CommuteOrlando Blog

Fearmongering, Specious Arguments and Outright Lies

2009-11-11T22:06:29Z

If you dare. If you have a strong stomach—or a stiff drink on hand—go have a look at this masterpiece:

Cyclists do not have the same rights as motorists on roads
by CARL SCULLY, former roads minister

Then, if you’re so inclined, come back and paste into the comments the paragraph that most annoyed you. There are just so many, I can’t choose.

I like trails for the sake of trails. I like the quiet interlude. I like the access they sometimes provide. I don’t consider the road unsafe. I don’t consider trails to be safer than the road—the safety of both is mostly dependent on the users. However, it’s important to recognize that badly-designed trails can be unsafe and are far more common than badly-designed roads. Any time someone from the car culture wants to build replacement infrastructure for you, be afraid, be very afraid.

Where there are roadway safety issues, it is almost always a result of irresponsible behavior by road users. Suggesting bicyclists be removed from the road because they are in danger (or worse, their presence causes danger to others) is nothing more than endorsement of inattentive and irresponsible driving.

Taking kids by bike: faster, less stressful, and a lot more fun!

2009-11-09T21:57:05Z

Vivi sneaks a snack after a recent trip to Costco

A friend recently shared a cute Yehuda Moon cartoon with me in which the driver of an SUV pulls up to a bakfiets cargobike and laments not walking her child to school, but blames the weather and all of the school gear. The tiny bike passenger responds, “Just because ya’ can doesn’t mean ya’ should!” As the matriarch of a bike-commuting family, I love this cartoon. But in a way, I think it almost affirms a common misconception–that driving with kids and gear is easier and that biking is only a choice made because it’s the “right” thing to do. We’ve discovered many surprising things along our journey to becoming a one-car family, but one of the most surprising realizations is that it is often easier to travel by bike with the kids than by car.

An End to Marathon Mornings

Take, for example, my morning commute to work. A typical morning used to include me rushing to get myself and the girls dressed, straining my back leaning in the car to buckle my two-year-old into her five-point harness carseat, waiting for my oldest to buckle herself in, getting back out of the car upon discovering her door wasn’t shut correctly, and then racing to school. After driving around in the parking lot of my five-year-old’s school for several minutes looking for a spot, I would finally find a parking spot (furthest from the entrance, of course). I would park, pop the trunk, get out and unfold the stroller, unbuckle my two-year-old, strap her in the stroller, help my eldest get out of the car with all her gear, and schlep across the parking lot trying to hold onto both kids while balancing in work heels. Once on the sidewalk, we would begin the walk to my daughter’s classroom–more than a tenth of a mile. My little one would fight the stroller and my oldest walked at a snail’s pace as I tried to drag her along. Once I had finally dropped the oldest off, I would shuffle back to the car, unstrap the little one and then promptly wrestle her into the carseat–and trust me, two-year-olds are stronger than they look! Stroller back in the car, we would drive the .5 mile over to her school. Rinse and repeat with the parking, unbuckling, etc. Once it was all said and done, I’d driven about 5 miles, walked about .5 miles, and it had taken me 45+ exasperating, stress-filled minutes to complete this small journey. By the time I pulled into my office parking lot, I felt as if I had already survived an entire day–but my work day was only beginning! This is no way to start a morning.

Now that I bike, it takes me 30 minutes from my front door to my daughter’s classroom. I’m able to ride right up to the entrance and my daughter stays on the bike as I walk her up to the classroom–no more pleading with her to walk faster. Due to the seating set-up of my bike, my husband now takes my littlest one to school; however, there is no doubt it would still be far easier to hop back on the bike and ride her over to her school. I arrive at work feeling relaxed and ready to take on my day thanks to the endorphins generated by the physical nature of my morning commute. Without even touching on the fact that biking is less stressful than driving, the reality is that shorter distances are usually easier by bike. Any parent that has had to run errands with kids in tow knows how frustrating it is to buckle, drive, stop, unbuckle, buckle, drive, stop, unbuckle, ad nauseum. This is especially true in Florida, the land of giant strip malls, where two stores in the same plaza can easily be a .5 mile apart. With the bike, we just snap on the helmets, belt the kids in the bike, and ride up to the front door.

