Transportation funds being extended

Florida's two U.S. senators helped pass a jobs bill today that would extend transportation funding through December and give the state a chance to recover Transportation Enhancement funds that were rescinded during 2009. Florida's George LeMieux was one of 13 Republicans who crossed party lines in the 70-28 vote on H.R. 2847. The bill now goes back to the House, which passed a more costly version in December.

A Tweet from Transportation for America, though, quotes DC Stretsblog seeing a raincloud in the otherwise sunny sky:

The deets RT @eschor: Why one little-known transport provision could cause House-side trouble for the Senate jobs bill: http://bit.ly/a8OuIQ.

Florida cities bottom out in commuter rank

Bicycle commuters know that South Florida is one of the country's worst metro areas for commuting. That's why smart Miamians two-wheel it to work and either sell their car or leave it at home. Now Forbes magazine has held a yardstick to to what our eyes were telling us, rating the 60 largest metropolitan areas according to travel delays, travel time and "green commuter" characteristics. We're not the worst -- the Tampa Bay area and Orlando topped us in this race to the bottom -- but our rank of 55 out of 60 is nothing you'll find soon in the Beacon Council brochures. Where is commuting easiest? Salt Lake City, Buffalo and Rochester. Anyone calling Bekins yet?

New role for Miami's ciclovía queen

Congratulations to the South Florida Bike Coalition and to Kathryn Moore, who is succeeding Jeffrey Lynne as the group's executive director.

Lynne, the trial lawyer who launched the coalition last summer, will be turning his energy toward national bicycle advocacy. He is best known to bicyclists as the man who woke up the Florida Department of Transportation as courtroom advocate for the Boca Raton Bicycle Club in the A1A bike-lane case. More recently, he's joined the board of the League of American Bicyclists. He'll stay involved with the coalition as president of the board of directors.

Moore, as a mayoral aide while Manny Diaz presided in Miami City Hall, carried the ball to launch and sustain several Bike Miami Days last year and the fall before. The assignment turned her into a bicyclist -- and a passionate one at that. Lately she's run the Miami office of the Street Plans Collaborative planning firm.

For cool views, take the graffiti tour

Among the imaginative events cooked up for Florida Bike Month is a bicycle tour of Miami graffiti. This ride happens on Saturday, March 6, starting at 10 a.m. from Metrorail's Allapattah Station, 3501 NW 12th Ave. You'll get to hear Olga Cano's informative talk about the street artists and their free-spirited culture. If you have questions, drop a note to Dario Gonzalez.

SUV vs. Boca cyclists

Updated Feb. 23
This was passed along after a right-hook road incident on Route A1A in Boca Raton:


This happened on Saturday as a group of about 25 were cooling off as they returned from a long ride. Tim Bascombe said that about half a mile north of Palmetto Park Road, the SUV made a slight right turn in front of the group and the driver hit his brakes. Two cyclists hit the back of the car and others veered into the street. One rider went under the SUV and broke a collarbone. The woman you hear sounding off in the video was a passenger, not the driver.

Didn't we ramble in the Redland

Some of the 50 riders on today's Redland Ramble take a break across from Knaus Berry Farm. It was one of the stops on Green Mobility Network's monthly bike ride, which began and ended on the South Dade Trail but included several points in the area's protected farm district.

BPAC meets Wednesday

The Miami-Dade Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Committee is to meet Wednesday, Feb. 24. The agenda includes a state Department of Transportation report on resurfacing of Sunset Drive; I'm unclear whether it's the South Miami or the Coral Gables stretch.

Gulf city adopts bike sharing

Bright yellow single-speed bikes soon will be available for anyone to use in Punta Gorda, on Florida's southwest coast. Read more about the step toward healthier living at Florida Weekly.

Bike Miami Day returning to Coconut Grove

The City of Miami and the Dutch Consulate are planning a return of the popular Bike Miami Days on April 25 in Coconut Grove, the city's Green Commission was told yesterday. Social-cause publicist Violette Sproul is at the center of the planning. Details here as they get sorted out.

Causeway alert: Crandon Park event Feb. 21

Morning cyclists should look out for extra traffic on the Rickenbacker Causeway and Crandon Boulevard on Sunday, Feb. 21. Walk Now for Autism Speaks is expected to draw 8,000 participants to Crandon Park starting around 8 a.m., and there will be delivery trucks before that and following the 1 p.m. wrapup.

