It so happens that I had one of these very experiences recently as I was riding across the Point Street bridge, heading towards Wickenden Street.  For those unfamiliar with the area, the bridge has two lanes in the direction I was traveling, with no usable shoulder.  I use a vehicular approach to biking in the city, which places me far enough out into the lane, that an automobile passing me would need to move over to the other lane to safely pass.  I was fully within my legal rights to be riding as described.  As I was crossing, a bright yellow truck with www.providencedowntown.com highlighted on the tailgate, passed me and someone yelled “get on the sidewalk”.  There was no contact and at no time did a feel this was an intentional act to scare me or “give me a lesson”, but it certainly was one of those “whoa… that was close” moments.

Since it was one of these fairly rare interactions where I took particular note and the vehicle was so clearly marked, I decided to follow up with the organization, to let them know what I had encountered.  If I were in charge of a fleet of vehicles and something like this occurred, I’d want to know about it.  I hunted around for contact information associated with Downtown Providence, but all indications pointed to The Providence Foundation.  I sent a brief email to Daniel Baudouin, Executive Director of the Providence Foundation,  detailing my recollection of the encounter.  Within half an hour, I had received an email from Dan stating he would follow up with this.  It turns out this particular truck was being operated by Block by Block, under a contract with the Downtown Improvement District; which The Providence Foundation helped to create.  In less than two hours after my initial email, Dan had an answer for me and we had spoken on the phone.

There were some discrepancies between my account and the driver’s account of the event, but everyone agreed that there had been an encounter.  I believe the observed discrepancies, while I wouldn’t go so far as to say are right, are understandable.  The same encounter, as viewed from inside a metal cage and from the seat of a bicycle are very different.  It’s easy for motorists to forget just how vulnerable cyclists are and how a passing distance that feels plenty safe for a motorist may not seem so safe to a cyclists.

In the end, Dan assured me that the Providence Foundation would try harder with their driver training; reminding their drivers that they will be sharing the road with vulnerable users and specifically make note of bicycle rights to the road.  Kudos to Dan Baudouin and The Providence Foundation for taking this matter seriously.  Because of the speed an sincerity of the response, I truly believe they will honor their word and work with the drivers.

I think there are important lessons to be learned by this encounter:

• It’s a reminder for cyclists to stay visible and ride predictably.  Had I not been doing either of these, the encounter could have been far worse.
• This also serves as a reminder to stay calm.  The truck was stopped by the light at the end of the bridge.  Had I had a mind to, I could have ridden up to the drivers window, started pounding on it, and started a verbal confrontation.  This would have had little lasting affect, other than to aggravate a driver and potentially make them into another cyclist hating motorist.
• If you can identify the owner or company associated with the vehicle, then follow up.  Do so in a dignified way, with the goal of discussing and understanding what took place and how to prevent a recurrence.  Notice how even a simple encounter like this involved three different corporate/non-profit entities.  How you approach such a conflict could leave a lasting impression much larger than you could ever imagine.

I truly believe one of the quickest ways to effectively sharing our limited roadways with motorists and cyclists,  is through direct and frank discussions.  Both sides need to reach out, explain, and understand the perspective of the other road users.

Stay tuned… the upcoming months will be filled with a new site look, new logo, and whatever else we can all dream up.

1. If you really want to attend (we can accommodate a small number of extra participants)
2. If you have any feedback or suggestions you would like me to take to this meeting

I’d like to get all feedback by Wednesday @ 5pm, so I can compile it all for the meeting during the next day.

wired up a state police cruiser and went undercover to put the law to the test. We also had Trooper Jacques “pull over” one of our undercover cars on a local highway.

One car passed dangerously close to Trooper Jacques as he got out of his cruiser. A tractor trailer passed so close to our car that it rocked the hidden camera. And the trend continued, car after truck, blatantly ignoring the law.

Why does this matter?  If motorists don’t bother to obey a law, even when this law directly involves how they should interact with police, what makes anyone think they will head a 3-foot law for bicyclists?  Representative Gemma, Newberry, Fox, and Schadone have introduced such legislation (H7243), which would introduce something similar to other state 3-foot laws into our motor vehicle codes.  We worked with Representative Gemma last year to try and amend this 3-foot legislation into something, which we felt would be more effective, and will be doing so again this year.

The current bill is scheduled for a house hearing on Wednesday March 24th in the House Judiciary Committee.  We will release our revised suggestions prior to this hearing and may be asking for cyclists to come out in support of the changes.  Stay tuned…

Josh Voorhees, E&E reporter

President Obama’s “livability” initiative will be under the microscope this week as two congressional panels hear from federal and state officials about transportation planning and land use.

The House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee will meet Wednesday to take a closer look at the livability portion of the president’s fiscal 2011 budget request. On Thursday, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will discuss how the federal Transportation Department partners with state and local transportation agencies in the decision-making process.

