12.24.09
Posted in Advocacy
by bschiller at 5:37 pm
I want to call attention to two items in the latest League of American Bicyclists e-newsletter.
One refers to “Sunday Streets.” The article focuses on San Fransisco, noting that due to its past success it is being expanded. On 9 Sundays in 2010 in different parts of the city, some streets (including roadways in Golden Gate Park) will be closed to traffic, and not only are reserved for bikes/peds, but there are also various street activities scheduled (e.g. martial arts exhibitions) The Mayor there strongly supported the program and notes that merchants have found increased business on those Sundays! There is a section for FAQ . Apparently various cities around the world have similar programs (e.g. Kiev, Bogota)
I wonder if there is potential for this in Providence, though we have less of a rectangular grid for motrists to find alternative routes than in SF. Perhaps in Roger Williams Park? Providence city government might be interested, as evidenced by their recent successful application for a small planning grant to investigate a bike-sharing program.
The other issue relates to a study of bike/transit interconnections with emphaisis on (sheltered, safe) bike parking at stations, bike routes to the stations, and taking bikes on transit vehicles. I noted that statistic that the % of buses with bike racks in the US went up from 27% in 2000 – when RIPTA already had them – to 71% in 2008.
Related issues I think we in RI might consider:
- Adequate bike parking at the PVD train station
- bike access routes and parking at new stations being planned in Warwick, Wickford Jct (where a potential bike path connection to Wickford is being blocked so far by neighborhood opposition) and maybe Pawtucket
- policy related to carrying bikes on the new commuter rail service being planned
- bike policy on Amtrak’s northeast corridor services.
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12.22.09
Posted in General
by Mark Dieterich at 8:51 pm
An article on Green.Blorge discusses a new project out of MIT called the Copenhagen Wheel. It was unveiled on December 15th at the United Nations Climate Conference. This wheel is the first of it’s kind which will allow you to retrofit almost any bicycle with an electric assist. But it is so much more than this, the wheel allows you to use
your phone to unlock and lock your bike, change gears and select how much the motor assists you. As you cycle, the wheel’s sensing unit is also capturing your effort level and information about your surroundings, including road conditions, carbon monoxide, NOx, noise, ambient temperature and relative humidity. Access this data through your phone or the web and use it to plan healthier bike routes, to achieve your exercise goals or to meet up with friends on the go. You can also share your data with friends, or with your city – anonymously if you wish – thereby contributing to a fine-grained database of environmental information from which we can all benefit.
I have yet to decide whether this is just a little over the top or something that could really catch on and become a reality. I’m a big fan of electric assist bikes, as I think it expands the range everyone can cover on a bicycle. However, I’m also a big fan of the simplicity of the bicycle. When you start introducing too many gadgets and electronics that are fundamental to the functioning of the bike, you are ultimately going to have more issues. I know many people who can enjoy and can work on all aspects of their bicycles, a much higher percentage than those who enjoy and can work on their own cars.
The concept is intriguing, but I’m not sold yet.
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12.16.09
Posted in Advocacy
by Margherita at 10:50 pm
This was in the New York Times “Year in Ideas” section today. We have the beginnings of a bike highway here in RI — but as the Danish infrastructure consultant warns, you really need to create the bicycle culture first, not the highway. A bike highway and a dense network of city bike lanes — a great mission for the next decade!
Bicycle Highways
The bicycle highway — no red lights, no cars — is every cyclist’s fantasy. There are now signs that infrastructure is catching up with the dream. In October 2008, an association of U.S. state-highway officials approved the concept of a national Bicycle Routes Corridor Plan — the first step in potential American bike Interstates. But this amounts to little more than a go-ahead for states to put bike-route signs on existing roads.
Copenhagen, however, began last month to create the real thing: a system of as many as 15 extra-wide, segregated bike routes connecting the suburbs to the center of the city. These are not bucolic touring paths; Copenhagen’s bike highways are meant to move traffic. Nearly 40 percent of Copenhagen rides a bike to work. On Norrebrogade, a two-mile street in the center of the city, 36,000 cyclists clog the bike lane every day.
The Bicycle Office of Copenhagen’s design calls for service stations (with air pumps and tools for simple repairs) and plans to employ so-called intelligent transportation systems — not unlike the technology that makes the E-ZPass possible. Using handlebar-mounted RFID or GPS technology, for example, commuters could detect other riders on the routes, helping them to assemble into pelotons or “bike buses.” These groups could in turn emit signals that trip traffic lights in their favor, resulting in a “green wave” of bicycle momentum.