No More Sherpa Stroller

We’ve found that biking to major events is also much easier than driving. We recently met up with some friends at a community event; we had ridden and the friends had driven. Due to the large nature of the event, our friends had been forced to park nearly a mile away. We live quite close to each other and our friends might have been able to make it home quicker than us since we clearly can’t ride at the speed they can drive. However, the time added by their long walk back to the car with two kids meant we each made it home in about the same amount of time. Another benefit of biking is that you are almost always able to park right at the event. Not only does this mean no long walk to the entrance, it also means you don’t have to haul all the baby stuff along with you. Hauling all of the items you might need in case of a potential kid meltdown gets tiresome fast, though the alternative is just as bad. I’ve been out many a time with friends when, rather than go all the way back to the car for the forgotten diapers/wipes/sippy cup, they just left in frustration. When traveling by bike, it’s nearly always possible to leave the stuff in the bike and go grab it as needed.

The Magic of the Red Shoe

My two-year-old has been known to throw things, particularly shoes, out of the bike. When we discovered that out of her three regular pairs, we only had one set, we knew the shoes were gone forever. Imagine our surprise when my husband found one of the shoes on the bike trail nearly a week after it had gone missing! Even more amazing was the day, another week later, when I was riding my daughter to school and she noticed the last missing single shoe on the trail! I did a quick stop, grabbed the shoe, and went on with our ride. Two things about this amaze me. One, the ability to recover something tossed by a toddler seems only possible by bike. Secondly, the ability to easily stop and pick something up just does not happen in a car. If your child were to toss something out the car window, you would have to find somewhere to pull over and park and then risk your life by running into the street to collect it. The potential for stopping by bike is almost as wonderful as riding. On a recent ride to a downtown festival, we heard a plane gearing up for take-off. The airport was right next to the trail, so we stopped and took a moment to watch the plane take off. I honestly can’t think of a time when we were driving and we felt able to simply stop, get out, and notice something. In fact, a regular response in the car was, ” I can’t look right now, honey–I’m driving.”

An impromptu stop to watch a plane take off

A Final Thought on Biking with Kids

I’m personally not a big fan of bicycle trailers for several reasons, the most important being that I don’t think they are usually all that comfortable for the kids. Uncomfortable kids do not make for fun bike rides. Trailer seats generally don’t leave room for a helmet, thus pushing the child’s head forward for the duration of the ride. Can you blame them for throwing a fit 15 minutes into the ride? Additionally, the trailers are so far back that it makes it difficult to converse with your child–this ability to talk about what you are seeing is one of the most wonderful parts of biking with your kids, in my opinion. Finally, the trailers are usually difficult to attach, meaning you are far less likely to spontaneously go out for a ride together. If you plan on biking regularly with your kids, I would consider investing in a utility bike. Because my husband and I each commute to work by bike with the kids, we have both a Madsen kg271 Bucket Bike and an Xtracyle Radish and are very happy with each bike. These investments, far less expensive than a second car, have allowed us to dramatically reduce our car usage and we easily live off of one car (not to mention we no longer need to keep a gym membership!). The time and energy we save by running errands by bike has completely changed our quality of life; this kind of life improvement is truly priceless. I find both bikes to be easier to handle than a trailer and I feel more secure when riding in the road with the children. Furthermore, you’ll be amazed at the versatility of what you can haul with these bikes. That being said, I think being out in trailer is certainly better than not being out at all. Get out and ride–you’ll be amazed at how easy it is!

Do Roads Pay for Themselves?

2009-11-09T21:35:34Z

I must have missed this one back in 2006. I’m sorry that I did because it comes from the TXDOT and I would have liked something to say to those smarty pants that claim fuel taxes pay for everything. The goal was to defend using toll roads, but there is just so much more to it . . . . Has FDOT done any studies like this particularly since the road budget will be tightening considerably in the next few years?

