As other cities push ahead with safer, more bikeable streets, Baltimore spins its wheels


BY JED WEEKS AND GREG HINCHLIFFE, Baltimore Brew [from March last year just cleaning up my to do list]

OPINION: Adding a rush-hour lane on Aliceanna is just the latest example of how the city is bucking national trends and its residents’ wishes

Sixity years ago, planner Lewis Mumford noted that “adding lanes to reduce traffic congestion is like loosening your belt to cure obesity.”

Baltimore government still hasn’t received the message.
...

https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2015/03/16/as-other-cities-push-ahead-with-safer-more-bikeable-streets-baltimore-spins-its-wheels/
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

New traffic congestion report raises more questions than it answers


by Stephen Lee Davis, Transportation for America

...
The report’s touchstone metric is a blunt measure of peak-hour speeds compared to an empty road in the middle of the night. Did you know that trips take longer during rush hour compared to the middle of the night? You did? The comparison of rush-hour to free-flow traffic begs the question about the goal: is it reasonable or even possible to build enough road capacity to keep traffic moving at free-flow speeds from 6-9 a.m. when the bulk of the populace is going to work? (Those free-flow speeds being used as the baseline comparison also exceed the speed limit in many cases, by the way.)

The economist Joe Cortright wrote a comical April Fools post that showed how silly that logic is when applied anywhere else, in this case, at Starbucks, where consumers lose “$4 billion every year in wasted time” because of long lines during busy mornings. Yet:
...

http://t4america.org/2015/08/26/new-traffic-congestion-report-raises-more-questions-than-it-answers/
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

The Most Dangerous U.S. Cities for Drivers - Baltimore #3


By Kristin Wong, life Hacker

Driving comes with its share of risk and danger, and some cities are more dangerous than others. NerdWallet looked at data in the 200 most populous cities in the U.S. to rank the safest and most dangerous for drivers.

To come up with their numbers, NerdWallet analyzed five factors: the rate of fatal crashes, the likelihood of an accident compared to other cities, the number of years between accidents, the risk of break-ins, and the risk of a stolen vehicle.
...

http://lifehacker.com/the-most-dangerous-u-s-cities-for-drivers-1779965244
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

To make streets walkable, empower pedestrians to cross anywhere


by Ben Ross, Greater Greater Washington

...
To make streets truly walkable, we need to totally rethink how we run them. Crossing on foot should be legal anywhere and anyplace. Traffic lights should be red-yellow-green, with no walk signals.
...

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/30477/to-make-streets-walkable-empower-pedestrians-to-cross-anywhere/
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

ENGINEERS SHOULD NOT DESIGN STREETS


BY CHARLES Martin, Strong Towns

...
DEIGNING ROADS

Engineers are well-suited to constructing roads....



BUILDING STREETS

Engineers are not good at building streets nor, I would argue, can the typical engineer readily become good at it....


http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2016/5/22/engineers-should-not-design-streets
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

Assistance in educating engineers on the flexibility in the Green Book


"AASHTO should provide guidance to state DOTs and other users of the Green Book regarding flexibility in design...This guidance should assist in educating engineers and designers on the flexibility inherent in the Green Book, as well as new and additional guidance on specific design issues... and This guidance should address designing in and for a multi-modal transportation system..."
—AASHTO Standing Committee on Highways May 25, 2016 Direction on Flexibility in Design Standards Resolution: http://bit.ly/1PikhNT

from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.


[B' Spokes: IMHO our state is overly generous to cars and stingy to cyclists in designs they approve to get state/federal money for bike facilities. Take Roland Ave for example, per ASHTON the minimum width for cyclists is 5 feet and for cars it's 10 feet. So what do we get? Cars get 10.5 feet and cyclists get 4 feet. I hope this new resolution will help us.]
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

SEATTLE, WA: GATES FOUNDATION CUTS DRIVE ALONE FROM 88% TO 30%


-> When the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation opened its new offices in Seattle, it simultaneously launched a coordinated transportation program to promote carpooling, transit, and biking, while disincentivizing driving alone. The program featured a commute-logging online system that rewards employees for not driving, and allows them to pay for parking on a more flexible basis, as to not commit to driving for a full month at a time. In just five years at the new office location, the Gates Foundation was able to more than halve its drive-alone mode share, from 88 percent to 30 percent of employees. http://bit.ly/22xtdkQ


from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

MD DOT: $14 M FOR WALKING, BIKING & TRAIL ACCESS


MD DOT: $14 M FOR WALKING, BIKING & TRAIL ACCESS
-> This year Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and its State Highway Administration is making $14 million in reimbursable grant funding available for projects that enhance walking, biking, and recreational trail access statewide. MDOT is making state and federal funding available to support enhancements to Maryland’s bicycle and pedestrian network through its Maryland’s Bikeways, Safe Routes to School, Transportation Alternatives and Recreational Trails programs. http://bit.ly/1sKxGnH

MDOT also recently updated its Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan (http://1.usa.gov/20StrS7), which establishes a 20-year vision to support cycling and walking as modes of transportation.

from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.



[B' Spokes: It looks like we are finally getting federal money rather then just state money. (Was $3 million from state money.)]
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

Use the language of felony assault


Via PV Cycling

You’ve been buzzed. Worse, you’ve been buzzed and honked at. Worse, you’ve been buzzed and honked at and screamed at. Worse, you’ve been buzzed and honked at and screamed at and flipped off. Worse, you’ve been buzzed and honked at and screamed at and flipped off and had shit thrown at you. Worse, you’ve been buzzed and honked at and screamed at and flipped off and had shit thrown at you and veered into.

“At least I didn’t get hit,” you tell yourself, shaking with terror and rage. “At least I’m still alive.”

You, my friend, are a victim. And not just any old victim. You’re the victim of a crime.
...

https://pvcycling.wordpress.com/2016/05/26/report-card/
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

Got bike?


by Toby Hill, Bicycle Retailers

20Collective says a 'Got Milk" for cycling could boost participation — and sales at all levels of the industry.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A group of retailers dubbed the 20Collective has launched an initiative to grow cycling participation by establishing an industry-funded “Got Milk”-style marketing campaign for cycling targeted at the general public.

“We’re lacking any sort of direct marketing to consumers outside of the point-zero-five percent of consumers who watch the Tour de France,” said Ian Christie, 20Collective president and owner of Summit Bicycles with four stores in Northern California.
...

http://www.bicycleretailer.com/north-america/2016/02/19/retailer-group-looks-launch-industry-funded-marketing-campaign-cycling

[B' Spoke: And our Alex Obriecht (20Collective vice president) is mentioned as well.]
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)