recruiting

Six bike riders on Metrorail as we leave Brickell Station! Recruited one to join Green Mobility Network. Others not talkative. They look sleepy as we arrive Coconut Grove station. Night workers?

Florida and Miami to celebrate bike month

Gov. Charlie Crist declared March as Florida Bicycle Month, and Miami Mayor Manny Diaz declared it Bicycle Action Month. Both have the right idea. This is the perfect state, and Miami on the way to being a perfect city, for full enjoyment of bicycle transportation. Now, let's all go riding!

Bicycling's friend in the White House

Here's a little something to be hopeful about. President Obama's deputy director of intergovernmental affairs is Shaun McGrath, recently mayor of bicycle-friendly Boulder, Colo. Read more at BikeDenver.org .

Cop in bicycle incident now off the force

The New York City policeman caught on tape knocking a bicyclist off his wheels is now off the police force. Whether he quit or was fired, we don't yet know. Read more at NYTimes.com.

Causeway alert for Sunday

Sunday riders out to Key Biscayne, be advised of a large event in Crandon Park between 8:30 a.m. and noon. Autism Speaks expects to draw 6,000 to 10,000 people for its Feb. 22 event, Walk Now for Autism. This will mean more traffic than usual on the Rickenbacker Causeway.

Counties begin stimulus planning

Mayors and county commissioners will meet tomorrow to pick the first transportation projects for the Broward and Miami-Dade shares of the federal economic stimulus package.

The possible projects they are looking at include a handful of bicycle facilities -- notably an $8 million safety upgrade of the M-Path and the closing of the Dadeland Gap where the M-Path abruptly runs out in South Miami.

Fans of the M-Path, that gem of a trail from South Miami to the downtown banks of the Miami River, may want to check in with the Dade MPO before Friday's 2 p.m. meeting. As The Miami Herald notes this afternoon at www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/911473.html, one contemplated project alone -- the Port Tunnel -- would swallow the stimulus money and more.

You can find out who is on the MPO at www.miamidade.gov/mpo. For their numbers or e-mail addresses, I must leave you to search. I'm filing remotely and can't do the research where I am.
BTW, the agenda and list of proposed projects also may be found at the MPO address above.

Light up and be seen

It's amazing how many bicyclists I see riding at night without headlights or tail lights. When you remember how many of the recorded bike accidents happen at night -- 1 out of 5 rider deaths just from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety -- or during the hours of dusk or dawn, it's seriously alarming.

For most of us, there's no good reason to ride unlighted. Even if you're flipping burgers for book money, it doesn't take much cash to put a light on your handlebars and your saddle, rear fender or luggage rack. If you're strapped for cash, talk to a bike shop about it. I bet you'll find someone will work with you to find a solution. So, are you going to get lit?

Miami more bike friendly

What a difference a year makes. Planner and bicycle activist Mike Lydon sums up in a letter to The Miami Herald.

Green Rides: Arbor Day in Little Haiti

This isn't a bicycle event, per se, but the poster for the April 24 tree planting was so attractive I wanted to share it with you. A tree planting does seem like the right kind of event to attend on a bike, though, doesn't it? Little Haiti, of course, is one of the oldest parts of Miami -- embracing the area called Lemon City by settlers who preceded Miami's incorporation. There were some handsome live oaks when I lived there 30-some years ago. To learn more about the tree planting, write to Vanessa Thomas at City Hall.

A knockdown for carbon emissions

Hybrid cars are not enough -- it will take smart growth, too, writes Emily Gertz, if we're going to move the needle back on global warming. You can see her smart thinking at change.org. Of course, bicycle facilities are definitely part of smart growth.

When you're not cycling, do you touch 60?

Whether you believe your own example can help reform the world, or just want to have a nice day, there's a lot to commend in this blogger's advice to go easy on the gas pedal when you get into a car.

I look around at other drivers and wonder whether they really need to get to where they’re going so fast, and whether they’ll slow down when they get there. I wonder if it’s really worth burning all that gas and getting so angry and risking so many lives. And then I think about other things, because driving for me has become a time of contemplation.

You'll find five good reasons to slow down, at the blog Zen Habits.

Grad student studies cycling

Here's a request from Alex Zhu, a graduate student at Indiana University who is studying transportation safety. I took the survey and he's right: It's short and easy.

Our team is working on a project to study the mechanisms of awareness and shared intentions for collocated multi-modal travelers.

The purpose of this study is to understand travelers' attitudes and behaviors toward other road users. The goal is to design ways in which travelers can be more aware of each other's intentions when sharing routes and several forms of transportation, including pedestrian, cyclist, velomobilist, drivers, and associated vehicle types. The project is part of the Sustainable Interaction Design Research Group (SIDRG)'s activities.

We are looking for people who have cycling experience to take a short survey by clicking here.