A major feature in the public debate about toll roads has been the issue of when or whether a road has been “paid for.” To better understand this discussion, it is helpful to ask two questions:

1. What is a traveler paying for when he or she pays state gas tax at the pump?

State motor fuel tax is collected from all over the state and goes into a single pool of revenue—about one quarter of which goes to fund education, and about three-quarters of which goes to the state’s highway fund, where it is spent on transportation uses and some non-transportation functions of government.

Then the state receives federal funds as the state’s share of the federal fuel tax; about 70 cents of every gas tax dollar Texans send to Washington comes back for road use.

The significant point here is that historically the fuel tax paid in any locality of the state is unrelated to the road projects in that locality. Every fuel taxpayer in the state paid something for any given road—which leads to the next issue.

2. When is a given road actually “paid for?”

Just like your car, it never is. You may have paid the note, but maintenance and fuel costs go on as long as you own the vehicle. Once a road is built, maintenance and rehabilitation costs last its entire life, generally about 40 years.

The decision to build a road is a permanent commitment to the traveling public. Not only will a road be built, but it must also be routinely maintained and reconstructed when necessary, meaning no road is ever truly “paid for.”

Until recently, when TxDOT built or expanded a road, no methodology existed to determine the extent to which this work would be paid off through revenues.

The Asset Value Index, was developed to compare the full 40-year life-cycle costs to the revenues attributable to a given road corridor or section. The shorthand version calculates how much gasoline is consumed on a roadway and how much gas tax revenue that generates.

The Asset Value Index is the ratio of the total expected revenues divided by the total expected costs. If the ratio is 0.60, the road will produce revenues to meet 60 percent of its costs; it would be “paid for” only if the ratio were 1.00, when the revenues met 100 percent of costs. Another way of describing this is to do a “tax gap” analysis, which shows how much the state fuel tax would have to be on that given corridor for the ratio for revenues to match costs.

Applying this methodology, revealed that no road pays for itself in gas taxes and fees. For example, in Houston, the 15 miles of SH 99 from I-10 to US 290 will cost $1 billion to build and maintain over its lifetime, while only generating $162 million in gas taxes. That gives a tax gap ratio of .16, which means that the real gas tax rate people would need to pay on this segment of road to completely pay for it would be $2.22 per gallon.

This is just one example, but there is not one road in Texas that pays for itself based on the tax system of today. Some roads pay for about half their true cost, but most roads we have analyzed pay for considerably less.

To conclude, in the SH 99 example, since the traffic volume for that road doesn’t generate enough fuel tax revenue to pay for it, revenues from other parts of the state must be used to build and maintain this corridor segment. The same is true across the state, meaning that, as revealed by the tax gap analysis, overall revenues are not sufficient to meet the state’s transportation needs.

Media Fail

2009-11-07T14:35:10Z

Teen Bicyclist’s Head Run Over By SUV: Story | Video

On how many levels did the cyclist fail to ensure her safety? She was riding on the sidewalk, against traffic, at night and she didn’t have the skills to stop her bike without flying over the handlebars. Good thing she was wearing a helmet.

And to take the cake, the background video shows two cyclists riding at night, without lights, against traffic — one on the sidewalk and one in the bike lane — as if that was normal.

Thus, as usual, the media perpetuates superstition and ensures no one will learn anything useful. Bicycling dangerous. Wear helmet.

I know this is nothing new. I just still have the misguided romantic notion that the news media should serve the public good.

Car-light Family of 4 takes on Sprawlando

2009-11-06T14:16:25Z

There’s a new bike blog in town and you’ll want to bookmark this one!

On September 17, we profiled Jesse Ross, whose “car” is a Madsen bucket bike. That same day Mighk posted an alert about Xtracycle’s sponsorship program. The Ross family was in the market for a second utility bike, so Angie applied and received a partial sponsorship! Thus was born the Ross Family Challenge — to use a car for less than a quarter of the national average annual mileage. Says Angie:

Imagine my surprise (and panic) when the wonderful folks at Xtracycle said, “We think that’s a good idea” and gave me a partial sponsorship!