Obama is asking for more than $500 million for his effort to help state and local governments make more sustainable transportation investments. In addition to the funding request, Obama has also pledged to recast the nation’s overall transportation strategy to focus more heavily on such efforts and has created an interagency partnership between DOT, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and U.S. EPA to work on the issue.  DOT took its first major livability action earlier this year when it rewrote selection criteria for transit projects to emphasize reduced carbon emissions and increased economic development.

A handful of key lawmakers who will play prominent roles in crafting the next highway bill have embraced the overall livability effort. House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar’s (D-Minn.) bill would create an Office of Livability within DOT’s Federal Highway Administration to “establish a focal point within FHWA to advance environmentally sustainable modes of transportation, including transit, walking and bicycling.”

EPW Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) only recently began work on her version of the next major highway bill, but she has backed the overall livability effort and has said her bill will be based heavily on Oberstar’s.
Still, the livability effort has drawn its share of critics, mostly from conservatives who have expressed concern over federal involvement in state and regional land-use decisions. In a Newsweek column last May, conservative George Will called LaHood the “Secretary of Behavior Modification” and said the effort was an attack on Americans’ right to chose where they live and how they travel.

“[L]ong before climate change became another excuse for disparaging America’s ‘automobile culture,’ many liberal intellectuals were bothered by the automobile,” Will wrote. “It subverted their agenda of expanding government — meaning their supervision of other people’s lives.”

LaHood provided critics with further ammunition that month. Responding to a question about whether the livability effort was an attempt to “coerce” Americans out of their cars, LaHood said, “about everything we do around here is government intrusion in people’s lives.”

Lawmakers representing mostly rural districts or states have also expressed concern that the livability initiative — as well as other DOT efforts — focuses to much on urban areas. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) quizzed DOT officials about the program last week (E&E Daily, March 5).

John Porcari, DOT’s deputy secretary, attempted to calm Begich and Thune’s fears, telling them that rural areas stand to benefit just as much as large cities do from the administration’s plans.

“It’s clear that livability really applies to rural areas as much as it does anywhere else,” Porcari said, adding that one of the initiative’s goals was a return “to the quality of life that many of us enjoy in small towns.”

The League of American Bicyclists is proud to be the forum for Google to announce what all bike riders have been waiting for – Grab Your Bike and Go with Google Maps.  Google is announcing at the Opening Plenary Session at the National Bike Summit that they are adding biking directions in the U.S. to Google Maps.

According to Google this has been the most requested addition to Google Maps. This new feature includes: step-by-step bicycling directions; bike trails outlined directly on the map; and a new “Bicycling” layer that indicates bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly roads.

You can visit http://maps.google.com/biking to try out this new feature.  As with all things Google, the biking directions for Google Maps is currently in Beta, but this doesn’t mean it’s not full featured!

UPDATE: a WPRI article has now released word that an eyewitness saw the boy dart out onto the road in front of the car.

Our thoughts go out to the the boy, his parents, and the driver of the automobile.   Yet another incident between a bicycle and automobile in our “local” area.

studies show that the vehicle itself is almost never the sole cause of the accident. Drivers, on the other hand, are wholly to blame most of the time.

One of the panelists, Leonard Evans is a physicist, a former employee of GM and author of the book Traffic Safety.   He believes that

the whole history of U.S. traffic safety has been one focusing on the vehicle, one of the least important factors that affects traffic safety.

Evans says his review of the data show that in the decade ending in 2008, about 22,000 people were killed in vehicles made by Toyota or Lexus.  All these people were killed because of factors that had absolutely nothing to do with any vehicle defect.

Why isn’t the American public up in arms about the loss of life caused by daily traffic accidents?  Why doesn’t the American public react seriously when a person takes another person’s life with their car?  Where is the outrage people?

For those drivers who are affected by one of the recent recalls, may I suggest looking at a bicycle or other alternative mode of transportation.  You might be surprised and actually find that you enjoy getting around without your car.  Yes, there are recalls that affect bicycles, but I have yet to be in a situation where my legs simply refused to stop pedaling or I couldn’t find some way to safely stop my bicycle.

We’ve had two months off, hopefully, everyone has taken advantage of the break and visited the RI VeloSprints!  With March, we return to our regularly scheduled advocacy meetings… with a brand new location.

We will be meeting at the Brown Bookstore (244 Thayer Street, Providence) in the community meeting room @ 6pm.  If you enter through the doors off Thayer, the room is straight ahead on the far side of the bookstore.  If you don’t see it, just ask someone at the help desk near the entrance.  The room has plenty of seats and is big enough to support significant growth.

On the agenda for this meeting:

• Merger Update
• Henderson Bridge and Linear Park Updates
• Bike-to-Work Day
• Brainstorming for 2010 Projects

… and anything else you would like to discuss.

After the meeting, we can head down as a group to join in the fun at the RI VeloSprints.

Here’s a situation you may face as a cyclist…

Uphill light.  Right lane turns right only.  Left lane for going straight on or turning left.  Through the intersection there are cars parked along the right side of the road.  The left side is free from parked cars, however.

As a cyclist going straight through (down Waterman) where would you position yourself at the light?  Would you ride down the right or left side of the road after you crossed the intersection?