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A Busy City Street Makes Room for Bikes
William Neuman, New York Times
Cyclists and pedestrians never quite imagined it this way, but maybe there is a use for all those cars after all.
[New York City]y is planning to remake seven blocks of Ninth Avenue in Chelsea into what officials are billing enthusiastically, perhaps a bit hyperbolically, as the street of the future.
The most unusual aspect of the design, which will run from 16th Street to 23rd Street, is that it uses a lane of parked cars to protect cyclists from other traffic.
It does this by placing the bike lane directly next to the sidewalk on the western edge of Ninth Avenue, which is the left side of the street for those facing north, in the direction of traffic. The plan also takes a lane from cars, creating more room for pedestrians and for the bicycle lane.
“I think it’s a sneak peek at the future streets of New York,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, the city’s transportation commissioner. “It represents the kinds of innovative ideas that we can explore to make the streets more livable.”
(23 September 2007)
The Dutch government takes a stand — against cars, for bikes
AFP, Terra Daily
The Dutch government has taken a trend to promote eco-friendly cities a step further than its European neighbors by announcing firm measures to discourage cars and driving.
The plan was outlined in the 2008 budget presented this week, and the capital Amsterdam — a leader in the drive — and other Dutch cities will use a “no car” day on Sunday, an annual event, to press home the message.
In the traditional speech from the throne read out by Queen Beatrix, the centre-left cabinet said it would raise taxes on diesel fuel and vehicles using it. Laws are also being drawn up to make taxes dependent on how much pollution a vehicle emits: the more polluting, the higher the fee.
(21 September 2007)
Green City: Reaching critical mass
Fifteen years of free-wheelin’
Ryn Stepanski, San Francisco Bay Guardian
Fifteen years ago this month, San Franciscans mobilized for the first Critical Mass, an unpermitted monthly bicycle parade and social protest that has subsequently been exported to cities around the world.
The movement formed in the streets as the Commute Club, just a handful of bicyclists seizing their stretch of pavement together. Among them rode former bike messenger Jim Swanson, whom many credit with coining the name Critical Mass, a reference to the traffic-controlling power achieved when enough bicycles join a ride.
Two months into the project, Swanson watched Ted White’s short film The Return of the Scorcher. The surreal footage of bicyclists in China fording intersections inspired Swanson: “When there was enough of them, they crossed and took over the road.”
Thus, in September 1992, the autonomous and leaderless collective known as Critical Mass was born, picking up momentum — while enduring an often rocky relationship with the city and its motorists — ever since.
…During Critical Mass, riders change the use of street space and establish bicycles as the dominant form of transportation, taking control of every intersection they encounter, at least for the 10 or 15 minutes it takes the mass to pass.
Bicyclists in San Francisco have also attained critical mass in other ways, with more and more residents realizing the environmental, health, safety, and monetary benefits of trading the gas pedal for a pair of pedals. The 35-year-old San Francisco Bicycle Coalition now boasts a peak membership of 7,500, and the city has the highest per capita membership in the Thunderhead Alliance, a national conglomeration of cycling and walking advocates.
(25 September 2007)
Folds-mobile (Bicycle Neglect #9)
Alan Durning, Sightline
Confession: I have long coveted a Bike Friday. What Cascadian cyclist wouldn’t? A made-in-Oregon folding bike that fits in a suitcase—and the suitcase becomes a bike trailer! Pedal to the airport or train station, take your luggage out of your trailer, fold your bike into the trailer, check your luggage (including your bike), and at trip’s end, reverse the process. Ingenious!
So I danced a jig when a founder of the Eugene-based company offered to let me try the new Tikit model this summer, to use on my public speaking trips around the Northwest. The question that interested me was whether a folding bike can meet the challenges of urban business travel.
The answer is a provisional yes, but the real revelation is the Bicycle Neglect at Cascadian airports.
First, to get it out of the way, my product review: The Tikit is not a performance bicycle. Compared with a well-fitted road bike, it’s, um, foldable: it’s slow, handles indifferently, and flexes in worrisome ways. But that’s the wrong comparison. The question is whether, when a regular bike is impossible, a folding one is a viable substitute, and the Tikit passes that test. It’s a sweet ride for something that collapses in seconds (here’s film to prove it) and fits in your Samsonite.
(25 September 2007)
Taking Transit: The Most Effective Route to Cutting Carbon
Erica Barnett, World Changing
The single most effective way to cut one’s personal quotient of carbon dioxide pollution is switching from cars to public transit.
That’s the finding of the American Public Transportation Association, which this week released a new report on CO2 and personal transportation.
According to APTA, “when compared to other household actions that limit carbon dioxide (CO2), taking public transportation can be more than ten times [more effective] in reducing this greenhouse gas.”
It’s something we all know intuitively, of course–driving alone has significant climate impacts even if the car we’re driving is a “green” one–but it’s fascinating to see the specific impacts of our driving habits quantified.
(27 September 2007)