This wasn’t supposed to happen! I was supposed to go on my merry way, driving my car and lamenting the fact that I couldn’t ride to work. Alas, here we are – together. This is my little blog about the daily trials and tribulations my family and I face while trying to live on only 4,000 car miles in one of the most car-centric areas in the country.

Two working parents with children in two different schools. They live in Winter Park and Angie works near UCF. Her morning commute, dropping Sofie off at school, is nearly 17 miles. In addition, Jesse has classes at UCF 2 nights per week, requiring a hand-off of the kids.

Follow their adventures, challenges and victories on Angie’s blog and Twitter.

Commuter Company Profile: Glatting, Jackson and Geoff Allen

2009-11-05T22:07:19Z

(Geoff Allen on vacation in Paris, France)

When I first started commuting into work, one of the first cyclists I met on my ride in was Geoff Allen. I had only been commuting for a week or so, and Geoff was a source of inspiration and encouragement in my early days. Geoff had been commuting into work for some time (and of course riding a bike for quite a bit longer) and was a great source of information. Over time, I found out more about Geoff personally and the firm he works for, Glatting, Jackson. I asked Geoff if I could “interview” him about his riding and the firm he works for, Glatting Jackson. He graciously agreed.

Tell me your personal story about cycling — how did you get started, how did you progress, where are you now.

I started about 12 years ago, when the doc told me “quit smoking and start exercising or you will be dead by 50″. I used to run but my feet and knees are shot, so I bought a starter bike, a Nishiki Hybrid and started riding on weekends, on the W&OD trail in Leesburg Va. A year later I bought a K2 Zed X mountain bike and began exploring all the country roads and the C&O towpath alongside the Potomac. My favorite ride was across the Potomac at White’s Ferry, which puts you right on the C&O towpath, then up the towpath about 20 miles to Harpers Ferry, cross the river again, and come back down over Furnace Mountain and the back roads and hills of Loudoun County. Great air. I also rode from home out to the end of the W&OD trail in Purcellville, all farm and horse country, about a 25 mile round trip, and in my 3rd year went for a road bike, a Klein Quantum. All of my bikes were bike shop bikes, and they are all still in great service, I just sold the Nishiki (well, I actually haven’t been paid yet) and someone else is starting out with it.

Where I am now? We moved to Florida in 2004, and I’ve just finished my 5th year of riding to work every day. I gave up my car 4 years ago January, finding the extra $7,000 a year is handy with the 2 girls in college. I’m just over 17,000 miles and have 2 more bikes, a Bilenky Tourlight steel frame all-rounder, and just got a 2007 Kona Sutra which I’m setting up for touring. Right now both the Bilenky and Kona are setup with a rear rack, panniers, and lights, I use them both for the daily commute. My health at 54 is un-be-lievable! So much better shape than 40. My doctor each year says, whatever you’re doing, just keep doing it! Nice… I ride about 10 miles a day on the commute, and take a couple short (2-5 day) tours each year, and I eat vegetarian almost all the time (sometimes have an egg for breakfast but it doesn’t hurt). And I eat ice cream or sherbet just about every day! Other than bike riding I do 30 push-ups and 35 sit-ups first thing every morning and weigh myself every day. My weight hasn’t varied more then 5 pounds in 3 years.

What’s your daily commute like, and tell me about being car-free — pros and cons.

I commute about 4.5 miles each way, in the city of Orlando, from the Fashion Square area to Orange ave downtown. Usually about 20 minutes, a good bit on the Livingston St. bike lane. It’s a great way to start and finish the day I like having time to decompress on the way home and to organize my thoughts on the way in. About 5-10 times a year I ride in the rain, sometimes it’s heavy. I have lights and rain gear and a change of clothes at work, we have showers too so it’s no big deal to ride in with sandals and shorts then shower and dress for work, or change before going home. Most times I just ride with my work clothes on because they’re going to get washed anyway when I get home the water doesn’t hurt anything. Usually I try to wait out the storm or cloud if I can, WESH Doppler radar weather is great for showing thunderstorms and when they will be here and which way to go to skirt the storm.

