Bike Baltimore E-Newsletter, August 2009

image

 

Bike Baltimore , Vol. 1, Issue 3

 

Thank you for subscribing to the BIKE BALTIMORE e-newsletter distributed by the Baltimore City , Department of Transportation.  Here you will find the latest information regarding the city’s efforts to make Baltimore a safer and more enjoyable place to bike.

 

NEWS!

 

Bike parking at Artscape was a huge success for its first year.  An estimated 600 bikes were parked at the facility over the weekend!  Many thanks to Mark Counselman who managed the bike parking and all the volunteers that helped out!

 

The Bob Moore Memorial Moonlight Madness ride brought out 200 cyclists on Thursday, July 30th.  Aside from a couple wrecks and flats, a great time was had by all.  It was great to see that many bikes rolling up Charles St , and still sharing the road with cars.  

 

Last week, Mr. Jack Yates was cycling Maryland Avenue when he was struck and killed by a right-turning box truck.   The truck did not stop and the police are still looking for the driver as the investigation is on-going.  Anyone with information is urged to call 410-396-2100.

 

In memory of Mr. Yates, members of Baltimore ’s cycling community stepped up and installed a “ghost bike” at the corner of Lafayette and Maryland Avenue .  Ghost bikes are a worldwide movement aimed at paying tribute to fallen cyclists and drawing attention to greater road safety

 

The Baltimore Metropolitan Council has completed the BICYCLE COMMUTER RESOURCE GUIDE for the Baltimore Region.  The guide contains an array of information road rules, outfitting your bike, and where to ride.  The guide also contains information for employers on how to encourage employees to commute by bike.  The guide is available from DOT Planning (410-396-6856) and the Baltimore Metropolitan Council (410-732-0500).  The guide will also be available online.

 

 

BIKE INFRASTRUCTURE

 

New Bike Parking – The Department of Transportation’s Maintenance Division has installed a total of 107 bike racks this year!  The communities of Highlandtown, Belair-Edison, Waverley , Remington and Hamilton are some of the areas where the new racks are installed.  To request a bike racks, visit the online form here. 

 

New Bike Routes are being planned for Bolton Hill, Reservoir Hill and Lake Avenue .  These routes will connect existing and proposed bike routes will provide safer corridors for cyclists. 

  

 

BIKE EVENTS

 

The Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee meets Tuesday, August 18th at 6pm in the Recreation and Parks HQ ( 2600 Madison Avenue ).  We’ll be discussing police cooperation, the new bike routes and community meetings for the Southeast/Park Heights bike network.

 

Tour du Port, Baltimore 's Premier Bicycle Event, takes place October 4th. Join thousands of riders at the Canton Waterfront Park to kick off the 16th Annual Tour du Port. Routes range from 12 to a new 1/2 century 50 mile ride! The route travels through over twelve historic neighborhoods, waterfront areas and parks. This fully supported tour includes lunch, refreshments at rest stops, map and sag and a post-ride celebration at Tour's end. This event is One Less Car's Annual Fundraiser! All fees go directly to advancing the programs and advocacy efforts of One Less Car, a non-profit dedicated to walking, bicycling and mass transit in Maryland . Click here to register

image

 

One Less Car sponsors the Second Fall Bicycle Forum on Wednesday October 7, 2009 at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab (JHAPL) at the intersection of Route #29 and Gorman Road in Laurel , Maryland . Over 80 Bike Advocates/Planners/Elected Officials attended this well received Forum last year. Attend this Forum to find how to make and keep Maryland Bike Friendly. This is an important opportunity to inform leaders about your concerns and ideas! Let us know what you think should be a 2010 legislative priority. We are expecting advocacy groups from many counties all over the state: Howard, Montgomery , Prince George , Anne Arundel, Baltimore , Frederick , St. Mary, Baltimore City and Washington DC to attend and show/tell what they are doing in their areas. Additionally, we will discuss bike legislation for the 2010 Annapolis Session. Mark you calendars and plan to attend.

