, and people concerned about climate change, the Star-Ride hopes bicycling can become a new trend.

Ray LaHood Bikes to Work

2011-06-07T09:35:00.000-07:00

Ray LaHood Bikes to Work from Jay Mallin on Vimeo.

Monday morning a friend of mine biked to work with a group of DOT commuters from the Washington Monument to DOT's headquarters building. The route was safe and well-marked; they enjoyed some exercise; and they didn't burn a drop of gas--which saved money. That's what I call a successful commute.

President Obama understands that high gas prices are pinching family budgets across America. And it is good to see that DOT is committed to providing people with convenient, affordable, and healthy transportation options.

That can help ease the pain everyone feels at the pump these days. It can lower the burden of tailpipe emissions on our environment. And it can create economic opportunities. We know that building bicycle, transit, and rail facilities creates jobs. And we know that businesses will pop up where streets are friendly to bicyclists and pedestrians.

Finally people can commute by bike in Washington, DC, because this city has worked hard to make it easier and safer for people to use their bicycles--not just for recreation, but for transportation. Washington has become a bike-friendly city.

The League of American Bicyclists recently recognized the city's efforts with its Silver award. In fact, there's an informal race on the East Coast to see which large city can be first to achieve the Gold award. When we have cities competing to be acknowledged for their livability, that tells me things are going in the right direction.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has played its part in DC's bike-volution. For example, they helped fund development of Capital Bikeshare, a program that makes more than 1,100 bikes available to its members throughout DC and Arlington. People can hop on a bike at one station and drop it at another. With 110 stations at transit stops, grocery stores, office buildings, and more, it's a very convenient way to get around.

In May 2010, DOT bicycle commuters were given a new benefit that allows reimbursement for qualified commuting costs similar to that provided to employees who commute by public transportation.
Around the nation, USDOT is working hard to help state DOTs and communities integrate the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians in road projects. And through their TIGER program, they have funded major projects that allow Americans to safely and conveniently get where they need to go on a bike or on foot. This shows the country that DOT is out there continuing to lead in helping Americans use whatever methods of transportation they can to get where people need to go. Plus, it was a lot of fun.

Chicago Gets First Protected Cycle Track

2011-06-06T18:48:00.000-07:00

There is good news for cyclists coming out of Chicago today. A half-mile stretch of Kinzie Street between Milwaukee Avenue and Wells Street will be used to test out the city's first protected bike lanes.

42nd Ward Ald. Brendan Reilly announced the pilot program in his newsletter Friday. The cycle track, places all motorized traffic to the left of the cyclist, with the lane protected either via a construction barrier (like these), a raised median or other divider; the Kinzie pilot program will use flexible posts.

The program is being funded by a $3.2 million federal grant awarded to the Chicago Department of Transportation, who were originally going to test the program on a stretch of South Stony Island Avenue where bicycle traffic is infrequent before switching to Kinzie.

Bicycle transportation advocate Steven Vance is cautiously optimistic about the location. Others think it's a bad idea to place the cycle track in an area they feel won't attract new cyclists and, given some of the inclines along the route, may lead to a logjam of cyclists at points.

By looking at it on Google Earth, I'd be more inclined to see it in an area that sees some serious bike traffic, like the intersection of Grand, Milwaukee and Halsted. Or maybe near the area of Wicker Park where the city will get its first designated Bike parking area. Regardless, it's a start and I am optimistic to see the results. It could be the beginning of making Chicago even more bike-friendly, coupled with legislation awaiting Gov. Quinn's signature that will allow bicyclists and motorcycles to make "slow stops" at red lights and stop signs.

Hangzhou Cina's Bike-Share

2011-06-02T05:56:00.000-07:00

File this one in the category: "Learning from China". Hangzhou's bike-sharing system is an inspiration for the rest of the world. The fundamentals aren't so different from what is being done elsewhere (like Vélib in Paris), but the ambition is on another scale. The Hangzhou Public Bicycles are well integrated into the other mass transit modes, the number of bikes and stations is growing very rapidly, and the bikes are essentially free on most trips.They currently provide 2,000+ Stations, 50,000+ Bicycles Now, and 175,000+ Expected by 2020. Check out the video above to see just how great the system is and how satisfied local residents are. Via Streetfilms.