Being car free almost 4 years, it’s awesome! The first year or two I rented maybe 10 times a year, it’s down to maybe a couple times a year, and I can really do without it we have excellent bus service here if you take the time to study the route map Lynx has everything online at http://www.golynx.com/. But I do rent for a special weekend or if we have a car prob or need 2 cars which is more rare than you think. My wife Marian has the 15 yr old minivan booked pretty solid with the 2 girls still at home, so I try not to use that, except on weekends to the hardware store when the load is too much to fit on the bike. Cons… there are none, well, OK, sometimes it takes a little longer to get somewhere if you’re going to take a bus or taxi or your bike… nothing you can’t overcome with a little planning. Pro’s are too many to mention: really feeling like you are making a difference with global warming, feeling healthier, hardier, interacting with more people more often, the money you are saving, the “it’s OK to rent a brand new car any time I feel like it” feeling, 10 rentals a year are still less than 1 months cost of owning, and at the end every time it’s like wow that was cool, but I’m sure glad to be back on my bike again.

My daughters are biking, busing, walking much more than most kids, my oldest Julie has a Vespa which Ruth is getting ready to take over. Did you know a 50cc has no insurance cost? Before I was paying over $300 a month for my car insurance with one teen on there …. So again, the money you save… we are taking some great vacations (like 3 weeks in France, Canada, and we’re going back to Europe in ‘11). It’s pretty liberating, except asking people for rides is still awkward, they don’t get it. I’ll go to a professional association meeting and see 3 or 4 people that work within a mile or two of me… they could all fit in one car but they take 3 or 4?! Crazy… but it’s like a big thing for people to go 5 minutes out of their way so I usually bike, bus, or borrow a company car (we have shared vehicles at work for people that don’t drive to work). So being car free is awesome, and I think the wave of the future will be rentals by the hour, like ZIP cars, or say 3-4 neighbors sharing a car… each person gets it 7 or 8 days a month, something like that.

Tell me about your bike(s), how it’s set up, what plans you have for it, or your next one …

I have 4 now, my original road Klein, it’s set up for Saturday/Sunday rides 25-50 miles, one under seat bag with a flat change kit and multi-tool. My mountain bike has street tires on it with a rack, it’s used for bad weather mostly, or if I have a problem with my main commuter and need a backup, or the kids borrow it for a friend sometimes. My Bilenky 56cm is my favorite, it’s a steel frame all rounder road bike w/Campy components and a Brooks sprung saddle, it’s green w/yellow bar tape and a Blackburn expedition rack w a trunk bag, and one large and one small Crosso pannier. The Crosso’s are major league top end panniers that would rival Arkel or Ortlieb (they’re made in Bialystock Poland and a full set plus 2 large wet bags cost only $330) they’re not mainstream and come in GREEN!. It’s got 3 red lights on the back, one little flashing white light on the bars, wireless computer, and reversible clip/platform pedals. It’s so sweet and smooth of a ride and without all the gear pretty quick. I average about 12.6 mph for the 4,000 or miles a year, top out about 26 on a flat. I have some Honjo hand hammered fenders which are now off but I’ll be putting back on when I get the powder coat done.

My new to me 2007 Kona Sutra is just getting set up, it’s green too. Tiagra/XT kit w beefy tires, disc brakes, Brooks B17 saddle, tubus logo rack w a detours trunk bag and Crosso panniers one large, one small on the rear. It’s a 54cm– a little smaller than the Bilenky — but I put on an adjustable stem and it’s feeling pretty good. Have some Schwalbe Marathon tires on the way they’ll be here tomorrow then I’ll put on the stainless fenders too. I’m hoping the Kona will be the touring bike I’ve wanted a little more durable than the Bilenky. I busted some spokes on it in the Ocala forest last winter on a tour and it isn’t as stable as I’d like when loaded… we’ll see. I’m looking at that Thanksgiving weekend and trying to find a 250 mile or so loop to give it a good test.

