bikefriendlytowns

And the award for Most Bike Friendly Council in London goes too....

2012-08-25T07:48:00.002-04:00

Lambeth! Yes its great, check out their super "Town Pride Bike parking"

And bike pump bollard!!

Photo found on the great Bollard of London blog!

Bike-sharing – A global urban transportation solution

2012-07-15T08:56:00.001-04:00

As New York prepares to roll out it's 'Citibike' program in the next few days, I thought I'd share a paper I wrote last year about how bikeshare has evolved over the last few years into a fun, viable, cost effective, pollution reducing, health enhancing, community building transit system. Bike-sharing – A global urban transportation solution

Bike Friendly England (kind of) Part 2 - London

2011-09-09T16:31:00.001-04:00

Even though I grew up in the south of England, I had never really taken the opportunity to explore London, and a few spare days on my trip allowed me to do just that. It was a perfect opportunity to get a Boris Bike and take a looksee.

Why doesn't every town have these?

The first thing that struck me was the amazing architecture, and the sheer number of great courtyards that you'd never discover in a car.

Also some of the intersection treatments were very nicely done quasi-shared spaces in which free pedestrian movement and courteous driving behavior reigned supreme.

Pretty old stuff next to ugly new(er) stuff

These narrow streets (Mews?) are important pedestrian thoroughfares, but must get chilly in the winter

Not body parts

Just endless amounts of nooks that people can sit down, relax, and get a bite to eat in - lovely

One of 2 new pedestrian bridges over the Thames, Millennium Bridge leads to pedestrianized South Bank

..where there is lots of foot traffic, buskers, but not many sitting options

and a famous

theater

And a Pizza Express

Bike Friendly England (kind of) Part 1 - Petersfield Hampshire

2011-09-08T10:17:00.002-04:00

I just returned from a fantastic trip to England to see family and friends, but of course there was some checking out of urban places and bike infrastructure.

Thanks to Ben Hamilton-Baillie for pointing me towards a great little town - Petersfield - that uses shared-space principles to create a wonderful downtown environment. The texture of the street (brick) and absence of traffic signs and lane markings result in slow but steady auto movements, and pedestrian freedom.

Dad and brother learning urbanism

The town has a wonderful square that hosts a twice weekly market.

Someones front garden

Nice pedestrian walkway to residential and commercial properties - right in the middle of town

Great human scale architecture

The square used to be a parking lot!

Slow traffic is ok to enjoy a coffee near

Very pedestrian oriented traffic calming

Climbable statues!

Pedestrian walkways make walking a pleasant experience

Not sure about the signs

Lovely church - horrible sign

One of my only criticisms is the positioning of some of the advertising signs right on pedestrian desire lines

Great public loos!

Next stop - London!

You can do it!!

2011-06-09T10:36:00.001-04:00

The inevitable is happening, and we are way behind the energy 8-ball

2011-02-27T09:20:00.005-05:00

As most people know, but few are willing to acknowledge, the inevitable is happening. Increasing demand, scarcity, political turmoil, is sending global oil prices up again, and this time they're not coming back down. Property values and wall street are taking a hit, and good luck to you if you are looking for a job.

What are we going to do about it?

We have pretty much exhausted our military options to secure future energy supplies, short sighted State Governors are rejecting federal money for high-speed rail projects, and I don't hear many Nascar fans demanding development of more compact, walkable, high density, affordable neighborhoods.

Since our congress is now beholden to Nascar fans, the only real politically acceptable solution, as usual, is to kick the time-bomb a bit further down the road, and to tap our reserves to stabilize the price.

We need to realize the relative price of oil is never going to go down again, and start electing people who will make decisions based on that fact.

The result of our time bomb kicking has resulted in a subsidized oil industry, a subsidized auto industry, and most of our personal, state and national investment being sunk into auto-dependent sprawl. This decentralization of our urban areas has not only led to the destruction of the American landscape and local food supplies, but has also put us in a position where even if we build some fast trains, street cars, and bike infrastructure, it will be much more difficult to effectively serve the future undesirable isolated areas.

We have no easy options as the age of cheap oil comes to an end, and the transition of abandoning our unwanted low density development, for high density living will result in, as James Kunstler points out in 'The Long Emergency' suburbia becoming the 'slums of the future'.

Some places do have options. In places like Spain, where gas has been taxed fairly, and not kept artificially cheap, the public has demanded better non-highway infrastructure, and elected people who built it.

