Holier than You on the Bogus Bicycle Commuter Act

[In a word, where you can get a $220 parking allowance for your car, a $115 mass transit allowance or a $20 biking allowance but you can only pick one, which one would you choose?]
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One plus for LaHood - he co-sponsored the Bicycle Commuter Act. Of course, so did 64 other representatives, so it's not like he really stuck his neck out on that one. It did get snuck into the bailout bill, but I find it very humdrum. $20/month subsidy for people who bike to work. Great! Except that if you already participate in a pre-tax transit benefit, you can't take advantage. People who bike often are people who take transit, even if they aren't multi-modal commuters like the Caltrain bike cohort. For example, I know people in SF who bike to work, don't own a car, and also have a MUNI pass. A MUNI pass is $45. In order to get the bike benefit, they'd have to forfeit their much larger transit benefit.

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'Green' Jobs Compete for Stimulus Aid

In one of the first internal struggles of the incoming Obama administration, environmentalists and smart-growth advocates are trying to shift the priorities of the economic stimulus plan that will be introduced in Congress next month away from allocating tens of billions of dollars to highways, bridges and other traditional infrastructure spending to more projects that create "green-collar" jobs.

The debate has centered on two competing principles in the evolving plan: the desire to spend money on what President-elect Barack Obama calls "shovel-ready projects," such as highway and bridge construction, vs. spending on more environmentally conscious projects, such as grids for wind and solar power.
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"If we're going to call it a stimulus package, it has to be stimulating and has to be stimulating now. I think there are members of our caucus who are trying to create a Christmas tree out of this," said Rep. Baron P. Hill (Ind.), incoming co-chairman of the Blue Dog Coalition, a caucus of 51 fiscally conservative House Democrats.
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But environmentalists and their allies view old-fashioned highway construction as encouraging longer commutes and increasing the energy-consumption crisis of the past year. "They're going to put a bunch of money through a broken system to stimulate the economy. That doesn't make sense to me," said Colin Peppard, a transportation expert for Friends of the Earth.
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Goldberg's group has studied infrastructure proposals from 15 states and found that 75 percent of their requests are for roadway construction, and of that, the overwhelming majority of money would fund new projects in outer suburbs that have been hard hit by the mortgage crisis. "We're building all this stuff for where the economy isn't anymore," he said.
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An Iditarod Without Dogs

It is promoted as the longest, most remote winter ultrarace in the world, a slog across century-old marshland trails from the outpost of Knik over the Farewell Hills, up the Yukon River, through the ghost towns of the Kuskokwim Mountains and on to the Bering Sea.

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Something for the holidays

[I have been at a lost to find something to post for the holidays until I ran across this, revolution and excitement sounds like something we can get behind. ;) ]

A RECIPE FOR FLIPPING

In the spirit of the season, we offer the following recipe for a holiday punch of another kind. The story is that the appropriately named "Flip" was a popular revolutionary-era drink, and that, together with coffee, it fueled the excitement --the ferment, you might say-- that became the American Revolution. So for your own edification:

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Bus driver Training

Commercial Driver's License (CDL) Manual
Problem
Currently Maryland's (and most likely other States as well) the CDL Manual says that bicyclists are hazards and that truck drivers should honk at them (ok, in the manual it says tap the horn lightly but still that is totally bogus safety information.)

The League of American Bicyclists (LAB) in their Bike Friendly States (BFS) program had this question:
In the state driver's CDL testing and manual are questions and information regarding motorists rights and responsibilities toward bicyclists included?
Which to me implies that there is something better out their then what Maryland has.

We just got this response back from someone at MVA:
Sorry this is a week later, but wanted to be sure I passed along this information with reference to the CDL Manual. It was suggested in the email discussion to update the CDL manual. In fact, Maryland's CDL manual is modeled on the AAMVA manual (American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrations), and the sections mentioned in the email discussion regarding bicycles are actually taken word for word from the AAMVA model. There is a new version being printed this month with changes as a result of national model changes. I double-checked before sending this, and the new version of the CDL manual will have the same language on bicycles.

Because the verbage is basically handed down to us, any updates to the manual are definitely not something that could be easily changed -- likely, any request for changes would have to work their way through nationally. It may seem unfriendly for trucks to blow their horn (or tap it lightly) at bicycles to make them aware of a truck behind them (getting ready to pass), and for bicycles to be listed as a potential hazard to trucks, but certainly the national model to teach truck drivers how to drive safely would not suggest harrassment of bicycles. Both of these sections mentioned are from the section on "Driving Safely" -- with the first under "Communicating Your Presence" and the second under "Seeing Hazards."
This seems to imply that Maryland has the "best" standard CDL manual.