Breeze Launches in Britain to Increase Women Ridership

2011-05-31T18:16:00.000-07:00

While in the U.S. the bike revolution is happening, women of all ages and children under 18 aren't equal participants. In fact in the U.S. (aside from pockets like Portland, San Francisco, New York, etc.) the number of women riders is barely holding steady, while the number of kids riding bikes is dropping. In the U.K. however, in 2010 women made up a decent 40% of of all journeys on the country's national cycling network. That's a 13% increase in women riding on the network from 2009's figures. How did they do it?

Well, the National Cycle Network (NCN) assumes that high gas prices had something to do with the exodus of drivers from their cars and on to the bike path. A "whopping" 420 million journeys were made on the country's network of cycle paths in 2010, and of those, approximately one quarter are estimated to be work commute trips.

The NCN carefully totted up the cost savings of all this cycling - stating that the walking and biking commuters saved £46 million in at the pump, and with a potential greenhouse gas savings of 657,000 tons.
However, while ridership and bike commuting among women is increasing, the overall gap between men who cycle and women who cycle is still wide. Overall, British male cyclists outnumber British female cyclists 3 to 1 (similar to U.S. figures).

And UK research suggests there are a million British women that would like to bike more often. Last week British Cycling launched a national network of rides called Breeze, and intends to introduce 80,00 additional women to the joys of cycling.

The effort is funded by the National Lottery. Breeze rides will be short, traffic-free, and casual rides aimed at working mothers and women who haven't been on their bikes in a while. British Cycling's survey of 1,000 women showed that safety concerns (sound familiar?), unfamiliarity of cycle routes, and having no one to cycle with were the three reasons they didn't do so.

British Cycling intends to train a network of female cyclists who will lead Breeze rides. Via the rides and support, the Breeze program hopes to convert 20,000 of the 80,000 women estimated to participate in rides this summer to "regular cyclists." Sounds awesome to me.

Trip to California

2011-05-30T19:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lag in posts, but I just returned from a trip to California. We had a great trip from San Diego to San Francisco. It is pretty awesome to see all of the progress that the state of California has made in their transportation choices. Especially in their correction of many of their poor choices in the past, and focusing more on complete street designs.

We started out in San Diego and southern California and the first thing that I noticed, which I have seen before out west but had forgotten until I experienced it again, was the priority that pedestrians and cyclists receive from motorists. If a pedestrian steps off of the curb, even without a walk signal, the cars automatically stop to let the people cross. I realize that is the way that it is supposed to be, but it is truly practiced out west and it goes for cyclists too. Riders were given plenty of room as vehicles passed them, and they facilities that have been provided has made it easy to get around by bike.

We went to a stage of the Tour of California while we were there, and that too helped me see the great culture that they have for cycling. Not only do many of the people out there cycle for commuting and recreation, but they also care about advocacy and making cycling better. I was also surprised when I would mention that I was from Florida, and many of the people would actually apologized and ask me if the drivers were as bad as they had heard or experienced. It was definitely unexpected and unfortunate that Florida's reputation precedes itself.

Fortunately I was able to visit several of the communities and small towns and was able to see how great their cycling environment is. Every town had new bike lanes, bike corral parking, and bike route signage. Cities like LA and San Francisco has made the jump into infrastructure with advanced separated bike lanes, bike boxes, and connecting all of their public transportation systems with bikes. Even though while I was there the temperatures were chilly and the weather was wet and dreary, the cyclists were out in full force. I could see where San Francisco could rival places like New York, Portland, Seattle, and Austin with the per capita ridership. Their critical mass was even escorted by police, which to me not only shows that the police are with the cyclists, but that the city embraces cycling and has all of their priorities invested in creating a great place to ride.

Planning with Bicycle Oriented Deisgn

2011-05-16T17:43:00.000-07:00

I get several articles sent my way every week from other advocates and colleagues at work. I received an interesting article this past weekend that Nick Martens wrote in 2008 "The Problem of Biking in America," published in the online magazine The Bygone Bureau.

"Of the many complaints an American cyclist can make, a concern over his or her safety is the most serious. It is also the best reason to stick with a car."

In the article, Martens describes the common problem of a motorist unexpectedly opening a car door in the path of a cyclist properly staying in the bike lane on the right side of the street. Without question, fear of bike-auto collisions is among the most pervasive factors limiting bike use for U.S. commuting trips. In the United States, the driver-side door opens into the bike lane; in European streets designed for bikes it does not.