In response to rapidly rising gasoline prices brought on by the unrest in the middle east, the Spanish government is currently working quickly to reduce the speed limit from 75mph to 68mph, and reduce the cost of rail travel by 5% to save gasoline, and encourage people to use the train rather than drive.

Unlike America, Spain started building the AVE system in the 1980's, and opened the first route in 1992. There is now a relatively comprehensive network that links most major cities.

We in America need to get the message to our leaders that we are demanding investment in infrastructure that (that means trains, streetcars and bikes) will serve us when the age of cheap, plentiful oil is behind us.

Click here to get their phone numbers and then send them a follow up email.

The return of the bike...

2010-07-10T08:20:00.003-04:00

Thanks to bike alchemy for the heads up on this book (Plan 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization - available on the earth policy website). An extract appeared on Tree hugger.

Here is the introduction...

The Welcome Return of the Bicycle

Photo: ItzAFineDay@Flickr

The bicycle has many attractions as a form of personal transportation. It alleviates congestion, lowers air pollution, reduces obesity, increases physical fitness, does not emit climate-disrupting carbon dioxide, and is priced within the reach of the billions of people who cannot afford a car. Bicycles increase mobility while reducing congestion and the area of land paved over. Six bicycles can typically fit into the road space used by one car. For parking, the advantage is even greater, with 20 bicycles occupying the space required to park a car.

This is a great article written by Lester Brown from TreeHugger.com... It's chock-full of great bicycle information and statistics supporting why we should embrace, and support the growth of bicycle riding. Read the rest of it here.

Sorte Jernhest #Cargobike review

2010-06-28T12:00:00.005-04:00

It's been a few months since we got our Sorte Jenrhest cargo bike, so I thought I'd let y'all know what I think of it.

I think it is great. We are lucky to live in a pretty flat area, and mainly ride on low traffic roads. It is super maneuverable at low speeds, and easy to pedal, even with heavy loads. I can fit my 10 year old and 4 year old in relatively easily, and the canopy keeps them warm in the winter and shaded in the summer. I have moved a coffee table, and a large rug with it no problem.

It is not the fastest, is very wobbly going down hill, and pretty hard to pedal up hill (standing up is not really an option). It is a little uncomfortable on roads that are sloped to the side.

I would definitely recommend it for young families in bike friendly, flat communities. If you live in a hilly area or need a faster bike I'd say look at some of the 2-wheeled options like an xtracycle, bikefeits, or a harry vs larry.

So there you go, I hope to see some more cargo bikes on the streets of America soon!

That Nutter is up to it again

2010-06-09T15:52:00.002-04:00

Great news from our lovely brothers in Philly. The parking authority has started to install bike parking on old car parking meters. They got stimulus money from an Energy Efficiency Block grant to buy 1,500 rings and will be installing them around the city.

(via Philly bike coalition)

Washington DC - Bike friendly town?

2010-06-06T21:19:00.002-04:00

May be getting there. Any town that can get it's mayor to show up to bike to work day is heading in the right direction.

Great video from america.gov

Bike to Work Day - A Growing Movement from Brandon Bloch on Vimeo.

Roundabouts and take turns signs-sound good?

2010-05-30T09:04:00.000-04:00

Gas Prices - here we go again, welcome to the summer

2010-05-17T09:57:00.002-04:00

I know which one I'd choose

2010-05-07T15:20:00.000-04:00

How to make kids safe on the road

2010-04-20T22:20:00.000-04:00

Is it a bird, is it a plane, no it's bicycle repairman!

2010-04-17T16:42:00.000-04:00

Classic Python

Long Beach - Inglewood

2010-04-16T14:21:00.002-04:00

Kudos to Long Beach for getting it together!

bike lanes + shared space = people on bikes

2010-04-13T20:13:00.000-04:00

Robbie Madison jump

2010-04-09T15:02:00.001-04:00

just thought I'd share this

Better bike lanes in Portland

2010-04-04T11:06:00.004-04:00

Great video from Portland Mayor Sam Adams clearly explaining what we have known for a long time-people feel safer on a bike when they are not jammed between parked cars randomly opening doors on one side, and speeding wing-mirrors on the other. I love that Portland has the balls to try stuff like this, and hope that this becomes a standard design around the country. I like their solution to the turn left problem too-the launch pad too. Kudos.

On the Right Track from Mayor Sam Adams on Vimeo.

On a pretty unrelated note, I never thought I'd say this, but kudos also to anti-human rights sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County AZ, who's making prisoners power their TV with a stationary bike....

to combat obesity.

