I was in DC last week and rode down the most improbable bike lane I’ve ever seen — right down the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue, with traffic on both sides. It was like a fashion runway for bikes. But it felt really great to be there with a view of the Capitol dome ahead and the cars really respecting the bike space. There were points where it would have been easy for turning traffic to cut the turn short and encroach on the bicycle lanes. At those points, they had a row of skinny bollards that kept things straight. They weren’t strong enough to keep anything back; just enough to let people know that this boundary was for real. It worked very well as far as I could tell. This would work great on the turns of East State Street where cars erase the lines of the bike lane.

The city has recently enacted a new policy regarding what it calls “social media” — it turns out to include any and all uses of electronic communication, including email, blogs, and facebook. This puts the BPAC in a peculiar position, as I see it at least. Most of the members of BPAC have their legitimacy precisely because they are not officially employees or representatives of the city. At the same time, the Council is a creature of City government so, to some extent, its members might have occasion to speak “officially.” My hope is that this email list can remain a neutral ground where all can discuss the issues without looking over their shoulders or holding back for bureaucratic reasons.

Here’s the official document: Social media policy adopted 7-6-11

The complete text is below Read more »

This update from Kent Johnson:

Back in April, I received a phone call from a Bicycle Friendly Community representative indicating that Ithaca did not meet their standards to receive recognition. My understanding from that conversation was that the review team felt that Ithaca possibly could meet their standards for an “honorable mention”, but with some tweaking of the application we could possible get to the “silver” level (the level ranking is bronze, silver, gold, platinum) – which they felt better represented the level of ‘bike friendliness’ in Ithaca. Based on that conversation, I thought that we could revise the application and re-submit it this July. I have now received the review team’s actual written feedback (see attachment) … and it seems quite different from the phone conversation. In summary, they have provided a lot of suggestions, but none of these can be suitable addressed in time for a July re-submittal .. and probably not even in the next year or so. I’d like to have a discussion sometime with whoever is interested about what our strategy should be … my impression at this point is that a number of additional bicycle-related improvements need to be implemented before Ithaca can be competitive for BFC recognition.

- Kent

Text of the feedback document is below: Read more »

This is the final version of Ithaca’s Bicycle Friendly Community application (PDF):
Ithaca BFC application – final

The League of American Bicyclists (LAB) has established a program of evaluating cities, states, and other entities with respect to their “bicycle friendliness.” Those that are certified as bicycle friendly are also ranked at various levels (platinum, gold, etc.). The LAB summary of the Bicycle Friendly Community program is this:

“The Bicycle Friendly Community Program (BFC) provides incentives, hands-on assistance, and award recognition for communities that actively support bicycling. A Bicycle Friendly Community welcomes cyclists by providing safe accommodation for cycling and encouraging people to bike for transportation and recreation.”

More information about this and other programs is on the LAB website: Bicycle FriendlyAmerica.

(The calendar with specifics is below, after this press release.)

For Immediate Release
March 12, 2010

CITY OF ITHACA DPW SPRING CLEANING OF CITY STREETS

On Monday March 22, 2009, the Department of Public works will begin its annual spring cleaning of all City streets. Residents are encouraged to rake their tree lawns during the time when the streets are posted and before the street cleaning have been performed. Raked materials should only be placed in the curb gutter. Any material raked into the gutter after street cleaning is performed will be removed at the property owner’s expense. Read more »