Four quarterly reports on the “sharrows” that were painted along the length of Cayuga Street are now available for review. A fascinating read (pretty large PDFs; sorry). See Sharrow Reports.

Walk and Roll is a really great website and a great idea; here’s their main principles –

Walk+Roll works to encourage and remind people to walk and bicycle in their daily lives by:

• - Organizing human-powered neighborhood events that combine fun with active living, learning and participating.
• - Advocating with politicians and community leaders so that they consider cyclists and pedestrians in public policy.
• - Promoting biking and walking through press releases and outreach to the media.

Walking and cycling rather than driving – particularly for short distances – saves money, improves physical and emotional health, decreases smog, improves neighborhood safety and encourages social interaction which builds community.

Most of their ideas are things we’ve kicked around here in Ithaca as well; some of their events are worth emulating. All in all, much food for thought.

Recently there was a “leaked” report that the New York State DOT is about to revise its policy regarding the installation of rumble strips along state roads — whereas previously rumblestrips were an option to be considered, henceforth rumble strips will be default, to be added to every road project unless otherwise specified.

I found it a really disturbing prospect and expected cyclists around me to rise in protest. But no such protest seems to be materializing; most people I’ve talked to have said it’s not a big deal; if there is sufficient space left Read the rest of this entry »

Passing this on for consideration as a cycling issue for Ithaca. Quite a few comments have appeared on the Cornell and FLCC email lists — generally unflattering to the authors of grate-bridge technology. The point would be to think about all the hazards around town that are particularly problematic for cyclists.

dear fellow flcc-ers and cu-cyclers -

i was just cleared from the hospital following a bike accident i had saturday morning, while commuting. the roads were a little wet, no biggie… i was riding downhill, but not very fast since i was approaching an intersection. anyways… as soon as i rode on the steel bridge by the police department on clinton street, by bike skidded sideways and i immediately lost control. i fell dead on my right knee, then my right hip, and my right elbow swept the ground for what seemed to be an eternity (15ft slide). Read the rest of this entry »

We took a trip to Ottawa over Memorial Day weekend with the Finger Lakes Cycling Club touring group and stayed in the University of Ottawa dorms. They don’t let you bring bikes into the rooms there, but they give you a key to the bike room in the basement of the building. What a terrific surprise that was! Not just a dungeon into which to squeeze a bike, but a special array of racks that holds bikes and provides a way to lock them up. I’ll have to find out what the investment is in the hardware, because there are certainly many places in Ithaca that a rack like that would be a valuable addition.

Berkeley shared roadway

One of the ways some cities have made cycling attractive to lots of people is the creation of “bicycle boulevards.” Here are a couple of videos showing what they look like — in Berkeley, California, and Portland, Oregon. There seems to be no doubt that, in those cities, bicycle boulevards not only work but are very popular among residents — both cyclists and non-cycling home-owners. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a bill working its way through the Iowa legislature that’s seen as providing a “Bill of Rights” for cyclists. Read the brief article about it in the Chicago Tribune: Iowa Senate OK bill boosting biker rights.

While there are t-shirts around demanding that traffic keep a 3′ distance from bicyclists, the Iowa bill calls for a 5′ clearance. I’d like to think this is a really big step forward, though I wonder what enforcement will look like.

I was particularly struck by one bit of the bill that I would think we could adopt locally:

[The bill] also requires motorists to stop when crossing sidewalks or bike trails, and gives bicyclists the right of way at uncontrolled intersections.

From the time the Cayuga Waterfront Trail opened, I was startled (and dismayed) that trail users face stop signs posted at the driveways leading to the rink and playing fields. This seems like a no-brainer to me — it’s a park, this is a trail in the park; cars are guests here, so please stop and take care. Of course, I don’t know what might have taken place in the deliberations, so I’m not condemning anybody. But, this kind of situation is — once again — addressed so clearly in some faraway place and it makes me wonder why we in Ithaca are stuck.

Bike Ithaca has a table assigned for Saturday’s chili event. We’re not far from Cayuga St, maybe somewhere around Autumn Leaves bookstore (number 55 in the map below). They’re providing us with a table and a couple chairs. The event runs from 11:30 until 4:00 pm, so I’m planning to be there around 11:00 to see if we can set up and Brenda has volunteered to be there first shift with me. Read the rest of this entry »

I got some new stickers available to anyone who wants them. I wanted to introduce something that doesn’t just encourage biking but that discorages driving — I figure that any way you get around without a car is better than taking a car. I still insist that “bikes belong” and that people should “share the road” as passionately as ever. But,  a message to drivers seems like a good idea too. So, if you share this view, you’re welcome to put the message on something. The stickers are either biggish for a car bumper or skinny to fit on a bicycle tube.

Some years ago, we produced a “Share the Road” bumper sticker — the FLCC initiated it and iirc the city bought a lot of them. I notice that there are still TCAT buses that have that sticker on the back bumper. I thought it could be a good time to introduce a new bumper sticker — to reflect new times with new problems and viewpoints. I’m planning to print up a bunch and have them at the info table in February. I’d appreciate reactions and criticisms.

In part I want to dispel the idea that those of us who love bikes and biking are maniacs who see no merit in any other means of getting around. The idea that unites us with many other Green advocates is that we need to minimize our reliance on motor vehicles. So, the “Why Drive?” sticker is aimed at getting people to think about getting out of their cars — whether on foot or bike makes little difference; and the bus is far preferable to the individual car. I think that the people who are on the BikeGang list represent a wide variety of transportation and lifestyle views that this bumper sticker’s message reinforces.

Anyhow, let me know what you think. (bigger image)

Andrejs