My next one? I’ve wanted to try a recumbent and that may be an option, but we’ll see. Depending how the Kona works out my next one will probably be the best combo of durability and speed I can afford, a Bilenky Midlands or Co-Motion Americano or something like that. I might try out the Surly Long Haul Trucker but I’ve had such fun learning to tour on the Bilenky I know it will work no doubt about it.

Tell me about Glatting Jackson, what they do, etc. and your position there and what you do.

Glatting (http://www.glatting.com) is a community planning company, offering professional services to design and build livable communities. They are by far the best place I have ever worked, and have a reputation for integrity and professional excellence. We plan communities, help communities re-invent their public spaces, park systems, bike trails, transportation networks, and related services too varied to mention. Check out the website you will get a good feel. We are advocates for less auto-oriented development and more pedestrian and multi-modal transportation networks.

I am the Office Manager, which I think of as being “an enabler” that helps people get done what they need to do in the most efficient manner. I do the facility management, for our main office here in Orlando, and smaller offices in Atlanta, West Palm Beach, and Denver. I also help out with many of the office services, IT, purchasing supplies and services, engaging vendors, and making sure the place is a world class office ready for business and to entertain clients and guests every day. I am our Lynx rideshare coordinator, I keep the bus passes (we distribute to employees as a “transportation benefit”) and keep a supply of route maps, books, and bus schedules at my desk. I’m one of the “champions of cycling and non-car transportation” here, but we also have some real heavyweights like Dan Burden and Ian Lockwood who get whole cities to think differently about non-car transit, they are nationally recognized experts.

Who at GJ bikes to work, rides buses, etc.?

Glatting Jackson has their bike racks inside their office!

There’s about 10-15 regular bike riders, and about the same number of walkers, bus riders, and ridesharers. Out of 75 people I think that’s pretty good. I encourage people to bus, bike, rideshare, carpool, whatever they can. On Friday at noon I have a “biketalk” session at the bike racks in our front lobby, and people stop by to chat or if they have a problem or want to learn how to fix something on their bike or just talk bikes.

How did this culture get started at GJ? How is it maintained?

There was a bike rack in the lobby of 1S Orange when I started … I think Troy Russ had been riding for a while, he told me he commuted for 8 years until he bought a Stella scooter and loved that so much he stopped riding. He’s a principal now and has moved to Denver to open that office. It’s grown over the 5 years I’ve been here because it’s a big part of what we do and what people are thinking about. We have lots of smart and some younger people who want to “practice what we preach” and “walk the walk”… I mean how can we tell cities and clients to stop planning for cars when we don’t set an example?

How it’s maintained? The folks keep it going, there are constantly emails and links going around, people are plugged in to much of the cool stuff that’s happening in North America. I send out an email to the “biketalk” list every week, usually telling what’s happening Friday at noon biketalk, and include a link to the weekly League of American Bicyclists email and also the weekly Adventure cycling email. Recently, a number of people have gotten serious and started doing tri’s and competitive races. At least 5 people have participated in the past couple months… they’ve gotten way beyond my plowhorse-commuter style, but it’s still the same thrill of being self-powered and doing something healthy that is so much fun. Another group is training for the Horrible Hundred next month (I won’t be one of them, either).

What do you see (cycling-wise and culture-wise) for both yourself and for GJ in the future?

Culturally I think cycling has a bright future. Cities are being planned around town centers with bike and walking trails standard requirements now days, I think this will only become more prevalent as urban area’s are retro-fitted to be more livable, meaning taking out roadways and putting in more bike lanes and sidewalks. Ian has led some discussions in Detroit about taking out a highway and re-building the city back the way it was before. Rail and bus transit are huge contributors to the viability of such an approach, so I’m hoping to see SunRail and the high speed train come to central Florida in the near term. We will probably have light rail where you can ride to the station and take your bike on board by the time my kids are raising their kids… so about the time I stop working it should be a lot easier to be a bike commuter.