Regalado warms to a new ciclovía

Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado has opened his doors to a group that's been meeting to plan for a return of something like Bike Miami Days, says the Bike Miami Blog. The group, the Miami Open Streets Team, includes Kathryn Moore and several others involved in the successful ciclovías during the last year of Manny Diaz's term as mayor. This is good news but not surprising. Regalado's son and aide, Jose Francisco Regalado, sat in last month at the Bike Action Committee with cause publicist Violette Sproul, who had been exploring ways to hold the event on Watson Island.

Causeway safety fund in works

County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez is getting traction with his idea of capturing 25 cents from every Rickenbacker Causeway toll and using the money for safety on the causeway and on Crandon Boulevard. The commission's public safety committee gave thumbs-up to Gimenez's resolution today and sent it on to the whole commission. The resolution would direct county administrators to report how much money that would generate and what could be done with it to keep cyclists and other causeway users safer. Co-sponsoring the effort are Commissioners Jose Diaz, Sally Heyman, and Rebeca Sosa.

Cyclist's death inspires county actions

Two actions growing out of a bicyclist's death on the Rickenbacker Causeway on Jan. 17 go before a committee of the Miami-Dade County Commission on Thursday afternoon.

In one, county Mayor Carlos Alvarez would be directed to submit a plan for combining the seven emergency dispatch centers in the county into one system. Commission Vice Chairman Jose Diaz called for this because a rescue truck to aid the mortally injured Christophe Le Canne was dispatched from South Miami, instead of nearby Key Biscayne or even Coconut Grove.

In the other measure, Commissioners Carlos Gimenez and Sally Heyman seek to set aside 25 cents from every toll collected on the Rickenbacker to promote the safety of bicyclists, walkers and runners on the causeway. Gimenez had signaled this earlier, upon learning that toll money was not supporting the county's Fire Station 15 on Crandon Boulevard, just outside Key Biscayne. At the time Le Canne was struck by a car on the Bear Cut Bridge, Station 15 was out of service under economy measures the fire & rescue department adopted in December.

The commission's Health, Public Safety & Intergovernmental Committee meets at 2 p.m. in the Commission Chambers at County Hall, 111 N.W. 1st St., Miami.

Meanwhile, here's a Miami Herald follow on our Monday evening post.

Bertonatti back in jail over cyclist's death

Carlos Bertonatti was returned to jail in Miami this afternoon. Circuit Judge David Miller revoked his bail earlier today in the death of bicyclist Christoph Le Canne on the Rickenbacker Causeway. It seems the passport Bertonatti surrendered after his felony arrest last month wasn't his only one. Now he'll have to make do with a cell at the PreTrial Detention Center until his hearing May 3.

You can read more at New Times. While you're there, look for the link to their highly readable cover story about the 29-year-old singer's adventures in Miami.

NY, Miami rides in mutual support

A New York City environmental group has announced a bike ride for Sunday, the 7th, in solidarity with the many Miamians who marked Christoph Le Canne's death with a ride on the Rickenbacker Causeway. Rydel, the Miami Bike Scene blogger, is spreading the word of a simultaneous ride here in Miami. It will start at the Government Center and extend 13 miles.

Hiking and biking Virginia Key

You've seen mention here of the plans to build mountain bike trails on Virginia Key's North Point. Few have had a chance to visit the area, though, so perhaps you'll enjoy this post from View from Virginia Key.

Bird Road crossing work begins

Work has begun on a state effort to make the M-Path's crossing at Bird Road safer for bicyclists and walkers. The ground-clearing so far appears to be in preparation for a dedicated turn lane for drivers starting west from U.S.1 (S. Dixie Highway).

Cycling Scotsman spreads the green

If you happen upon the tree planting this afternoon at 780 NW 127th Ave., Miami, look for a friendly fellow wearing kilts. He's Rob Roy McGregor, a cycling Scotsman who has been traveling around to help plant trees in places that need some green. Ask him to tell you about his interesting mission.

Today's planting is the final one in a series sponsored by the NFL in conjunction with the Super Bowl and the Florida Division of Forestry. So far, trees have been planted at

• Tamiami Park

• A.D. Barnes Park

• McMillan Park

• Cinco de Mayo Park, Homestead,

• and Southridge Senior High School.

Collision Database a welcome instrument

The always-interesting blog Transit Miami is bringing another useful tool to the awareness of street safety in greater Miami. They've created the Miami Collision Database, which over time should reveal to Web users any concentration of bicycle and pedestrian accidents. Planners and traffic engineers have tracked such hot spots for years, notably using paper maps to improve streets leading to the schools in high-accident parts of the county. But doing the tracking on the Web will reveal fresh data. It's going to be a whole new ballgame. Congratulations, you guys!