 

These events and more can be found on the Bike Baltimore website at www.baltimorecity.gov/bike

 
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

JoeyBike responds to an anti-bike rant

1. The posted speed limit is not your God given right to go that speed. It is the maximum safe speed for that road, not a mandatory requirement. Do I hate it when I have to follow a school bus down a narrow street in a car waiting for every kid to mosey off the bus and get a safe distance from the road? Hell YES! Do I want to throw things or run people over? Of course not. Why are school bus drivers so arrogant as to be in the middle of the road letting the kiddies off? Because that tactic saves lives.

2. Make up your mind. Do you want me out of your way, or do you want me to stop for every red light? I can't do both. If I safely run the red lights, you will only see me one time as I disappear over the horizon. If I stop for every one, you will be stuck behind me light after light after light until you can safely pass with 3 feet to spare. In short, you will NEVER get past me Downtown if I stop for the lights.

3. Not only are cyclists in better shape than your Classic Rock arse, but they probably own cars, trucks, and SUVs too and generally, according to certain statistics, are well educated (i.e., smarter than the average DJ) and in a higher income bracket. No doubt most adult cyclists pay more local road taxes than a lowly Rock Jock or the caller driving a dump truck.

4. People disobey traffic laws. Nearly ever driver on the road - car, motorcycle, SUV, whatever - breaks the law. Why single out cyclists. Roll through right-on-red, roll through stop signs, stopping in crosswalks, driving drunk, texting, speeding - especially on interstate highways, illegal lane change, no signal turns and lane change.....I saw ALL of that just today. Do I want to "get all Grand Theft Auto" on every motorist out there. Well...sadly...YES I do.

5. Why do I have a right to be on public roadways and where does my arrogance (at times) come from? Because when I am on a bike, and you are in your ego-structured carbon-belching ecological bomb tin crap junk vehicle, I simply have more right to be on Earth than you do.

Continue Reading

  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

TEN COMMON QUESTIONS

[The following is from the UK but very applicable here as our number are near equivalent.]

Q1: Cycling’s dangerous, isn’t it?
Q2: Wouldn’t cycling be safer if you wear a helmet? Shouldn’t it be made compulsory?
Q3: Why can’t cyclists learn to ride safely and obey the law? (see also Q4 &5)
Q4: Why don’t cyclists obey red lights? (see Q3 for illegal cycling in general)
Q5 What are you going to do about cyclists riding on the pavement (sidewalk)? (see also Q3)
Q6: Why don’t cyclists have compulsory training, number plates and insurance to stop them riding dangerously and illegally, or so they can be made to pay up when they do?
Q7: Shouldn’t cyclists stop slowing down traffic and stick to where they belong – i.e. cycle paths/tracks off the road? Shouldn’t campaigners be asking for more on-road cycle lanes and off-road paths because they make cycling safer?
Q8: Cyclists don’t pay road tax, so you have no right to complain about the roads or drivers, or to take up road-space, do you?!
Q9: You’ll never get large numbers of people to cycle, will you?
Q10: Our roads would be safer if there were no cyclists, wouldn’t they?

Continue Reading

  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

Truck at fault

image
This "ghost bike" on a pole at Maryland and Lafayette avenues commemorates John R. Yates, a bicyclist who was killed there last week in a collision with a truck. (Baltimore Sun photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor / August 9, 2009)

As Baltimore police continued to search Wednesday for the driver of a truck that fatally struck a bicyclist this month at a downtown intersection, an attorney representing the victim's family said a surveillance video shows that the vehicle "just abruptly took a right without a turn signal," causing the collision.

About 11:40 a.m. Aug. 4, John R. "Jack" Yates, 67, of Charles Village was riding south on Maryland Avenue when he got tangled in the rear wheels of the truck at West Lafayette Avenue. He died at the scene.

Investigators have not identified the driver of the truck, said Agent Donny Moses, a city police spokesman.

But attorney Steven D. Silverman, who is representing Yates' family, said the outdoor surveillance video obtained from a nearby business shows that the truck driver had not signaled the right turn onto West Lafayette from Maryland Avenue. The video, however, does not show the license plate or any other identifying marks on the truck. Yates' family is looking for video from any other sources within a 10-block radius of the accident scene that may contain that information, Silverman said.