Great stuff.

What do you call 16 girls on a bike?

2010-04-02T13:59:00.000-04:00

The end of 'vehicular cycling'-proof that it doesn't cater to the 'lowest common denominator' cyclists

2010-03-24T22:32:00.002-04:00

I know I post a lot of videos, but what you gonna do? This one features some footage of Dublin, London and Amsterdam, and give a nice feel of what the cities have done to promote cycling. Can we all agree that separating cars and bikes is the only way we are going to get seniors and kids to ride now, and designing roads and infrastructure for 'vehicular cycling' is a thing of the past?

The Pedal Project - Three Cycling Cities (low resolution version) from DCTV on Vimeo.

ESPN douchyness

2010-03-19T08:39:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure an apology to Lance Armstrong is enough to forgive the verbal diarrhea that this guy is spewing. Castration might not even be enough. I think Adrienne gets the point across better than I could.

Stupid. Plain Stupid.

from Change Your Life. Ride A Bike! by Adrienne Johnson

When people have a forum to speak, they should really think before they open their mouths. If we can blame AC/DC for causing teenagers to commit suicide, then why can't we hold commentators like this responsible for firefighters shooting riders with their children?

What these people fail to realize is that their words, "just tap them... not a fatal tap, just knock them over... if you aren't rubbing you aren't racing" are just as bad as "he's just a nigger" or "he's just a filthy Jew" or "she was asking for it". There is no difference between gay bashing and inviting people to run down cyclists. Advocating and trivializing violence and intimidation against any group is wrong and there are no degrees to it. Stating that anyone's right to life and safety is less than your right to drive a "big powerful car" is hate speech.

ESPN is the home of this ridiculous man. He represents them. If I watch this show and hear this out of his mouth, then my assumption is that ESPN backs his words and agrees with him. ESPN suspended him for criticizing a fellow commentator's wardrobe choices, but will he be suspended for encouraging his listeners to kill? I understand that Lance Armstrong will be confronting Mr.Kornheiser on his show over this issue. I am sure that many will think that is enough.

I think he should be fired. Had he advocated violence against any group based on race or sexual orientation he would be out on his butt. It is that simple. If you encourage others to maim and kill on a national television show, you should be fired.

I visited Washington for the first time last week, and saw how dysfunctional the traffic engineering is (you literally stop every block for a light if you are in a car), and i think the narrowest road downtown is like 18 lanes, but average car speed is still slower than walking. So many people have figured out it's faster to ride, as long as you don't stop for pointless red lights.

I think it is time motorists start thanking cyclists for reducing congestion and shortening their trip times instead of shooting or bumping our 'little bicycles' with their 'big powerful cars'.

Tehran's Green Bike House is a hit, but where are the Tehran cycle-chics?

2010-03-15T12:26:00.005-04:00

They might not be able to build a bomb, but they know how to do bikes (well, for guys anyway).

Tehran's "Bike House" Shines Green

from The Bike-sharing Blog by russellmeddin@bikesharephiladelphia.org (Russell Meddin)

Reducing traffic on congested streets, clearing pollution from smog-laden overcast skies, and completing that last kilometer to your destination from transit points are the accepted benefits of bike-sharing no matter the political situation or location in the world. Bike-sharing has become an integral part of many cities' green economy. It comes as no surprise that even in the Islamic Republic of Iran, bike-sharing is thriving.
Tehran’s “Bike House” bikes are rolling across the city. The system, less than a year old, is funded by Tehran’s municipal government. It is currently only in one of Tehran’s 22 administrative districts. Although a 2nd generation system, there are 12 “Houses” in this district, each with around 40 bikes. The yearly subscription cost is the equivalent of $2 US, and allows the use of a bike for up to four hours at a time. In less than a year, there have been 6,000 subscriptions sold. There are larger 3rd generation systems in the world, which do not have a subscription to bike ratio as big as that.
For many, “Bike House” has made travel through the congested streets of Tehran fast and convenient. Unfortunately, because of Islamic and cultural considerations, women can only be green with envy because they not allowed to participate in this bike-sharing!
Image and source credit: Ramin Mostaghim / Los Angeles Times

Ryan Leech is a commuter too

2010-03-05T10:56:00.005-05:00

So this is Ryan in the mountain bike film the Collective doing his day job being super-human.

And here commuting like a normal human.

Ride your bike to school kids!

2010-02-28T21:20:00.001-05:00

Glocal from Jeff Heie on Vimeo.