This will take less than 10 minutes of your time.

Thank you very much.

Catch this great bike video

I just came across Joshua Frankel's 5-minute gem, The Bicycle Messengers. What a nice job of film, animation and narrative! You can play the video right here.

Cyclists plan Capitol rally

The Florida Bicycle Association is planning a state Bike Summit for April 2 in front of the state Capitol, in Tallahassee. Save the date! Details to come.

Thefts puncture Paris bike scheme

Theft and vandalism are wrecking the highly-acclaimed bike-share plan in Paris. BBC reports the special bikes have been

"Hung from lamp posts, dumped in the River Seine, torched and broken into pieces ... Some have turned up in eastern Europe and Africa, according to press reports.

Since the scheme's launch, nearly all the original bicycles have been replaced" at a cost equivalent to more than $500 each.

Read the whole sad story at BBC NEWS | Europe.

Stimulus bill is rolling

House and Senate conferees reached an agreement this afternoon on the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the pump-priming stimulus legislation we've been watching closely here. No word yet on the fate of Transportation Enhancements, a key question for funding bicycle projects. There's more about the bill from the Associated Press. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the reconciled bill will create "more jobs than the original Senate bill and spends less than the original House bill." That and more at the Washington Post -- and a look ahead from the McClatchy Newspapers.

Keep the stimulus bill on track

As you probably know already, the U.S. Senate passed H.R. 1 today. This economic stimulus bill, passed in the House last week, includes many billions of dollars in infrastructure spending, with a great majority of it targeted for highways. I hope you agree with me that bicycle facilities deserve a high priority right now. They can be quickly built, they put men and women to work productively, they save us energy and they help make our people healthier and our cities safer and more livable.

Thanks to all of you who spoke up against Sen. Jim DeMint's anti-bicycle amendment. That thing got stopped impressively fast.

Now our challenge is to be sure that, when the House and Senate versions of the package are in conference committee, nothing sneaky happens to exclude bicycle facilities.

Feel like sharing your thoughts? Here's where to find our senators:

Contact Sen. Mel Martinez via Web Form.

Website: martinez.senate.gov

Washington, D.C. Office:

356 Russell Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-0903
Phone: (202) 224-3041
Fax: (202) 228-5171

Coral Gables Office:

1650 Prudential Drive, Suite 220
Jacksonville, Florida 32207
Phone: (904) 398-8586
Fax: (904) 398-8591

Contact Sen. Bill Nelson via Web Form.

Website: billnelson.senate.gov

Washington, D.C. Office:

716 Hart Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-0905
Phone: (202) 224-5274
Fax: (202) 228-2183

Coral Gables Office:
2925 Salzedo Street
Coral Gables, Florida 33134
Phone: (305) 536-5999
Fax: (305) 536-5991

You may find your representative's contact information at this link from the League of American Bicyclists.

Cyclists, don't relax yet over stimulus legislation

The League of American Bicyclists sounded the alarm late Friday: Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina was trying to block the use of any stimulus money on bicycle trails. The Library of Congress showed he had filed a blank amendment to H.R. 1, for purposes yet to be revealed, so I didn't get particularly alarmed. Then Bike Portland obtained from DeMint's office the actual language he was proposing.

Now I am convinced, we need to urge our senators to oppose the DeMint amendment, and alert our bike-riding friends elsewhere to do the same in their states. Here's where to reach our Sens. Martinez and Nelson:

Contact Sen. Mel Martinez via Web Form at martinez.senate.gov

Washington, D.C. Office:
356 Russell Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-0903
Phone: (202) 224-3041
Fax: (202) 228-5171

Coral Gables Office:
800 Douglas Road, Suite 148
Coral Gables, Florida 33134
Phone: (305) 444-8332
Fax: (305) 444-8449

Contact Sen. Bill Nelson via Web Form at billnelson.senate.gov

Washington, D.C. Office:
716 Hart Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-0905
Phone: (202) 224-5274
Fax: (202) 228-2183

Coral Gables Office:
2925 Salzedo Street
Coral Gables, Florida 33134
Phone: (305) 536-5999
Fax: (305) 536-5991

Expect action throughout the day Monday on DeMint's and various other amendments to the stimulus legislation. The Senate has scheduled a procedural vote for 5:30 p.m. Monday that will determine whether the bill itself can be voted on Tuesday.

If you want additional background, it's worth seeing the blogs Politico and Streetsblog -- as well as this status report from the Washington Post.

Planners commend Miami-Dade expert

Congratulations to David Henderson, the bicycle-pedestrian coordinator at the Metropolitan Planning Organization for Miami-Dade County. He's a winner of the Patricia V. Waller Award from the Transportation Research Board, which recognized him during its annual meeting Jan. 13 in Washington.

