Bike Man Dan » Advocacy

Cambridge, Mass. installs self-help bike station

Dan — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:36:41 +0000

Little things go a long way sometimes: take this self-help bike station for instance. It’s a simple, (comparatively) cheap small station with air pump, tools and patches that, I think, greatly improves the cycling infrastructure of an area. UC Davis had/has one of these as well. I think they’re a great idea!

http://bostonbiker.org/2011/03/22/cambridge-installs-self-help-tool-stations/

LA City Council Passes Cyclist Anti-Discrimination Ordinance

Dan — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 06:49:54 +0000

Los Angeles City Council has unanimously approved a new ordinance that seeks to end harassment of bicyclists by motorists; a persistent problem all over our car obsessed United States but especially so in LA. The ordinance makes harassing a cyclist a civil violation that could lead to court judgment awarding up to $1000 to the victim (plus court and attorney fees). Harassing a road user is already in the vehicle code but requires a law enforcement officer to witness the harassment; fat chance of that happening. Making it a civil violation puts power back into the hands of the victim. From the official city document:

It is the belief of the City Attorney that the City could enact an ordinance making it a civil
violation of the LAMC for anyone to discriminate against a bicyclist by unlawfully assaulting,
threatening, or harassing a bicyclist, and create a private cause of action with attorneys’ fees for a violation. This would allow bicyclists to seek redress for harassment in situations where the police or other enforcement personnel do not witness the harassment, or where there is insufficient evidence to warrant a criminal filing.

http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2009/09-2895_ca_11-10-10.pdf

Sounds like a huge step forward in ending motorist harassment of cyclists and I do hope more cities will follow LA’s innovative lead.

Reporting Google Maps bike issues

Dan — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 01:30:53 +0000

Regarding reporting Google Maps bike issues…do it! Google has been incredibly receptive to hear from the biking public on it’s new bike routing feature of Google Maps. I’ve so far submitted about 10 different problem reports (mostly missing bike routes from the map) and they have got back to me on nearly all of them informing me that the change will be made with this e-mail:

Hi Dan,
Your Google Maps problem report has been reviewed, and you were right! We’ll update the map soon and email you when you can see the change.

–
Thanks for your help,
The Google Maps team

My favorite part: “you were right!”. Leave it to Google to make you feel warm and fuzzy.

So go ahead, take a look at your city’s bike map on Google Maps and send in those corrections. You can do so by clicking the “Report a problem” link at the bottom right of the screen.

School bans students from walking & riding

Dan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:36:39 +0000

Madness, pure madness.

Though Janette Marino and her son, Adam, were warned prior to the first day of school, they rode in defiance anyway only to be greeted by an unhappy group of school administrators and a state trooper.

The school cited dangerous road conditions on Route 9, which leads to the school, as a primary reason for the policy, even though the road in question is currently designated as an official "bike route."

Janette made it clear that her son feels "pretty strongly" about biking to school. She explains, "I think it’s my parental right to transport my child to school in the way I deem is appropriate. I think the district is usurping its authority by telling me that I can’t."

Source: Mom and son face off with the law for biking to school

Full article: http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2009/09/14/news/doc4aada71020507442523775.txt

How many folding bikes fit in one car space?

Dan — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 05:07:50 +0000

But of course, the answer to life, the universe and everything, 42. Fourty two Brompton folding bikes fit into one car parking space. The more you know huh

Source: Boing Boing

Suck it Rob Anderson – SF Bike Plan approved after 3 years!

Dan — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:27:57 +0000

San Francisco Bike to Work Day May 14th 2009, originally uploaded by dustinj.

After three long years, the San Francisco Bicycle Master Plan was approved unanimously by SFMTA. In the plan, 34 miles of bike lane will be striped (to see where, check the map out).

Rob Anderson, outspoken anti cyclist fiend, stymied the process in 2006 by forcing the city to review the environmental impact of the plan. If you think that combing a bicycle plan for potential bicycle harm is completely asinine and a waste of time and tax payer dollars, you’re not the only one.

We can all happily say that the hiatus on bicycle projects in the city is finally coming to a close. Our friend Rob will no doubt appeal the decision but will be (hopefully) swiftly thwarted and the improvements will begin being laid out late summer, early fall.

Source: SFGate.com – Board OKs all but one item of bike plan

Referral: EcoVelo - SF Bike Plan Gets Green Light

Pizza delivery by bike

Dan — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:16:41 +0000

It was always a thought, “why not deliver pizza by bike?”, but I guess finally someone got around to trying it out The Naperville, FL pizza joint is saying it’s just a “promotion” for Bike Month but with the $3 delivery charge they’re waiving for bike deliveries, seems like their customers would want to see the concept stick around! Intrepid bike pizza delivery guy has a Surly Big Dummy to do the job, a bike I love but admittedly the article seems to allude that to haul the enormous load of a pizza or two you need a $2000 XtraCycle equipped cargo bike, hmm.

Article: Pizza’s here – by bicycle delivery and found via CICLE

“Cookie Lady” recognized for her service to cyclists

Dan — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 04:22:30 +0000

June Curry, 87, locally known as the “Cookie Lady”, has been a staple attraction and stop along Virginia’s Bike 76 route and has offered cyclists freshly baked cookies and a place to stay (hostel) for over 30 years! The Richmond Area Bicycling Association awarded her with a well deserved check consisting of donations from cyclists showing their appreciation.

We definitely need more cookie ladies on this earth

Source: Afton Cookie Lady Receives Gift From RABA
More: Richmond bike club pays back Virginia’s “Cookie Lady”

Great commercial, wow

Dan — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:54:45 +0000

Gotta say, pretty surprised such a great pro city-biking commercial could have been made. Beautiful functional city bike, people utilizing their bike for function and cargo, people having FUN on a bike, perfect. Thanks Kaiser for this pro bike spot

I like this commercial so much I’m willing to glance over the sidewalk and wrong way riding

Schools move to eject cars from campuses

Dan — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:24:19 +0000

Bikes on California Ave, UC Davis, originally uploaded by amsthirty.

Here’s a USA Today article citing some examples of high schools and universities looking to deter students from bringing cars to campus through various changes and incentive programs. The crown jewel example is Ripon College’s precedent setting program where they’ve agreed to offer incoming freshmen a brand new Trek mountain bike in exchange for not bringing a car to campus; pretty sweet deal if you ask me. What I find interesting about this type of incentive program is that the school may actually save money by giving each student a $300 bike; get everyone to ditch their car and you won’t have to build new parking lots/structures. I know at my local university one single parking space comes at the cost of $11,000…ELEVEN THOUSAND!

Other programs listed to discourage car usage and/or encourage bicycle usage are on campus bicycle shops, loaner bikes (ie bike library), more bike racks on campus, pathways and more.

Check out the full article: Schools move to eject cars from campuses – USA Today