But Jan Gehl, the Danish architect and infrastructure consultant, warns that as appealing as the bike highway seems, it is not the first step in creating a bicycle culture.
The bicycle highway is needed, he stresses, only after a city is comfortable for bike riders, as Copenhagen is. He considers the hundreds of kilometers of protected bike lanes in central Copenhagen to be a kind of bicycle oasis. “Some cities will go for the bicycle highways and let people fend for themselves once they reach the city,” he says. “You get off the highway, and then you’re in the desert. In Copenhagen we have first irrigated the desert, then built the highways.” WM. FERGUSON
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Posted in Advocacy, Announcements, General
by Eric at 5:27 pm
The 2009 edition of the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD, for those who enjoy alphabet soup) is finally out after a v-e-r-y lengthy delay. The MUTCD is the national guidebook published by the Federal Highway Administration that defines and regulates all traffic control devices, traffic signs, traffic signals, and pavement markings in the United States. For instance, a stop sign is a red octagon no matter where you go in the US because the MUTCD says so.
Shared-lane markings, or sharrows, are in the guide for the first time.
For years, many agencies have justified their decision not to apply sharrow markings to their streets by simply stating that, as sharrows are not in the MUTCD, using them would open the agency up to liability in case of accidents. Now that sharrows are “official”, that excuse no longer holds water, and we should see an explosion in the use of these markings, which are already in use in many locations around the country.
Why should we be glad for this? The sharrow, as defined in the Manual, serves 5 purposes:
A. Assist bicyclists with lateral positioning in a shared lane with on-street parallel parking in order to reduce the chance of a bicyclist’s impacting the open door of a parked vehicle,
B. Assist bicyclists with lateral positioning in lanes that are too narrow for a motor vehicle and a bicycle to travel side by side within the same traffic lane,
C. Alert road users of the lateral location bicyclists are likely to occupy within the traveled way,
D. Encourage safe passing of bicyclists by motorists, and
E. Reduce the incidence of wrong-way bicycling.
Essentially, the sharrow guides cyclists out of the door zone of parked cars, serves as a pavement-bound “share the road” reminder for motorists, and will hopefully lead to minimized “bike salmoning” – that is, biking on the wrong side of the street, or the wrong way on a one-way.
Just because sharrows are now in the MUTCD doesn’t mean that agencies must begin using them – but it does remove one potential impediment. The reconstruction plan for Broadway (that project should be underway in spring 2010) includes sharrows – these will be the first in Rhode Island. We should be glad for this, and we should advocate for greater use of sharrows in the Ocean State.
One last thing: in case you’re wondering what a state’s obligation is regarding when they need to start following these new regulations, here’s the skinny:
| Title 23 of the Code of Federal Regulations requires all States to do one of these three things within two years after a new national MUTCD edition is issued or any national MUTCD amendments are made: |
| 1) Adopt the new or revised national MUTCD as the standard for traffic control devices in the State. |
| 2) Adopt the national MUTCD with a State Supplement that is in substantial conformance with the new or revised national MUTCD. |
| 3) Adopt a State MUTCD that is in substantial conformance with the new or revised national MUTCD. |
|
(It’s unlikely that any agency will actually take 2 years to adopt these standards.)
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12.07.09
Posted in Advocacy, Events
by Mark Dieterich at 12:00 am
| December 14, 2009 |
| 6:00 pm | to | 8:00 pm |
New Meeting Location
Our group is growing and we’ve outgrown our current meeting space. Starting with this December meeting, we will be moving our meetings to the Providence Police sub-station on Brook Street (250 Brook Street, Providence). We hope everyone can join us on December 14th @ 6pm. We have a lot happening and will need some volunteers to help with upcoming activities!
Guests
- Providence Bicycle Police & Brown University Bicycle Police
- Discuss cycling trends seen around East Side
- Discuss possible ways we can work together
- City of Providence Planning Office
- Discuss plans for Wickenden & South Main Street intersection
- Discuss plans for reconnecting Jewelry District roads being opened after demolition of old I-195 overpasses
Announcements
- Confidentiality
- Merger Update
Committee Reports
- Programs
- Winter roller race series
- Light up the night
- Grants and Fundraising
- 2010 Alliance for Walking & Biking Grants
- Legislative/Advocacy
- Complete Streets legislation
- Legislative support for sharrows
- Public Relations
- Blog content
- Welcome brochure
- Logo
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