Henderson was one of 10 collaborators on a study of pedestrian accidents in the Miami area. Their research paper was called "Evaluation of the Miami-Dade Pedestrian Safety Demonstration Project." The study evaluated a program in 2003 and 2004 during which pedestrian crash rates were lowered by 8.5 to 13.3 percent (depending on which control group was used for comparison).

To learn more about the county's Bicycle-Pedestrian Program, you may visit its MPO website, call Henderson at 305-376-4507 or write to davidh@miamidade.gov.

Tomorrow, wear red for women

The American Heart Association and key supporters have declared tomorrow, Feb. 6, to be National Wear Red Day. It's an effort to draw attention to heart disease, the No. 1 killer of women, and teach about heart-healthy living. You could, for instance:

• Get a medical checkup now or every year in your birthday month
• Get up off the couch (and go bicycling, of course)!
• Quit smoking
• Drop a few pounds (biking's good for this)
• Watch your salt intake

More ideas may be found at GoRedForWomen.org

Green Mobility embraces the M-Path

Green Mobility Network members and guests quickly reached consensus last night that the Miami M-Path is a precious community asset -- but in great need of improvement. Eric Tullberg's slide show illustrated the beauty and utility of the bicycle and pedestrian path in the shadow of the Metrorail. But the slides also powerfully demonstrated the decay of the path and the design flaws that make it frustrating for even frequent users. Watch the Green Mobility website for how the group tackles the problem.

Newspaper installs bicycle parking

Give a friendly shout-out to The Miami Herald, which has installed bicycle parking, protected by a brightly-painted corral, in its ground-floor garage. The new facility responds to the requests of several bicyclists who work in the building.

Did you know that 10 bicycles can be parked in the space a single automobile would fill? At the Herald, the space per bike looks a bit more generous, because of the protective fence.

MacArthur work to start in spring

I understand that the resurfacing of the MacArthur Causeway will begin on April 20. As reported here earlier, this job is to include the marking of bicycle lanes and narrowing the 14-foot motor lanes.

Bicycling to school could help the climate

Cool facts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

If our nation could return to the 1969 levels of walking and bicycling to school, in which 85 percent of children living within one mile and 50 percent of those living within one to two miles of schools walked or bicycled, the environmental benefits would be increased dramatically. In this scenario, an additional 5.9 million children would walk or bicycle to and from school—saving 10.6 million miles of car travel per school day, and a total of 1.9 billion vehicle miles during a school year. That would prevent 877,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 53,000 tons of other pollutants from entering our air and atmosphere.

When you include the contributions of the 5.7 million children living within two miles of school who already walk or bicycle today, returning our country to the 1969 level of walking and bicycling to school would save 3.2 billion vehicle miles, 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide, and 89,000 tons of other pollutants annually. As a point of comparison, this is equal to approximately twenty percent of the carbon dioxide savings generated by the entire American public transit system in 200512 or keeping more than 250,000 cars off the road for a year.

Margo Pedroso, policy manager
Safe Routes to School National Partnership

To learn more, visit www.saferoutespartnership.org

Cyclists rethink curbside parking

Our guest writer today is Sue Knaup of the advocacy group OneStreet. Here are her thoughts:

On-street Car Parking: Good or Bad for Bicyclists?

In the United States, bicycle and pedestrian advocates have been singing the praises of on-street car parking for years and, until recently, we were singing right along. Just a few of the benefits include:

* A buffer between pedestrians and traffic
* Perceived friction similar to street trees and bulb-outs that causes drivers to slow down
* Lowers the need for off-street spaces allowing for more beautification
* Merchants are comforted knowing people can park right out front

But the escalating issues involved in the current, destructive policies for all types of car parking (see www.onestreet.org/car-parking-regs.html) has brought on-street car parking into question. Many cities have found that unless proper charges are imposed on on-street car parking spaces, employees of nearby businesses will park there for the day, eliminating the benefit to merchants. The perceived convenience of on-street parking is another factor in "induced driving," the increase of car trips attributed to making driving more convenient than all other modes of travel. Also, without careful design of the street, cars pulling in and out of spaces as well as opening their doors can cause serious danger to bicyclists -- one of the most common issues we encounter when coaching leaders for street-design campaigns.

In recent discussions with our European partners, we have found a much more extreme view regarding on-street parking in some progressive cities -- they're removing it! In a report by the European Commission, case studies of eight cities that took drastic steps including removing car parking, revealed surprising results. They dubbed one unexpected phenomenon "traffic evaporation" when they discovered that traffic congestion was actually reduced rather than the predicted increase after they replaced traffic lanes and car parking spaces with space for bicyclists, pedestrians and transit.

These discussions and results have caused us to rethink blanket support of on-street car parking and look instead to opportunities to dramatically reclaim space in our cities for bicycling, walking and transit. If you have thoughts about this, please e-mail them to Sue Knaup at sue{at}onestreet.org

Comments also are welcome here.