Police have said that the driver may not have been aware of the collision. But according to Silverman, two eyewitnesses to the crash described loud noises when both Yates and the bicycle were hit.

"The driver had to have known he had hit somebody, and that's why he hasn't come forward," Silverman said, adding that under state law, drivers must remain at the scene of an accident when someone is injured.

Based on the eyewitness reports and video, Silverman believes the driver of the truck was at fault for failing to signal the turn and for making a turn without determining that the intersection was clear.

"Mr. Yates was traveling on the far right side, going straight," Silverman said. "...He did not crash into the rear [of the truck]. He was literally taken under the passenger-side rear wheel."

Continue Reading

  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

Events of the visionary kind (that you can bike to)

Thursdays • July 2–August 13 • 9pm: Flicks from the Hill outdoor movie series • FREE!
Grab a blanket, picnic under the stars, and watch great film selections inspired by the current exhibition THE MARRIAGE OF ART, SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY. SEASON FINALE: Thursday, August 13: Ghostbusters. Screening starts at 9 pm; Museum is OPEN & FREE between 5 and 9 pm on Flick nights. Rain location: inside the museum. Also, see details of Season Finale BEER GARDEN below!

Thursday • August 13 • 6-8PM: Flicks Season Finale BEER GARDEN!
Max’s Taphouse presents The American Visionary Art Museum Flicks-from-the-Hill-Finale-Night BEER GARDEN! Bring your friends for cool, cool beer on a hot night in a beautiful setting. Location: In the “LOVE” Barn & Wildflower Sculpture Garden at AVAM. $10/Person (pay at the door). Followed by the free outdoor screening oF Ghostbusters at 9pm.

Continue Reading

  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

AUGUST 2009 - WEEK 2 - ONE LESS CAR (OLC) UPDATE

One Less > Car

AUGUST 2009 - WEEK 2 - ONE LESS CAR (OLC) UPDATE

--Tour du Port Registration - Get the early registration rate!
--OLC Advocacy Task Force Meeting This Thursday
--Volunteer Event Party Thursday August 20th
--Separating Myth From Fact on “Cash for Clunkers”
--Matching Funds - Double the Benefit

Continue Reading

  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

Teenage Cyclist Killed in Montgomery County

[More sad news. :(]

A 16-year-old bicyclist hit by a vehicle Aug. 5 died Monday of injuries from the accident, Montgomery County police said.

Codi N. Alexander of Gaithersburg was cycling on a sidewalk parallel to Great Seneca Highway. Authorities said she was attempting to cross the on-ramp to Sam Eig Highway when she was struck shortly before 3 p.m. by a Honda CRV driven by Rodolfo Ayala Sibala, 66, of Germantown.

Alexander was not wearing a bike helmet and was not required to under Maryland law, which mandates them for children under the age of 16, said police spokeswoman Lucille Baur.

Continue Reading

  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

Zombie Highways

image
Blueprint America — with The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer — in a story on how America’s highways are built and funded — often times at the expense of mass-transit development. Correspondent Rick Karr reports from Birmingham, Alabama.

What’s a Zombie Highway?
Rick Karr, Blueprint America correspondent

Let me answer that question with a hypothetical: Let’s pretend that the federal government has a program to help you improve your house or apartment. Lawmakers in Washington promise that for every dollar that you put up for construction, they’ll give you four dollars. It doesn’t matter how expensive the project turns out to be –- you’ll get four bucks in subsidies for every dollar that comes out of your own pocket. Until the project is finished.

In that case, would you ever have an incentive to finish your home improvement project? Or would the project keep shambling forward, like an extra in a George Romero film?

Continue Reading

  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

Rumor Control.

Most of you know that a memorial ghost bike has been placed at the corner of Lafayette and Maryland, dedicated the cyclist who lost his life there earlier this week.

There have been rumors about the City, i.e. transportation, removing the ghost bike. Not True. Our Mayor has said it stays, and Al Foxx, transportation czar, send a post to his staff saying no one is to touch it.
  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)