I have found that many factors seem to limit urban biking in the United States. For those older than 25, fear of losing in an encounter with a speeding car is probably the most important reason, with adverse weather being another. Relatively few of those who bike to work do so every day; bad weather requires a backup plan. Lack of convenient bike storage is common in city apartments, and there is a justifiable fear of theft. Commuting in America for so long has meant single-occupancy cars that the mindset is doubtlessly hard to break. Americans have grown accustomed to the $8,000 annual cost of auto ownership (including depreciation), so saving money by cycling is a less pressing concern. Plus, American streets have been designed and refined to facilitate automobile traffic at speeds of 30 miles per hour or more—and are less safe for bike traffic.

Freedom from Fear

In the Netherlands, the degree to which the safety of bikers is protected varies with development density. Outside city limits, some roads are marked for bike lanes, but many have no indication of where biking is encouraged. In cities, however, the Dutch have invested heavily in dedicated bike lanes with special safety controls—essentially a separate set of red, yellow, and green lights for cyclists. The most elaborate arrangement of roadways includes areas designated for four different means of transit. Those designations are:

the center lane, for cars, trucks, trams, and buses.
the next lane, for auto parking; the driver’s door does not open toward bikers.
the bike lane.
the lane next to the buildings, for pedestrians: the sidewalk.

The ability to make streets multimodal and widely used by bike commuters depends on the degree to which the dedicated lanes are made reassuring to potential users. To produce comfortable conditions for bikers requires clarity: what are the rules? how should bikers and drivers behave? what is our turf and what is theirs? Ambiguity breeds uncertainty, which in turn contributes to accidents and discourages potential bikers. Where European bicycle traffic is greatest, investments in clarity are most apparent. Clarity factors include separate, protected lanes; traffic signals dedicated to cyclists; and obvious signs signaling where bikes may go and where they should not.

The broad popularity of biking in dense European cities at peak periods has resulted from the infrastructure investments that produce a comfort level almost unimaginable in the United States. Gray-haired women pedal to go shopping; parents move their preschool children by bike through downtown traffic. On a scale of one to ten evaluating biker concern about possible injuries, conditions witnessed in northern Europe would generally rate an eight or nine, while U.S. cities would rate a two.

Prospects for American Conversion

Those who advocate planning for expanded U.S. use of bikes frequently cite improved health or expanded recreation, mixing these desirable goals with the most salient of the European gains, those related to bikes as urban transportation. Occasional recreational use will not contribute significantly to cleaner air, less-congested streets, or wider use of public transit.

Martens noted the political impasse associated with encouraging public investment in bike- friendly U.S. cities when there is so little daily biking occurring—a condition in large measure attributable to the lack of bike-friendly conditions. American bikers are predominantly young, male, and urban—not a powerful constituency. Most Americans are car owners, happy with that condition, and sometimes antagonistic to bikers.

Any jurisdiction contemplating a serious modification of streets to reduce fear of cyclist injuries and expand use of bikes for commuting and shopping should study the results in Copenhagen. Important options have already been tested there. Starting with specified goals would help planners avoid some expensive missteps. Copenhagen, for example, seeks to increase the share of bikers who feel comfortable or secure when biking to 80 percent, and is well along toward that goal.

The shift from cars to bikes in Europe can be traced to the steady, persistent, decades-long pace followed by governments there in adapting streets to create bike-friendly transportation routes. A cheap effort will not do it. An inexpensive stripe next to a parking lane does not produce comfortable biking conditions; in many cases it is a recipe for collisions with car doors. It is hard to imagine U.S. cities committing to two or three decades of block-by-block reconstruction and continued bike-oriented education and rule enforcement. Opposition could be expected to proposals to move car parking toward the center of the street and install special traffic controls and curbs designed to protect bikers.

Also, there are stronger competitors for America’s infrastructure funding. The highway lobby has a 50-year lock on gasoline tax revenues. Other claimants—subways, buses, and commuter rail—may receive a larger share of these funds as the country tries to cut petroleum dependency. There is also the newly recognized need to repair and upgrade thousands of bridges and tunnels that elected officials pray will not collapse on their watch.