GJ is continuing to expand it’s geographic reach and where most of our business has been in Florida and the southeast in the past, now we are doing much more in the West, where places like Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, and California are years ahead of Florida in setting trends, and also in Canada, where a high quality of life seems to be important to everyone. I think GJ will prosper as doing things smart, like planning communities with a greater emphasis on the health and safety of it’s occupants becomes a norm. For myself… I want to do more touring, and learn to be a tour leader. I’ve only toured by myself so far, and would like to try with another person or two to see if I like it. I’ll continue to commute as long as I can, I’ll be 65 in only 11 years and I would like nothing better than to ride home on my last day with my personal effects strapped to my rack or in my panniers. Then, something to do with bikes and helping people get started and keep riding (we’ll probably have headsets and mics built into our helmets by then, don’t you think)?

Anything else you want to say?

I’d like to encourage all beginners to just do it. Take the plunge, buy the best thing you can afford and you won’t regret it. Buy your equipment like it will be the only one you will ever own, go for quality, and just start riding for purpose, to the store, for a weekend picnic, have a destination. I’d also like to thank CommuteOrlando.com and all it’s volunteers for putting Orlando commuter cycling on the map. It’s great to have such a resource in the community, with things like the forums and bike mentors to help people get started. Keep it going, and I’ll see you out on the road!

Bicycle ticket could cost Santa Ana student $400

2009-11-04T17:26:18Z

From the Orange County Register Watchdog column, comes this gem.

The new semester had just begun. Oswald Muniz Sanchez was riding his bike to biology class at Santa Ana College, earphones in both ears, listening to the dulcet tones of National Public Radio.

Sanchez saw no cars at the intersection of Washington and Freeman streets, so he buzzed through the stop sign, as cyclists so often do. That’s when he saw the Santa Ana policeman, half-way up the side street.

Moments later, sirens blaring and lights flashing, Sanchez was pulled over. Santa Ana police Officer Berg told him to sit on the curb. How are you going to hear someone honking at you with earphones on? the officer asked. I heard you, Sanchez said. What music were you listening to? the officer asked. It wasjust the news, Sanchez said. If you were in your car, would you have stopped? Yes, Sanchez said. Are you going to give me a warning? No, the offficer said. I’m going to cite you for running a stop sign.

The ticket was yellow, just like you’d get while driving a car. “Schwinn,” it says in the spot for “Year of Vehicle” and “Make.” And Sanchez was cited for violating two parts of the California Vehicle Code:

Section 22450(a): Failure to stop at stop sign;

and Section 27400: Wearing head set or earplugs.

Infraction, the ticket said. So when the courtesy notice landed in his mailbox from the Orange County Superior Court, Sanchez nearly choked: “Bail amount: $397.”

For riding his bike?! This offended the 26-year-old’s sense of fair play. (Sanchez had, after all, once registered to vote as a Libertarian.)

Now, Sanchez is not quite a traffic choir boy. He’s had several violations over the past decade – including a DUI in 2002 and a property damage hit-and-run in 2004, for which he paid restitution and did community service. But he was much younger then. His most recent traffic faux pas was for pulling a U-turn across a double-yellow line: “I was on my way from school to work and wanted to get some food,” he said somewhat sheepishly. “That wound up being a $200 Jamba Juice.”

That a bicycle infraction could cost more than a moving-violation-in-a-car ticket seems, well, odd. We’re waiting to hear from the Orange County Superior Court on how it arrives at fines for such ticket; the court’s 2009 Bail Schedule doesn’t shed much light on how the figure could get close to $400.

Bulletin, kids: Bicycles riders on public streets have the same rights and responsibilities as automobile drivers and are subject to the same rules and regulations as any other vehicle on the road, the good California Department of Motor Vehicles reminds us. Each year in California, more than 100 people are killed, and hundreds of thousands more are injured in bicycle collisions.

“I suppose going through a stop sign on a bike is something that a lot of people do, and they’re not aware of the violation,” said SAPD Commander Doug McGeachy.“But stop signs apply to cyclists as well as motorists. Same thing with the earphones. You can have one, but you can’t have two.

“We do on occasion have serious and fatal traffic collisions involving bicycles. Officers have a lot of discretion in what they choose to enforce and not enforce – if they see something that’s particularly unsafe, they’re more likely to enforce. I don’t know if this is common, but it’s a violation.”