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The Future (result) of Freeway Expansion

Just in time for the holidays:

A look at one potential future for the city of Minneapolis if the 2009 economic stimulus bill expected to be passed by Congress very soon focuses on yesterday's transportation vision rather than building for the needs of the next century. What might the future have in store? Let's take a look.

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BAHC plans, activities and initiatives.

Happy Holidays to All Howard County Cyclists! Although it is the off season (for many but not all of us) BAHC is planning for Spring and for future activities and initiatives.

Road Survey: Below is a link for a road survey for the bike-ability of Howard County roads. The primary purpose is to identify which roads are unsafe or in poor condition so we can target those with HC Public Works and Highways. We discovered last year that adding shoulders on some roads or modifying existing designs is difficult, but we want the County Government to be aware of our concerns as cyclists.
<a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=A56raaJ3t6bWIho2WbjsiA_3d_3d">http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=A56raaJ3t6bWIho2WbjsiA_3d_3d</a>;

Club representatives please post on your message boards and send link to your listserves. If has difficulty with the survey or just wants to provide a an evaluation of the the 3 worst roads (for recreational cycling or commuting) you can also send information in an e-mail to: ichuck&quot;at&quot;gmail.com

Road Rage: Bill Kelly of the BAHC Board has arranged for Howard County Police Chief Bill McMahon (who is a cyclist) to attend our next Board meeting on Jan 12th. If you have any questions on how to report incidents with drivers or concern for how law enforcement in the County supports cycling please e-mail me (jackguarneri&quot;at&quot;gmail.com). I'll ensure issues are brought up and will provide a post-meeting summary of our discussion.

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Thanks to the following bicycle shops

[We always like to pass on kudos to those who are helping to promote bicycling.]

Thanks to the following bicycle shops for their generous contributions to the BBC

Remember to support them with your business!

JOE'S MT. WASHINGTON BIKE SHOP
LUTHERVILLE BIKE SHOP
PERFORMANCE BIKES
PRINCETON SPORTS
REI (RECREATIONAL EQUIP. INC.)
THE BICYCLE CONNECTION
TRI-SPEED/HUNT VALLEY BICYCLE
And a special thanks to the volunteer host of the BBC Website: System Source
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From MdTA: No bikes on ICC shoulders

The Maryland Transportation Authority (MdTA) has decided not to allow bicycling on the shoulders of the ICC. Here is their response to Nancy Breen who had asked on behalf of the Rockville Bicycle Advisory Committee that bicycling be allowed on the shoulders for those portions where the ICC trail will not be built.
- Jack Cochrane

December 1, 2008

Dear Dr. Breen:

Thank you for your follow-up email regarding bicyclist use of the shoulders on the Intercounty Connector (ICC). As Transportation Secretary and Maryland Transportation Authority Chairman, I am once again pleased to respond.

As you are aware, legislation was passed during the 2008 legislative session that allows me, as Authority Chairman, to decide on a case-by-case basis whether bicycle use will be permitted on Authority facilities. To that end, staff members completed a review of the matter and took several issues into account, including shoulder use, high-speed ramp crossing, motorist expectancy, toll collection/violations and facility design. Based on staff findings and further examination, I have made the decision not to allow bicycle use on ICC shoulders. Local viable alternatives exist to allow a bicyclist to cross the county, including trail segments that will be built during ICC construction. The Authority has committed to and will continue work at the local level to allow additional trail segments adjacent to the ICC.

Thank you again for your follow-up email and for taking the time to write. If you have any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Dennis Simpson, Acting Director of Capital Planning, Maryland Transportation Authority at 410-537-5650, toll-free 1-888-754-0098 or via email at mdta@mdtransportationauthority.com.

Sincerely,

John D. Porcari

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Does Maryland's drivers test cover bicycling well?

The one bike related question I got while taking the MD driver test on-line:
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If a bicycle rider near you is a child:
* Expect the child to know Maryland’s bicycle laws.
* Expect the child to be in total control of the bicycle.
* Expect anything could happen and adjust your driving.

[What do you think, are MD drivers being trained and tested in regards to the rights of cyclists and the duties of driver's of vehicles toward cyclists? Also if you take the test (its only 20 questions) let us know what was the one question you got.]

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