Probably the best prospects for financing conversions would follow use of appropriations for a larger public cause, such as reducing global warming or employing jobless workers. Two or three good examples in American cities might influence others. New York City is modifying some streets to favor biking. Philadelphia might create a bike connection linking the convention center, seven museums, and the Schuylkill River trail, connecting Drexel and Pennsylvania universities with existing bikeways reaching Norristown and beyond—more a recreational than a transportation benefit, but it would produce substantially more people on two wheels than at present. Broad Street and Market Street may be wide enough for bike lane protection, with some loss of curb and delivery parking. Requiring bike storage facilities in new residential buildings and fewer car parking spaces would help. A gasoline price of $10 per gallon would boost bike use, but do little for the comfort level in peak-hour traffic.

In a nation attuned to quick and cheap solutions, the widespread replacement of cars by bikes as accomplished in European cities will be seen as a long-range and expensive objective.

Bikes Make Life Better

2011-05-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

One thing we all know as riders it's this: bikes make life better. Bikes keep us healthy and happy, and fill our lives with adventure and excitement.

In honor of National Bike Month, People For Bikes created a short film that celebrates what we all love: bikes. Their video shows not only the ways that bikes transform the lives of people who ride them, but also how they help change and beautify the communities we call home.

Check it out and share it with your friends. Don't forget to ask them to take the peopleforbikes.org pledge. Every name gets us closer to more bike lanes, paths and trails - a better world for all who ride.

Check out how they made the video below.

Study Finds That Men Are Riding More-Let's Work on Everyone Else

2011-05-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

I think anyone in a major metropolitan area can attest that there is a bicycling renaissance in North America. A new study found that it's not an equal opportunity cycling revolution, nor is it evenly spread. Worst of all, is what the data shows in terms of gender equality in the cycling stream (or lack thereof).

"Almost all the growth in cycling in the United States has been among men between 25 and 64 years old, while cycling rates have remained steady among women and fallen sharply for children." - Ralph Buehler and John Pucher, "Bicycling Renaissance in North America? An Update and Re-Appraisal of Cycling Trends and Policies"

Buehler and Pucher set out to to expand and update a study they did nine years ago (scroll all the way down for 1999 paper) pointing out the trends in North American cycling.

What they found in looking back at the last decade is that bicycling has continued to increase, with the total number of bike trips tripling between 1977 and 2009, and cycling's share of total trip rising from 0.6% of trips to 1.0% of trips. (National Personal Transportation Surveys and National Household Travel Surveys data).
As far as where cyclists are clustered, looking at American Community Survey (Census) figures shows a big difference in cycling in Alabama, Tennessee, and West Virginia, where 0.1% of commuters go by bike, and Oregon and the District of Columbia, where 1.9% of commutes are by bicycle. In both Canada and the U.S., the authors note, cycling is higher in the western areas, and on the coasts. Bike-to-work commutersare especially sparse in the southeastern U.S.

Of special note is the fact that (dispelling the myth that cycling is a fair-weather activity) the highest levels of commuter bikers is in Canada are in the Yukon (2.6%) and the Northwest Territories (2.1%).
Buehler and Pucher studied the data for gender trends, and what they found was a male-dominated picture. Men have always been the majority in both commuter and sport cycling, and those trends are actually accelerating. Men aged 25 - 64 made up the bulk of the growth spurt of cycling. From 2001 to 2009, in fact, the percentage of all bike trips made by women in the U.S. dropped from 33% to 24%. What's behind the drop? Pucher speculates only that perceptions of safety may have much to do with it, as women seem more sensitive to ideas of personal safety than men.

In addition, a very pertinent piece of data from the study, in light of U.S. obesity rates, is the drop in younger cyclists. The share of all bikes trips made by persons younger than 16 fell from 52% in 2001 to 39% in 2009.
While women and younger people aren't getting on their bikes at the same rates as adult men, they should be. For the good news from Buehler and Pucher's analysis of the data is that cycling safety continues to improve both in the U.S. and in Canada.

Fatalities per 10 million bike trips fell by a massive 65% in the U.S. between 1977 and 2009, from 5.1 to 1.8 fatalities per 10 million trips. In Canada, fatalities per 10,000 riders dropped from 4 in 1996 to 3 in 2006.
What do Buehler and Pucher conclude about the "bike renaissance" in North America? It is growing, and has become more widespread since the pair's 1999 research. The boom is limited to "a few dozen" cities, and these, the authors say, are islands (of primarily male cyclists) in a sea of car dominance.