Sanchez was to appear in court today, but got an extension until Dec. 21 so he can research his situation and figure out how to proceed.

He’s a returning student at Santa Ana College, studying environmental science. He pays his way by working as a teaching assistant when those spots are available, and by installing office furniture. “I ride my bike to school whenever I don’t have a big load of books,” Sanchez said. “I’m trying to be environmentally friendly.”

We’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, bicyclists, stop for those stop signs – and don’t cross any double yellow lines.

A few images from the Big Apple

2009-11-04T06:46:18Z

On the Hudson River bike path.

Father & son watching the U.S.S. New York.

Mother & daughters visiting the ducks (by far the coolest bike I saw).

He pulled out a leaf blower and went to work on the park grounds.

It was a gray day, but the leaves added nice color.

Bike rack platforms with benches on Broadway.

Sharing the road.

The subway system fascinates me to no end.

Road Rager Convicted!

2009-11-03T16:28:47Z

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times / November 2, 2009)

Road rage assault is not the exclusive domain of neanderthals in pick-up trucks. The convict in the photo above was an emergency room doctor. He faces up to 10 years in prison for assaulting two cyclists who he perceived were in his precious way.

I hope this sends a message. Here are some related articles:

Physician accused of deliberately injuring two bicyclists is convicted

Christopher Thompson, 60, is convicted of mayhem, assault with a deadly weapon and other charges in the crash that injured cyclists Ron Peterson and Christian Stoehr on Mandeville Canyon Road in 2008…

Road rage doctor guilty of assaulting cyclists

Los Angeles doctor guilty of slamming brakes on, injuring two…

Doctor convicted in car assault on bicyclists

An emergency room doctor was convicted Monday of assault with a deadly weapon and other charges involving two bicyclists he encountered while driving on a narrow street in Brentwood in July 2008…

LA Road Rage Trial Begins

Velo News had ongoing trial coverage as well as other news stories about this assault. The link above goes to the start of the trial coverage, the sidebar links to other articles. I think this one shows the testimony that sealed the conviction.

Video: Motorist/Cyclist Cooperation

Dan Gutierrez & Brian DeSousa of CyclistView.com made this video shortly after the assault.

The final line of the LA Time article says a lot.

“It’s sad for both sides,” Stoehr said. “I lost a lot of my time and my life, and he’s losing a lot of his.”

Now how important were those few seconds he thought he was losing to pass a couple cyclists? How important would they be if they were minutes, even, compared what this man is now going to lose. The criminal conviction and time served won’t be the end of it. He’s probably going to lose his career and endure a civil suit as well.

Perhaps increasing penalties for acts of violence and stupidity caused by impatience would put things in better perspective. Maybe we should make billboards from the photo of him being hauled off to jail:

Christopher Thompson couldn’t wait a second to resume his speed, now he’s waiting years to resume his life.

Can someone ’splain this?

2009-11-09T02:11:04Z

It’s pretty clear that a car and a bike cannot fit side by side in this lane, right? Considering a 5 foot door zone from the parking lane on either side, the safest space is in the center of the lane. So, why is the sharrow marking placed on one side of the lane (and partially in the door zone)?

Here’s another one.

What’s the primary hazard? A suddenly-appearing fixed object, or overtaking traffic? On the Grand St. bike path (right), the buffer area is used to keep bikes out of the door zone. Why not for the bike lane above?

As free and strong as we are in America, we are influenced by what we encounter every day. — Dr. Deborah Cohen

Environmental cues are powerful. They shape our perceptions. They can reinforce our mythologies, bias and bad belief systems, or they can challenge them.

As bike planners are learning in Long Beach, challenging the mythologies is no walk in the park. The culture of speed and car dominance is not going to give up its stranglehold without a few temper tantrums. But refusing to challenge them, or worse, actively reinforcing them will only ensure the endless subordination of bicycle drivers.

I’m writing from NYC, where LisaB will be running her first marathon tomorrow.